finally, a success, of sorts

Schools out for the year end break. One more day of finals, and that’s it.

Today was the volkssport walk in South Bethlehem. I did the 6K, which turns out to be more than 7K, and I even made it up the hill to Lehigh.

Now I stopped a lot going up Brodhead to Lehigh. But then I continued walking without stopping thru campus, down Taylor, to Zollner and back Packer to Packer Chapel. Then I had to stop. I recovered, and went to Vine, out Morton, down New and got on the Greenway. I knew if I continued with the others to the casino I’d be hanging out at ArtsQuest a whole. 

So at Hayes, I bid them farewell and I went down “Founder’s Way" to  the SteelStacks Campus. I waited for them to join me on the Trestle. 

Most of the group hadn’t seen the “Four Seasons” sculpture in the spiral stairway, so we made a stop in ArtsQuest for a look-see. We took the elevator to the 4th floor, and worked our way down. Then it was back to the hotel.

With lots of stops I think I did a 5K. And I didn’t come home and take a nap. Since I don’t have shelter duty on Saturday, maybe I’ll try Perkasie.

Monday is my appointment with the orthopedist. The pain has not returned and I do not struggle to walk. I think that the next injection will be held off until I need it. I hope so.

Miles: 5K ish

Weather: 38 and mostly sunny.

tired of failure

 

I have become an old woman. running to doctors, and shoving handfuls of pills and it sucks. Every time I fix one thing, something else breaks.. I’m just tired of it.

Last week I was sick, sick. I was doing my best imitation of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. By Friday I was exhausted and hungry but feared to eat. So I didn’t. Saturday was the volkssport walk in Washington’s Crossing and I’m the POC for the D&L and I decided to go. It was a beautiful day.

We met at the parking lot at the visitor’s center because there were bathrooms there. What I didn’t realize there was a port-o-potty in the small lot next to the trail. Shit. We had to walk about 1K thru the park and neighborhood to get to the trail.  I was doing okay. I was keeping up. I planned to do a 5K. We went another half mile or so and I was beat. So I left the group and turned around and came back. I stopped probably 20 times.

I was hungry. There was a pizza place close by and I went. Food should help. I opened the door and walked in like I had been drinking all night. I caught my balance and then I was dizzy. Angel said my blood sugar dropped. I got a slice and a soda and ate it in my car. On my way home I stopped at Owowocow and got a chocolate cone. The pizza stayed in. The cone stayed in. And I didn’t eat the rest of the day. When I got home I watched mindless tv for two hours and then finally got to work.

Another day. Another failure. When will it end.

yoga at the senior center

About three weeks ago, right after Sharon crashed my chair yoga class, she said to me "you must read the board when you come in." There was a notice for YogaTone with Angie and it was to be held today at 1 pm. "Oh, we can't go, you have class". We went. I can go to class a little sweaty. As long as it's not more than an hour.

Now we have been burned the last few weeks with the Tuesday class. She (never introduced herself) doesn't show up. I think in the last two months she came twice. The class is at ten, I left at ten ten, and she started class at ten fifteen. So basically it was once. I stopped trying.

At 12:45 I'm leaving the house and the phone rings. It's Sharon. "Don't bother coming. Nobody is here." I told her of course not. I'm just leaving the house. Now if it was five, three, two minutes of it would be a different story.

When I arrived at 12:58, there was a dozen people there with their walkers and canes pushed away. The were each holding weights. So much for nobody is coming.

There was a lot of stretching. I would say this is the yoga portion. We did seated warrior poses and cat and cows. Then we moved on to some core work, and finally on to the weight, then slowly back to stretching. I'd say it was about 40 minutes. I broke a sweat.

The first ten minutes was introductions, and telling everyone not to hurt themselves and listen to their bodies. She'd give modifications. I noticed that sometimes Sharon just stopped. The music didn't work and that was fine. Several of the ladies stopped to talk to her afterwards. (There was also a gentleman in the class.) It will be held every other week.

I'll go again. Especially if it keeps Sharon out of my chair yoga class!

road trip to massachusetts

My friend Angel and I are on a weekend road trip to Massachusetts. Destination: the Museum of Printing. But that's tomorrow.

Today we stopped in Mystic, visited a bookstore and little shopping village. Had lunch at a diner.  And did a volkssport walk.

We registered for the walk at a Howard Johnson's. I didn't realize they still existed. There were two walks to pick from—the town walk or the cemetery walk. We chose the town walk. Then drove about a mile to the start point—The Mystic Seaport Museum. But we parked in the wrong lot and ended up adding about 1/3 mile to our walk. 

The Seaport Museum takes up several blocks of the town. There are multiple docks and buildings and they are restoring more. The walk took us around the perimeter and  to a linear town park next to the waterfront. Then we crossed a drawbridge and headed into "downtown". Lots of cute shops. The bookstore we were looking for closed and moved somewhere else. 

Catty corner across the street was Mystic Pizza. Made famous in 1988 in a film starring Julia Roberts. How is it possible that that movie is 36 years old?

