"Standin' on a corner in Winslow Arizona...."

6:16 am - Thursday - April 19th - Winslow, AZ - 34º F, 19% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the east by southeast......looks and feels CALM.  Forecast high today in Winslow is 76º F, which, once again, we will not experience as we will be far down the road by that time.  Heading into New Mexico today!

It would have been nice to cross Arizona in parts of two days, but we just didn't want to drive any further than 200 miles so we set out sights on Winslow, AZ.  We were here briefly about 9 years ago, but had never spent the night, or walked around town to any extent.  I turned on the big Kohler genset around 9 am in order to turn on the 'block heater' so we could turn the big Detroit Diesel over.  When it gets below 50 degrees it will not start without being warmed up a tad.....kind of like myself.  Within 30 minutes I tried the ignition and she fired right up.  We were merging back on to I-40 within 10 minutes heading eastbound and down.

Winslow sits at about 3,300' elevation, and Flagstaff sits at over 7,000' elevation so we knew we would be gaining almost 4,000' in elevation in our first couple of hours of driving.  By the time we reached Williams we were at 6,800' and had been driving for over an hour so we got off the Interstate and found a place to park for about 30 minutes while we took a walk around the downtown area.....

It is a little over 1/2 mile from one end of the Williams downtown to the other, and it is quite the colorful place.....totally touristy in every regard.  Thankfully it is still early in the season, and it was not too crowded.  The temperature was in the mid 50's, and it was quite refreshing.  By the time we returned to the Newell we had covered 1.3 miles.  Time to move along!

We finally topped out on the long grade up to Flagstaff about 12:15....altitude 7,325'.....now we had about a 60 mile downhill run to Winslow which sits at roughly 4,800' elevation.  It was nice to just set the cruise control and hang on to the steering wheel.  The landscape quickly changed from heavily forested to high desert in just a few miles.

Like California most of the Rest Areas between Kingman and Winslow were closed.  The only one open was less than 20 miles outside of Winslow, so why stop, right?  The drive to Winslow was totally uneventful....just like we like it!  On this day we opted to park at the local Walmart Supercenter just north of the Interstate arriving there just after 1:30 pm.  There is an Elks Lodge in Winslow, which offers electrical hookups for $10/night (two 30 amp plugs, one 50 amp plug, and one 20 amp plug), but it is about 1.5 blocks from the busy railroad tracks......

.....the local BPOE # 536 Lodge is about one mile south of the Walmart, and a we passed it as we walked the 1.5 miles to the "Standin' on a corner" park in downtown Winslow.  It took us exactly 30 minutes to cover the 1.5 miles.....the skies were clear, and the sun kept us warm in spite of the mid 60's temperatures at the time.  There are quite a few wall murals all over town.....

.....at last we arrived at the corner made famous by the 'Eagles' many years ago.  Winslow has, obviously, made the most of this musical notoriety by turning this corner into a tourist attraction which is visited by literally 100's of thousands each year.  The corner was busy for the entire hour we were in the area.

From there we decided to walk over to the famous La Posada Hotel.....one of the famous Harvey Hotels, which are all located along the railroad lines.  This was the last of the great Harvey Hotels completed in 1930, and designed by, of course, Mary Coulter.....it is reputed to be "fanciest of the Harvey Hotels along Route 66".

We spent time walking through the hotel taking in the ambiance and wondering what it would have been like to stay there back in the 30's.  We almost stopped off in the bar to grab a beer, but we still had almost a two mile walk home and it was going on 4 pm, so with TLE's encouragement we turned away and began our walk back to the Newell.  I spied this very cool Studebaker Golden Hawk in the parking lot as we exited the hotel......these cars were produced between 1956 and 1958.

We were back at the Newell by 4:45 pm at which time I decided it was time to get up on the roof and clean the solar panels for the first time since late October when we were boondocking at Lone Rock.  Since we'll be dry camping most of the time as we head eastward they should be clean to provide maximum charge.

And that was pretty much our Wednesday.  Being able to explore places we overnight at is one of the things I love about moving across this country.  If you just get out and walk it is amazing what you will see!

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Desert View - Day 33 - That's a lot of bull!

