Enrollment Day

No, we're not enrolling in school. Today was the day appointed for us to talk to a representative of the company that Northrop Grumman chose to handle transitioning its retirees from the group plans the company offered to regular Medigap plus Part D Prescription Drugs or to Medicare Advantage programs. And yes, this process was about as much fun as a toothache. We hope we've jumped through all the right hoops.

We did some of our to-do's today: took my bike to Bicycle Vibe for repairs, got a haircut (Ken stayed in the truck with his smartphone), started the process of getting our prescription refills, did some grocery shopping, and did our laundry. We found out that Trek recently acquired Electra Bicycles, which is what we have.

This morning we went for an early walk, before the desert heated up too much. We walked along a nature trail with some interesting labeled plants. Most of them were actually alive and where they were supposed to be. We're told that the palo verde trees around here grow like weeds, and we know that they have thorns (ouch!). We saw some in bloom today, with yellow blossoms carpeting the ground beneath them, really lovely. Turns out it's the Arizona state tree.

Bunny rabbits must propagate like, um, rabbits around here. We've seen lots and lots of them! We've also seen some ground feeding birds that looked like quail. Fortunately we haven't seen any of the rattlesnakes and scorpions that signs warn about, encouraging hikers to stay on the trail!