Because we walked the extra distance we cut off some of the walk and headed back toward the Seaport. We were walking on a road parallel to the river when the draw bridge opened.  I guess we should be glad we didn't get caught on the other side.

When we got back to the car at 4, we drove the rest of the 2.5 hours to get to Lowell. The MOP is less than a half-hour away but there are no hotels. Plus we want to go to an indy bookstores in Andover and Lowell. I don't think there is any walks scheduled for tomorrow.

Miles/Steps:  11,035 steps for the day. Which is remarkable because we were in the car for 6.5 hours. About 2.5 miles for the walk.
Weather:        Low 80s, sunny, breezy.

Bathrooms:    I-5 at the linear park.

how is it november already?

I can't get back into walking regularly. I'm stymied. The senior center chair exercise class has fizzled out, but I sometimes go to chair yoga.

 

Last Friday Sharon and I had hair appointments at Tilghman and Cedar Crest. I told Sharon I wanted to go to yoga. She could walk around the shopping center — there's a huge Dollar Tree — or hang out until I got back. She chose to come along and sit in the lobby.

But she didn't.

The instructor and owner convinced her to try it. She was the center of attention because she got lots of help. I was mortified. They invited her back. In the car she told me how much fun it was. Asked how much it costs because it was free the first time. She wants to go back. My last refuge of alone space out in the world. Gone.

walked to breakfast

 

Monday and Tuesday was fall break and I did not take advantage of it. I only did the dog walk around the big block. Maybe a half mile. I just put grading, mid-terms, and book supporting projects first.  Tuesday I did go to senior exercise class at the senior center. 

Bonnie and I were to meet at Kasey Lynn’s for breakfast today at 8:30. It’s about a mile away. I didn’t measure it, but I know that the Wawa two blocks away is 1 mile. I left the house at 8:30 for a very uneventful walk. It was straight and flat. But it took me nearly twenty minutes. No world record for sure. But I did it without pain. After breakfast I walked home.

Between 3 and 7 I needed to go pick up my cheese CSA. This was the first week. My sister-in-law is going to split the shares with me. I’ll get one every month till February.  My pick-up spot is the Bonn Place Brewing Company on Taylor between 3rd and 4th. It’s a brew pub. I had planned on picking up my cheese and eating. But they only have beer and snack foods. Oh well. I stopped and got Chinese take-out.

I toyed with walking down and back. It’s just over a mile. But I talked myself out of it. I know when I get my veggie bag it is heavy, plastic and un-yeilding. I decided this time I’d take the car. As you can see it’s in a cardboard take-out box. It weighs about 5 pounds. It was a good call. Next time I’ll take a shopping bag when I walk down.

If you want to know what I got, here you go:

Red Cat
Birchrun Hills Farm. Unpasteurized.
Award winning farmstead original, this rustic washed rind cheese is assertive, rich & brothy. Try it with kimchi or pickled veggies.

Fenugreek Gouda
Valley Milkhouse. Unpasteurized.
Belgian style gouda studded with fenugreek seeds. Aromas of maple syrup and brown butter. Enjoy with toasted nuts, dried fruit and a malty ale.

Feta
Birchrun Hills Farm. Unpasteurized.
Cave aged farmhouse feta aged for 2+ months. Pair with golden honey and fresh fruit or whisk with eggs into a spinach pie.

Blue bell
Valley Milkhouse. Unpasteurized.
5-month aged stilton-inspired raw milk blue with roast, toasty aromas. Serve with salami and fig jam or melt over a pizza with seasonal mushrooms.

My SIL is taking the Blue. I don’t like blue.

Miles/Steps:  4000 steps. Just under 2 miles
Weather:        cold when I started, mid-60s when I left, sunny

days 3 & 4 -- badass women

 

Friday I went with a group from the college to Philadelphia on the bus. The group was mostly students, but the bus wasn't full. I sat near the front and had decent leg room. It was my first long sit since the injection and it went okay. I stood up and exited the bus fairly normally.

The tour we did was called the "Badass Women's History Walking Tour" and it left from the Independence Mall visitors center. Our poor tour guide Rebecca had to put up with more than normal city noises. There was a Jubilee festival on the mall and plenty of preaching and singing to go with it.

I would need a notebook to have all the names she talked about. But since it was Philly we started with Billy Penn, basically the only man to get air time. Billy was many things, but a leader he wasn't. And he sucked at math. Thankfully his wife — Hannah Callowhill Penn — was. She was governor of the Province of Pennsylvania for six years — our first and only female governor — after Billy had a series of strokes. And continued for eight years after his death. Props for being the founding mother of Philadelphia.  Out of the hundreds of statues of men in Philadelphia, only 10 of are women. Six of those are religious. Only one is fully sized.

