day 18—happy new year!

Personally, I don't get the "new year" holiday. Why should January first be any different than July first? To me, it is just another random Thursday, but I get off from work. Celebrating a new year goes all the way back to Mesopotamia in 2000 BC. And is apparently the most celebrated public holiday in the world. I think it's stupid.

To celebrate the new year I walked with Bonnie. We started at the Comfort Suites and grabbed the Bethlehem South volkssport walk paperwork. Then we headed over the Hill to Hill and did the same at the Hotel Bethlehem for Bethlehem North. We went up to Broad, down First and down Spring. then around the fairgrounds, and up Lehigh to the Fahy bridge. Across the bridge and back to the hotel.

I have no idea how far it was. Maybe 2 miles, perhaps a bit more.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind. We picked up Sharon at David's, came home and defrosted the freezer. Did two loads of towels (as a result of the defrosting). And did the Volkssport paperwork. Then it was time to make the pork and sauerkraut, which required a trip to the store. Finally run Sharon and Lydia home. Pshew.

Tomorrow will be worse. Take Lyd to and from Lehighton, hairdresser, and a trip to the garage. And I have to have my syllabus and the ADDY award entries done by the 5th.

So when does that vacation start? I have yet to open a book.

pumpkin pie 5k

This morning was the Pumpkin Pie 5K.

When I awoke, and it was finally light enough to see, I determined that it was safe to go to the event. It's was 36 and the porch train was dripping on my head. Good sign that there would be no ice.

I picked up Sharon at 7:30 and Lydia at 8, then we headed down 248 to Nazareth. I dropped them at the Y and looked for a place to park. I got really lucky. Meters were free and the spot I selected was plowed! As a bonus it was only about 2 blocks from the Y. That never happens in Nazareth.

I didn't do this race last year, I don't remember why, but in 2012 I finished it about 50 minutes. This year I finished in 51:48. So I increased my time by a minute and a half. Maybe I'm slower. It snowed the whole race., so maybe it was the slush and wet leaves. Who knows.

There is a lot of people on the route cheering you on, which is both helpful and annoying.  I finished second last. For a while I was last, and the copy was creeping along behind me. I pasted a mom and her daughter and ditched the cop. So much more pleasant. As I walked past the car I clicked the trunk button on my keys and threw my coat in. I might have missed a beat, but it was pretty seamless.

Sharon and Lydia did the 1.5 mile fun walk. Though Lydia tracked it at 2 miles. Sharon was pooped at the end. I found her on a park bench waiting for me.

Saturday is the Turkey Trot. Bonnie and Megan, I think are doing that one.

water street park

Sunday we walked in Water Street Park. We took the original trail, not the rail trail. It progressively gets more natural. It's nice. But it's only about a mile one way.

Because my feet hurt I wore my Birks. It was divine not to have stupid sneakers on. But I was the slowest walker. Well behind Lydia and Bonnie. But it doesn't matter. I did it. Right?

Yes, and Birks with a fleece jacket is also weird. Call me complex.

Then we went to the Saucon Valley Farmers Market. Very few veggies at this point—honey, bread, plants, soaps, pickles, ect. We all received free bags. Mine is peach.

After I got home Sharon and I started cutting up the monster rose bush. When Kool-J and Lil Bug arrived they helped too. Then it was lawn mowing and weeding. And I still had two days of work to do in my online class.

Sunday I slept well.

(I lost all my photos yesterday when iPhoto ate them. It was quite hungry. These are from Lyds FB page.)

"nome" update

"Nome" is hopping this week. Dallas Seavey mushed into town on Tuesday at 4:04 am. My favorite, Ally Zirkle (above), came in 2 minutes later. Bonnie and I went to bed early so we could get up at two and wait for their arrivals. Only 13 mushers are left on the trail.

Word arrived that Sharon, David and Barb are about 224 miles from the finish line. They should make it by the end of next week. Lydia and Adonis left the day after they arrived.

We've learned a lot this trip. Nome is called Siqnazuaq in the native Iñupiaq language. It was incorporated in 1901. And more about panning for gold than I'd ever care to know.

