Our last full day. We had a nice, relaxing day.

After coffee, I started doing some orchestra business and Scott went off for his last hot tub. When he got back, we started on the puzzle. We worked on it the whole day. At one point, I went to eat some yogurt and Scott kept going.

It turned out to be a super hard puzzle. Plus, it is a little hard to see in the sun and work with the pieces cramped together. We're going to bring the Clam next year.

In the afternoon, the wind started to kick up and we were going to have to put it away. But we brought it inside and worked some more. I kept going while Scott went for an oil change. 

We had a great day. 

After coffee, Scott went down to the fire-pit chairs to read. He ended up finishing the last of the eight books of the history series and then he finished the Charles Murray book he's been reading, and then he started another. I practiced.

When he got back, we went for another bike ride on our same route. It was in the 80s and sunny by the time we got there. It was beautiful. Maybe we should have rested for a day, because this ride seemed a bit harder on account of my legs being fried. We did make it the whole way though and it didn't seem to take us any longer, except that I just couldn't make it up the final hill 75 feet before the road that ends the part of the trail we ride. 

The ride back was nice.

When we got back, we took showers. Then Scott read while I uploaded videos for my teacher. Then we went to the KOA restaurant for dinner! It's my birthday present!

During dinner, Thome called me for my birthday, and we had a nice chat. After dinner, we took a short walk around the KOA and Thomas called me for my birthday, and we had a nice chat. A great birthday.

When we got back to the camper, we played cards, just one game of gin rummy. We were both super tired so we went to bed and turned on a movie. Scott was out in 5 minutes. I kept asking him "Are you awake?" and he lied and said "yes." But then I was like, I'm watching this movie by myself (and I've already seen it), so I switched to Would I Lie to You? and then I fell asleep too.

We had a great day.

After coffee and breakfast, Scott did some work on the camper (putting latches on some doors that didn't have them and painting over where he took off speakers) and I put finishing touches on the concert program and sent it off for review. 

Then we went for a bike ride! Went did the same part of the Loop in the Oro Valley, starting at the Sportsman Warehouse. We have it down now.

It was beautiful. Over 80 and sunny with a steady breeze to keep us cool. We took it easy, and it took us 1.5 hours to make it to the end of the trail where it stops at the road and about an hour to ride back. The ride back was super pleasant and it felt mostly downhill this time. There were a lot of people on the trail for a Monday! But still it didn't feel crowded. Just popular.

This time Scott stopped to take some photos of the pretty foliage we see along the trail.

After that, it was the usual wind down: cards, NYT puzzles, Would I Lie to You? (Scott was asleep in 2 minutes), and then eventually I drifted off.

We had a very nice day. It was sunny and warm all day. Scott slept upright in bed again, not the most comfortable, but he must do it to keep his back from spasming and he gets to stay warm.

After coffee, we went for a quick ride around the KOA. Then we went to mass at a different church. This one was in the Oro Valley where our bike path is, so a 30-minute drive. Still, it was worth it. The drive was pleasant, and the church and the service were very nice.

Then we went for a short walk around the KOA. When we got back, we played gin rummy again. Scott went off to take a shower, then we played more cards, then we did NYT's puzzles, and then we watched YouTubes but both of us fell asleep pretty quickly.

We had another nice day. It got a little warmer, thankfully, and it was sunny.

 Scott's back did well with him sleeping upright in bed. And he stayed warm.

We had coffee, and he went off to read while I computered. When he got back,  we went for a bike ride around the campground. It was very pleasant, sunny and warm.

The mountains around Tucson are actually really beautiful. I don't know why I don't appreciate them more often. Maybe it's the part of town we're in. It's kind of run down. So my eyes are always drawn to the disheveled and disorganized look of the view along the road. 

But Tucson sits in the midst of ring of mountain ranges, some of them pretty high. We have some right out of the back of our campsite, and they are beautiful, but the view is blocked by a lot of unsightly junk. Yesterday, there was snow on one.

And then I made dinner. Tacos! Delish.

After that we played cards, Scott went for a hot tub (which lasted 2 minutes because so many people came after him) and took a shower, we played more cards, we lay down and played NYT's puzzles, we watched old Would I Lie to You?s, and then we went to sleep. Scott slept upright again.

We had a good day. Scott had a good sleep in his truck. He got cold but his back felt good when he got up.

We had coffee, I made Scott breakfast, and then he went off to read while I had my lesson.

