China Mountain - Late-breaking News

This just in from Northeast Nevada. SNOW on China Mountain.

China Mountain is at the south end of The Granites. The Granites are about 15 miles south of the Idaho-Nevada border on the east side of highway 93.

Maybe this is the year to check out Chiang Mai.

One Month in Albuquerque As of Today

Just to keep track...

Michelle was in so much pain from the sciatica we went --  Sunday -- to an Urgent Care Center where the P.A. prescribed flexeril. It wasn' until she was (supposedly) overdosing on it at 20 milligrams that she finally felt some relief.

Monday afternoon Dr. Chee (Navajo at UNMH) prescribed Tramadol and ordered x-rays which we got that afternoon. The x-rays showed nothing amiss.

Tuesday we met with Dr. Purcaro, chiropractor & Shiatsu master whose one-hour (generously extended) treatment didn't help.

Today, Wednesday, now having taken the Tramadol as prescribed for two days, we have learned that it does nothing -- at least when taken as prescribed.

The packet of info about sciatica and Piriformis syndrome (similar to sciatica) -- with included DVD -- arrived today in the mail. The company also sells supplements.

When I left Michelle to attend to some errands of my own, she had to resume driving herself to her cat-sitting appointments. She immediately realized her pain was a direct result of the 2015 Honda FIT's seat.

This evening Karen called and said her sister Kay, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday, had a small stroke and lost use of her right leg. She'll be in a rehab facility for two weeks. Hopefully, by then she'll have recovered enough to come/go home.

Karen and her son Robin had driven over -- from Nevada -- to celebrate Kay's birthday so were there to help her to the E.R. in Eureka (she was unable to get out of bed by herself).

Tomorrow I meet with Jean Dominguez, a Shamaness in Rio Rancho.

Contact

Her Mom taught school here in the '40s and her Dad worked for the Highway Dept. Other family members had businesses, mining claims and homes. Now there are maybe eight people, a dog and some cats.

A plaque on the highway offers a little history, but a fire in 2005 took out most of the remaining buildings. The firefighters managed to save Uncle Lester's old homestead but there's no evidence it was near the center of town. Her surviving aunt lives up by the spring.

Tabletop Mountain, an iconic marker, is visible for miles.

As of September 2022, we're no longer friends.

Ruby Mountains Wilderness, Nevada

Reconciliation and the Ruby Mountains

After a harsh exchange, she'd hung up on me. We'd been through it before so I figured I'd wait a few days before deleting her phone number. Still, it was a surprise when she called two days later.

We celebrated our sixth anniversary this year and although we've had some rough spots (in addition to German, she's part Dutch), we've continued to be highly enamored of each other.

So, after getting supplied in Elko, we set out to explore the Ruby Mountains. It is beautiful country with small creeks and streams coming down from nearly every crotch. But contrary to what many Elko-area websites seem to suggest, access is extremely limited. Although the entire central portion of the range is National Forest, the northern two-thirds is fronted by private property and there are only three access roads on the West side. After going where we could, we moved to the east side and spent several days there.

Independents that we are, six days was enough. She headed south to scout for further access; I'm heading NW for a while.

Waiting at Mineral

We agreed to meet at Mineral. She uses maps; I use a Garmin GPS. I was born with a phone in my hand; she avoids phones like the plague.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see her incoming call at 10:00 a.m. Wondering where I was, I said I was at Mineral. She said I couldn't be because she was at Mineral.

An early riser, she moved the mile north to Mineral "North." There's absolutely nothing at either location, except, of course, the beautiful landscape. But no hint of a town.

But after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus in our relationship, it was wonderful to finally be together again.


Waiting.....

A family tradition....five o'clock martini. (Going incognito.)

Ralph

He'd been ignoring the diabetes for some time. Karen heard the loud thud as he lost consciousness and crashed to the floor. Later, when she'd had time to think about it, she felt he died then. But the Emergency Medical Folks resuscitated him enough to get him on life support. Though he never regained consciousness, he stayed "alive" two more days, long enough for his relatives to come say goodbye.

Officially, he died on the 18th.