today I am officially an old fart

Today I turned 60. How the hell did that happen?

My sister Barb posted it on Facebook. Thankfully, it was just family. Don't you find the whole FB birthday thing creepy? I spent a little time untagging myself.

On the upside, I can now get discounts at lots of places. It's not all bad.

Today's walk was on the Saucon Rail Trail. I was joined by Angel's family. They didn't want me walking alone on my birthday. Even if Angel was working at Target, the tween said mommy was going to send them. Sweet. Right?

We met at the all new Water Street Park in Hellertown. It is quite different. I'm not quite sure that there is a place for the Farmer's Market to return to. But I'm sure they will work that out. And it has a real comfort station.  Darrell had never heard the term until yesterday. He asked what it was. A euphemism for bathroom. Although Wikipedia says in Korea it's a brothel.

We checked it out. The ladies side was fine. The men's gross. The guy who came after us opted to hike down to the port-o-potties so it must have been pretty bad.

Outside the tween discovered the water fountain. There is a traditional one on the building. Then near the building, but closer to the trail, is another, stand-alone one. It has a vessel for people, dogs, AND to refill your water bottle. First time I've seen that in a public park.

Then it was time to hit the trail. We headed southwest towards Coopersburg. It was sunny. The first cross street brings you to the Grist Mill. It was all decked out for Christmas. Like me, the tween likes a diversion. It keeps her walking.

 The Pony Bridge was also decorated.

We walked about 2.5 miles out, and then turned around and came back.

 On the way back we took a shadow selfie. The huge one on the left is me, then the tween, then Angel, and finally Darrell.

I suggested the nature trail back to the Homestead, but I made the mistake of telling the tween that there were cupcakes in the car. When there are treats involved, adventure gets kicked to the side.

We went to eat the cupcakes in the play area. The tween and I planned to sit on the swings. My fat butt didn't fit. The chain dug in. Tiny seats. (Who knew Lil Tykes made playground equipment?) I pity the large child who wants to use them! It was an odd set up. At the top the chains were wide, and then they went in to meet the tiny seats. Darrell fit, but he said it was because he has no butt. I'll have to trust him on that.

Overall it was a nice walk.

Tomorrow, Bonnie and I are doing the North Bethlehem Volkssport walk. That will make 6 days in a row. Then Tuesday the streak will be broken. That's my 15-hour workday.

volkssport wacky walk

Maybe it wasn't wacky. But it was unusual. If it was my first walk I wouldn't have gone back.

Today's group walk was in Allentown. All appeared normal. At first. 

We met at the Allentown Comfort Suites and there was 12 of us. Not bad considering it looked like it was going to rain. And it's a holiday weekend.

Then we moved on to Cedar Creek park. Due to a retaining wall failure in Lehigh Parkway, Lights in the Parkway is now spread out all over Allentown. One area is Cedar Creek park. That's where Santa is also. We all found the sign creepy. Do you really want to your children to see Santa in a Bath house? Maybe poolhouse would have been a better choice.

We headed into the east side of the park and around Lake Muhlenberg, then back to the pool house, crossed Ott and over to the west side. Still all very normal. Then it was up the hill to Cedar Crest College.  One of the walkers walked up backwards. I had never seen that before. Apparently she always does it. Then back down, around the park, and into the residential neighborhood to go to Trexler Park.

The tween had been hanging with the others in the group and talking their ears off. She kept picking up all kinds of cool nature stuff, including Ginko leaves. Running to show us her treasures, and then back to the others again. Her LBW red cap kept her always in sight. 

About half way to Trexler Park she apparently picked up a cactus, and then put it in her pants pocket. Soon she was crying. It was sticking her. She had pricklers in her hands and in her leg. I'm trying to talk her down and suggested we go to the next restroom and get rid of the pricklers best we could. (Mom took her.) Of course we had no tweezer or tape. Ultimately she tucked in her really long shirt and covering most of her leg. And turning her pocket inside out.