Bonnie and I have had a lot of time to walk. There are no Volkssport walks in Nome—just in Fairbanks and Anchorage. So we made our own. We have found four schools, and the University of Alaska—Northwest Campus. No Volkssport walk is complete without a college campus. We have walked every square inch of this town. Someday I'd like to come during the summer and take one of the Bering Strait cruises.

lehigh gap nature center

A few weeks ago, Lydia received an email from the Lehigh Nature Center in Slatington. They were having an open house and wreath making workshop. We decided to go.

We arrived about an hour early and walked on the D&L toward Slatington.

First order of business, crowd 4 people into a selfie. Good thing Sharon is short.

 Bonnie and I kept our normal pace. Lydia slowed down and walked with Sharon. Sharon doesn't move near as well as she used to. Lydia had ample time to stop and take pictures.

 On the return trip, we headed down the dock road to the river. It's the first time i've walked that trail that I didn't want to jump in the river. It was cold. And windy. Mostly I was warm. But I should have had long johns under my work out pants.

 Then we headed inside for the open house/workshop. A lot of people came. They had four types of evergreen, some cedar, some juniper, rose hips and two kinds of holly. The table wasn't large enough for everyone so I had to wait for space. In the meantime, I helped everyone but Bonnie. Her hand gave her trouble but she stubborn and wouldn't accept help. I ran for greens. Cur stems and string. Fetched pine cones. Held and bundled greens. A little bit of everything. After Bonnie, Lydia and Sharon finished it was my turn. I picked a small grape wreath form, and chose every kind of material they had. I was allergic to one of them. My right hand had poison-like bumps on it, but they don't itch...yet.

Once I hang the wreath on the porch it will need to be trimmed. Or maybe I'll leave it diamond shaped. Overall, I like it.

walking in circles

Today was the P'burg Relay For Life. Aka walking in circles. It's held at the high school track which is a 1/4 mile loop. A nice new rubber surface. Our friend Beth (I did the Avon with her) is one of the organizers.

We arrived about four and it had started to rain. There was not many people. Beth said it had been raining all day. Hard to raise money in the rain. People don't come.

We did 16 loops, or 4 miles. Maybe a little more. It was drizzling when we arrive and the black storm clouds were coming in when we left.

I took 78 home thinking it would be easier to drop Bonnie off. There was construction and a 20+ minute traffic jam. It would have been quicker to go thru town!

Tomorrow is the Color Me Mad Race. We're all meeting at the crack of dawn.

(If you zoom in you can see my band aid over my left eye.)

we found David!

Clearly Dave was hiding in Nome. Maybe avoiding me? Rechecking the finisher's roster, he arrived before his wife Barb! Easter sunrise services in "Nome" were lovely and now we're all headed home. The sensible people are flying. I've rented a car to drive home.  Sharon's coming with me. She's aching for a road trip.

After weeks of snowshoes in Alaska, I don't know how I will adjust to spring in Pennsylvania. But all good things must come to an end.

All the "scoobies" have been found and accounted for. Here's how we fared in the standings:

59 – me. I've spent my waiting time snowshoeing. Haven't lost an ounce.
102—Adonis (and Lydia). Clearly Adonis was walking with Carol (aka Bobodancer) from the Liberty Bell Wanderers. Carol came in 105. Does it count that they walked back to Anchorage?
429—Dave. He did a good job of hiding. Nome is not that big!
435—Sharon. She's still sleeping. Exhausted from the walk. "Never again" she says.
461—Barb H. Didn't see her much. Maybe she was hiding with Dave part of the time?
518—Megan. She "flew" right back to Louisville to train for a Half-Marathon and stopped logging miles. Why she didn't want to train in the snow and the cold is beyond me.
634—Bonnie came in 634.  She was not last.

The dog sleds have left. The walkers are leaving. Pretty soon Nome will return to a quiet sleepy town in Alaska. Hopefully the Boy Scouts raised a lot of money for their camp. 

walking and bingo

Walking I love. Bingo, not so much. But it was for a good cause, near and dear to my late nephews heart. So we go. We even have a name—Jarrod's Jems. That boy was a lightening round for winning. Once we had to take all his stuff to the car at the intermission.

