pooped

This morning I needed to go for blood work — a biometric screening— for my health insurance. This is to determine next years —if there is a next year— rate. (Who knows what Congress will pull.) It's exactly 1 month until I go to get my blood work done for my doctor's appoint. When I fail this set, at least I know what to work on until the one that counts. God knows I don't want any pre-existing conditions. I can barely pay for what I have.

So I walked up to the vampires office, and did the blood work. I like their scale. It said I was three pounds lighter. And an inch taller.

After the vampire stole my blood, I headed down Delaware Avenue and over the Hill-To-Hill bridge to collect the Volkssport numbers. While there I noticed they are working on the pedestrian bridge across the Monocacy.

Then it was back over the bridge to the South Side to collect the numbers from the Comfort Suites. And get lemon water. Always lemon water.

Once I got home I had time for breakfast and water and then it was off to meet Angel to collect the Easton numbers. It was already hot. I thought we'd do the Easton 5K. Instead we walked from her house down Northampton and worked our way over to the hotel. Picked up the numbers and headed to Dunkin Donuts for tea. Angel didn't bring water and we had already finished the bottle I brought.

I got a fruit tea which was green tea with strawberries. It even had bits of strawberry in it. Three times I had to tell the lady making it, no sugar! Then we headed down Northampton again to Riverside Park. That's when I decided a water bottle and a cup was one too many things to carry. I took the tea and poured it into my National Park Service Centennial bottle and we were off again.

This time we headed out Bushkill Drive to 13th Street, and went about a block up Northampton before taking the pretty stairs up to Ferry Street. (I never took a picture of these stairs. I am shocked and disappointed in myself. The event was in 2011) We took Ferry back to Angels.

Miles/Steps: Just shy of 10 for the two walks
Bathrooms:   none used
Wildlife:        Just the usual urban animals—squirrels, starlings, pigeons ...
Weather:       Sunny. Humid. I sought shade whenever possible
$ Found:       none
Extras:          I FORGOT to get gas in New Jersey. Now I have to pay 20¢ more a gallon. Pisses me off. And Angel reminded me.

it's wednesday night!

It's Wednesday night. That can only mean one thing—"Summer Fitness in the Park". It was the exact same coaches as last week (plus 2 helpers), but the workout was totally different.

This time the walkers went first to do the loop on the half-mile trail, and then the runners went second. That way we all finished together. Then there were exercise stations set up around the pavilion. (I bet the parks crew loves setting up the pavilion differently each time.) You did the stations in a clockwise fashion.  Each lasted a minute with a 30-second warning for people who needed to change arms or legs. Otherwise only half the body got worked out.

First I did the ladder drills.  It's on the ground and you go between all the rungs, for agility. I  walked. Almost everyone else ran. Next stop was those long ropes—I looked online and they are called battle ropes—where you pick them up and rattle them. They are really heavy, and I think the whole thing came off the ground, maybe three times.  The it was butterflies with free weights. We had a choice between threes and eights. I choose three. They were heavy.

My fourth station was another running one that I walked. You walked to one green cone, turned around and came back. Then on to the second, third, and fourth.  I actually got thru it twice, and started the third time. Next was rear leg lifts, tethered to the table, while standing vertically holding on to the table.  The fit people were holding on to the bench and practically kicking themselves in the head.

Then we all did the track again.

Back at the pavilion, I found out that I can no longer jump rope. It is sad. Last time I tried was in 2000 at the family reunion. I could still do it.

Because of the break, people forgot where they were in the circut, so the last round didn't go as smoothly as it should have. The next one I did was squats with a 20-pound dumb bell. I could barely pick it up with two hands. Fit people stood on the benches so they really went down. I stood on the floor and all I can manage is a demi-pliés. Then off to incline pushups on the picnic table. Again, fit people did the bench.

Because of the screw ups I could not do the next two stations, people were using them, so I was now inside the circle of tables. I did the resistance bands and a ring that was squeezed, and the tethered arm movements. It was almost like a D—you went across your body and out. I didn't do any of the remaining ones; enough people were "finished" that she stopped the rotation. And did the final burn, which was jumping jacks (can't do this anymore either), and squats which I did by getting up and down from the bench without holding on. Damn it hurt.

As with last week, we finished with the final burn, which was jumping jacks (can't do this anymore either), and squats which I did by getting up and down from the bench (think sitting up and down) without holding on. Damn, it hurt.

And then we were done. There were no children left on the playground, so I hit the swings for a bit and went home.

This morning I walked the Monocacy Trail. It was really overgrown with lots of fallen trees. I did a serious tick check when I got home.

