The Joy of Mountain Biking

ok... first check out Steve's wrap up if you haven't already

Photo dump:

landed in Phoenix, did the camel back hike
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got to Sedona, did some hikes in the area and a bike ride (wacky weather):
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more photos in a moment
 
drove from Sedona thru Flagstaff to Page for Steve's race... more snow and wacky weather

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Crazy people at 5am
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I did touristy things like Horseshoe Bend and Secret Antelope Canyon while Steve raced



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and the tour guide tried to get all artsy fartsy
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Great pics Joy, where's the last few photos? I've for some reason never been to the GC or AZ, though on my bucket list. My brother lived in Phoenix for a year and used to send lots of pics of Sedona.
 
qclabrat said:
Great pics Joy, where's the last few photos? I've for some reason never been to the GC or AZ, though on my bucket list. My brother lived in Phoenix for a year and used to send lots of pics of Sedona.
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the slot canyon pics are Secret Antelope Canyon... private tour... different spot than steve was on... steve went thru the larger "real" antelope canyon... the "secret" one is about where the X is in the screenshot.


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ETA: we'll be back at the Grand Canyon in October for R2R2R... and steve's trying to convince me to sign up for the 30k version of the race he did. i'm not rushing into that one.
 
MissJR said:
the slot canyon pics are Secret Antelope Canyon... private tour... different spot than steve was on... steve went thru the larger "real" antelope canyon... the "secret" one is about where the X is in the screenshot.


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ETA: we'll be back at the Grand Canyon in October for R2R2R... and steve's trying to convince me to sign up for the 30k version of the race he did. i'm not rushing into that one.
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Before leaving did you tell them "your secret is safe with me?"
 
it's pretty rainy here right now... tonight's group ride was cancelled and i am trying to avoid facing my work emails, so i figured i should do a mini update here.

so we've started to really plan and train for the grand canyon R3 (rim to rim to rim) trip so you'll see some longer, harder hikes and stuff on my strava. still riding and doing a little running (steve's running way more than i am since he wants to run R3) but there will definitely be a concentration on hiking and nailing down nutrition for a 43-ish mile hike.




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we do have a plan to hike the beginning part of the art loeb in a couple of weeks (slight hike interruption with a work trip to NJ i have coming up)... and then eventually we will do the entire art loeb trail in one day.



in other non-hiking/biking/running news, franklin's had his ups and downs. he's adorable as ever but there are a lot of health issues he's dealing with so we're just trying to do what we can for him. he's entered his howard hughes phase where he likes to hang out in an old shoe box in steve's office. previously, his phases included basement cat, kitchen counter cat and IWANTOUTSIDENOW cat.



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work is work. some days are easy. some days i'm hitting my head against any and every hard object i can find. there's a hiring freeze so we will be short handed when my supervisor leaves for retirement in october unless something changes before then. a bunch of website changes are happening and i'm not really sure where things will land once those changes are launched... maybe things will be easier for me... maybe work will double. they keep saying things will get better but then they ask a bunch of questions and i'm left sitting here asking if they even know what it is i actually do. part of me is hoping for a layoff so i can get some much needed rest and do a bunch of things around the house that seem to keep getting pushed off. like i said, i guess we'll see.
 
Random quick updates:

I'll start with Franklin:
He had a big poop today! He's doing ok... some days are better than others. Still going to the vet for subcutaneous fluids 3x/week. They love him there. Yesterday and today were good eating days but some days he doesn't eat much and it stresses me out. He went thru a whole phase where he barely ate for days. I sometimes give him baby food (just plain chicken or turkey) when he gets picky. I just need him to eat SOMETHING. Weight has plateaued. He's still too skinny but we just can't get him to gain any weight back. So, right now, it's just try to make sure he gets fluids and whatever food he'll eat and just go with the flow when he gets moody. My previous post showed him in a shoe box in Steve's office... Now, he barely steps foot out of the living room/kitchen area. Another lovely stress is we're about 50/50 with him actually using a litter box... so there's a lot of pee pads and clean up these days.


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Random: I commissioned a poem for him by a local writer:

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Work is going to be interesting this year into next. My supervisor (current chief copy editor) is retiring in October. We still technically have a hiring freeze but the copy editor who will be taking over as Chief Copy Editor when current one retires just announced her pregnancy so she will be taking maternity leave first of the new year (during the one of the busiest times for us) so that somehow finally convinced HR to go hire someone thankfully. We also just had an editor announce he's leaving so there's another scramble and push for HR to unfreeze the hiring freeze. Website changes are in motion and it's already a bit chaotic with way too many cooks in the kitchen and too many reporters complaining about changes. Sometimes at meetings I just want to yell: SHUT THE FUCK UP! No amount of griping is changing the outcome so buckle up and start fucking learning this shit. I'm still trying to train one person to do my job and now another one wants in on the fun.