Sharon, Lyd and I met at my place, and came in one car.  We were to meet Bonnie at the Fearless Fire Company at 1:15, leave our car, and take the other one back to Bonnie's, and walk. Bingo started sharply at 3. Sounds great in theory, but with me along you know things won't go easy. And they didn't. I pre-bought our tickets and put them in a basket with my daubbers. Then I forgot the daubbers. So we lost a little walking time having to go back home. I stuffed the tickets in my pocket, and left the daubbers. Didn't want to carry them.

So we walked down Tioga into the wind for several blocks. Finally we turned and headed down to Emmaus Avenue, and cut back at the V. After walking a bit around that neighborhood, we headed to the cemetery, said hi to Jarrod, and went to the fearless. It was close to 3 miles. Considering a straight shot from Bonnie's is about a mile, we did pretty good.

Then at 6ish, when we got home, we took a very excited Adonis for a walk. He wouldn't go out for Pat at all, so he needed to go! Sadly it wasn't a fun walk. We met up with 4-5 other dogs. (Big A doesn't play well with others.)

Another week or so we start training for Bonnie's Derby Half Marathon. I think I'll plan loops so that marathoners are not subjected to 13 miles.

Bonnie only has about 300 minutes for the Iditawalk. Training for the half might get her to Nome before the snow melts.

what a day!

And it isn't over yet.
7 am -- began wash. Multiple trips up and down stairs to machines, and outside to hang wash.
8 am --  walked with ML. She's recovering from back surgery and uses a walker. We didn't go far, maybe 3/4 of a mile, but it took a while. Maybe 35-45 minutes
10 am -- walked Adonis. That's Lyds dog. He was visiting the lady in the yellow chair. (aka the roomie.) 1/2 mile, 1/2 hour
11 am -- went to Greek Food Festival for lunch. Okay, not much walking
1 pm -- 3 miles, 1 hour with Betsy in the 'burbs.
3 pm -- walked Adonis again. This time we took Sharon along too. See above.
4 pm -- wash finally dry and done.

It's 4:30-ish now. I'll be making supper and then heading off to ...

6:30 pm -- Zumba Party in Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness.

I should sleep well tonight.

By 9:30 am, Lydia will arrive to go walking. Hope Bonnie does too.

why do people run?

I have to tell you, it's painful. Never again—unless I'm being chased by a rapist or ax murderer. Every joint hurt. My breast weighed twenty pounds each and pounded in my chest. And I only ran a short distance. It was physically brutal.

Today was the iRun Pigs (get it?) 5K, 1.5 mile fun walk, and piglet run around the bases.

I saw Todd, Jeanine and the kids before the race. The boys were set to do the run. Mom and Dad the walk.

I signed too up with the runners. I ran the first two blocks or so. Ouch does that hurt. I also ran down part of the big hill. Otherwise I walked.

Coming up the hill I met Lyd's bari-buddy Stacey. We walked together awhile. Then she stopped to stretch and I continued.

Ultimately we crossed the finish line almost together. My text with my results is on the right.

Meanwhile Sharon and Lydia arrived and met up with Todd and Jeanine. The all walked together. I was waiting for them at the finish line. Along with a couple more of Lyd's bari-buddies.

 I  headed up the stadium stairs to meet them and there was thunderous applause behind me. I spun around. Here a young man did the walk with his walker. Lyd said he used his wheelchair a bit too. He crossed last but he was so proud. Dad followed him with the chair. He was greeted by Ferrous, FeFe, and some people too.

Pigs staff was taking pictures. I'm sure they'll show up on the fan page soon. No sure if any of us are in them. That's me with Barbie-Q below. She's very petite. Especially next to the other pork racers. I'm wearing the shorts I bought yesterday. They worked great. And a new hat Bonnie bought me.

3 trails, a balance beam and a couple of boy scouts

This morning the scoobies arrived for breakfast at the crack of 9, and we ate a hardy breakfast of waffles from my new waffle iron. The old one met an accidental death a few months ago.