Miles/Steps: 5-3/4 for both activities
Bathrooms:   none used
Wildlife:        OMG the birds were noisy on the trail. Including at least two woodpeckers.
Weather:       BEAUTIFUL ... Sunny. Not humid. I'd say the mid-80s
$ Found:       1¢
Extras:          Last night at Fit Camp they took a group picture. As you can see the groups is all shapes and sizes. I like that.

walk with the docs

Today was a Walk with the Doc event , It met at the Banana Factory at 10 am. Usually there are 3-4 health care professionals are there. I kept thinking to myself how many people are going to come on a Tuesday morning? There were four community members, all upper middle aged. There were 22 health care professionals. I wondered who was minding the store.

We headed down third, crossed twice and headed up to the Greenway. The Greenway was quite sunny. I ended up walking at the front of the pack with the hospitals “Healthy Living Program Coordinator”. I had his undivided attention on the Greenway and chewed his ear off about volkssport walking. Then I said he really should talk to Dave, the president. He is quite passionate about it, and inspired a whole new group in one talk at a library. Maybe we can get more people interested in the Lehigh Valley. That would be nice.

On the way back we turned onto fourth street and received free smoothies at Beyond Juice. I am trying to watch what I eat, with minimal success. I have the will power of an gnat therefore I stayed outside. Every time someone invited me in I politely said no thank you.  The civilians came out first. One with the berry banana blend, the other two with mango/pineapple/orange/banana. There was also a green choice. They were at least 16 ounces, if not 20 and had no additional sugar added. They were made from just low fat milk, fruit and ice. 

One by one people started coming out. The doctor in charge was one of the last out and he was carrying two full-size berry ones. He looks around and see's I have nothing in my hand, and he said "here's yours". Shit. I drank it. It was good. But that's my sugar for the day. So much for not drinking your calories.

When we returned to the Banana Factory I noticed that mosaics have replaced several of the checker boards. The checker board tiles kept getting picked out. The same might happen here, but this will be a whole lot tougher.

I grabbed another bottle of water, my smootie, and my apple and headed home.

Miles/Steps: We didn't go far. Just under 4 miles from my house and back. The walk with a Doc might have only be 1.25
Bathrooms:   none used
Wildlife:        squirrels, pigeons ... urban animals
Weather:       BEAUTIFUL ... Sunny. Not humid. I'd say mid-70s
$ Found:       1¢

my water bottle cracked

Yesterday driving home from Wood Haven my "change oil" light went on. I didn't know I had one. Going to the garage to change the oil made it an easy decision on where to walk today.

I dropped the car off, gave them my cell number, and headed out Union Boulevard toward Airport Road. As I walked down the street my leg felt wet and cold. Confused I looked down and saw I was leaving a trail of water. The water was going on me, not in me. My water bottle had cracked. (Apparently the freezer isn't good for metal water bottles.)

It took me a bit to find where it was. I was down about half a bottle, so I turned it horizontally and carried it that way.

Now the bottle was four years old. We received them as an incentive when we started the Tail On The Trail Challenge in 2013. I guess four years of use is all I should expect. I recycled it when I returned home. I kept the cap for my art trash project.

Union Blvd was hot. Walking east/west there is minimal shade even if there is trees. It must be the suns angle. You have to walk north/south. Sadly, that was not the direction I was going. I thought if I went down a block, maybe it would be a little cooler around the old Wesleyan College.

 I believe I was on Greenleaf Street when I saw this sign. I zigged again and got on Cedar and took that to Dieruff, and then zigged again and went to Andre Reed Park (Irving Street). The Million Clicks, clicker wasn't working. Irving Street was really shady. The kids were getting out of summer school and wearing uniforms. I was shocked. Uniforms for summer school?

When I made the right onto Hanover Avenue the sun was beating down on me. By the time I reached Davids street I thought, odd the garage hadn't called. I pulled out my phone. They did. I just didn't hear it ring. I found a little shade, and called them back. The oil change comes with an inspection, and my brakes were bad. Did I want them changed?

"No, don't change them, I'd rather crash." I thought to myself. Then I told them to go ahead.

Okay, your car will be ready in about 2 hours. Two hours? I'm six blocks away. I have no book, no computer to work, and a broken water bottle. My phone will entertain me for about 3 minutes. Shit. what will I do.

I stopped at he store and got a beverage and a puzzle book. I was glad I did. The selection of magazines in the waiting room were not to my taste. But Barbara, I think they had that Time you saved for me.

Miles/Steps: 4.1
Bathrooms:   none
Wildlife:        squirrels, pigeons ... urban animals
Weather:       BEAUTIFUL ... Sunny. Not humid. I'd say mid-70s
$ Found:       1¢

probiotic drinks, covered bridges and conestoga wagons, oh my!

Today I didn't get much walking in. It was a day full of errands and a fun road trip. It was take the teen to Wood Haven day.  You know I can not resist the allure of a Girl Scout Camp.

I met them at the Target on Cedar Crest Blvd. Angel had to pick a few things up, and it's pretty safe to leave your car there all day. Being an employee... even at a different store ... doesn't hurt either. She also bought a probiotic drink to try. In three flavors.