Near the Liberty Bell is a skeleton of George Washington's home, and there's actually some foundation that you can see by looking down thru a glass floor. Philly had a large free Black population. Apparently you could come live in Philly but you had to free your slaves in six months. George had many slaves at mount Vernon, so every five months and 28 days he's send one batch home and bring new ones getting around the law. Many tried escaping because they were well aware of how free Black people lived. .This included Ona Judge who escaped twice. George was not a happy camper. He went to bring her back himself and she fled to Vermont where she married, raised a family, held a job, and stayed free until the day she died. Oh she also bragged about it in the newspaper. Badassed. 

Let's see who else. Peggy Shippen Arnold, the wife of Benedict Arnold, who saved him by feigning hysteria when Washington's troops came after him. 

We finally left the mall and headed to 6th and Chestnut to talk about Babara Gittings, the Mother of the LBGTQ rights movement. Her protests were three years before Stonewall.

(Mural designed by Maxwell Parish. Done in Tiffany Glass.)

For art, we talked about The Red Rose Girl's, a group of female artists working in Philadelphia in the early 1900s. The women lived communally at the Red Rose Inn in Villanova before moving to Mount Airy in 1906. One, Violet Oakley, painted the murals in the State Senate building. The centerpiece of Oakley’s Senate murals, “International Unity and Understanding”, a 44-foot long visual epic It took her 16 years. I missed some of what was said because they were drilling something in the building. We ended up going outside.

At UPenn we talked about Eliza Sproat Turner, the second female Africian-American physician in the US and the first at the Women's Megical College of Philadelphia. (The first Women's medical College. Great stories there about male med students behaving poorly.) My knees were starting to yell at this point and for the rest of the walk I lagged behind.

From UPenn we word our way into the Gayborhood to learn about women who contributed to the LGBTQ+ movement including Nazir Morris, a Philly drag performer and founder of a Buddhist faith group for trans folks and advocate for gender variant sex workers who died under "suspicious circumstances". There were two other women at this stop but I don't remember names.

From here we parted company and hiked back to 12th and Arch for the bus. We had about 1.25 hours, plenty of time to get food. I, of course, arrived back 15 minutes early. I was not the one being left in Philly. All but five were back on time. The organizer — a psy prof who needs to grow a backbone — was the organizer. Apparently she text the missing people and they responded they were lost and would be there in five minutes. 30 minutes later one returned carrying a full ice cream and a creamy full drink cup. WTF? A few minutes later tey get off the bus again. It took over one hour for the five to get back. The organizer had to go get them. Have they never heard of google maps? Taxi's? Uber's? Asking other people for directions? I've been on bus trips where they left one minute after the meet time. Five minutes fien. Ten, even. But an hour? No. We would have been gone.

Leaving late got us into full Friday night traffic. It took almost 2.5 hours to get back to Bethlehem. I was more than annoyed because I had dinner plans. A fundraiser for the shelter and it was Korean food. I had never had Korean food. I almost missed it. My food was cold but my SIL saved me a spot. Most was delicious. I ate way too much.

Miles/Steps:  my phone says 8383 steps. I'm guessing that's close to 5 miles.
Weather:        mid-seventies, sunny

day 2 -- pain is making a comeback.

 My pain is making a comeback. Well within the 72 hours  of the injection. However, at this point it's simply pain. It''s not interfering with my mobility. I used some of that homeopathic cream for the first time. Can't really tell if it works. It was smelly or sticky. So we'll see.

Today the roofers came to replace my front porch roof. It was not crumbling and rotted as I had anticipated. But the old box gutter was seriously compromised. He could wiggle the front beam with no effort. I'm not sure all of what they did. I could see that they cut a hole next to Fillippe's house about a foot wide and replaced the wood. They removed the old gutter and replaced just the front of the joists. When I left at 2 they were doing more cleanup. (Bonus, the blew the alley way. Cross one thing off the to-do list!) The back roof was finished.  So maybe they were done with the construction/demo portion. The gutter will be lined in rubber instead of metal so it will need no maintenance. As far as I know we've never done any maintenance to it. I've lived there since 1974. The metal flashing needs to go against the house, singles, and then the ever important seam.

Because I was in some pain, I wanted to cheat park. But I talked myself out of it. I didn't want to park across the street because I get out at 930 tonight. It's way too dark over there. Even the restaurant is closed. So I parked in the Spartan lot on the opposite side of the gym. Then I walked around the gym, and to the back side of Penn Hall where I  picked up the walking path.

It's been a long time since I've done the walking path, and in the meantime they've build another new ball field! I went around the ball fields and the tennis court. Passed some students doing batting practice and returned to the back of the gym. I did not follow the path across the parking lot because I had already done that. 

At the fitness center they redid the windows with the new branding. That spartan is one scary dude. He looks like he's in a Marvel movie.

day 1 no pain?

 

It's been 48 hours plus since the injection in my knee. I have been mostly pain free. Last night there was a bit. Actually right now there is a bit. But I'm walking like a normal person again.

I had my doctor's appointment before class and she didn't yell at me. Actually she was quite pleasant. I went for Chinese food afterwards. Then hit Michael's and walked to Dollar Tree. So I walked a bit around the shopping center before even getting to school. Last week I would have been sitting in the car with tears running down my face.