Then I gave them three ideas for walks—the 'hood, the Palmer bike trail, or Jacobsburg. Sharon picked Palmer so off we went.

I've walked the beginning part a lot, but the end only a few times. I decided we would start at the end and work our way to the falls. (It's a U shaped trail about 6.5 miles long.) We were heading down 25th street, and suddenly there was traffic. Lot's of parked cars. We couldn't get near the park. A marathon was running thru!

Fine. We'll go to Hugh Moore. Nope, that's where the marathon was headed. Off to Plan C, the other end of the trail, the part I always walk. It had probably been 40 minutes since we left the house before we started walking.

When we arrived at Fairview park, Lydia said "swings" and pointed. I said on our way back. Sharon chose to stop and wait there. We walked to Bethlehem Township, spun around and came back to the park. Sharon was sitting under a tree waiting. (Total walk about 4 miles.)

The first apparatus we encountered in the playground was a long bar, with a handle. It kind of acted like a zip line. I think I was too tall and too heavy. I couldn't put my feet out, so I tried to put them back, and as you can see I landed on my knees. Clearly I need to work on upper body strength.

 Then we hit the swings. After swinging we went on the balance beam. It moves. I had Birks on so I took them off and held on to Lyd frequently. I had a lot of trouble getting up and down. I am not flexible anymore. As a kid I always walked on retaining walls and hopped off the edge.

Lyd did much better when it was her turn. I think it's because she's 2 decades younger! Sharon didn't try.

When we arrived back at the car, the scoobies needed the bathroom and I needed gas. We headed to the Wawa next door, and encountered some fine young men in uniform, selling overpriced popcorn. I'm a sucker for Boy Scout caramel corn.I think the same thing happened the last time I walked this trail at the beginning of the school year.

I pulled up to the pumps, and left out the scoobies. Before they left, I went to give them money to get me caramel corn, and I had no money, no credit cards, no drivers license. It was all in my backpack from yesterday. Oops. Lyd loaned me money for gas and popcorn!

Sharon finally decided on the giant box of kettle corn.

Next week Sharon and Lyd are purging another room of her house. Sunday they'll walk. Lyd picked Jacobsburg. Hopefully Bonnie will come along, or walk with me on Saturday.

slate heritage trail

Lydia likes to come here for walking—she can leave Adonis with Pat. Pat loves Adonis. It's a win-win. But I feel guilty making her schlep to south Bethlehem, two times a week. And on a long holiday weekend three.

So yesterday I suggested with do the Nor-Bath trail. It's 5.5 miles one way, so I knew that wouldn't work. I needed to measure. So I went to traillink.com to get the map. Great site if you're doing rail-trails. I blew up the map and saw something in small type. Northampton has a entrance to the D&L Canal path. Cool. Northampton to Slatington is 11 miles. But I know they have markers every mile, so figuring out distance would be no problem.

I placed the link on her FB page and asked if she'd rather do that. It gave me a choice of 35 pictures. I picket the covered bridge. I didn't remember seeing that in the description. How would you take mules and a boat over a covered bridge?

So I went back to trail link to check it out. There is a Slate Historic Trail that branches off the D&L. That's the one we—Lydia, Sharon, and Lyd's friend Dawn—did. It's 3 miles long, perfect if you are training for a 10K. And it's paved.

It took us awhile. We read all the signs, climbed on the slate, and generally were pretty touristy. I now really know why they call it the slate belt! The benches on the trail were slate. The comfort stations at the lot, and the covered bridge were slate bricks. (Inside and out. Really rugged. With sliding barn style doors on the stalls. And signs carved into the slate.) Not to mention the cliffs of slate on either side of us.

It took a little longer to get to Slatington from Northampton than I thought. But it was worth the ride. We are now interested in new sections of the D&L both from Slatington and Northampton, and I really want to go further north. Maybe one day I'll finish it!

Tomorrow is the 10K. Going to try and download a stopwatch app on the iPod so I don't have to fuss with a watch. Though if it rains, I'm leaving it at home.

-------

Update: It's downloaded and appears to work. Looks pretty dummy proof. Perfect for me.

hardest. 5k. ever.