It was hot, so we drove to Trexler Park and tried them out in the lot. These did not have the strong vinegar smell of the local one we tried on Tuesday. The first one was the Mango Coconut. It was way too coconut for my taste. Angel ended up with this one.

Next we tried the lemon ginger. This tasted a whole lot like lemonade. At 40 calories (80 for the bottle) I could drink that instead of real lemonade.  The teen ended up with that one, drank it too fast and ended up gassy.

The last was the lime, mint coconut mojito.  That wasn't bad. It was actually the one I ended up with. All were better than the local one. With the added bonus of not smelling like vinegar.

We picked up 309 off of Hamilton Blvd, then 78, and headed to Wood Haven.  Once, when service unit camping, I hiked to the covered bridge. I decided if I was driving we were going to the bridge. Teen was totally uninterested, and I think confused. She was stressing about camp. She's had some foot issues recently and decided she wouldn't clear check in because of it. Mom and Dad had already checked with the council and got everything needed from the doctor. There was no need for drama. But she's 13. So drama is here to stay for a couple years.

She settled down about after clearing medical. And then we were off to her unit. I didn't understand "Conestoga". There is nothing called Conestoga at Wood Haven. It's new. And old. And the tents are covered Conestoga wagons. As we approached the child said "cool". Suddenly she was excited about camp again. At least until we discovered the wasps nest in her wagon.

We told the counselor "Luna" and she moved her to another unit. Then radioed that there was a wasp nest in a unit.

The teen was also bummed that there was no crate in the wagon to put her stuff in. She'll deal.

And she was excited that she found the bad of glow sticks that I had in my car to return to the dollar store. I left her have them as long as she shared with her bunk mates. When we last saw her she was playing Uno with Luna. As we walked down the road back to our car, other kids were headed to her unit.

She'll be fine. She always is. And this year, Angel didn't cry.

summer bingo

My friend Angel is always looking for ideas to keep the teen motivated.  She got a bit of her papa's slacker gene. So instead of the typical summe to-do list, this year they are playing BINGO. And they invited me. Even her husband is playing.

If you want to play you can download a blank bingo board here.

Angel, of course, has already crossed two off. Me. I've had two fizzle. Glowga (canceled due to storms) and blog the day it happened. It didn't happen. Many of mine are long term. I think we have till school starts to finish.

I bet Angel get's BINGO first.

housenick park

Last week I found out that every Thursday Lydia has off. I told her she had a walking buddy. Welcome to the neighborhood. You can't hide.


She ended up working this morning so I picked her up and drug her to the farmers market. Then we went to her house and got the dog, then headed to my house. After lunch we went to Housenick Park. The banners my students slaved over were sitting in the grass, being very un-banner like.

Lydia hadn't been to the park since they've added the real parking lot and some signage. There was a dumpster next to the mansion, so maybe they are finally restoring it.

We took the path down the hill into the woods toward Monocacy Creek. the railroad runs next to the property and Lyd immediate went to the tracks. She's obsessed with RR tracks. It terrifies me every time.

Then we loope around and followed the path to the bird blind. At the end of the trial we turned around and came back. Then headed up the stairs to the mansion, across the lawn and back to the parking lot.

It wasn't far, but there was a hill, and Lydia hasn't walked in a while.

Miles/Steps: about 2. Being genrerous
Bathrooms:   I peeked in. It looked like an L-4.5
Wildlife:        Doe, chipmunk, cardnial, blue jay, a chorus of birds but none at the bird blind
Weather:       Sunny. Not humid. I'd say mid-80s
$ Found:        1¢ in the woods. 
Extras:          The doe was crapping as we went to take the picture. It looked like deer yoga.

no excuses

Tonight was the Fitness Wednesday in Freemansburg. I saw the sign last weekend. Original I was hoping that Angel, maybe the 2 days > teen, and Lydia would come. But the >teen had a late afternoon doctors appointment so Fitness Wednesday was out. Lydia ended up having to work so missed both the class and dinner. Adonis missed being spoiled by Pat.

I went alone.

The park was full of people. But it was pretty clear that the class was in the pavilion. The pavilion is right next to the walking trail.

The coaches —Suki and Tiffany — greeted everyone as you came in. Then introduced themselves and handed you waivers for their business STS Beyond Fitness. Oddly, none from the Borough. Then they told you to start stretching

All in all there was probably 20 participants of all ages, abilities, shapes, sizes, genders and races.

About 6:05 we began. Coach Tiffany has a bigger mouth than me. She must have been a Drill Sargent in another life. She told us up front that there would be "No Excused".  Everything they were doing could be done with no money, no gyms, and you didn't even need to leave your house. Every exercise had adaptions for whatever physical problem you had.

They told us we would be working hard and there was "No Quitting". Take a break. Move down a level, but nobody stops and leaves. And nobody did.

First, everyone was told to go run or power walk the track. I came in 2nd last. I didn't know what to expect next, I wasn't killing myself. Four late arrivals came in even later. Then it was on too 20 hard minutes of exercise (30 with instructions). We did sets of 3, 3 times for 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest between.

