Sunday, May 11 through Friday, May 16, 2025: Things To Do and The Beginning of A Birthday Celebration

After church on Sunday, Tom and I went to the gym. We each rode the recumbent exercise bikes.

 

The next day, Tom dropped me off at the dry Holden Lake. I walked in the national forest --- on several forest service roads.

 

It is always nice seeing Bill Williams Mountain from a different viewpoint. 

 

I walked along the northern part of the golf course.

 

Near the 1st green, Mt. Humphreys was visible in the distance.

 

Tuesday, Tom had an appointment to get new tires for his Subaru. I went to the gym when the electricity died at 1:15 p.m. It turned out that the entire town was impacted. The heavy winds downed a power line by Airport Road. The wires even crossed Interstate 40. 

 

It took APS --- the power company --- ten hours to restore power to our Highland Meadows community. In twelve years, this was the longest power outage I have ever experienced.

 

Wednesday morning, I replenished the hummingbird feeder. I am trying to do so every three days.

 

Colleen Hatton came to service and clean our house. We paid her extra to clean the inside windows. Thank you, Colleen!

 

Later that afternoon --- early evening --- we had nine deer pass by our house.

 

 

 

May 14 is my sister Carrie's birthday. She and her husband Brent were celebrating on the coast of Oregon.

Thursday, Jeremy Tadevich came to our house. I had a list of handyman projects for him to complete.

 

That same morning, Tom woke up with diminished vision in his left eye. It seemed fairly serious. We called Barnet, Delaney, and Perkins Eye Clinic in Flagstaff for an appointment. Tom was able to get an 11:05 a.m. appointment with Dr. Bills. At the clinic, Tom was given a battery of tests. 

 

Fortunately, Dr. Bills ruled out a detached retina or a bleeding retina. 

 

Dr. Bills suggested that we head over to the Flagstaff Medical Center emergency room. He wanted to rule out a possible stroke or any other head issue.

 

Tom and I were at the emergency room for three hours. Dr. Page ordered CT scans, an EKG, and blood work. 

 

All of the tests were (thank goodness!) normal. Tom will follow-up with Dr. Bills in several weeks.

 

Friday morning, it was time to begin a birthday weekend. Tom and I packed up my truck. Kelsey was also part of the package --- as we were dropping her off at Wags & Whiskers Pet Resort. That night, we stayed at the Historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico. 

 

We were assigned the Doris Day room. All of the rooms in the hotel are named after actors and actresses of yesteryear. The hotel lobby was very impressive. It was two stories with a double staircase leading up to the second floor. With all of the woodwork and chandeliers, it reminded Tom of Yellowstone's Old Faithful Lodge.

 

 

Before dinner, we went down the street --- on Route 66 --- to find several caches. We were successful in finding one --- actually Tom found it! 

 

 

 

The second one was not found. We looked for 20-30 minutes around a cart on tracks.

 

While we didn't find a cache, there was a perfect photo opportunity at the Visitor Center.

 

We had dinner at the hotel. For starters,  I had a prickly pear margarita and Tom had an Old Fashion.

 

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. We also found a secret room on the second floor of the lobby. There was a large bookcase. 

 

One book --- the American Constitution --- had a device that opened the secret door. What a hoot!

 

 

 

The drive from Gallup to Santa Fe was less than three hours. We arrived at the Inn on the Alameda at 2:00 p.m. 

 

Good news! Our room was ready. 

 

This hotel is nicely located near old town Santa Fe.

 

We had made advanced arrangements with Deborah and Bob Fischler to have dinner with them at Market Steer Steakhouse. Prior to our 5:30 p.m. dining reservation, Tom and I drove eleven miles to their Santa Fe home. It was an impressive 3.600 square foot home in the Bishop's Lodge area of Santa Fe.

 

 

 

The dinner at Market Steer Steakhouse was very nice. Each couple ordered one 10 ounce flatiron steak. We shared an order of onion rings as an appetizer. The four of us enjoyed  side dishes of creamed spinach and sautéed mushrooms. Of course, we had a photo taken of the four of us to serve as a memory.