Mike Breiding's Epic Road Trips: 2025

Farewell to April and May: 2025

Greetings ERTers!
Well, here it is June already. I arrived back in Morgantown on April 2nd, Betsy on April the 20th.

More than one person has asked me: "Why do you leave Tucson so early? Isn't it cold, wet, gloomy, and all wintry looking when you get back to West Virginia?" That question is the same as my answer. I would not want to miss that time when it is not quite winter and not quite spring and the naked trees start that first flush of green.
I admit I will sometimes get a bit gloomy myself when there is day after day of rain and temperatures in the 40s, but hearing the first call of the Phoebe and seeing a Towhee flit around in the bushes while calling "Drink your tea" drives that gloom away like a spring tonic. A further lifting of the spirits is enjoyed by seeing the first fiddleheads emerge and the cutting of daffodil flowers for a splash of color when the sun does not quite penetrate the low, dark clouds.
But the darkest days for me during that period of hope and resurrection are going from room to room, turning each corner and passing by each chair and not seeing my Betsy.
But, as I have said before, with phone calls, texts and emails it is almost like we are not apart. Almost...

What follows below is a hodge-podge, a mish mash of what went on in April and May.

While I was in Morgantown basking in the glory of another sunless day, Betsy was In Tucson soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the colors in our yard. She sent a few photos for my enjoyment.

When we bought our 1978 single-wide "cando-minium" the place looked pretty stark. So I set about planting as many native and desert adapted plants as I could stuff into the skimpy planting areas around what we call "Rancho Relaxo.

The tree in the background with the green bark and yellow flowers is palo verde "Desert Museum". It is a hybrid developed by the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. The parents include the native blue and foot hill palo verde and the Mexican palo verde. It is fast growing, thornless with silky smooth bark.

Just a few days prior to my departure from Tucson I led the last hike of the season. Normally, I would say "we"—Betsy and I. But, with her leg trussed up and in a knee brace she was not doing any hiking.
This shot was taken on Wasson Peak, the highest summit (4600') in the Tucson Mountains. The hike, one of our favorites, is 8.0 miles - out and back with a total elevation gain of 1700'.

After the hike to Wasson Peak I arrived back at the Rancho Relaxo to witness something I had never seen before, two butterflies copulating. They were engrossed in what they were doing and paid me no mind as I snapped away. Betsy identified these beauties as Giant Swallowtails.

Just a few days later, my true blue friend Tom Pue picked me up at the Pittsburgh airport and got me safely back to Cabin  № 18 in Morgantown. I arrived home to no heat and no water and no electricity, just how Tom and I left the place after winterizing it.
The electric and heat were on in no time. The water would wait until morning.

Just as with the opening and closing of Rancho Relaxo in Tucson, which Betsy takes care of, there is always a list of things to do at Cabin  № 18 in Morgantown. Those include flushing the water lines to evacuate the anti-freeze, yard clean-up, gutter cleaning, etc. This year I had a surprise chore which 2 months later is still not quite finished. And, a special add-on chore, one that Betsy had on the "Honey-do" list for several year.

While I was contemplating the Big Chore on Betsy's Honey-do list she was still out in Tucson getting jolly were her buds.

Ah, at last! The Big Chore! I dreaded this job. I knew it would be noisy, messy, tedious and boring. But the results were worth it - no more slippery black slime on the deck boards. Finally! Trusty Tom loaned me his power washer for the job, but did not offer to help. That Tom, he ain't no dummy!

Another of the "chores" I had been contemplating over the winter was going through the items I brought back to the house from my sister Suzi's place.
Around October 22nd 2024, Suzi was taken to the ER, hospitalized and then to hospice.
I left for Tucson on November 1st. On December the 10th I heard from my brother Sutton letting me know Suzi had passed away peacefully.

San Francisco - 1969

Suzi, Mom and the inimitable Bobby Miller. I love that joyful, carefree smile of Suzi's.
Bobby stayed with us at 2381 Bush Street for her "coming - of - age - year living with the Breidings." Bobby and Suzi remained friends and were pen pals from 1970 until 2024 - 54 years.

Brother Sutton comforts Suzi during her final days.

Printed by American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., New York - 1962

This book was among many at Suzi's abode. Our mom taught us to read and love books. There was no one out of the 6 Breiding kids who did not have their own library.