One participant had a knee brace. So in addition to the beginner/intermediate/advanced levels, they added a bad knees level. Whoo Hooo! Hell, now I can do chair abs work.

The last segment was called the burn and there were three exercises for 1 minute each with a 30 second break. I thought I'd die. Then it was off to the track again. The lady that was directly behind me was talking to someone else. The track is maybe a half mile. She said when she first started doing it, it took her TWO HOURS. She didn't care that she was last.

Everything was done without equipment, and with the exception of the track, the only other thing we used were the tables in the pavilion. Seriously. They change it up every week, so next week they will bring equipment. I kind of liked being in the shade.

This morning I walked to the supermarket and home.

Then Kool J and I reduced the size of the rose bush out back to 1/3 the size.


Miles/Steps: for the day 6.4
Bathrooms:   None used but I heard scuttle butt that the port-o-potties were "disgusting".
Wildlife:        do screaming children count
Weather:       Sunny. Not humid. My first walk it was in the low 60s, yard work was in the mid-80s, and exercise class was in the mid-70s.
$ Found:        zip 
Extras:          Both the instructors are Herbalife dealers so they handed out samples before we left. Almost everyone loves free stuff. I was going to skip it, but Coach Suki insisted I go over. Now I have a protein bar — chocolate and coconut "flavor", and a peach tea with stevia — if anyone is interested. The tea needs to be drunk in the am. It has a lot of caffeine.

kombucha

After walking, we went back to Angels and tried Kombucha, a fermented tea drink. It is made by adding the bacteria and yeast to sugar and black or green tea and allowing the brew to ferment.

"After being fermented, kombucha becomes carbonated and contains vinegar, b-vitamins, enzymes, probiotics and a high concentration of acid (acetic, gluconic and lactic), which are tied with the following effects: Improved Digestion, Weight Loss, Increased Energy, Cleansing and Detoxification, Immune Support, Reduced Joint Pain, Cancer Prevention."

That's a helluva lot to ask for from a drink. Don't you think? I don't buy it. And I've tried to look up the science, and most websites don't buy it either. Some even go so far as to say if you drink to much of it it's bad for you.

I've been curious. So I bought the bottle a few weeks ago at the south Bethlehem farmers market. It's all the rage in the health nut sector. I had heard it's disgusting to it's wonderful. People either love the stuff or they hate it. Rarely anything in the middle.

I bought the blackberry flavor. There are many flavors to choose from. And it's packed in the quart-ish size bottle, like wine. I'd actually prefer a beer bottle size so there's less waste if you hate it. (Oh, and the Lehigh Valley Kombucha people need a graphic designer. Badly.)

It popped when we opened it. I poured about a half inch in each glass. The >teen said it smelled like wine. She was the first to taste. I took her picture. No gross face. She took it very seriously. And declared that it wasn't disgusting, but it wasn't good either. She threw the remainder of hers away.

I thought it smelled like red wine vinegar which made me almost not want to taste it. But hell, I put my big girl panties on this morning, I could do this. I agree with the child, it wasn't horrible. If served it at a healthy dinner I could drink it—as long as it was cold. Angel tried to drink it without smelling it. She's had better. A commercially prepared one from Target.

I left the bottle with her. She's going to finish it. Or dump it. Doesn't matter to me.

You can make your own at home, but I don't think I'll do that either. In fact, they are having a make-it class next week at the community college for Kumbucha and other fermented drinks. I think I'll pass.

louise moore park

I had thought about going to the CF Martin guitar factory today, but the factory tours don't start till 11. I'll save that for a more unpleasant day. Today it is beautiful. The humidity is gone, and the sun is shining. Not too hot, and not too cold.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do. While I decided I checked my email. There was one from Angel asking if I wanted to do something late morning. We decided on 10. But where.

I gave the 72 hours-shy-of-teen four choices. She couldn't decide. And she really doesn't know names of parks and trails—we just drag her to them—but tell her what's there and she would pick. I started with Louise Moore and said "fitness trail" and she picked it immediately.

Off we went and scored a prime spot in the shade to park. Since I was there last the outside, longer trail, is now covered in grated tires. It's spongy when it's walked on.

We walked, talked, climbed ... and on occasion pouted ... our way thru the park. Angel is a tad out of shape. She couldn't finish all there stations. But she did all of them. The >teen had fairly good success. Though she kept complaining how out of shape she was. I kept reminding her how easy that was to change. (I know, "pot calling the kettle black".) Well it is easier at her age!

It was kind of funny, the >teen giving me instructions.  For example: "You're supposed to use your arms to jump over the wall, Gayle." I didn't do everything. My monkey bar days are over. I think they'd both have a great time at Jorden Creeks outdoor gym.

It was a good morning. And the >teen didn't complain once about her planters warts hurting. A win-win.

