Tucson

It has been a while since I have posted. A lot has happened in the past year.

We left Illinois last August and headed to Shedd Oregon to fulfill our hosting commitment at Thompson Mills State Heritage site. It was very enjoyable and will definitely do it again!

In November we headed to Tucson to spend the winter. This would be our first winter in the 5th wheel we had purchased and placed on the site.

We really loved the spaciousness of the 5th wheel! Plenty of inside storage, not so much outside storage!

So we settled into our routine here in Tucson. Visiting, hiking, shopping etc! Until January 7th, when I bought a 

recumbent tricycle! This began a wonderful experience in bicycling! I have never ridden so far in one day than I have on this recumbent! So far my longest ride is 60 miles! Yesterday I completed 2008 miles! This is where I would be if I had ridden the trike to Oregon!

It is the most enjoyable bike riding I have ever done! No butt, back or shoulder hurt! I can cruise along enjoying the scenery and wildlife or I can zoom along as fast as I can pedal! I prefer the slower pace, you see, hear and smell so much more and it is relaxing. 

The best benefit of riding is the health aspect. Since riding, I have lost about 10#s, but the best benefit has been my A1c number. I am a type 2 diabetic. When I arrived in Tucson in November, my A1c was 8.5 (should be below 7) It was a stressful year and I did not eat well like i should have done. By February it had dropped to 6.9. I started using a supplement called Curalin, after each meal. I had felt like my medicine metformin was not really doing anything. I began to see results right away. So I slowly weaned my self off of the metformin and the results continued to show lower numbers on my daily testing! Then I got a recumbent trike! I started slow 3-5 miles a day and finally worked up to 18 to 20 miles a day. My numbers continued to drop! I had never seen my daily numbers drom to double digits! In Qpril I did a home test for my A1c and it came out to 5.2! Well below and in the non diabetic range! Today I am projected to be in the 6.2 range. (I have aa app on my phone) I am continuing by daily rides and try to average 25 mies a day! BTW I also got Loretta one too and she is working her way up to longer distances after her thumb surgery!

Some not so good news! Our hosting positions in Oregon have been cancelled! Our motor home is in Oregon! It is being stored at an inside facility. so rather than head to Oregon we decided to take a hiatus from traveling and stay here in Tucson for the summer. I have said in the past”sure would like to experience the monsoon season” Well we will now! We will take short trips in the pickup and go to the mountains to cool off now and then.

Speaking of the truck! We bought a topper to put on to protect our trikes as we travel! I also purchased a tent that goes over the topper and connects to the tailgate along with an air mattress that fits my truck bed. We thought we would use it as we travel back and forth instead of staying in motels!

That brings us up to date. I am going to try and update how our summer is going at least once a week, but you all know how that goes. Here is my first report.

This past week has been in the 90’s, but beginning today and for the next few days will be in the triple digits up to 106! Now you know why I ride at 5 AM! Staying inside mostly after 10 am and then when it cools done and the sun is lower in the sky, we usually take a cruise around the park. The pool has opened back up, so that is an option we may do.

Well that’s it, see ya next week!