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7:40 am - Wednesday - December 13th - Grand Canyon - 31º F, 27% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south.....forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 56º F.....time to go hike the South Kaibab Trail!

Day 33 here at the Desert View Watchtower was like so many before it......clear blue skies, no wind, with a high temperature of 56º F, and it was also our 'Friday'.....TLE had the 'open' shift and I got to sleep in until 7......I always try to be up before TLE heads to work.

I hadn't talked with my mother in a while so I called her about 9:15 and talked with her until almost 10 am.  It was probably the best conversation we have had in years, and I am glad I took the time to call and check in on her up in Spokane, WA.  From there I transitioned to the trailer and did a quick 30 minute spin on my stationary bike, then back inside for a shower, and a quick bite to eat before it was time for me to trundle off to my 'close' shift.

In spite of it 'feeling' quite slow all afternoon I managed to generate over $200 in cash sales.....TLE says she did slightly more on her 'open' shift.  Near the end of my shift one of our Deli employees came in the front door to tell us there was a large bull elk foraging just outside the store, so I went out to snap a few pictures, and a short video of the occasion.....

.......he hung out around the store for about an hour before drifting off into the juniper forest and down the hill towards Cameron.  At one point I saw a few tourists standing within 5 feet of this 700 pound wild animal taking pictures as if this were a petting zoo.  In fact, one of them asked me if the elk was a pet!  I reminded everyone present that this was a WILD, unpredictable animal and that if it felt cornered, or threatened it might attack.......everyone who was in close proximity immediately moved back about 30'.

I was on my way home by 5:30 looking forward to being off work for a couple of days, and being able to do some more hiking and exploring with TLE.

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Desert View - Day 32 - The Big 'E'.....

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7:19 am - Tuesday - December 12th - Grand Canyon - 35º F, 15% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the southeast....sunny today with a forecast high of 59º F......WOW.....it's a heatwave!

Every time I think winter is going to finally tighten her grip on the weather here at Desert View we seem to get another reprieve, and a few days in the high 50's, low 60's, and that is where we found ourselves Monday once again.....the forecast high was for 51, but it got to 56º F, and we'll get a few days into the 60's, so it appears that mother winter will be held at bay for another 7-10 days......YAY for our team!

I had the 'open' shift Monday, but overslept as you may have gathered from my abbreviated early post.  I didn't wake up, or should I say TLE woke me up at 6 am, which only gave me about 30 minutes to compose my blog, and I need about 45 on most typical days, so instead of rushing to get something out, I put it off until the afternoon after my shift.  I had, as you know, a few videos to upload to YouTube and the broadband was a little sluggish so it was taking too long to get them uploaded and edited.

I was out the door and on my walk to work by my usual 7:15 am, and on premises by 7:25 am, as usual.   We had the good folks from RGIS at our store again to redo their audit of our inventory that was botched a month ago.  I haven't talked a lot about the recount as neither TLE, nor my self had more than a tangential role this time around.  Our main responsibility is being cashiers, and taking care of customers.  The inventory mess was not just our store, but all the stores here at the Grand Canyon.  At any rate, by the time I arrived RGIS (pronounced 'regis') had been doing their count for almost 2 hours, and were finished with our store by 8:30......glad that is done!

Unlike most mornings recently we had customers as soon as we opened the doors for business at 8 am, and the morning stayed relatively busy until the end of my shift.....that was a nice change, and helped the time to pass quickly.  I was on my way home a little after 12:30.....this is when I noticed it was much warmer than forecast.  

Monday was also the day of the annual Delaware North Christmas party which was being held on the west end of the park at a steakhouse in Tusayan (pronounced too-sī-on) called Big E Steakhouse at 6:30 pm.  TLE was home from work just after 5:30 pm, and we were on our way driving the 30 miles to Tusayan by 5:45.....we arrived just at 6:30 and quickly found an empty table.  Soon we were joined by our friend Art Young who I have written about a few times in the past.  He works at the Marketplace store at Grand Canyon Village where we have done some shopping, and also eaten a couple of meals in their Deli.  As always it was great to be able to sit with Art and talk.  We ended up planning to meet this Wednesday at the Yaki Point parking lot to hike a portion of the South Kaibab trail.....looking forward to that a lot.