I must confess that at school I've been immorally parking in the handicap lot with Pat's pass. Now to be honest I was not stealing a truly differently-abled persons spot. The lot pretty much clears out after 2. I could never do it at 8 am. The lot is situated right by my building, and then I could limp in without extreme difficulty. 

Today I parked in my regular space...down the hill and across the street from my building. I even stopped at the little free library box at the child care center and got a book. 

 

Then I walked past my building, around the administration building, and to the theater lobby to pick up my CSA bag. After grabbing my bag and talking to a former student, I headed to my classroom. I stopped several times in this adventure but not because I was tired or that my leg hurt. I had reasons to stop.

Then the hard part. Walking back after class. Uphill. But no problem again.

No great mileage but a step in the right direction.

i knew this would be a waste of time

10/7

I did do a walk the last Saturday in September but I didn’t bother posting it. I only did the (old people) 3K and my knee was screaming. It was mostly flat and drizzling. I was looking forward to the walk because it was the anniversary of the volkssport club and I knew there would be a lot of people to walk with. Even pokey people like me.

The past ten days have been a whirlwind of doctor’s appointments. I was optimistic at first. After all I’ve lost ten pounds and have changed my eating patterns a lot…although to be fair last week was a bit of a dumpster. Tuesday was the heart doctor. The nice one. But she doesn’t like my BP’s in the 130s anymore than that physician’s assistant did. She wants to increase my drugs. She gave me new instructions for taking my BP which are much better than mean physician’s assistant persons.  I’m supposed to keep tract for a week and send them in. It’’s been almost a week and I think I’ve done three days. I’m not built for this shit.

Wednesday I went to the optician about my eye sight. The glasses I received after my surgery suck. Great to drive in. Can’t read or eat or do anything closeup with them on. Makes it difficult when both skills are needed at once, like looking at the GPS. I found that out while driving to Phoenixville for the volkssport picnic. I am new to this practice. My eye doctor was no longer doing surgery, and has since retired. I’ve only seen the surgeon and the glaucoma specialist there. My doctor did everything. This practice has techs do everything. Including the eye exam. The optometrist came in after the tech was done and gave me the verdict. They told me the RX barely changed but gave me a new one. Suggested wearing the glasses to drive and getting readers to read. Honestly, I can’t keep tract of one pair, yet alone two. I’m not having new glasses made. It’s a waste of money. If I need to get them in the future I’ll get single vision. Why pay for a useless bifocal.

Saturday I went for blood work and failed most of it. Worse numbers ever. I think I’m going back to eating shitty. The only thing I can think of is the lack of exercise …  I haven’t exercised much at all since Pat died. I mostly clean and move things. Why? As you know from my minimal posts my knee is killing me...especially since the end of July. I manage to scrounge out the occasional walk, the old lady exercise class, and the chair yoga … most weeks. 

Today I got a crown at the dentist, and of course she wants to do another. Not at $1.5K each.  Two in one year is plenty.  And after that I finally went to the orthopedist. 

I picked OAA. That’s where Bonnie goes. She’s had both knees and a hip replaced, as well as work on her elbow, wrist and hand. I showed her the list of doctors and she picked one. She’s very picky. First they took x-ray’s. Standing with both legs. Sitting, and then two difficult poses. Then I went to the exam room where they did all the normal stuff. The nurse was barely finished when he walked in. He showed me  the x-rays. My left leg that doesn’t hurt has way more arthritis than the right one, which hurts so much it keeps me up at night and forces me to walk the stairs like a 4-year-old.  I also have this little piece of bone, like a ball, behind my knee. Not everyone has that. I tried googling it but came up empty. Bonnie would have known. My right knee has a circle of bone that is bone rubbing bone. I’m wondering if the circle is leftover from the great girls scout fall in seventh grade. I did try to tell the story but they weren’t interested. Odd, I thought it was relevant. That was quite the trauma. And I got to skip school for two or three days, and ride to school in the car for even more. 

I did learn that the inside of the knee goes first, then the cap, then the outside. There are three courses of treatment. Do nothing. Clearly that doesn’t work.  Step two is the injection. They gave it to me.  It’s been six hours. I cannot tell the difference. No, that’s not true. Now my whole leg hurts. I’m dragging it around like Frankensteins monster. He wants me to exercise. But didn’t give me the exercises. I’m sure Bonnie will have them. He also said to get this cream — Arnicare. It’s homeopathic. Says it works like Aleve and is okay for AFib. I bought it ($18!) but waiting to use it. I’m going to try and wait the full 48 hours. I really want to know what the shot does. Then maybe, hopefully just after walks and at night. 

The people at OAA were nice. Friendly. Way better than the people at the cold, hard eye practice. But I think it was a waste of time and money. I’ve known about the arthritis for years. Actually my whole life. Everyone in my family has it. I was hoping for a tear in my meniscus. That would explain the onset of the horrible stabbing pain that I’m having for the last 8, 10 weeks. The radiating pain up and down my leg. The “falling asleep” of my leg when I sit.  I could barely stand at the dentist after an hour in the chair. My knee was throbbing so bad I didn’t even notice what she was doing in my mouth. So for the next few year’s I’m just going to have to power thru.