Miles/Steps: 2, maybe. But we did do the entire fitness circuit.
Bathrooms:   None used
Wildlife:        lots of birds
Weather:       High 70s. Sunny. No humid.
$ Found:        zip 
Extras:          This is a county park. The county crew was mowing the lawns and this swarm of swallows kept following him. It was bizarre.

lehigh parkway

Bonnie and I have a standing walking date for Monday morning ... at least for the summer. Since it was going to be hot and humid today we chose the parkway. At least there would be shade.

We arrived at the parkway and I was so busy talking that I missed the entrance to the lot. That's fine, we'll park at the iron bridge. Lot was full. Okay, I'll park in the next lot. Couldn't figure out how to get in. We drove all the way back to the first lot and parked ... in the shade!

We crossed the bridge and entered the bridal path and walked along the creek, then thru the woods to the covered bridge.

We crossed the covered bridge and came down some high-risk stars we found. Then back alongside the creek on the other side.
By the return trip the shade was leaving. At the iron bridge a lady was coming toward us. I asked her if it was shady on that section of the trail. She said spotty, but not horrible. But there is a big hill. I know the hill and it goes thru the woods. Lucky for us we chose that route, the other side was mostly sun.

We got it done and it wasn't even 10 yet.

Miles/Steps: 3.4
Bathrooms:   I-3.5 I was surprised since that particular bathroom is fairly new. But it gets a lot of use with all the 5Ks at the park
Wildlife:        12 male and 6 female mallards 1 female blue jay. There were a lot of birds, but I don't know what they were
Weather:       Low 80s. Humid
$ Found:        zip 
Extras:          There was a moment, at the barn by the covered bridge that made me think of Hitchcock's "The Birds". The barn swallows were diving in and out from under the eves. I had a Janet Leigh moment, and I didn't like it.

i forgot my camera

This morning when I awoke, it looked like it was going to pour. After all, it poured most of the night. I even thought about hanging the wash in the basement. But it started to clear so it went outside, with a small prayer that it wouldn't rain.

It was 10:30 before I headed out for my walk. I decided to do the Saucon rail trail again, but this time start in Coopersburg.

Now some back story. For a few weeks I've been thinking I need new shoes. The current ones offer no support and are close to being holy. Friday, or maybe Saturday, I looked online for them. Cheap ones were in very limited sizes. When I found my New Balance (made in the USA) 990s they were store price. Now $164. American. I really shouldn't complain with all the walking I do. It's less than 45¢ a day.

So I head out to Coopersburg. I'm going down 378 and past the Promenade Mall sign and the car turns. I was headed to New Balance. If they were open. They were, and they were having a Father's Day sale so they were 10% off. Not much, but a girls takes what she can. He told me I should really have two pairs. I know. But at $164 a pop it's a little hard. He says then buy them every six months—which is a great idea—and gave me some incentive. These shoes come in black and grey. Sometimes pink. That's it. No pretty colors. The limited editions that are coming out in October are burgundy with gold. Like I said, incentive.

I left the shopping center wearing my new shoes and headed to the trail to make them dirty.

I arrived at Living Memorial Park and headed toward the trail. It is well marked now. I stopped and checked out the bathrooms. The last time Angel and I were there they weren't open. I made my way to the trail and looked right. It looked like the trail was extended. I headed that way. Soon I came to a sign that said "Trail Closed. No Trespassing". They were serious. There were cement blocks. They must still be working on it.

I turned around and headed toward Center Valley. Today I noticed the golf course. Timberbrook, I think.

I continued walking, past Lutron (or is it Olympus) and headed toward Saucon Valley. The people with the guinea hens now have stacks of bee boxes. It was getting really hot and there was no shade. I turned around and came back. As I entered the park path I saw a shady natural path thru the woods. I'm thinking this was the parks original trail. It was probably at least a half mile long. After coming out at the pavilions, I headed to my car and toward home.

Miles/Steps: 4.5
Bathrooms:   I-3 at park. There was also port-o-potties
Wildlife:        Well I don't think the guinea hens are "wild"
Weather:       Hot and humid. I'm guess mid-80s. By the late afternoon it was 92.
$ Found:        zip 
Extras:          One direction I saw a lady running with two boys on bikes and a dog. On the way back, I saw her again. Without the boys. But she still had the dog. Odd. There was a baseball game at the park. I think she dropped them off. Takes "walking your kid to practice" to a whole other level.

get out lehigh valley — trexler park, 2017 edition

The weather report for today called for lower temperatures, high humidity, and rain. All occurred.

Today's walk was with Get Out Lehigh Valley at the Trexler Nature (aka Game) Preserve, Last year's walk was done in high humidity with a crazy steep hill. I thought a lot about not going. Even with a walking stick, that hill would be tough. And would it be slippery when wet?  I decided to go. Plan B was to park at the covered bridge and walk to the ford and meet the group there—the bottom of the hill.