The meal was buffet style, and we had options of bacon wrapped chicken, salmon, or pork......I had the salmon, and was so glad I chose it......flavorful, moist, well seasoned!  The party was still going on at 8:30, so we decided it was time to make the return drive to Desert View so TLE could get to bed for her 'open' shift on Tuesday.  We were in the car by 8:45, and home just before 9:30.  The drive home through the pitch black, moonless night was interesting, but we had no wildlife sightings......nothing like an uneventful drive home!  There is always the risk of encountering a random elk, or mule deer on the highway.

In closing I received a Facebook message from a college friend who remains, to this day, one of my best friends.  He asked where were were, and said he and his wife missed us.  We haven't been able to see them for a few years now....the last time we were in their area two years ago they were on the east coast so we weren't able to hook up.  They have a large piece of property on Whidbey Island in Washington State and have a permanent 30 amp hookup for us when we are there.  At any rate I hadn't talked with him in a few months, and had been thinking about him for a few days so I called.  We talked for nearly an hour, and ended our conversation as we most often do laughing til we almost cried.  I'm so glad I called.....if someone is on your mind, don't ignore it.....give them a call!

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Desert View - Day 13 - A great arrangement

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6:47 am - Tuesday - November 21st - Grand Canyon - 33º F, humidity 31%, wind - CALM....forecast for today is partly cloudy with a high of 61º F......I'm up later, because TLE has the 'open' shift today.....I report at 12 pm for the 'close' shift.....wish I could have slept in longer.

One of the most common questions I am asked each day is "Is there some place I can get some water".....typically I am standing at my register with my back to the rear of the store.....right behind me, in direct eyesight with no obstructions is the Water Station sign......

.....which can be seen as soon as you enter the store.  When I turn around and point they begin to apologize immediately.  It's no big deal, but I find it humorous.....sometimes we can't see what is right in front of us because we don't expect to find that for which we a looking so easily. Our minds seem to want to make most things more complicated than they really are.

On Monday I had the 'open' shift, and after completing my 1/2 mile walk through the juniper forest, arrived at the General Store at 7:24 am, punched the clock and then began my 5 hour work shift.  Nothing really interesting to report about the day......things were so slow that by the time TLE arrived to relieve me I had accumulated just $100 in cash receipts.....I'm sure I had 3-4 times that in credit card receipts, cash receipts is how I judge how busy I was.......on a weekend day I will do $300-400 in cash receipts in the same time period, which is still not being very busy.

I was home by 1 pm....usually it is earlier, but I spent about 15 minutes talking with Jonathan (custodian) who is an avid mountain biker like I used to be.  As was the case back when I still lived in a 'sticks and bricks' home and had a garage full of bikes of all types (recumbents, MTB's, road bikes, etc.) Jonathan is afflicted with the same 'disease'....we discussed all the various types of bikes he owns, and how he needs to thin out the herd so to speak.

I took some time to eat a small lunch TLE had prepared for me......she is so good to me....always making sure I have lunch whether she is there, or not.  Anyway, she made some 'deviled eggs' in one container, and some yogurt with strawberries in another.  I'm trying to cut down on my caloric intake again, so I can shed some more unwanted inches and pounds.  Being able to work out every day is helping me begin to shed weight again.....I've managed to lose 2.5 pounds this week and am once again marching toward my goal of 189.  You will recall that early this year I had ballooned up to 215, which is the most I have every weighed.  Over the next few months I was able to get down to 198, but stalled out after we arrived at SLT.  I was back up to almost 204 again, but am now back down to 201......12 pounds to go!

After I finished my 5th workout in as many days I thought I should take a few pictures of how I have arranged the trailer interior while we are here at Desert View.....the only way to really get a good picture is to take a selfie.....

 Here I am standing at the front of the trailer taking a selfie looking toward the rear of the trailer.....you can see my Cannondale Bad Boy on the 'trainer' to the left, then the back/situp exercise apparatus in the middle, and to its right my Intense 5.5 MTB.