Second walk for the day was the Seed Farm 5K. This one was not timed. It truly was the hardest thing I've ever done, athletically.

It was cross-country around the farm. I thought that meant dirt trails. Indeed it did. And rocky trails, and holes, and lawn expanses of mowed fields with ankle grabbing rose bushes, and rock hard crab grass.

For forty yards we were on macadam. It was glorious. The pix below was taken at the end. We finished in 74 minutes. With the exception of the time I got lost I never finished a race in 74 minutes.

Sharon went along and only did the first loop. Thank heavens. She would have broke something.

Lydia and I have muscles hurting that we didn't know we had! They better get rested tonight. Tomorrow is the 7 falls hike at Bushkill Falls. And that other thing Bonnie and Lyd want to do. With Bonnie in the hospital, it looks like I'm going to have to do it. I've pre-paid. Please say a prayer to the God, non-God, spirit or idol of your choice. I'll need it.

exploring the south side

I usually walk with Betsy on Fridays, but she had a family situation to deal with, and couldn't go. Sharon is over for the weekend so we walked tonight.

She needed ground pork so we were headed to Aharts—via the scenic route. It was more scenic than I planned!

We zig-zagged up to Seneca and then down Delaware and third. I took her phone and started taking pixs for my type class of environmental typography. Lots of stops and twists and turns.

I saw these signs at Fox Optical the other day, and more in English and Spanish as we explored the Third street. When I looked it up it's an initiative by the Health Department to curb diabetes in high risk neighborhoods. (South Bethlehem). I think I am offended that my neighborhood is being singled out. There's no diabetes in the rest of the city?

Then we noticed the stores were open, and before I knew it we were exploring Home and Planet. I love that place. There's a gallery in the back.  They were exhibiting ArtGuitars by JDVokes.

Eventually we headed up to Webster and we on the way to the Greenway, when Sharon needed a bathroom, so we backtracked to the Banana Factory. An hour plus later, we arrived at Aharts, then went home.

We were gone 1.5 hours and only went 2.5 miles!

fantasy baseball camp

Well I cannot hit or catch a baseball. It doesn't surprise me.

Today was Fantasy Baseball Camp at the Iron Pigs. It was a round robin style event, and we were placed in the green group with my cousin Debbie Brown. (Aunt Marion/Uncle Ted). Talk about a small world.

We started with a Q&A with the two pitchers. Next stop, the batting cages. Wisely, the pitcher sat in a protective area. Bonnie, Lydia, Sharon and Debbie all hit the ball at least once.

Then it was out to the field to catch balls on the field.

Our final stop was a tour of the clubhouse. Similar to the tour last year, but confined to one very small area. This year we got to go in the locker room. That was cool.

It was an hour, hot and humid, yet still fun. The scoobies+1 had their pictures taken and collected autographs. I took lots of pictures.

 Lydia bunts.

 Bonnie gets her visor signed.

 Sharon hits a ball!

 Bonnie and Sharon waiting for their turn to catch

The ball park in Legos. I'm sure this has been there forever. Today I noticed it.

3 walks, one morning

It was a three walk day. One would think I was training for something. Oh yeah, I am.

First walk was at 7 am with the Walk Your Butt Off Group. It was a little larger this week. Bonnie needed to be at an appointment by 9 so we only walked 3 miles. Again it was at the Upper Saucon Rail Trail. While I was waiting for Bonnie at the comfort station, I noticed that the trail went the other direction thru the park. As we were driving out, it looks like it goes under the road toward the library. We must check it out one day.

Second walk was at 10:30 or so. Lydia came and we did 2.5 miles thru Fountain Hill and south Bethlehem. Sharon came along for about half. We did the long Fourth Street hill down and took Carolton Avenue back up.

When we were almost home we called Pat and told her to get Adonis ready. We'd take him for a walk. Lydia hasn't been giving him good walks lately because of the high heat and his lack of tolerance for other animals. There are several dogs in her trailorhood that are not chained. It's asking for trouble.

He was so  excited. He sniffed at stuff half as much as he used to do. And he practically ran.  He was a tired, but happy camper, when we got home.

there is a dress barn at the casino!