Wednesday is my primary care doctor’s appointment. I’m saving the worse for last. I’m sure she’ll want to push more drugs on me because that’s what they do. I swear they get kick-backs or a commission. I’m not taking anything else. None of this shit works and I just keep getting sicker. 

9/8

I wrote most of the above last night. It’s now been about 20 hours since I had the injection. My knee hurt last night when I fell asleep, but not as much as before. But I slept most of the night. I woke up at 3 for the bathroom and was still wobbly, but when I got back in bed I went right back to sleep. That’s huge. This morning I was still wobbly. The injection site feels like someone hit me with a hammer. But the stabbing pain is gone. Or minimal. My entire leg is still sore. I’m still dragging it around like Frankenstein’s monster. But I did the steps like an adult. The tech/nurse/PA that gave me the shot said 48 hours. We will see.

heat and pain

 

There was a volkssport walk today in Harleysville. I decided to bite the bullet and go. I got to get out there and exercise. The photo above hows just how fat I am. Even though I’ve lost about 10 pounds.

This walk went on the fitness trails in several retirement communities. Fairly flat which is one reason I decided to go. The other was I’ve never done this walk before. There was a labyrinth early on in a very shady area. But 80% of the walk was all out in the sun and pretty damn hot. Every time I hit shade I sang “It’s shade! It’s shade!”

We all did the 6K. I did okay for the first three. I even took my hiking stick. But then my knee started screaming. I had forgotten how much it hurt because all week I’ve been taking the Prednisone for my poison and it must have an anti-inflammatory in it. And of course that’s over. I slowed down considerably and stopped frequently. Elie, mostly stayed with me. She’s 90 and can walk circles around everyone else. 

Near the end there was a park with a pavilion. Everyone took to the pavilion to cool off. Bill and I took to the swings.  Oddly the swings didn’t hurt.

My ice pack is back in the freezer. It’s time to use it. Also this week I did the chair class at the senior center and the chair yoga class in Allentown.

Best exercise week in a helluva long time. Now I need to follow thru.

Weather:     eighties, sunny

Bathrooms:          I-4.5

road trip -- day 2

You can see one large spot on the left side of the pic. And look at how red my left eye is. I’m still thinking bug bites. What’s the point of a selfie if you can’t see where you are?

Saturday I was up and out at 7 am. The first walk was at the Walkway Over The Hudson, a converted rail bridge. If I had one, this was a bucket list walk. The group walk wasn't until 10 but I went much earlier. I didn't want to do the group walk for several reasons. First, I wanted to pack in Val-Kill (Eleanor's house) and the Vanderbilt Mansion as well. Also, I knew I would walk slow. I learned in Canada these people walk fast. Even in the slow group.

There were signs from the highway pointing to the walkway, but they kept changing. WTF is that about. Consistency in signage is what it makes effective. I finally arrived at the Poughkeepsie end of the Walkway and couldn't figure out where the hell to park. It's in the middle of a neighborhood like mine. The street parking was very restricted, there had to be a lot somewhere. And where was the trailhead? I probably drove in circles for a half hour. I finally saw some walkers cross the road and watched where they went. It was a path thru a construction area. I circled around again and found a parking spot, and walked back to that spot. I walked the path and there it was a parking lot and a trailhead. How to get into the lot is still a mystery.

The Walkway is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, on the east bank and Highland, New York, on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It's about a mile and a half long.

Like most elevated "parks" the walkway had signage telling all about the history of the bridge as you walked. There were a few places with the quarter binoculars, benches, etc. It does allow dogs which surprised me. It was a nice walk. It was long. I was really happy when the other end came into view. I  wouldn't want to do it in the summer sun. You'd bake. It had great views of the Hudson. The Highland side is where I should have parked. It had obvious lots and a huge trailhead. It was not in a residential neighborhood. The 5K was across the bridge and back. The 10K included towns.

After returning to Poughkeepsie, I drove to Val-Kil, Elenor Roosevelts cottage. It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of the building. The trees blocked everything. During her marriage Val-Kil was a furniture factoryemploying women and run by Eleanor and her two best friends. After FDR's death she had the workshop converted into a home and moved in there. She had hated living with her mother in law and never felt that was her house. 

But what was interesting is this house had the same feel as the big house.  This glass in the front door (used as a back door) was a gift from an artisan friend. Much of the furniture was furniture that had been made in the old workshop. And again, if there was one chair, there was a dozen in each room. The house was donated to the park service after her death. (FDR's mom was strong, independent, domineering ... sound familiar.) There were trails on the grounds including one called Eleanor’s Walk. It was only a mile. But the clouds looked pretty threatening.