At the park, part of the group wanted to keep on the low trail and part went the prescribed group. I thought we were ultimately meeting at the entrance. They thought we we meeting at the hill. Plus Angel was in the comfort station with the child and trying to catch up. Connections made. Connections missed. Phones left in the car. Phones turned off. Everyone was trying to reconnect with everyone else and it was starting to fill like an plein air version of a French farce. Only trouble is we had no doors to slam.

We waited about 5 minutes and then I went to find them. In the meantime they came back. When I returned empty handed, Angels family had waited for me. We headed off to finish the hike.

The group must have been walking slow. We caught up to them, skipped the last half mile, and went to lunch. the walk took at least three hours. If not a hair more. And it was only a 10K.

Tomorrow's walk—Hellertown rail trail.

#optoutside

I don't generally shop on Black Friday. I'm not into crazy. Or crowds. Or rude people. The last time I went was 5 or so years ago and I went to downtown Bethlehem with a colleague. My friend Angel works at Target. And she loves it. Different strokes.

It's gorgeous here—low 60s, sunny, bright. The people next door are working on their porch. People are out doing yard work. It feels like September. I had to go out. Besides, it's warmer out than in.

REI, a outdoorsy store came up with the hashtag in the header. They are closed today. Even online. And yesterday. Instead, they want people to opt to go outside. And then post pictures with the hash tag. There is only two ways this can play out. A massive success or the biggest marketing failure since JCPenny tried to eliminate sales and coupons. I'm hoping for success. I'm all about taking the path less traveled and not bowing to peer pressure. I have no idea where this store. Clearly not around here. (I'm guessing it's more like LLBean than Cabelas. But I do not know.)

Where should I #optoutside to? I didn't want to drive and encounter the crazies and the traffic. And I had two more spaces in my distance volkssport book to fill before I can send it in. So I decided to do the Bethlehem South walk. Tomorrow I'm doing Allentown. The event book has been patiently waiting for it. (I'm too cheap to use two stamps or envelopes.)

 Off I went. I headed to the Comfort Suites to check in. They were putting the finishing touches on the Ethnic Christmas Tree Display. There is about 15 trees. All themed by country. What surprises me more is what is under the tree. Often it is a Nativity (Moravian's often place a putz) but frequently it is not. For example the African American tree had a basket of fruit.

Then it was down the Greenway. I took a lot of pixs for Instagram because it was an urban walk. I'm thinking not many urban walks will be represented today. You can be grateful that I am not posting all of them here.

When I finally reached ArtsQuest I went up on the Hoover Mason Trestle and took more pixs. Of course. If you haven't been there you should. The beauty of the rust and decay is overwhelming. Or maybe it's the whole artist thing. But I don't think so.

Leaving ArtsQuest I saw this flag sticking out of a broken window. Now the area is fenced off, so I'm not sure how it got there. But it's kind-of cool.  I also think that all security fences need a small window for cameras. Taking this pix wasn't easy.

Normally I go up Webster to continue on the actual route. But today I decided to go up Polk. Around the new performing arts charter high school there are these inlays in the sidewalk. A mosaic twist on the buy a brick idea. Much more interesting.

Finally I headed home to fight with my FitBit. The dongle doesn't like my upgraded OS. I played with it a half hour and then sent in a custormer service request. Of course then it worked.

Tonight I'm headed to a Phantoms game with my brother and his wife. I've never been to a hockey game. This will be interesting.

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thanksgiving walk

Usually on Thanksgiving I do the Pumpkin Pie race in Nazareth. But budget cuts have sliced races from the budget. (Next weekend I am doing the Hot Toddy 5K, but that's a birthday gift.) So no Nazareth. I had to get my fat butt out there alone.

I decided to walk to the north side and back. A pretty typical walk choice for me. I took a lot of pixs. My vintage iPod is dying quickly. December 7th can't come quick enough. My new smart phone—okay, an iPhone who am I kidding—will have a better camera. At least I hope it will.