 Further to the right you can see my table with all my tool bags sitting on it, then to its right the Workmate® with the bench grinder mounted on it.....I was given that Workmate® as a Christmas gift back in 1978, or '79.

 Just to the left of the door I have a battery charger for my cordless impact driver, and also mounted a fan, which I am not using a lot right now

 On the floor is my heater, which I am using a lot right now

 My screw organizer is to the left of the fan

 All of the beer coasters we have collected over the past few years

 My XM Radio receiver

 My stereo, through which I play my XM Radio on channel 107.3 FM

 My small, but more than adequate flat screen TV

 A few more tools, and my weather station.....temp, air pressure and humidity....bought this in Coos Bay, OR back in 1978 when we were on a 2 week motorhome trip

Just finished recalibrating the settings for our current location and altitude

 Everyone needs at least one street sign, right?

.......I know, I know.....I've got a lot of stuff crammed into a small space, but all that stuff gets used on a regular basis, and it makes me happy.

TLE was home by 5:40 pm......shortly thereafter we were treated to a little color to the west as the sun set on another day at Desert View......

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Desert View - Day 12 - Routine behavior

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5:45 am - Monday - November 20th - Grand Canyon - 25º F, humidity 31%, wind 2 mph out of the east....partly cloudy with a forecast high of 59º F......beginning Tuesday the highs will be back into the 60's for the next week......every day in the 60's at this time of year is a blessing.....no rain, or snow in the forecast for the next two weeks.

Sunday was another gorgeous day.....clear blue skies from horizon to horizon, no wind, and it felt quite a bit warmer than Saturday.  It was almost painful to be outside Saturday, but not so much Sunday.  I spent quite a bit of time on my blog Sunday morning describing my efforts to fix the air leak I wrote about.....I was deep in thought when I looked at the clock to see it was already 6:50 am, and I had to be on my way walking to work by 7:15 am.....I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and still hadn't finished my post, so I had to kick it into high gear.  Amazingly I was on my way walking by 7:15, but I don't like to rush around like that so today (Monday) I will endeavor to be more disciplined!

I'm beginning to like the early shift (7:30 am to 12:30 pm) except for the getting up at 5:30 am part.......obviously, it is still dark at that time, and it goes without saying I prefer to wake up with the sun coming in the bedroom windows.  What I do like is getting home before 1 pm every work day.....I have the whole afternoon ahead of me to do as much, or as little as I wish.

Sunday at the General Store began slowly, which is typical of most mornings this time of year.  After counting in my cash drawer, and doing the required morning duties of a cashier (check cooler/freezer temps, turn on lights, sweep if necessary, clean glass if necessary, etc.) I spent about an hour 'merchandising'.  I've used that term a few times since we arrived here at Desert View and it occurs to me some may not know what I mean.  Basically, merchandising means going around the store and straightening the product on the shelves, pulling product forward on hooks, or on the shelves, checking tags to be sure the product under the tag reflects what is on the tag, etc.  It also involves straightening up all the t-shirts/sweatshirts on hangars to make sure they are hanging straight, and refolding the same if they are on the shelves, or re-zipping the zippers if they have been left down by customers.  There are typically only two of us on the floor first thing in the morning......a cashier (moi), and whoever is on duty in the Deli, so it is very quiet until customers begin to grace our store.

Once we begin to get customers in the store then I stay closer to my register, and when things get slow go back to merchandising in the areas closer to my station.  I enjoy talking and joking with the customers......most are talkative and excited about being at the GC, but there are always some who wish to interact as little a possible....they are few, and far in between.

The other thing I like about the 'open' shift is that it seems to go by much more quickly for me than the 'close' shift.....TLE seems to like the 'close' shift so far.  The afternoon shift does tend to be the busiest with many more customers frequenting the General Store after 12 pm.  So far I walk to and from work, and TLE uses the car, but no doubt the time will come when inclement weather will dictate less walking, and more driving for both of us.

TLE arrived for duty about 11:55 am, and by 12:40 I was on my way home for the afternoon.....

Walking home from work Sunday

......I know I have said this before, but I really like walking to and from work here, and I love the feeling of remoteness......no traffic signals, no traffic jams, and no crowds like Yellowstone.....I think we ended up in a good place for the winter.

