Now in Prescott, AZ. Took a leisurely drive up today, but arrived too late for a yoga class (sad face emoji here), so getting some dinner at Tara Fine Thai Cuisine. Very hungry!! There is quite a crowd across the street in the Courthouse Square listening to the Prescott Idol competition. I took in a couple of acts before I surrendered to hunger.

Last night I finally made it to downtown Long Beach to the open mic at the Hellada Gallery. I got there at 7, which was when it was supposed to start, and there were only about 5 people there, including me, but as the night rolled on performers kept on showing up and it turned into quite a lively show. My favorite was Dorothy Ism. Those of you who have been around me lately know my obsession with rebuilding my feet, and Dorothy has feet to die for. They appear to be the feet of a ballet dancer and are linked inextricably with her singing. It’s really cool when the performer is so taken with the music that she begins to levitate above the floor! The people are very friendly and supportive, the sound is great, and there is a great atmosphere and some nice art always on exhibit. I highly recommend it for the performers (or wannabe performers) out there. Signup is at 6:45, and the show runs from 7-9.

Tomorrow I am planning on starting the day with some walking around Prescott, followed by the 10:45 Yoga Bliss Yin class at Sutras Om School. Afterwards more exploring, and then I will be doing more exploring. Maybe I can even find some kind of a mat Pilates class. One of the downsides of going on the road for an extended period of time is my miss my weekly Friday sessions with my core coach, Stephanie Winkler. She customizes combination of mat Pilates and barre work that has done wonders for both my core (the Pilates) and my feet (the barre). Stephanie is another key member of “John’s Team” of dedicated practitioners working to help me build a better me!

Well, here goes–my first blog entry! It is now 1:33 pm on July 1, and I am at my second coffee shop for the day, Viento y Agua in (I think) Bluff Heights. The day started with my alarm at 5 am, followed by a very uncharacteristic tapping not once, but twice, of the snooze button. Up by 5:15, followed by strong coffee, a bowl of cherries and grapes, browsing of Facebook, folding of laundry, and various bodily functions best left un-detailed.

By 6:15 I was into my morning exercise routine. This routine is based largely on exercises and stretches that I have lifted from the two sessions of Physical Therapy (God’s gift to folks like me who want to age and still function) that were targeted at rotator cuff and knee issues, plus some core building exercises and a few handstands.

That routine takes about two hours, followed by a shower. Then it was off on my bike for a short ride to Steelhead Coffee, my breakfast hangout of choice, where I ordered my customary eggs and toast accompanied by a cortado. Today was a banner day at Steelhead–I have a daily bucket list, and high on that list is this item: “Talk to a pretty girl”. Today at Steelhead I had the pleasure of chatting with not just one or two pretty girls, but five! There was Jasmine, the Yoga teacher who is singing tonight with her band Via Leaves (@vialeaves) in downtown Long Beach, Shauna the wedding photographer and her friend Chrissy who is studying to be a Speech and Language Pathologist and has one more semester of undergraduate work left, Sutton the new barista, and the lovely Freda who is considering a career change after 24 years in education.
I then got back on the bike and rode to LA Fitness (Cherry and Carson) for about an hour. Just a little bit of weight work on the machines, a few squats with 110 lbs (I competed in power lifting at one point in my life and was probably the only power lifter who could bench press more than he could squat), 20 minutes of very slow walking (0.5 mph) on a treadmill with the incline increasing to 15 degrees, and 10 minutes of focused effort on the elliptical machine.

Then it was on the bike to ride down here to 4th and Termino for some blog work (this post being ample evidence of said work) and a bit of grub. Next on the agenda is a ride back home via the beach and the LA River, then a nap, and then a yoga class at Yoga World Studio with my teacher and photographer Ashley Corbin-Teich (@ashleycorbinteich). Maybe some music tonight, maybe not…