I began by walking up to St. Lukes, out Ostrum and Brighton and over the Hill to Hill bridge.

 On the bridge I noticed all the Christmas trees were unplugged. Really? They manually turn these on at night? There has to be a better way.

Under the main Street Ramp and thru the pee tunnel up to Main Street.

Then to Payrow Plaza (It's funny, Mom used to call that Payrow's Folly) where the children sculpture in front of the library was sporting new winter caps. I moved the blue one out of her eyes.

On the plaza is the large Christmas tree, a nativity, and the big advent candles.

New this year is a pergola of wind chimes.  They call it a timpani. And it works well with the Moravians love of music. Each pipe was purchased by a resident in support of the city's Christmas decorations. It's a cool piece. Bet it sounds great in the wind.  Not to be a downer, but maybe raising money the decorations will get better. I personally think they have been declining for years. Especially on the south side. What's with all the ugly wire things?

Also on the plaza is the children's tree. It's so cute. But a few taller children were needed to decorate it. Maybe on another day?

 The gate to the sculpture garden.

 And no trip across the bridges is complete without the blast furnaces.

Later, I took a walk around the block. Basically the dog walk. It's not quite dark yet, so maybe I'll go again. It's warmer out than in. And figure out dinner. Spaghetti or leftovers. Oh, maybe there is some goulash in the freezer. I'll have to check.

I haven't decided where I'm walking tomorrow, but it isn't a mall. Then at dinnertime it's my first trip to a Phantoms game.

bryn mawr

Today I had planned to do the Gwynedd Wildlife Preserve Hike in suburban Philly. I was optimistic and added a plus 3 to my reservation. Yesterday I heard from Angel, they were coming. About the same time I got a cancellation email from Trail Dames.

Angel suggested we do a volkssport walk. I suggested it be no more than an hour away. We settled on Bryn Mawr.

It's a beautiful walk. The cost of house is probably measure in millions, rather than thousands. It is the Main Line after all.  And we went thru a lot of neighborhoods.

The park we began in had a wonderful playground, that was busy on a cold Sunday morning. Don't want to think what it's like in the summer.

I stayed off the spider thing but thought the little tees would be plausible. Wrong. Angel has a series of pictures showed me trying to get up. My legs just don't cooperate. I ended up needing two shoulders to hold on to to get on the lowest one—about twice the height of a step. Once up I was fine.

The walk took use thru or past at least four colleges, and three very expensive Prep Schools including Agnes Irwin and the Haverford School. The tween expressed interest in Bryn Mawr. It's starting already.

We also walked for a tiny bit on the street Karen grew up on -- Gulph Mill Road. I did not see her mid-century modern house anywhere. It kind of stick out like a sore thumb in the neighborhood.

All in all it was a good walk. And a good day.

kaboom!

No I didn't fall. This time. Stop stressing.

Yesterday I walked in Whitehall Parkway. I took my niece to girl scouts near Target on Cedar Crest Blvd, and had thre hours to kill. Whitehall Parkway it was. I din't fancy myself driving down McArthur Rd the week before Thanksgiving, so I took Mauch Chunk road past Grumpy' and turned. I picked the exact correct street. It had a sign for "Egypt" so I thought I'd be close. I was 2 blocks away.

After parking I set out through the woods to the trail. When I reached the trail I was shocked. MACADAM! It has finally been paved.

That's why the next section of the trail had a closed sign. but when has that stopped me. I went onward and upward.

The trail now goes as far as Quarry street, but I didn't have a chance to walk it. I was getting close to the The Troxell-Steckel house trail-head when I had this sharp pain in my gut. The child and I had stopped for lunch and something clearly didn't agree with me. There was no outhouse at the trail head. I was screwed. I'd never make it a mile and a half back to my car and the latrine in that lot. 

I booked it back. I left the trail and walked on the road because it's shorter. I was less than a 1/4 mile away when all hell started breaking loose--a gut bomb! I used the latrine, and then again the bathroom at the Sheetz. (Both were a 4 BEFORE I went in.)