I left late. Lydia came for the dog and it was pouring so I took them home. It was a drizzle going over the Hill to Hill bridge, and by the time I reached the Lehigh River Bridge on Rt. 22 it was pouring. My windshield wipers couldn't wipe fast enough.

I turned on to Game Preserve Road and went over the bridge. About 1.5 miles in, there's the zoo. Where's the environmental ed building? There were no signs for the ed center, just north, south,  and central ranges. Useless. I was following signs for north and that had no potential, so I switched to the south.  Clearly, I took the wrong road. Okay, reading directions instead of relying on memory, might have been helpful.

I came to a sign that said "one-lane bridge ahead". I said if that's the covered bridge I'm going to Plan B. It was. This group always runs late, but I was close to 45 minutes late. I parked and walked to the ford. If they left the ed center at 10:30 (1/2 hour is average lateness) they should arrive at the ford no later than 11:30. They arrived at about 11:15. But not from the direction I expected. They came from the zoo. Huh?

Apparently, they met at the ed center and drove to the zoo. Wildlands decided it was unsafe to take the original trail.

The trail today turned out to be the Covered Bridge Trail. Gravel, relatively flat. Round trip it might be 1.5 miles. We headed from the ford to the covered bridge then back along the other side of the creek, up the hill, and back to the zoo. I signed in as everyone was leaving. Several people offered me rides, but I headed back down the hill, and walked back to the covered bridge, and then home.

Miles/Steps: 5 (plus dog walking)
Bathrooms:   L-3 at ford
Wildlife:        Cardinal, frogs, fox scat, lots of birds
Weather:       High 60s/low 70s, cloudy. It didn't rain at the event, but it rained before/after
$ Found:        1¢
Extras:          I was supposed to turn on Orchard Drive before LCCC to get to the ed center. It is on the opposite side of the zoo. Memo to self. At least review the directions, even if you think you know where you are going.

------------

Last night I got invited to go on the Lehigh River Sojourn on Saturday. Jim Thorpe to Allentown. Can't wait.

volkssport awards came

I sent in my books and my award swag came back. Then I immediately sent in another book.

a new fitness adventure?

I saw this sign on the way to the nail salon Friday morning. I'm in. I hope it doesn't rain Wednesday.

When I looked online I found an event for it on Freemansburg Parks and Recereation's FB page. It said FitCamp on Wednesday's. That sounded like an establish program. So I decided to google it. If I found the correct item, it is a program designed to work with playground equipment. I don't think it's like a park bootcamp because it says "Get fit and have fun doing it!" Boot Camp is not fun by any stretch of the imagination.

We'll see Wednesday.

I let Angel and Lydia know. Well, I kind-of told Lydia she was coming this time. She doesn't have to go back if she hates it... maybe.

Today my only walking was up to the Wawa and back. With the rain today, it was enough.

fitness challenge--barre

Today the teen (minus 1 week), Angel and I  did our makeup class at Barreform. It was tough. Really tough.

We met at my house. Angel and the teen arrived while I was finishing the laundry. I got the laundry out on the line and we hit the pavement to walk down to the studio.

It was open. In our excitement we forgot to take pics so here is the lobby from their FB page.

After doing the paperwork—electronically, of course—we were left in the studio with the instructor.

I'm not sure what I was expecting ... well maybe I do know.I was expecting a lot of work on a barre. Like ballet class. This was a little of everything: barre, floor work, weights, pilates, yoga... even jumping jacks which I can no longer do.

I was sweating like a beast and we were still in the warmup! I think I did about 70% of the workout and I was exhausted. I had to adapt some things, and just didn't do the deep squats at the barre. Angel started to peter out at the end. I say she did about 95%. The teen didn't shut up. She whined a little. And proclaimed she couldn't do a few things. And she doesn't like planks. And there was another thing she didn't like. I bet she starts to do some of it since she's now in the marching band. A tuba is heavy. She'll need upper body strength.

I need to work on flexibility and figure out how to get WD40 into my joints. My knees were making all kinds of noises, even doing the baby squats.

Walking back my legs felt a little like jello. After sitting a while they got stiff. Now my knees hurt. It should be interesting tonight after I sit for two hours watching Hair.

Tuesday I walked around by the hospital and down Wyandotte. When I returned there was a text from Lydia. "Was that you walking over the bridge by the mansion?" Guilt as charged.

Wednesday I took the scenic route to and from the Wawa. Pat needed money form the ATM.  I like having a destination.

Miles/Steps: 2.5
Bathrooms:   None used
Wildlife:         just basic urban animals. nothing unordinary
Weather:       Upper 70s, sunny, low humidity
$ Found:        1¢ Canadian
Extras:           Barre, of course

saucon rail trail

Yesterday was Bonnie's birthday. I called her at the crack of dawn to sing happy birthday loud and off key. She didn't answer. When she called back later —after suffering thru her message—she mentioned her car was going in for repairs. Her car place is in Hellertown. I asked if she wanted to walk the rail-trail. She said yes.