Then I went to the Vanderbilt mansion. The mansion was designed to show people how rich they were. These Vanderbilts only had 2 generations of money so they had to really work to be accepted into society. To be rich in NY society you needed a minimum of three generations. This was a spring and autum house. Only used maybe 12 weeks a year. If you were invited to stay women had to bring six changes of clothes per day, and men four. You never saw your hosts until dinner.

the main stairway

the skylight in the foyer

the back staircase

Now I love a rich persons mansion or a castle with the fancy furniture, gold, art out the wazoo, etc. But even when gaudy it was tasteful and looked like it belonged together. Not my taste, but I’d enjoy my stay. This house was ostentatious, gaudy and just plain ugly…like they shopped at Renaissance garage sale. Their interior designer picked everything and had it shipped from Europe. Price didn’t matter. Every piece of furniture looked uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine living there or even spending one night there. I had trouble being there a half hour.

The earlier clouds had disappeared by the time I arrived there. But storms were supposed to be developing in the afternoon. It was getting cloudy again.

While in the parking lot, I looked at google. What else could I do? I clicked on "attractions" and the first thing that I hadn't already seen was a lighthouse. Cool. It turns out there was three. The furthest was 45 minutes away. I was on the road again.

I arrived at the lighthouse and the clouds were getting darker. But the roads were wet so I figure the storm had already been thru. It was a half mile walk to the lighthouse. At one of the boardwalks the sign said that the path floods during high tide. Goodie. The dirt changed to sand and soon you could see the lighthouse. When I stepped out of the woods the winds were really kicking up. There was a lot of people there. They stayed. I didn't. The clouds were getting black. About a third of the way back it started to drizzle. By the time I got back it was a downpour. I got soaked. My umbrella and raincoat were in the car.

The other two lighthouses were a washout. Maybe if I wasn't alone or wet, I would have explored further. Google took me to an abandoned parking lot for the first one. The lighthouse was in the water. I did not see it anywhere. The second time Google took me to a private yacht club, instead of a public beach. There was a dinner at 6, and I had to meet the Tesla at 5:30. I gave up and went back to the hotel. I walked about 14K in total Saturday. 

My three national park visits were free. They were covered by my America The Beautiful Pass. I bought it when we did the Long Branch, NJ walk in 2019. On the way home we stopped at the Sandy Hook National Park to visit the lighthouse. We had to pay a fee to park. The toll taker told us we should get the pass, it was only maybe $25. So I did. This was the first time I used it. I’m glad I bought it.

I arrived at the hotel, went to my room and all my stuff was gone. I went downstairs. The desk clerk said I didn't book for two nights, just one, but my key worked. Hmmm. They tried to call me several times but were not using my number. They used the 3rd party number. I ended up booking a second night, probably at full price (I checked, yep.), and went back to my room and unpacked again.

I will not use an app again alone. It was a nightmare. I will not use a Red Roof Inn again. They were rude and not customer service oriented. The sheets were scratchy, and there was three different floor surfaces which was odd in the middle of the night. The wi-fi sucked. The soda machine was broken. But the ice machine worked. I asked for a receipt when I checked out and they didn't give me one. They'd email it. It has yet to come.

When  I went to bed my face was bad. I blamed it on the scratchy sheets. Sunday I was up early. My face was now worse. I thought about going to an urgent care, but went home instead. I skipped the last walk in Connecticut and the one I planned to do in Milford. I just wanted to go home.

So I did. I almost made it home in time to go to my shelter shift, but I had called off from it. Besides, I was scheduled to put together water filtration kits at the church that night. I picked up Sharon, and she audibly gasped when she looked at me. Half my face was bright red and some was oozing.

In the morning I went to urgent care. They gave me Methylprednisonlone. I have to take it for three days. The rash is gone. Mostly. Only the scabs remain. But last night I had a A-Fib attack at 2 am. Are the two related? God, I hope not. I don’t want to go back to square one.

road trip--day 1

Usually when I do a road trip I blog each day. It's really a great way to remember everything, and actually get it done...even if you have to edit it later. But the free wi-fi at my hotel was pretty awful. I couldn't do anything. 

I haven't been doing much walking. Something happened with my knee in late July and it just hurts like hell. I signed up for this trip when I got back from Canada when I was feeling healthy and optimistic. Last week I battled with myself should I go or not. It was to Poughkeepsie, NY and Hyde Park for the Volkssport NE Regional Weekend. Ultimately I decided to go. I figured if worse came to worse I'd just tour rich peoples mansion's.

The plan was to leave at 7 am. It was probably a dumb plan because I'd reach Stroudsburg right in time for rush hour. Ultimately I ended up leaving about 11... I had breakfast with Bonnie first. And I needed to get gas.

I stopped at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center to use the restroom. It was a nice restroom and then I noticed a sign on the mirror:

There was similar info in the hotel room. But I’d think the trafficker could see that.

I arrived in Poughkeepsie around 1:30 pm … too late for the group walk at FDR's house at 1. I went to FDR's anyway, they sent us the walk directions for all the walks. The walk went to the Vanderbilt Mansion, but  I knew I couldn’t go that far. It was too late and too far. No way I can do a 10K yet. Plus I just sat in the car for three hours.