This medallion was in the back of the Winnie the Pooh book. It may have come from the original Paul Elder & Company Books.

On 3 October 1968, Paul Jr announced the sale of Paul Elder & Company to Brentano’s. "My wife Eloise and I have been working too hard, too long," he told The San Francisco Chronicle the next day: ...more

At Betsy's urging I gathered up some of Suzi's clothes and stored them at our house over the winter. At that time it was not known if she would ever have need of them again.

As kids we all loved nature and the Luna moth was a most precious and beautiful moth to us. Was this Suzi's or Mom's? Unknown. Now it is Betsy's to enjoy.
For now, let us say farewell to Suzi.

A few days after I returned to Morgantown our neighbor Marion got in touch and wanted to know if I would like to come to dinner. Would I ever! Marion loves to cook and we have had more than one delicious meal with her, and often family and friends.
Tonight's tasty dinner was a Dutch oven cooked pot roast with veggies. What a treat!

Soon after I had an email from John and Petra about meeting them for a hike and having dinner afterwards. Following the hike and meal was a sit down to watch some "Norwegian TV" as Petra calls it.

Over the years I have spent many enjoyable hours in this rocker with the "TV" turned to the Norwegian channel.

This sure beats watching the Boob Tube!

When Betsy arrived home on April 20th the woods were just starting to green up. Betsy had now recovered from her knee injury to the point where we could take one of our favorite rail-trail walks. The walk is 4.5 miles and it was the most she had walked since her injury in early February. HooRay!!!!

The rains had made for some nice waterfalls along the rail-trail.
This one is named for Bill Foster, a local cyclist who did not survive COVID. We miss you, Bill!

Below are our April and May calendar pages. All the orange highlights are medical appointments. Are we getting old? The red circles are rain amounts and the blue highlights denote bike rides. The numbers in the upper right corners are the low temps and the lower right are the distances for our walks/hikes/bikes. Isn't this information incredibly interesting!!??

There was plenty of rain in April and May.

The rain did not stop us from getting out.

Rain!? Rain!? We laugh at the rain!

Mud!? Mud!? We laugh at the mud!

For some, the more rain the better. This red eft is one of them.

The ferns have been luxuriant and vigorous thanks to all the rain.

These baby ducks and Mama Mallard were surely enjoying all the rain.

Mushrooms gotta have rain as well. We found this single morel along the rail-trail and left it for others to enjoy.

An unexpected treat on one of our rail-trail walks was not one, but two box turtles.

The multaflora rose was busting out all over with blossoms. Although it is an invasive non-native, the perfume of the flowers is heavenly.

We seldom have house guests and we got lucky when John and Claire of Tucson AZ told us they wanted to visit us "up the holler". Like most of the people we have met in Tucson, we met John and Claire on one of our hikes. John is a retired geologist and he and Claire ran "Artistry in Glass" in Tucson from 1999 to 2025.
Now they are retired and touring the country in their pick-up/slide-in camper combo. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and showing them around Morgantown.

Meet Becky and Tom. Some of you already have. They live in a truly "Almost Heaven", off the grid homestead about an hour and half south of us. We love visiting them, we are treated like royalty and we get to sit on their porch and walk in their woods.
The rock shelf in the back was named "Indian Rock" by their daughter Claire. She would sit under that overhang and imagine Indian hunters sheltering there.

As a kid my brothers and I had "The Boys Secret Hideout" - a private place down along the creek that went by our house in Oglebay Park. My sisters, not surprisingly, had their own "Girls Secret Hideout".

Last May, Claire helped us plan our trip to Hocking Hills OH.

Over several years Becky and Tom have given us numerous clumps of daffodils—these are some of them.

The fern garden at Cabin  № 18. The hay-scented fern in front of the door came from Tom and Becky's place as well.

Not far from the Little Falls trail head, where we often start our walks, is a natural area called Tom's Run Preserve. Is is managed by the West Virginia Land Trust. There is a short trail back to a waterfall. After many years of passing it by we decided to have a look.

The recent rains made for quite a beautiful cascade.

Betsy and I have volunteered to put up 20 creek signs on all of the Mon River and Deckers Creek rail-trail bridges that span named creeks. Now, maybe I will remember the names.

