reset outdoors

 

Last night I did a “community” walk with Reset Outdoors. These are the same people that held that one-day event at NCC, and the 7-week event at NCC.  We had a total of eight people. Three were from Reset.

We met at the pool at 5:30, and walked the big hill down to the Monocacy Way Trail. Then headed to Paint Mill Road. They turned around and head back, but this time off-trailing a lot with little side paths. We had to cross the railroad tracks to enter the Illicks Mill Nature Trail. We stuck close to the creek. When we reached the park, we headed down the main trail back to Monococay Way and back up the steep hill to the parking lot. I was the last one up. We finished around 7.

Miles/Steps:    2-2.5 mile round trip. I’m guessing. I no longer have a fit-bit and my phone tells me nothing useful.
Weather:         overcast, low 60s, breezy

Wildlife:           two bunnies, one doe, then two does, three male mallards came in for a landing on the Monocacy, and two very fat ground hogs.

memorial day stroll

Monday I had just finished writing about yard work Sunday when I got a craving for lasagna.  It would not go away. Weirder was it was about 70 degrees out. Lasagna is winter food.

I head into the kitchen and found noodles. No meet. No cheese. Just noodles and veggies. And sour milk. I cannot make lasagna with that. I did not want to take the car out. That left me with one option. I had to walk to the grocery store. Would it be open?

So I did. I didn’t take my cart because I was going for cheese and ricotta. That’s it. I’m only eating meat out. This would be a veggie lasagna. I’ve got to eat more veggies. I stopped once going down. Multiple times coming back.

The store was not only open, but busy. I walked home and then proceeded to make a 9x13 pan of lasagna. Yes, enough to feed at least 8 people. One layer was broccoli, one cauliflower, and one peppers. The peppers were a mistake. And not cooking the tomatoes was a mistake too. The saw tasted raw. But it was delicious and I ate two slices. The rest was cut up for the freezer, and one portion for Sharon. But I might eat that as leftovers.

Miles/Steps:    1.5 mile round trip
Weather:          sunny, nearly 70

a few calories burned

BEFORE: You can’t see the biggest change because I shot from the edge of the patio. 

I had planned to participate in no-mow May, but about two weeks ago I caved. I was just waiting for the citation from the city. It then promptly rained for two solid weeks. I can’t image what it would like like had I not mowed.

So my nieces husband is my lawn dude this summer.  And I’m planning on working him hard. There’s some projects that need doing, that I’ve put off. Partly because I’m lazy. Partly because I don’t like doing ANYTHING alone. Blame it on being the youngest child. I always had playmates. They keep me motivated.

Let me give you the lay of the land: On the left of the deck is some hostas and a pink peony. It’s flowers are tight because it’s protected by a dying tree azalea. The right of the deck some bushes. Not native. At this point the deck is empty. 

I’m standing at the edge of the deck. To the right of me is a tree azalea I gave my mom for Mother's Day in the mid-80s. I few blooms happened this year, but it’s on life support.  To the left of me are 3-nearly 50 year old azaleas. They are white. They were amazing in their heyday, but not recently. They’ve taken a beating with the snow, and I have a hard time weeding them. One was 100% dead. The second at least 75%. And the third only slightly better. They bloomed this year; barely.

On the red fence side is some irises (that are now done), another still budding pink peony, a huge rose of Sharon, and a forsythia. (My nephew cut that at least in half last year. I think it grew three times bigger.) The wash post sits in the middle of the yard. On the right side — in the yard — is a red peony. It was opening the last time I cut the grass. It was pretty for about 5 seconds and then the rain beat it down on the ground. I always say I’m going to buy forms and I never do. 

On the natural fence side is mostly weeds now. There is a couple hostas, and one sedum has survived. But the invasive weeds have overtaken everything. And the more I pull the more they multiply.  Frankly, I’ve given up.

So I picked up J. The first thing we did was prune the front of the Rose of Sharon. Clearly my plants ate their Wheaties over the winter.  Then he set to work weed whacking and mowing. I got to work pulling vines. There were at least four different kinds. Some with shiny leaves, some with grape leaves, and the prickly ones that almost looked like flowers. 

I have long stopped taking yard waste to the compost center. I’ve been putting the brush in front of the garage. I think the neighborhood stray cats love it.  Outside my gate is the compost bin, a gorgeous clematis, and two areas of weeds. I have tried over the years to plant things, but they don’t stick. After J was done weed whacking back there I decided that was going to be the new green compost pile. As long as it doesn’t have food in it, it should be fine. Maybe it will keep down the weeds. Though I’d really like a week of sun to dry them out before rain. I don’t want anything to root.