I spent some time moving a few things around in the trailer, eventually did my workout routine about 3 pm.....this is the 5th day in a row for me, and it has been a long time since I have been able to do that.  That is the final thing I love about working 5-5.5 hour shifts.....I have time to exercise, and the older I get the more important consistent exercise is.  The more consistently I exercise the fewer aches and pains I experience, plus I sleep much better at night.  Exercise also has the benefit of releasing endorphins into your system which increases your sense of well being.

TLE was home again by 5:45 and we settled quickly into an evening of watching the final episodes of Mad Men's 7th season.  Another day lived well......ahhh, finished with my post and it is only 6:32 am......much better!

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Desert View - Day 11 - Walking on air!

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5:52 am - Sunday - November 19th - Grand Canyon - 32º F, humidity 22% (now that is low humidity!), wind 3 mph out of the south by southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 52º F.....slightly warmer than yesterday.

Saturday was my first opening, so I was up by 5:30 am sipping some java and typing my daily missive as I have done faithfully since every day since October 4, 2012 when we first arrived at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Campbellsville, KY.  I was off walking the 1/2 mile to the General Store by 7:15 am and was it cold!  Thankfully there were no clouds so the sun was on my back, and the brisk walk warmed me just enough to keep frostbite at bay.  I arrived at work by 7:25, punched the clock, pulled my cash drawer and then went about completing the opening duties I had been assigned by Ian, my floor supervisor, which include recording the temperatures of all the freezers and coolers, turning on the lights, dry mopping the floor, cleaning the glass on the front doors, and vacuuming the four doormats at the entrance.  By the time all that was done it was time to flip the OPEN/CLOSED sign to 'OPEN', and then retreated to my register to prepare for the first customers of the day it was 8 am.

Mornings tend to be slow until about 9:30 am, but I found plenty to do to keep me busy.....from 9:30  on the business was steady, and the time seemed to move quickly.  Pretty soon it was coming up on Noon time, which meant TLE would be walking through the door any minute to trade places with moi.  I was beginning to think about an afternoon filled with NCAA College Football, and just maybe dong a little repair work on my erstwhile air system.

As I wrote here I discovered that I had a serious air leak in the rear air valve sixpack......these six valves control the 'ride height' when we are under way, and also control the raising and lowering of the rear of the coach when we are stationary and need level the coach.  I discovered that the regulator/filter fixture was leaking out 10 psi of air every 60 seconds when the engine was not running.  Apparently the air compressor was able to overcome the air leak when we were underway, but within minutes of turning off the engine I would lose all air pressure, which would mean I would have to wait a few minutes every time I started the Newell for the air pressure to build up again before I could roll.

Anyway, I had found a new regulator/filter module on eBay a few weeks ago, and it finally caught up with me here at the GC*.  It was a used unit, but was warranted to be in operating condition.  I've never taken this thing apart before and really did not know how to dismantle it so I decided to practice on the 'new' one.  This was when I discovered the internal plastic guts of the 'new' regulator/filter were broken.......

........as you will note in the picture below, there is a metal cage over the glass bowl that must be removed.....I had planned to reuse the metal cage on the 'new' used regulator/filter module, and already knew how to remove it.  When I removed the glass bowl from thew 'new' used module the plastic piece in the above photo fell out.....that shouldn't happen.  It should be attached to the plastic piece on the left....there was no way to successfully glue it back......doh!  Well, I decided to remove the cage from the existing regulator/filter to see if I could use some of the parts from the 'new' used one to fix the existing one.....this is when I found out what the problem causing the existing one to leak. First of all the bowl was not screwed on tight to seal against the internal rubber gasket, and then I discovered that the petcock valve had given up the ghost and was also leaking air.  Okay, this is easy, and, contrary to my usual experience, it was quite easy.  I removed the bowl from the existing regulator/filter, and then removed the old petcock valve, then I removed the petcock valve from the 'new' used module.  Before reinstalling the petcock valve I cleaned up the bowl so I could actually see inside when needed to see if there was any water which needed to be drained.  Once the replacement petcock valve was installed I reassembled the entire module snugging up the bowl in the process.  I then started the engine to air up the coach.....it took about 10 minutes to build pressure, but then I finally reached 120 psi I shut off the 6v92 and walked back to the engine bay to see if I had solved the air leak problem.....I fully expected to hear that disconcerting hissing sound as air quickly escaped from my system, but guess what?  All I heard was the sound of silence.  The pressure gauge on the module held steady at 120 psi......is that possible?  That is not the Hockwald way!