I met her at the garage at 8-ish and we drove to the trail head. We walked 1.5 miles out, and 1.5 miles back. And took a selfie. It's been a long time. I don't generally take them when I'm alone.

The trail was about 3/4 shade, which was not so bad. I returned Bonnie to the garage and headed home.

Going to spend the afternoon cooking for the underprivileged... in air conditioning. I'll probably see my brother and his wife there. The teen is going too.

Miles/Steps: 3
Bathrooms:   I-4.5
Wildlife:        Blue Jay
Weather:       High 80s and humid. 
$ Found:        zip
Extras:          The Turkey Hill parking lot is a disaster waiting to happen.

well, the museum was cool.

The D&L posted on Facebook that they were dedicating a connecting link of trail between the IRT and the D&L. I thought the dedication was Sunday, but ultimately I was wrong.

Even though it was to be humid and in the low 90s, I decided to go to the dedication but this link could be potentially very useful. I wanted to see where it was. And it was something different.

It also allowed me to go to the Atlas Cement Museum which is only open two Sundays a month. It's a win-win. And has "cemented" a new goal of visiting little museums this summer. (Groan). Back in the day cement was king in this area. (Northampton doesn't called there high school team the Koncrete Kids for nothing.) But like the Steel in Bethlehem, the cement has all but gone away. Northampton is down to four mills. Another one was just purchased and eliminated.

Shockingly I was not the only person there. And it's free-free. Not even a donation box. Sadly they don't let you take pics inside. I was going to try to sneak one from the lobby but the volunteer had eagle eyes on me! There's some cool stuff in there. And oh my goodness, the typography on the machinery. Yep, I get distracted. Just like the Steel, Atlas Cement contributed to landmarks in the US and around the world. One was the Panama Canal.

After a bit I asked for directions to the rec center where I thought the dedication was. I could have walked. Corner, turn right, turn right at stop, go a block and it's across from the fire station.

I was early, it was about 2:35 but the parking lot was really kind-of empty. But I could immediately see a brand new macadam path. The street going into the parking lot was marked "Trail Xing". I had to be at the right place.

I went to the building and that's when I found out that I was there the wrong day. So I hopped on the new trail—that appeared to start at the rec center—and headed toward the river. The D&L runs along the river. I walked about 3, maybe 4 blocks, and the trail stopped at Main Street, I think. The main road thru downtown Northampton. I was a good 2 blocks from the D&L. I continued to go straight and got to the D&L. If I went right, I was headed to Slatington. If I went left, I was going under the bridge and into the woods. That section of trail isn't finished.

Hmm. I went back up and headed to the cement bridge. Remember, I was looking for it to connect to the IRT. The cement bridge was closed to pedestrians and cars. There are stairs from that bridge down to the trail, but they've been closed for years.

Puzzled, I headed back. I followed the trail to what appeared to be the end at the Water Department parking lot. I went thru the lot and saw this kiosk and a path. but it lead to the Hokendauqua Creek.

I'm clueless to where this trail is supposed to go. Next to the water department is a park and then schools. In todays D&L newsletter it says "The D&L Trail and NorBath Trail are connected by a new 1-mile section of trail." 

Boy I need to read, not scan. So heading toward town ... well out of town, would be correct. The Nor-Bath trail runs from Northampton to Bath. There's a trail head at Savage Road. If you go left, it just sort-of ends at an athletic field. That must be where it is connecting.

Maybe what I should do is go to Savage Rd and walk toward Northampton. See if I can find it there. But it still doesn't connect with the D&L unless many signs are put up.

I just might have to go to the dedication Friday.

Miles/Steps: Probably close to 3
Bathrooms:   None Used
Wildlife:        Nothing was out in that heat.
Weather:       Low 90s, humid, sunny
$ Found:        zip
Extras:          Like I said before, signs are powerful tools. As are maps.

walk with a doc: south bethlehem

Usually on a Saturday I have several walks to choose from. But not today. I get email alerts from a lot of organizations —Volkssport, Tail on the Trail (TOTT), Get Out LV— to name a few.

The Volkssport walk was in Philly. Didn't want to do that. The Get Out walk is next week, what was happening on the D&L. I looked it up and found out there was a Walk With The Doc on the Greenway at 9. These are not TOTT events, but rather TOTT-supported events. With good reason. They are both supported by St. Luke's.

Even though I've walked the Greenway a zillion times, I decided to do the walk. I left her at 8:25 and arrived at Broughal at 8:40. There was nobody around. The St. Luke's RV wasn't there either. I parked myself on the steps and waited. At 8:50 I turned on my data and checked the website. Right Day and time.  Hmm. Maybe they are on Vine street, near the gym?

As I walk past the "Family Center" I notice the election results and make a mental note that the lights are on. I get to Vine. Nobody. It's now 8:57.