OMG. It’s starting to look like a yard and we are only an hour in.

Then J get’s to the deck. I was weeding here. How much of this is weeds? Everything but that tree. He puts his hand out and say’s “this dead tree” as a two inch branch breaks off in his hand. It’s was kindling. I told him to prune out the dead. There was one branch left. I had a decision to make. Keep a dead Sussical tree or cut it down. I told him to cut it. I hauled everything to the “compost” pile.

One decision made. Then he say’s are you finishing that dead bush by hand. And I said no. It’s’ve taken off the rose colored glasses, I cannot save it. Pull it before I change my mind.

He did. 

Then he brought up the patio furniture. If I have money left from my kitchen I’m putting in a new deck. The person who put in this one sucked. The one my brother made lasted 30+ years. This one is less than 10.

So now it’s time to buy plants. It’s hard because it’s all sun, all day. They will all die. And it’s hard to know going into something that you’re just wasting money.

Positives:

1) The yard is no longer the worse in the neighborhood

2) I spent a hour out there this morning doing puzzles. I actually left the house, albeit I didn’t go far.

3) The birds had a field day last night with the worms and bugs. All-you-can-eat buffet time at my house.

4) I spent 2.5 hours outside.

 

memorial walk

Every year the walking group has what they call a memorial walk. It's usually well attended, and there is a little ceremony where they read the names of everyone from that has died over the last 40 years. Thankfully, it's maybe 30. There were some significant deaths this year. 

They have a little memorial in a park. But that park is being renovated. A member rescued our plaque before the renovations began and will put it back when it's over. The event was relocated this year to the Palmer Park in Skippack. I went. I decided to go because I was fresh off the trip to New England and I thought I'd strike while the iron was hot. But I'm still sick. So I did more of a tapping while the iron was hot.

This is the same park they used for the 40th Anniversary picnic so the route was the same. You remember the park? The one with the toilets 12 inches off the floor? I went walked with the 5K-ers and did a loop thru a development then bailed. I was a block behind everyone else. I hung out at the pavilion. When I saw them coming, I joined again and walked the last section. I might have walked two miles total.

After the walk there was the ceremony and lunch — baby hoagies from Wawa and pretzels from the Italian Market. (Peg and Marion live in Philly.) And a smaller group went out for another 5K. After than an additional member went for a bike ride.

Positives:

1) I went. Damn I tried to talk myself out of it.

2) I walked. I dropped out, but I did renter. That's a win.

3) I didn't get lost on the way home. I tried to trick the GPS by going down Allentown Rd. It really wanted me to go to 309. On a Saturday afternoon. Joke was on me. For a while it was quiet. Then suddenly she telling me to turn right. I'm thinking it didn't get the memo. What it was telling me was that Allentown Rd. was closed ahead. Oops.

4) I didn't get stuck on the extremely short toilet.

walking in the drizzle

 Today was the volkssport walk in south Bethlehem. I feel shitty, didn’t sleep well, and I’m battle the UPS giant. I’m just getting too old for this shit. And my shit tolerance is getting lower and lower. Honestly I was hoping nobody showed up. After all it was drizzling.

But they did. Two old members who are in town from Colorado for their son’s wedding reception, (They got married in Iceland!) and two current members. 

We checked in at the Comfort Suites which was packed today. Apparently there was some sort of real estate conference. I had to park on the street. And then we headed up Brodhead. I stopped at least a dozen times. I was a good 1/2 block behind everyone else. Dave walked back to meet me and told me to take my time. The Coloradians were being filled in on a recent tragedy and they didn’t mind waiting. 

 Like always, we headed thru Lehigh’s campus. The last time I was on campus the UC was black, and covered in scafolding. It looked like they were pointing the bricks. Well they did, but they also power washed it. OMG the black was 100 years worth of steel dirt. And yes, I look silly in the pic.

We powered thru Lehigh—I kept the pace, and doubled back Packer at Zoellner. And at about Webster, I hit my limit. I said I’m not going any further. I hit a wall at the 1 mile walk.  (What Bonnie and I did in New England was more of a tourist saunter, than a walk for exercise.) We split at the Martindale Library. I think because we were on the other side of the street — construction — they noticed this sculpture for the first time.  I was a half block behind when they waved goodbye as they turned onto Morton.

I could choose to look at this as a failure, but I look at it as a success.

1) I showed up and I tried. Knowing full well that I have trouble with that hill even when I’m in shape.