I went into the Visitor's Center and signed up for the 3 PM tour, so I only had about an hour to walk. Which was fine. The first section of the walk was on FDRs property. (Well actually it was mom's but that's another story. A good one.) I altered the directions a bit so that I would get to the stables by 2:55. 

I walked past the library, and around the back to the to a sculpture carved from two sections of the Berlin Wall.

It was a large property, I think they said the park service owned 125 acres. In his time it was a working farm. I walked thru the garden and arrived at the stable in time for my tour. It probably housed a dozen horses.

The house. It began as a farm house, had two additions. FDR was a believer in manifestation so he added the gaudy portico because he knew he’d make it to the white house.  The portico was the only silly rich-people thing. The house itself was modest, simple, cozy on the inside. The ramp we walked up was not the one that he used. The NPS guide said the original would meet no safety or ADA standards. It was very, very steep. Speaking of adaptability, his elevator was a glorified dumb waiter. He pulled onto the platform, and then pulled himself up to the second floor hand over hand with the pulley. It did not look safe. (There was a modern lift in the back of the building for tour guests.) In the foyer every inch of wall space was used with framed achievements of FDR. Mom basically used the foyer like we use a fridge door.

In his library there were toys on the floor. Apparently it acted like the modern family room. Every room had too much furniture. If there was one chair there was a dozen--large families, a lot of guests equals no grabbing a folding chair. The bedrooms were even simpler. I was impressed. No aires at all. After the tour I finished the walk, but I did manage to cut some off. I did 2.6 instead of 3 miles, but that included walking around the house. So maybe 4K?

I was feeling pretty good. I was surprised after the long drive and walking. I decided I would go with the Green's to the Octoberfest for supper. It was part of the program. Mike really loves having guests in his Tesla. It was my first time in an electric car and the nav screen was the size of a large iPad. It showed all the traffic, people on bikes, the color of lights everything. Their car is white but on the screen it was pink. Why?  Their granddaughter changed it. He says every time he gets in the car it makes him think of her. So it stays. Sweet. He doesn't even need to keep his hands on the wheel 100% of the time. "She" is actually driving. But he must touch the wheel occasional or she lets him know. She hated the grass parking lot. Had a downright hissy fit.

The brats were good. We were only there maybe an hour and a half. It was pretty loud. The polka music made me think of Pat.

It was when I returned to the Red Roof Inn+ that I realized the wi-fi sucked. I picked this hotel for the price using the Hotels Tonight app. Angel and Bonnie use it all the time. And they are usually the operators. It was my first time and it wasn't good. More on that later. The prices never budged. Which I found odd. I found out Saturday why. Marist had a football game and the Culinary Institute was moving in. Cheap rooms come from unused rooms. Before bed I noticed in the mirror I had four spots on my face. Thought nothing of it. Must be bug bites from the festival. I kept swating them away..

The next day when I woke my face was wet. And my nose scaly. I looked in the mirror. My face was getting a little redder. Shoot, I thought, whatever bit me I reacted to it. Oh well. I decided to watch it, but I needed to get out walking.

left the neighborhood for the weekend

 

Back in March my friend Pam said registration was open for Adult Camping Weekend at GS Camp Laughing Waters. Her grown children wanted to go. Did I? I said sure. I was fresh off my surgery and feeling fine.

However, I’ve done something to my knee. I don’t know if it finally wore out like the rest of the family, or if I pulled or sprained something, but it hurts like hell. My guess it’s from all the moving, cleaning, stairs that I’ve been doing. Often in the heat. I’d say it started about a month ago. Then it gets better, then I do something it doesn’t like and we’re back to square one. I think this round began at the shelter lunch 10 days ago. It didn’t like standing three hours. Then the next day I had to break into the house thru the window. 

The front door lock broke. I had to use the back door until it was fixed.

Friday was go to camp day. My knee was better, not great. Early in the day I received a text from Pam that she had Covid. She had been teaching swimming at day camp. The siblings were discussing whether they still wanted to go. And in fact they did. The one from Brooklyn was at mom’s.  Could I pick them and all their gear up? They were flying out of Philly to the west coast on Monday. The other one was meeting us there from Philly.

The trip down was uneventful. We were unloading the car and I realized I forgot my sneakers.  They were sitting, out of habit, by the front door.  Now most of the roads in camp are gravel. You kind of take your knees for granted, but walking on gravel they get a workout. We picked a tent under the trees then waited for the sibling to arrive.

Friday is casual. Food is bring your own. I took all the veggies I got from my CSA and roasted them. Plus I took cukes and tomatoes. No protein. The one that drove with me is vegan, and kosher. I stayed in my wheelhouse. The other brought a Wawa sandwich. I also brought plates. It was really good and nobody seemed to care that there was no protein.

After what seemed like an hour of announcements, the dining hall became a crafting and bingo hall.  And swap central. They were into Swaps. I took a box of paper Moravian Stars as swaps. I found them while cleaning and saved them from the recycle bin. After swapping, the young people decided to play bingo. I think they wanted the Smarties. As always with bingo, our table didn’t win.