And then again at Target where I bought new pants and changed. That is where I met this cute turkey at the front of the store.

I picked up the girls and we went to my house to wrap and pack the 10 shoe boxes for the Holiday Hope Chests I do every year for the volunteer center. Then we -- including Angel and her husband -- had supper before returning the girls to their parents.

cigarette butt recycling?

Today Bonnie and I did the south Bethlehem volkssport walk. She needed to go to the post office.  I love having a destination.

So we walked down to the Comfort Suites, and signed in, then hit the Greenway. We skipped Lehigh because we already walked from my house. Then it was down the Greenway, thru the casino, back the HMT, and to Full of Crepes for breakfast.

Coming down Fourth street, we crossed at the post office to the Tally Ho. I went to hit the button for the walk button, and saw this cigarette butt recycling bin.

Say what?

There was a second one in front of the Dunkin Donuts.

Those are the only two we saw. Have you seen anything?

this hike kicked my fat butt

 When I sent out the Fitness Friday email, I forgot to fill in the space for today. Yesterday I received an email from Angel. "Are you walking tomorrow?" By this morning we had a place and a time picked out. The Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary at 11 am. It's off 611 and we'd meet there.  Lydia and I discovered this place last summer, I think.

When I arrived her husband and the tween were in the building looking at taxidermy animals, skulls and skins. We waited a bit and then went in to get them. "Gayle, come look at this". Gayle, don't look at that." The tween was really enjoying it. We finally got them out of the building and off we went.

 First stop was the river lookout. Lydia and I did this short trail when we went. I knew it was going to be tough so I took my walking stick.

 But the views are worth the climb.That's Rt. 611 and the Delaware River below us.

Next stop was Chimney rock. The child climbed it. It really looked like a primitive stove. She didn't want to come down. And when she did, she took the hard, not easy, way. Eleven year olds are fearless.

Then we looked at the map. I suggested the "Fox" trail. It looped the property. Everyone agreed. Did I mention that there is a 400 foot elevation change? Oops. That trail kicked my butt. And because of all the uphill, I was far in the rear. They kept stopping to wait for me.

I feel like I walked a half-marathon. It was a total of four miles.  And only two of them were on the fox trail. And I fell. Haven't done that in a while. Angel and the tween also fell. All going down the hill. After coming off a broken ankle I was worried.

I'm not the only one that was tired. On FB Angel posted she was taking a nap after her hike.

I feel just a bit better.

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All the tacking software have competitions or activities to do to get your lard butt moving. Sadly, I am not competitive, so I don't play. I also don't check my stats but once a week. Makes it hard to play. However, last weekend I upgraded my software and my Fitbit hasn't been syncing automatically. I have to play games and wiggle the dongle, or rebbot the machine. It's a basic pain. So I've been in there every day.

Friday an ad popped up for "Fit For Good".  A collective step goal will result in a million dollar donation to three charities. I picked American Heart Association.

I signed up Friday. I received this (right) in my email today. Makes me feel good. They are up to 12.4 billion steps and it goes to the end of the month. I think meeting the goals will not be an issue.

a walk around the block

Today I thought I'd be taking my niece to Girl Scouts at Burnside Plantation. But confusion ensued, and it didn't work out that way.  But I planned to walk at Monocacy because it was close. I kept to the plan.

I parked at Illicks Mill and headed up to Church Street. I realized quickly that there are no sidewalks on the RH side of the street. I had to cross Illicks Mill Road twice!

 The I headed south on Center to Elizabeth Avenue. Look fall, not Christmas, decorations!

 Then it was out Elizabeth past Moravian College. How can you b a "little" revolutionary? Isn't that the kind of thing where you are or you are not?

 The area around Paint Mill Road and up the hill was a bit Hairy. But not awful. Wide shoulders to walk on. Now if people went the speed limit ...