2) I kept the pace of the in-shape walkers, for a while

3) I blogged about it the same day

4) Minutes after I got home it started to rain harder. It wasn’t a downpour, but it wasn’t light rain. I stayed dry. I wonder how wet they got? 

I am concerned a tiny bit that I could not walk in a straight line. If they were doing DUI tests I would have failed. Right now I’m blaming it on the cold. 

Miles/Steps:  Well it was a mile at Webster, and another 6 blocks back to the car, so I’d say a 1.5 miles
Weather:        54, drizzle, overcast 

Money found: 1 cent

 

walking in new england

 

It doesn't get more New England than this photo, does it?

(The internet, or at least wi-fi, at the hotels stunk. So I couldn't post daily. Heck, I could barely check email!)

It's been a full month since I posted. I'm still lazy and out of shape. God I wish I could find some motivation. I did do a poetry walk about two weeks ago, but there was very little walking. 

This weekend was the Tri-State Lighthouse Walking Festival. I wanted to go since last year when I heard about it, but like everything I talked myself out of it. It's pretty easy to do... driving to Maine for a weekend? Absurd. You spend more time in the car. (We met someone who came up from Florida. they left Mother’s Day.) However, early in April Bonnie asked if I still wanted to go. She wanted to run away from home for a weekend. Their planned trip to Kentucky for her neices graduation was cancelled. I made reservations on the last day and we went.

Volkssporting has a “special program" where you can walk all the states. I'll never finish that book. But I'm doing okay east of the Mississippi. We did the walking weekend in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, plus we walked in Rhode Island. The only state we are missing in the northeastern corner now is Vermont. No way to get Vermont into the weekend.

I picked up Bonnie at 9:15 after work on Thursday and we were off. I planned to go up 33, and then 209, picking up I-84, then picking up CT-9, and finally merging into I-95. I wanted to avoid the George Washington Bridge, and I wasn't a fan of going over the Tappen Zee either. I just wanted to avoid I-95 for as long as possible. Google Maps said this was about 6 hours. Maybe 30 minutes longer than I-95. That's fine with me.

We get to Milford, and pull over. I wanted to turn on the GPS. It didn't talk in my car. So Bonnie and I sat there and figured out how to do Apple Car Play. (Down side—you have to turn the spying bitch Siri on to use it. She's off again.) However, in the process it didn't sync the map on my phone. Instead, it took us all the way back down to the Tappan Zee bridge. Duck. We're doing I-95.  But first it put us on this lovely parkway called the The Merritt Parkway. A controlled-access parkway.  It was designed for Connecticut's Gold Coast, and is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. (Wikipedia) My god was it beautiful. Every overpass was a different art deco bridge. There was a part of me that wanted to pull over.

However we soon came to an almost halt. I thought their might be an accident ahead. It wasn't. Forty-five minutes later we saw the problem. 25 feet of grass being mowed!

Someday I’d like to do the Newport mansions walk, or the cliff walk. But frankly that’s too much for a weekend trip. We finally got to Wickford, Rhode Island and parked on the waterfront. It’s south of Providence. I downloaded the walk route before I left. Thankfully there was a port-o-potty. (P-2.5) Hopefully it was cleaned before the weekend. It was full.

We headed out on the route. Wickford Village is one of the oldest preserved colonial seaside towns in the country. The 5K follows 13 interpretive signs highlighting the area’s past – shipbuilding, Narragansett settlers, steamships, grand architecture and more. We didn't go to the Nature Reserve, that was a 3C. Neither of us are in shape for hills, roots and rocks. We got lost more than once. There are few street signs and the directions say intersection not marked. 

One of the most unique elements was a stone pathway that lead to the above church. Each of the stones had name -- mostly of children under 5 -- that had died. 

There were plenty of beautiful second-period houses. Bonnie and I joked that we should have counted how many people had boot scrappers. Or maybe it would be easier to count those who didn't! We ate an early dinner—or a very late lunch—at a seafood restaurant downtown. Then got back in the car to drive toward Boston. We wanted to be about an hour from Glouster. Our walk for Friday morning.

Bonnie and I are horrible at hotel apps. I needed Angel. She is the queen of the discount app. We found a hotel and it had breakfast. It was right outside Boston so it wasn't cheap. But it was what it was. And they had giant cookies. And like everywhere else the internet sucked. It was about an hour away from the start point.

Where the ships go under the draw bridge

We arrived in Glouster with fog. If we couldn't see it for ourselves the GPS kept reminding us. You could not see the three lighthouses in the harbor. Heck, you could barely see the harbor. We signed in and headed out. Since we couldn't see the lighthouses, the other cool part of this walk was the draw bridge. And it was open! I love an open drawbridge. But I was too far away to see what was going under.