Then they headed outside for what became a marathon session of Yahtzee. They played all weekend.

Our tent unit was centrally located to everything. You could get almost anywhere in 10-15 minutes. The young people could do it in 5-10. The indoor bathrooms were less than a 5 minute walk from our tent. They have no latrines at this camp. Our units facility had toilets, showers, sinks, and a washer/dryer. But no mirrors. We did have to be careful though in the middle of the night. The tent across from us — the shortest route — had a washline hung between two trees. If you went that way, you hung yourself. Not fun.

I didn’t sleep well. The cots were tiny, hard, and uncomfortable. I could not find a position that my knee didn’t hurt.

Saturday morning we did the polar plunge in the pool. It was 7 am and the air temp was in the 60s. The pool and air temp was very similar. But it was lovely to get that layer of sweat off. It was so humid. Brooklyn treaded water the entire time we were there. I just moved around in the water. I was planning on doing the Aqua Zumba at 11 if it wasn’t raining.

After breakfast my first activity — the young people signed me up — was basket weaving in the old barn. They were going to rock climbing and high ropes, as well as making gnomes. The craft barn is at the most remote end of camp. I left myself 20 minutes to get there. Philly took the class last time and said don’t be late. She starts at 10 on the nose.

So I’m walking. Clutching my dozen spring clothespins in one hand, and my phone in the other. I have a t-shirt over my swimwear because I was headed to Aqua Zumba afterwards. There are other people ahead of me walking. I walk past the pool, athletic fields, some units, the archery and end up at a bridge. Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore. If I had a map, maybe I could have found a cut-thru. Instead, I walked all the way back to the dining hall and took the other fork in the road. I arrived at nearly 9:30 with 4K steps on my phone. 

They left me make a basket anyway, but I missed Zumba because I started so late. This basket has a spiral weaving pattern and a braided top. (Note the t-shirt behind me: Not waiting for permission since 1912.) The top was tough because I pulled a little too hard and it got smaller. But not as bad as some others. They were almost cone shaped.

I was walking back for lunch when I hear a “beep beep”. It was a golf cart. They asked if I want a ride. I think if I said no my knee would have just stopped working. The golf cart was taking around the less mobile campers. Three ladies had earned the curved bar. (ie: eagle scout). They started hading them out in 1947! They had been GS’s for more than 3/4 a century. And still camping. The less mobile campers were staying together in a cabin. I’d really be green with envy if they were tent camping.

After lunch was pool and pool party. It looked like rain but it waited until it was over. It was horribly humid but maybe only 72 degrees. I spent the text two hours walking the L-shape of the pool. I did laps. Then I took a break and walked a lap sideways or backwards. Sometimes I’d stop and hold on to the side  and kick. It was glorious because it wasn’t weight bearing.  However, when I got out of the pool my legs were jelly, so I made the mistake of sitting down. Getting up was tough.

We walked back to the tent and changed, no night swimming for us. The Yahtzee marathon restarted until it was time for the young people to help in the kitchen. I signed up for zero chores. And I feel only a tiny bit guilty about it. They looked like drowned rats when they came out of the kitchen. They said it was really hot.

We skipped the lame indoor campfire and I headed back to the tent. They stayed on the porch and played more Yahtzee. I took my fancy coloring book but there wasn’t enough light to color. I had been doodling on placemats … I mean the back of schedules … the whole time.

I tried to go to sleep but that didn’t happen till after midnight. I was over tired and there were these two owls having it out. I don’t know if it was a heated discussion or a mating ritual, but they needed to keep the hoot hoots down.

Sunday is an early day. It’s cleanup, pack up, scouts own and breakfast. Then you’re gone. We skipped breakfast. I stopped at Panera on my way home.

Food was not very good this time. Friday night we had ice cream floats. They stuck one scoop of ice cream in the bottom of a paper cup and added generic root beer or cola. Of course it foams so it was maybe a half cup of soda. Breakfast was bacon, egg bakes (I think…it was hard to tell), and 1/2 bagels. I had a bagel and bacon. 

Lunch was a taco bar. In the line you got a shell and one small scoop of meat (vegan or real), a smaller scoop of cheese, and then you did the rest yourself outside. There were also broccoli salad, cole slaw (I think) drowning in mayo. As well as the grosses looking 3 bean salad in the whole world. I love three bean salad. I took none.  Thankfully there was a lot of fruit. I had grapes, strawberries, watermelon, and pineapple. There were slightly burnt scones for dessert. All three of chose the same options. All those salads swimming in mayo were also available vegan. 

Thankfully, Sunday dinner was good. We were hungry. Green beans, mashed potatoes, (slightly dry) chicken, and stuffed acorn squash to die for. Dessert was pie.

Overall it was a good weekend. I got to know Pam’s children well. I unplugged for the most part. And I exercised my knee off. What more could I want.

Tuesday I have exercise class at the senior center with Sharon. I sure hope I can do it. Otherwise she won’t.