The reassembled regulator/filter module air pressure gauge holding steady at 120 psi!

As I sit here composing I am still stunned that the fix was that easy....the air pressure overnight is still holding strong at 120 psi.  We have been living with this air leak getting steadily worse for at least a year, and now in the space of a couple of hours it is fixed, and now I know a lot more about my air system than I did a day ago.

Once I had cleaned up, and put everything away I got dressed to do my daily workout, and by 4:30 I was done.  TLE had asked me to grill a steak we had bought a few days ago, so I lit the Sea-B-Que, got out a cigar and some Tillamore Dew Irish Whiskey on rocks and celebrated my successful fix of our leaking air system......

 It was cold last night!

TLE was home by 5:40 and I was sharing my success with her.  We spent the evening watching the annual USC vs. UCLA game played this year in the L.A. Coliseum which was won by USC 28-23.....it was a good day!

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* GC = Grand Canyon

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Desert View - Day 10 - Alone time?

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5:47 am - Saturday - November 18th - Grand Canyon - 29º F (feels like 20º), humidity 48%, wind 10 mph out of the east by southeast.....feels - CALM to me.....cloudless skies with a million stars still out right now......just beautiful! Forecast high for today is 46º F......brrrrr!

At first I didn't cotton to the idea that TLE and I would be working opposite shifts each day, but now we are both beginning to like having a few hours to ourselves a few days a week, plus the 5-5.5 hour work days mean we each will have time at the beginning, or at the end of each work day to do our workouts on a more consistent basis.

We awoke to a cold, blustery Friday, and the wind remained with us all day and most of the night.  The wind was coming from the northwest and that means it is blowing directly into our water heater vent, which further means that the pilot light blows out occasionally, which tends to be kind of irritating.....especially when you go to take a shower and all you are getting is cold water.....wait, what?  I had a cardboard box in the trailer which TLE wanted to save, and I'm glad she did......I fashioned a sort of windshield for the water heater vent, which has worked well.  Without the shield the pilot light would blow out every 10 minutes.....with it the pilot light was only extinguished once in the last 24 hours. 

TLE was off to work at 7:20 am (in the Beetle again) while I remained behind.  I read my Kindle for a while (I'm on the 7th, and final installment of the Dark Tower series), then went out to the trailer to do my daily (hopefully it will be daily......I need better resolve) workout, and was done 40 minutes later.  I read some more while I cooled down from the workout, then took a shower.  Soon it was time for a small lunch (a single slice of the leftover pizza from Wednesday) before I headed off to work to relieve TLE at the checkout station.

I really enjoy the 1/2 mile walk to work, and am so grateful I can walk to work again.....the trail we take feels like we are 100 miles from anywhere as it winds in and around the juniper trees which are ubiquitous here at Desert View.  I arrived at the store after a brisk 10 minute walk, pulled my cash drawer and was on station by 12:10 pm.....TLE then left to count down her drawer and head home for her alone time.

The afternoon shift was quite pleasant with just enough customers to keep me steadily busy, but I did have time on occasion to do a little merchandising, and restocking of some shelves near my work station.  Just as I was pulling my cash drawer I glanced outside to see this spectacular sunset in progress, so I went outside to try and capture its majesty.......

 The 'pano' setting just does not capture the color

.......I went back inside to turn off all the cooler lights, the store lights, take the final cooler temperatures of the day, and then count down my cash drawer.....I was out the door and on my walk home by 5:35.......I've taken to wearing my Teka headlamp on my walks home, and I'm sure as we approach the winter solstice when the daylight portion of the day will be its shortest I'll really be glad I have it.  

I arrived home about 5:45 to find TLE reading and commenting on how much she enjoyed her alone time......life is good!

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