When he got back we decided to head out and buy a new battery. I had been asking ChatGPT about our furnace situation, and it had recommended a new battery. Ours is the original one, so 7 years old, which is way past the lifespan of an RV battery. ChatGPT put the odds of our furnace problem being the battery at 80%, the sail switch at 15%, and other issues at 5 %. I wonder if you can tell where this is going. Our thermostat is also on the brink of failure, so we decided to get one of those, too.

We got the battery at Camping World. It's very close to the KOA. There are about 5 RV sales and repair places around here. Odd because there seem to be no other RV parks.

Camping World did not have our thermostat, so we went to Mesa RV. They were very nice, but they didn't have it either. They recommended we try Oasis RV. They were super nice and they had it. Then we made a Walmart run for groceries.

When we got back, Scott put in the battery and the thermostat.

Then we tried the furnace, and it worked! After 30 minutes or so, I tried it again, and it worked! But stay tuned.

The rest of the day was typical. We had planned to start another puzzle, but I'd forgotten to get a new surface at Walmart. So Scott read in the Adirondack chairs, I practiced and computered, and in the evening I went for a bike ride by myself. I saw three new license plates: Quebec, Nevada, and North Carolina. I had a lot of fun looking at all the Airstreams, too. There are so many here. There are a lot of Flying Clouds and Classics. There are a couple Globetrotters. There are two Caravels, but they are quite different sizes. And there is one Bambi.

​When I came back, I made a nice dinner. Hamburgers again. I made dinner on the Blackstone. I really like it, mainly because the surface is big and it gets pretty hot.

Then we played cards. 

After that, we did NYT's puzzles. Then Scott prepared for a warmer night in the truck. He unplugged the electric heater, and went to turn on the furnace for the RV. Nope. Not working. Tried it again. Nope.

In the end, he propped himself up in the RV bed. But it turned out good. He slept well and stayed warm.

We had a nice day. Scott's back was better, and he babied it all day. The temperature started off quite cold but warmed up quickly.

He went off early to sit in more comfortable chairs by the pool. He texted me soon to say the hot tub felt great. So I got ready, and by the time I headed out, it was sunny and a lot warmer.  We stayed for a long time.

I did laundry and then took a shower. Then I went back and practiced. He went to his favorite Adirondack chairs by the fire pits and read.  He loves them so much he intends to make some when he gets back home using one as a model. 

We're in a spiral of ever-slowing activity and changing expectations for this vacation.

Yesterday, Scott read all day in various spots. It was rather chilly. It got up to maybe 65, but it was windy, and clouds would continually block the sun throughout the day. I worked on orchestra business until about 4:30. Then I practiced. Here's the only picture I have from the day, a scary slice of me practicing. (I'm recording for my teacher.)

It's still nice to be on vacation, but it's a very different kind of vacation this time around.

Today not much happened. It was pretty chilly, under 60 all day and rainy off and on.

​Scott's back flared up, so outside of driving me to the grocery, he read all day in a few different spots trying to stay comfortable and occupied. He finished his sixth book and started another. They're from a series of history books by Dominic Sandbrook that he got for this trip. I worked on orchestra stuff and practiced.

We saw a new bird. I've picked it up on Merlin and I think I saw one on our last bike ride, but today he stopped at our campsite long enough for us to get our cameras out and snap pics. Abert's towhee. ​

That didn't turn out too well. It's a pretty little bird. Here's one Scott took and a pic from the internet.

We did go to Walmart for supplies. I made cheeseburgers on the Blackstone with peppers and mushrooms and they were delicious. Then we played cards. Scott was creaming me at gin rummy so I couldn't enjoy it so he played a game of Poison with me.

Then he fixed himself a bed on the floor. He thought it would help his back. It was a rough night.

Another low-key day.

Along with coffee I started updating the orchestra flyer I created. Scott headed out to Home Depot to get a back brace.

When he got back, he read while I continued to work. A little later, we started a new puzzle.

While it looks easy and even fun, it's actually awful. It's like that bird puzzle we did: super challenging with its irregularly shaped pieces, some of which are tiny, and lots of similar colors and even a fair number of perfectly white pieces.

We worked until the wind picked up and threatened to blow everything off the table. We didn't get too far.

But no worries. We will never have to look at it again. It rained all night and all morning long. The puzzle got soaked and surely can't be saved.

After working on the puzzle, Scott made a fire and read for a while. Then he went on his weekly conference call. I practiced the whole time. 

After that we had dinner and showers. Then we played cards, did NYT's puzzles, watched Would I Lie to You? and fell asleep.