I'm standing there deciding what to do when a man comes out in a green tee shirt. "Are you looking for Walk With A Doc?" We're in here. Inside? On a day like today.  I was the first one to arrive. The Resident (the doc) hadn't even arrived yet. Two more people came. That's it. Then the 3 St. Luke's student interns, the green guy, the doc and the three participants headed to the Greenway.  We walked to the Sands and back.

Then I walked home.

Tomorrow the IRT and the D&L are dedicating the one-mile link from one trail to the other. I'm trying to find out exactly where it is. It's a 5 mile loop around the trail. I think it might be near Hockey where all the construction was, but I'd like to be sure before I head out. Heck, maybe it's partially on the new bridge. That section of the D&L is not finished, so I don't want to park at a random trail head and try to find it. But the dedication is at 3. And it's supposed to be hot. Not sure what to do. If I do go I will also go to the Atlas Museum. It's only open Sunday from 1-3. Maybe Sundays will become mini-museum days.

Maybe I'll hear something soon. Maps are failing me.

Miles/Steps: Not quite 5
Bathrooms:   None Used
Wildlife:        Male cardinal on the Greenway
Weather:       Perfect Day. And the sun came out. Whoo-hoo
$ Found:        zip
Extras:          Signs are powerful tools. They need to buy one. I know a graphic designer who might want to help lay it out.

fitness challenge: yoga under the stars

When I sat down to write this suddenly Garrison Keillor popped into my head. "Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, my hometown, out there on the edge of the prairie." Though I would change it to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and maybe the edge of a dead steel mill. But it doesn't have the same ring.

It's the first week in a very long time that I almost had the whole week off. I finished up at Lafayette on Monday. I had no training sessions, no online classes, no conferences. Nada. I could have gone on vacation. But alas, with no work I need to budget my money, so no vacation either.

Basically I goofed off all week. But I walked every day. Mostly in the neighborhood. I didn't make my step goals except for one day. That's always disappointing.

Wednesday my great nephew came over and mowed the grass. I weeded out an invasive plant. I finished it on Thursday. Friday I did errands and bought the silly pinwheel flowers above at the Dollar Tree. I don't impulse shop. But I did that day. Every time I see them out there they bring me joy. $3 well spent.

Wednesday my former walking coach from the Rodale Test Panels I did posted another one. This time for a book called "The Art of Stopping Time". It's on getting your time back. I applied. What the hell. Because usually I have no time. Last week was the exception.

Last night I attended "Yoga Under The Stars" at Cedar Creek Park in Allentown. It began at 9. I was falling asleep on the couch at 7:30. Clearly I am no longer a night owl. At 8 I considered not going. And then decided I was looking forward to it, even though my yoga skills are minimal, so dammit I was going. I left at 8:15. I wasn't going to give myself time to back out. Also I was unsure about parking. The lot near the pavillions is small.

I arrived about 8:35 and the lot was full. There were a lot of people assembling to the west, near the Cedar Crest College hill. And the people kept coming. And coming. People were still coming after it was dark and the Yogi started.  These buckets of candles lined the perimeter of the area being used.

While I waited for it to begin, I walked up and down the pathway to get some exercise. I counted the people. (I stopped at 125. At least 50 more came.) I was thinking about going home. I can't do this. I kept telling myself. Have you seen me get up and down? And everyone is sitting in the lotus position. I barely want to start. I haven't been able to do that since the 80s. But then the musician started playing the sitar at about 8:45. And the Yogi came over to talk to me, and I quieted myself and just did it.

I did not take my bulky mat which might have been a mistake. Instead I took the JCC towel I got from the JCC polar plunge a couple of years ago. It was not a good choice because it wrinkles up when you move on it. One thing I should have brought was a bag for my phone and keys and shoes. Once it became dark it was hard to see them.

It was a full moon and Saturn was right next to it. Above me was the Big Dipper. To the west of that was another planet. I'm not sure which. Maybe Jupiter? I looked on the star charts for last night and found that seven planets were visible, and the best ones were Saturn, near the moon, Jupiter,  and Venus.

I was in the back row, of course, so I was able to hear well. However, I'm sure many people were not able to hear. The PA went in and out and the Yogi was soft-spoken. At the end the musician said he would work on amplifying her voice for the next session. I think there were times even he couldn't hear her. But there's a fine balance between quiet and natural and blaring.

We started late but it was at least an hour. I was by no means graceful, but I could do most of the moves, often using the adaptions. There's no way I'm doing a tree pose without a wall.

I think I'm going back the 25th. It's glow night. A trip to the Dollar Tree for glowy stuff will be in order. There is no fee but they do donations for their kids program. Fair price.

Miles/Steps: 20-ish for the week
Bathrooms:   None
Wildlife:        City animals and birds. Geese were loud and honking last night
Weather:       Unseasonably cool.
$ Found:        4¢
Extras:          I forgot how much fun it was to lay on the grass and look at planets and stars. How cool is it to have the Big Dipper over your head?