We still have a trip planned to do R2R2R at the Grand Canyon but, obviously, the recent and ongoing fires are putting the trip into question. No cancellations yet... we're keeping an eye on full refund deadlines in case we do need to cancel but we hope that the trails will be open in October even if the buildings on the North Rim have been lost. If it's something like part of the top of the North Kaibab trail is closed but everything else is open, then we will just go as far as we can and do some of the side trails to the overlooks and waterfalls or just postpone the Grand Canyon R2R2R until next year and do some other kind of hiking trip instead. I was also hoping to go on a big birthday trip next year and try to do the UK and hit up Iceland on the way home for Northern Lights (London and Northern Lights are bucket list trips for me) so I guess we'll see how this fall shapes up before planning anything overseas.


Random: this (and similar "joy" things) happens way more than you'd think when I give Starbucks my name for the order. BTW I don't really go to Starbucks much... Maybe only 3 or 4 times so far this year? but maybe i'm a little grumpy when i order? (elmo shrug)

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FYI I am reading.

Cat - read that paragraph and replace the cat with an elderly parent, and it sounds mostly the same
Poems - never been a big fan but I appreciate your appreciation.
Work - work sucks. I think we established that.
R2D2 - I had no idea that a) R2D2 lived in the Grand Canyon and b) that it was on fire.
Starbucks - slightly better than work, but it doesn't pay as well.
 
Not to poop on your poem, but... We were in Santa Fe at a farmer's market recently and a guy had a typewriter set up with a sign "Poems-Set your own price." My nephew goes and asks for a poem about being in the Marines, as he currently is. The guy tells him to come back in 15. As we walk away I told my nephew, "you know he's about to ask Chatgpt to write a poem about the Marines?"
 
Bike N Gear said:
Not to poop on your poem, but... We were in Santa Fe at a farmer's market recently and a guy had a typewriter set up with a sign "Poems-Set your own price." My nephew goes and asks for a poem about being in the Marines, as he currently is. The guy tells him to come back in 15. As we walk away I told my nephew, "you know he's about to ask Chatgpt to write a poem about the Marines?"
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Yeah... I've thought of that... But I still think the poem is cute so I'm not going to think too hard about it

There are also references to Franklin's IG account so some work went into it
 
A German Shepherd, Doberman and a Cat have died.
All three are faced with God who wants to know what they believe in.
The German Shepherd Says: "I believe in discipline, training and loyalty to my master."
"Good," says God, "then sit down on my right side."
"Doberman, what do you believe in?" Asks God.
The Doberman Answers: "I believe in the love, care and protection of my master."
"Aha," said God, "you may sit to my left." Then he looks at the cat and asks: "And what do you believe in?"
The cat then answers: "I believe you're sitting in my seat."




Franklin J. Scruffypants
(Adopted) 10.13.17 - 8.16.25

It is with a heavy heart that I make this post. After a year of battling kidney disease accompanied by a number of other issues, we said goodbye to our beloved little Franklin this past weekend. We've lost an amazing little fur baby, napping buddy and travel companion. He made our lives a little brighter and he will be forever missed.

For now, this is all I'm going to post about it. I may go into more detail later if I feel I need to talk about it.

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I'm so sorry - Thank you for sharing Franklin's adventures.
 
MissJR said:
A German Shepherd, Doberman and a Cat have died.
All three are faced with God who wants to know what they believe in.
The German Shepherd Says: "I believe in discipline, training and loyalty to my master."
"Good," says God, "then sit down on my right side."
"Doberman, what do you believe in?" Asks God.
The Doberman Answers: "I believe in the love, care and protection of my master."
"Aha," said God, "you may sit to my left." Then he looks at the cat and asks: "And what do you believe in?"
The cat then answers: "I believe you're sitting in my seat."




Franklin J. Scruffypants
(Adopted) 10.13.17 - 8.16.25

It is with a heavy heart that I make this post. After a year of battling kidney disease accompanied by a number of other issues, we said goodbye to our beloved little Franklin this past weekend. We've lost an amazing little fur baby, napping buddy and travel companion. He made our lives a little brighter and he will be forever missed.

For now, this is all I'm going to post about it. I may go into more detail later if I feel I need to talk about it.

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Click to expand...
Hate to read this and sending condolences. You guys certainly gave him his best life especially when it got the hardest. Thanks for sharing all his stories and travels.
 
MissJR said:
A German Shepherd, Doberman and a Cat have died.
All three are faced with God who wants to know what they believe in.
The German Shepherd Says: "I believe in discipline, training and loyalty to my master."
"Good," says God, "then sit down on my right side."
"Doberman, what do you believe in?" Asks God.
The Doberman Answers: "I believe in the love, care and protection of my master."
"Aha," said God, "you may sit to my left." Then he looks at the cat and asks: "And what do you believe in?"
The cat then answers: "I believe you're sitting in my seat."




Franklin J. Scruffypants
(Adopted) 10.13.17 - 8.16.25

It is with a heavy heart that I make this post. After a year of battling kidney disease accompanied by a number of other issues, we said goodbye to our beloved little Franklin this past weekend. We've lost an amazing little fur baby, napping buddy and travel companion. He made our lives a little brighter and he will be forever missed.

For now, this is all I'm going to post about it. I may go into more detail later if I feel I need to talk about it.

View attachment 266785
Click to expand...
Some people don't understand that these guys are part of the family So sorry for your loss.....
 
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