The casino in town has a mall. I guess it's a high end outlet mall. If that's the case I don't understand why Dress Barn is there. But it doesn't matter. It's there. It is my favorite store to buy clothes and I can walk to it—that should keep the binge purchases down. You are looking at one fat girl in heaven!

This week has been a series of little walks and Zumba. Nothing exciting.

I did go to Zumba Wednesday night. It was hot. Very hot. I still only did maybe a third of it. I am just not that coordinated. But I will try at least one more time.

Thursday I had a meeting at Gilbert's on campus and took the scenic route there and back. I could have stayed all day. We talked about the project—a book filled with photos of dead pigeons—for ten minutes and talked the rest. Part way in we were joined by the college archivist. It was my kind of meeting.

I usually walk from a drop-off point from the car pool. But I was a lazy butt and had them drop me off at home. The heat was on.

Friday I did not walk with Betsy. We decided that an afternoon walk in 100 degree weather was crazy. And they were calling for violent storms. Instead, I did a morning, two mile flat walk with Bonnie down at the Steel. The storms never came, but it did rain hard a couple of times. Later in the afternoon the power went off. In the dark for a hour and a half, I went for Chinese for dinner.

Today, Sharon, Lyd and I went for 2.66 miles, around the steel, the casino and a section of the Greenway that we've never walked on. The extension to Hellertown is being worked on. Can't wait to walk the whole thing. It will meet with the Saucon Valley Trail, and then with the Coopersburg trail. Being noisy, I trip over a guide wire at the Skatepark.

I did every walk in my Birks. It was heaven.

new york city

Yesterday I played hookey from work and went to New York City. Don't tell mama. She was real into the Protestant work ethic. Playing hookey was no part of it.

I don't know how far I walked, but I walked from 42 nd to 72nd and a couple of the Avenues. Once a full trip. The second a partial. I had Sharon with me and she never rode the subway. She can now cross that off her bucket list.

Plus I stood in line, a lot. Lines for buses, lines for television stations, lines everywhere.

Alas, reality bites and I'm back at work. It's air conditioned, and my house isn't so I guess it's a good thing!

allentown city walks

 Today was another Volkssport walk. Again, in Allentown. We always have plans on the Bethlehem walk days. This was the city walk. It went from Ceder Beach Park, thru the rose garden, Muhlenberg College, then downtown to the faux Liberty Bell, the old courthouse, Symphony Hall, ect. Then back to the Cedar Beach.

It was the last organized walk till fall. I think there was maybe 15 people walking.

Someone stopped us and asked what was going on. They saw people walking in groups and thought it was a house tour!

Because we had Sharon along, we only did 5K instead of the 10.

At the end, by the playground, there was an ice cream truck parked. Lydia got a popsicle, and Sharon got chocolate ice cream.

10k in the parkway

Today we did our first Volkssport walk in a long time at the Parkway.

We met at the Comfort Suites across from Dorney and drove to the start point, the fish hatchery. At the Comfort Suites we met Carol, who is coordinating next weeks walking trip to St Mary's, Md. Her email handle is bobodancer, so she thought it was funny that that's what we called her. On of the ladies also remembered Lydia from a previous walk. I guess because Lyd is always the youngest one there!

Bonnie and I walked together, and Sharon and Lyd walked together.  This was Sharon's first Volkswalk. I'm not sure she understands that it's just a walking group. I kept annoying Lyd by calling her on the phone to give her directions.

The trail is gravel, my shoes were full of it by the end, and avoided most of the major hills. All of us cheated on the course to avoid the hill from h*ll under Rt. 78.

Lyd and Sharon turned back at the first pedestrian bridge. There total was about 4.25+ miles. Bonnie and I came in at about 5.5. There was one little jughandle that we didn't do.

When we arrived back at the Native American Cultural Center Sharon and Lyd were waiting for us under a tree, sitting at a picnic table. We headed back to the car together.

Bonnie is doing two separate on-calls tomorrow, including a nurse-on-call, so we'll walk in her neighborhood. She's got to stay close to the car.