When I reached the ball fields I cut thru them and wove on the walking trails, coming out at the recycle center. Where I found this wall of phone books.

 And a few thistle not ready to call it a season.

And at least three sets of golfers on the links. What happens when the wind blows and the ball is airborne?

All in all it was about 4 miles.

fitness friday, friday the 13th edition.

I sent out the monthly walking email yesterday....

How is it possible that it's almost thanksgiving? Where does time go?

Below is where I plan to walk this month. Anyone want to come, just email me or call me at 484-809-0293 and I'll wait for you.

Tomorrow, Saturday 14 (in the wind). 9 am. Monocacy Parking lot. We'll walk around the block. It's about three miles. Out to Center, Down to Elizabeth, Out Paint Mill, up the hill and out Schoernsville and back.

Sunday 15 —

Saturday 21 — Whitehall Parkway, 1:30PM. Yep, an afternoon walk. My niece has girl scouts out that way at 1:30. I'm the chauffeur. We'll head out towards the Troxell-Steckel house house and back. Too bad it won't be open

Sunday 22, starts 9:45 am — Natural Lands Trusts Gwynedd Wildlife Preserve with the Trail Dames. Five to six miles. This level hike is among fields and meadow. It takes about an hour to get there so we'd need to leave my place by 8:30,  I RSVP for +3. Hopefully I don't need to cancel them all.

Thursday 26. — HAPPY THANKSGIVING. If you aren't cooking and want to hit the streets at about 8 am, call/email me. I'll plan a route closest to the people/persons coming.  Come walk your turkey off.

Saturday 28, 10AM —Allentown Volkssport walk. The walk begins at Cedar Beach Park, goes thru Cedar Crest College, Trexler Park and Muhlenberg College. If you're going I'll provide details.

Sunday 29, 9 am— HAPPY 60 TO ME.—Upper Saucon Rail Trail from Upper Saucon to Coopersburg. I'll bring cupcakes. It will be a walking party.

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Walking wise I didn't do much this week. Bonnie and I walked Monday. That was my last formal walk for the week.

She had a car appt. in Hellertown, so we planned on walking in Saucon Park. Haven't been there in Decades. Hasn't changed a bit.

We left Chevy 21 and headed to Bethlehem. Walking in the closed off portion of the street because the sidewalks were still being poured. It looked like everything was almost ready to open. (It's been what, 3 years?) Until we got to the bridge. We had to turn around and go back. Thankfully, there was a new street that took us into the park. We explored for a while, then walked out Seidersville road to the stop sign and came back. Then thru the tunnel and up to the park and ride lots. We were not quite at the 3 mile make so we wove in and out of the rows of cars.

When we returned to the dealer, they just finished her car. Bazinga.

Then I didn't walk the rest of the week. Gotta get out of this funk.

easton walk 98% approved

Yesterday, pat, the trailmaster and I walked the Easton route. She liked it. It might have to be a few blocks longer, but other than that, we're good.

The walk might be moved to May so the Farmers Market is open. That makes Easton so much more inviting.

The biggest problem is parking. The lot at the park is small. And since there will also be a trail bike event, the hotels are a too far. I'll let them fix the linguistics.

walking to the tailor

Bonnie needed a coat shortened and a couple pairs of pants taken in so we went to the tailor at fourth and Buchanan today. Have I mentioned how much I love doing errands while walking?

 The first stop was this sculpture on Lehigh's campus. I posted a pix of it a few weeks ago. It's an acoustic space in a bell-shape. It's called Peggy's Bell and is an interdisciplinary project for several departments at Lehigh.  It's activated by the human voice and intended for use by singers or people who are interested in playing with sound. Dave, grab that french horn. Let's hear what it sounds like.

 Next stop, the tailor. We were there about 15 minutes. They do great work, and are inexpensive.

Then we went down to the Greenway. I was sure to take pixs of the pumpkins today.

Last stop was Aharts for groceries. And I forgot my movie to return to the Redbox! Then it was up the hills and back to my place.