What a fabulous day we had! I am part of a hiking group of mostly women, mostly over 50. This is our second season of hiking together. Last summer we planned each hike a week in advance, and just went where we felt like going. This winter we agreed that we would have two goals for this summer; to hike Buffalo Mountain and Mt Victoria.

The latest information from our friends at the Mortgage Center in Dillon. See below for contact information.

Another week of interest rates that appear to be feeling an “easing” of the upward pressure.

The senior property tax exemption has been reinstated this year for taxes payable in 2007. For those who qualify, 50% of the first $200,000 of the actual value of their primary residence is exempted. The State Treasurer will reimburse the county treasurer the exempted property tax and he will in turn distribute to each local government. This means that the owner of a property valued at $100,000 pays tax on $50,000, and the owner of a property valued at $210,000 pays tax on $110,000.

My sister lives in Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona, Arizona. She recently had to evacuate because of a large wildfire. As she has had to evacuate before, she was more prepared than most. I thought I would copy an email she sent to her friends in case you live in a high fire danger area.

For the past thirty years I have lived in an area that is at high risk for wildfire. I have evacuated twice. The first time, I had several hours warning and was only gone for 8 hours. The second time, I had 30 minutes warning and was gone for 10 days. I have been told to ‘prepare to evacuate’ another two times.

This week’s FOMC meeting has adjourned with another quarter-point increase to key short-term interest rates. The financial markets has responded quite favorably to the news with the Dow now up 181 points and the Nasdaq up 45 points. The bond market has also improved from earlier levels, currently standing up 10/32. This wil l likely improve this afternoon’s mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point.