Bonnie picking up sea glass.

This was pretty much an out and back for the 5K. You went out the main street with the waterfront on the left,  and came back thru the park with the waterfront now on your left. They were maybe a block apart.  (P-4.5 in parking lot.) There was several openings in the fencing to go down to the beach. This is not a Jersey beach. These are pebbles, not sand. Most beaches in this area I would say are boulders. 

The 10K went into town, and near to one of the lighthouses that were out into the ocean. We took the car to see our the Eastern Point Lighthouse. By that time the fog had lifted. Although operational it looks really abandoned and unloved. It apparently still works. But everything was fenced off. What was really interesting is you had to go down several streets marked "private" or "members only" to reach it. But when you did there were all sorts of signs that indicated that this was a wildlife reserve, and a important site. In facet, as you traveled down the “private” road there was Lighthouse with an arrow signs like any tourist would follow. 

Our next stop was Maine. We stayed at the Lighthouse Inn that had no view of the lighthouse, but it was close to the beach. Since we had eaten a large meal mid-afternoon in Glouster we decided on ice cream for dinner. After signing in at the Inn, we headed to the lighthouse.

The Nubble Point light

By this time is was a gorgeous mid-May day. The area just before the park had an ice cream stand and a lobster shack. We went with ice cream. Like all food in New England it was expensive, but delicious. And then we went to the beach. Paid parking started that day. Bummer. Apparently the season opens this weekend so there were plenty of places to park. This beach actually had sand. 

Saturday was the walks in Cape Elizabeth, just south of Portland. It began at the Portland Head Light. The fog was so dense you almost needed to be standing right in front of it to see it. And it didn’t lift all day. There was a constant drizzle. We actually had to ask someone which way to the light because you couldn't see it! We spent the day in "Brigadoon". A lot of the walk was in the park. We did not do the town portion. We went lighthouse hoping instead.  The museum did not open till next week or we would have went in. You know I’m a sucker for a lighthouse.

I promise you, there is an ocean there.

From the Portland Head Lamp we were supposed to be able to see the Ram Island Ledge light, but it was too foggy.

We hopped in the car and our next stop was Southern Maine Community College. Yep, they have a lighthouse. This was the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, and you needed to walk out on a jetty to get up close. I tried the stairs and almost fell. That’s why there was a hazard warning sign. I should have packed my walking stick. Clearly we didn’t go. The steps were the worse of it. They just need a rail. As we were leaving we saw the guy from Portland that gave us directions. Here we discover he runs lighthouse tours. He said I guess we'll see you at the "bug light”?

When we got in the car we put in "bug light" and the directions for the Portland Breakwater  Light. This also had a jetty, but it had railings and no steps to get on the jetty. This one we walked out to. I was terrified I'd drop my keys. 

In the parking lot was this odd sculpture. It looked like a boat. We went over. It was the Liberty Ship Memorial. Men AND women built 200 ships in two years during WWII. They even worked in the snow.

As we were getting ready to leave, there was that guy again. He was done with his tour and heading back to home base. Then we stopped at the little museum right outside the park. It was dedicated to the Light and the Liberty Ships. After talking a bit, the docent asked if  we began our adventure at the Two Lights and we said no. He told us where to find them. We headed out for yet another lighthouse(s). But we never saw them. (One works, one is a private home.) Everyone is standing in the parking lot looking to see them, and there is a white wall. They are totally fogged in. We could almost see a house. And the driveway was closed. My guess is that the Coast Guard didn't want anyone falling into the ocean trying to see the light.

Then we headed back to York. Our initial plan was to do a whale watch or some other water tour but they were way out of our league. The last time I did a whale watch it was like thirty bucks. It was one hundred. And frankly, with the fog we wouldn’t have seen anything. 

Our first stop was the host hotel to get our books stamped and Bonnie loaded up on snacks. Then we did the tacky tourist thing and walked around their little "town". We even bought salt water taffy. They were making it in the window. And for a design geek, they don't make signs like this anymore.

or packages like this. My guess is this logo was hand-rendered back in 1900.

I don't know how far we walked this weekend. We walked a lot whether it was on course or not. My upper thighs were screaming. Still are. If nothing else this trip proved to me how out of shape I am.

We did get to see lots of wildlife including a group of five turkeys, and at least one was male. Heard lots of woodpeckers. And at least six varieties of gulls. Plus some “mutt” ducks.