S P L A T ! !

We have all seen bird doo-doo, right? But most of us have not seen anything like this. It is courtesy of a great-blue heron. I have seen them drop this load in flight and indeed it does make a SPLAT.

Cabin  № 18 is up on a hilltop above Morgantown and has a view of the downtown area, Westover and the Evansdale Campus of WVU. But not today. At times we have seen it so foggy/misty the neighbor's house is barely discernible.

Our Happy Hour Station on the deck has made for nice cloud watching.

Ugh. On April the 4th I came back from a walk to find the basement flooded. The culprit - a failed French drain. This mess is still ongoing and has pushed me to both my physical and mental limits.

Meet Barb Pavlovic. She will be celebrating her 97th birthday on June 18, 2025.

Back in the late 1970's I got involved in the Mountaineer Chapter of the Audubon Society. Involved to the point where at one time I was both chapter president and the editor of the newsletter. I met a lot of interesting and like minded people during that time as did Betsy when she moved to Morgantown as my bride to be.

Barb, along with husband Art and daughter Paula were an important part of our lives for many years. There were many dinners, outings, parties and quilts shared by all and we had many fun times together. Sadly, Art died on February 22nd, 2024. He was 98 years old.
Barb is now living in a care facility where I stopped in for a visit. I am happy to report she is as feisty and outspoken as ever.

Wanna go for an airplane ride? Well, if you want to go with this guy you better stop by the bank first. Dave is a pilot for NetJets who provide personal transportation to the Rich and Famous. No kidding - I am not joking. "NetJets programs start at $215,000 for a jet card with 275 days of annual access..." If you are ready to book your ride, you can find out more here.
Dave, who is based in the Tucson area, flew into North Central West Virginia Airport near Clarksburg WV, about an hour south of Morgantown. He flew in last year as well. He had no passengers either time and as I remember it he was in WV for refueling and then off again to deliver the plane to another location. I think I got that right, but I am not sure.

Unlike most people we've met in Tucson, we did not meet Dave hiking. We met him on top of Bob's Lofty Perch just a few streets down from the Ranch Relaxo. Bob is a pilot also, now retired. He and Dave were both bush pilots in Alaska.

What is spring time without violets? I saw these beauties along the newly opened Cheat River Rail-Trail. I was invited to attend the official ribbon cutting because I was a "legacy Preston County Rail-Trail Committee volunteer". That was probably 25-30 years ago.

One day, while Betsy and I were walking the downtown area of Morgantown we noticed this new storefront. Previously, there were some interesting and informative pasters in window.

"The Retail Lab is a student-run fashion, art, and design consignment store providing experiential learning in creative enterprise and sustainability."

We went in and talked to the woman who was the manager and had a look around. She was sorting and displaying "vintage" clothing that would be soon offered for sale. I think some of this project was in response to the "fast fashion" industry. "Fast fashion" is the production of large quantities of clothes that are disposable.
But that's OK - ya gotta look good!

It is not often I include something as mundane as cars in my ERT posts, but this one deserved a mention. The RAV4 above (Color: "Hot Lava") was until recently, owned by Margo Stilwell Harris. We are now the proud owners of "The Ravenator", as we call it. And as of this coming October its new home will be the Rancho Relaxo in Tucson.

I first met Margo in 1973 or there abouts. Margo opened "Stilwell Book Shop" in Morgantown in 1973. Being the bibliophile I am, I would naturally have made my way to her shop when I moved from Green Bank WV to Morgantown. Sometime during the 1980s I started working at the shop part time. I did not work for money. I was paid in "credit" at an agreed upon hourly rate. This credit could then be used to buy books at the wholesale price. Talk about a bibliophile's dream come true!
She passed on ownership of the shop in 1990 and downtown Morgantown has never been the same without her.

Since 1990 Margo has moved around a bit. Now she has arrived at her final resting place - Morgantown. Full circle...
Once in a while Margo, Tom, Betsy and I get together for hot dogs and beer at Gene's Beer Garden in the Greenmont neighborhood of Morgantown. Gene's is just a few blocks from where Betsy and I first set up housekeeping as newlyweds.

Please join me in a toast: To Margo! To Betsy! To Tom! To Books! Amen...

~FINIS

See you next time...
Mike and Betsy

 

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