The Slog

We are very thankful that we came down to ABQ to ride out the bad weather. I think we used the time well by addressing the photos on the computer. We want to move 11,000 pictures over to a separate hard-drive (we did this once before after two years on-the-road) so that We're not dealing with so many pictures when we manipulate them for use on the blog. But first, we wanted to move them to the iCloud for an additional back-up. That is the process that is taking so long because the upload is transferring the pictures in full resolution, a very data intensive procedure. Using our MiFi we uploaded about 1% of the pictures in 24 hours. Today when we went to the Apple Store and used their WiFi connection, we uploaded more than 1/3 of the pictures in 4 hours.

We've returned home from the Apple store and have continued the upload - it will probably take more than a week depending on our WiFi connections at the up-coming state campgrounds. Maybe by the time we get to Denver the process will be complete!

Here's a view of the Sandia Mountains on Friday, during the storm.

On Saturday the storm clouds had moved out and left a coating of snow on the mountains that had been clear of snow on Thursday, when we arrived.

Apple Store in ABQ where we spent much of the day. We arrived at 11:30 am, for a walk-in appointment and within 10 minutes Sarah was sitting by our side helping to diagnose the slow upload. It turned out she was knowledgeable about the iPhone so she brought over Codi to help us with the iCloud. In consultation with the Genius Bar the determination was that, yes, it was going to take a long time to upload the pictures to the Cloud. The speed was dependent on the WiFi connection so we decided to hang around in the store for a while to use Apple's wifi -bad decision!!

I have been wanting to up-grade my iPhone to a "7 Plus" with a better camera - so we don't have to be dependent on the SLR camera for decent pictures to use  in the blog. What better use of our waiting time than to shop for a new phone?!! Meet Jensen - she was our wonderful, knowledgeable guide to all thinks iPhone. She was also a super friendly, all-around pleasant person to spend time with!

I now have a new, super-pretty gold iPhone in a pink case. I think Kathryn will like it; I know Maura will love it!. It has two lenses and a portrait feature that blurs the background so the focus is all on the subject (see my Sweetie, above). Pretty good picture, huh?

Tomorrow we head north, back on schedule. We called the state park and were told that, yes, they did receive a fair amount of snow, but that the campground had been plowed out, the roads were clear, and the temperatures were expected to be in the 60s this coming week. We hope for the best!