and done

I also finished the Idita-Walk. Now I get to hang out at the Nome Nugget Inn and wait for Bonnie to arrive.  Thank goodness for indoor walking. Outside its tough this year.

Twenty-nine other people have finished. A lot of them have Volkssport clubs as their "group".

The actually Ididarod begins March 7 in Fairbanks this year because of lack of snow. But it will end here in Nome, as always.

It's only a few degrees colder in Alaska than it is here.

cold and windy walk

Big News! I was able to create a simple one-page website for the Liberty Bell Wanderers. It went live this morning. And it's still there. It hasn't crashed.  So relieved.

After that success I really wanted to walk and celebrate. I text Lydia to see if she was free. She was. So after walking the dog and making pizza for lunch, we did the south Bethlehem volkssport walk. In the process we discovered that Lydia only has one more walk to finish her thirty walk book. So we are doing it again tomorrow!

It was cold and it was windy. But otherwise bright and beautiful. We actually drove to the Comfort Suites start point.

When we arrived at the Greenway it was snow covered. Just the little snow from Monday. The larger snow from Saturday had been plowed. But it had melted and refroze and was really icy, so we left the Greenway and walked thru the adjacent parking lots all the way to Polk street. The we walked out Third to the casino. Then down and around and back First Avenue thru Arts Quest. It was 2.75 miles. Which considering my track record lately is pretty damn good.

Tomorrow begins the winter challenge and the Iditawalk.  So I have to step up my game.

Oh, the Penn State lion now has a hashtag—#ifoundthelion. I'm going to go look to see how many clones he has. Maybe, we'll go on a lion safari in spring.

coins to the bank

I've been seeing these signs all over town in the past week. Today when I was out walking I took the picture. Correct me if I am wrong. A patient obtains these items two ways—buy them outright at the drug store. Or get them at the drug store thru your insurance company. If you buy them with your money why would you sell them. If you get them thru the insurance company and sell them, isn't that insurance fraud? Not to mention really stupid and life threatening? (Unless, of course, you've changed monitoring systems and have a surplus.) Color me very puzzled.


My walk today was a simple square. First stop was to the bank at the 5-points. Both the coin containers on my desk were full, so I thought I'd walk them down and placed them in my canvas lunch bag. It wasn't too bad. I have carried heavier bags of coins. The grand total was just under $90. Not bad.

After leaving the bank, I headed up Wyandotte street to Sassafrass. I learned pretty quickly that is a bad idea during snow season. One sidewalk was shoveled above Sioux Street. And the block between Fiot and Sassafrass was downright horrible. I walked in the street. At 3 pm. Not smart.

So it wasn't a long walk, but I got out.

I managed to walk, even just a little each week.  Four days I even reached 10K steps.  Thank goodness.

The Idtawalk and the Winter Challenge begin Sunday. The winter challenge has two levels—30 miles in 30 days. Or 90 miles in 30 days. You know I'm going for the ninety.

On a different note, the new Liberty Bell Wanders website goes live tomorrow. T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D. Could someone remind me of why I volunteered to do this?

today

Tail on the Trail announced today the winter challenge. 30 miles in 30 days. Not much of a challenge. But I'll do it anyway.

Today's walk was hilly. I got to thinking as I walked it that I used to think these hills were steep. They aren't. I think I need a new neighborhood.

Today's walk  was down the hill and back up to Seneca. Then down Seneca, and up Clewell to Jeter. Down the steep hill at the hospital (almost lost mama in her wheelchair on that one!) and up St Luke's Place. Then down Fiot, and back up Fiot and home.

Again, it wasn't a long walk, but I got it done.

I took my iPod and took a pix of these red berries. It is my first picture for 2015. I need to remember to take it with me for the camera function. (All the music on it stinks. Never buy workout tapes.) I'll have to borrow the SLR from school for the Niagara Falls Volkssport trip in May.

I've also been busy unsubscribing from race-fitness emails. My in-box used to be filled with  them. So many temptations. But if I stick to "buy only essentials" I can't be tempted. I'm weak.

I nearly failed at this goal about a week ago. I found a Nordic Walking workshop in King of Prussia. I was literally filling out the form to sign up and I stopped myself. The same day I found a Chi Walking workshop in NYC. Both were about $100. Plus travel. Clearly non-essential.

The only other pre-paid events on my calendar are the Idita-Walk, Tri-To-Help in Lancaster in February, and the Yuengling Loger Jogger with my niece and friend in April. I was doing the Tri-To-Help with a fitness friend, but she withdrew to do yet another half marathon. (Her plan is two a month for the whole year. No thank-you.) Other than that it's Volkssport walks/events and just plain old walking.

Now where is my log info for the Idita-walk?

road trip—philadelphia

It was 9 degree when I entered the car yesterday. What the heck had I gotten myself into?

For a Christmas gift I bought Bonnie a road trip to Philly. We were combining three things into one spectacular day. It was supposed to be Tuesday, but with the snow we pushed it to Thursday. Not because we were afraid of driving or walking in a little snow. Rather we were afraid of spending the day on the turnpike or worse, the Schuykill, behind the 15-car accident that was sure to happen.

I picked Bonnie up at 8 and we ultimately left about 8:15. We arrived at the Schuykill at 9:24. It was nearly 10:30 when we arrived at 4th and Arch. Part of that was my fault. The turn fro the Ben Franklin and the turn for Arch street were next to each other. I picked Jersey. It cost $5 to come back!

Firs stop, the Wyndown Hotel at 4th and Arch to sign in for the Philadelphia West walk. (There are  four Philly walks.) By then it was a balmy 18 degrees. In hindsight it was probably dumb to do a Volkssport walk in 18 degree weather. We read nothing. We looked at little. We just kept moving. I picked this walk because it went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We were going down the street to the Museum of Natural Sciences to see the "Chocolate" exhibit.

It was nice. But much smaller than I anticipated. The dinos were cool — Bubba would love them, and the butterflies were beautiful. The best part was when we were on the 3rd floor. There was a school group being read the riot act by the teacher. (He must have been a former Marine. If I was in that group I would have wet myself.) Let's just say he was not a happy camper. "In 15 years of chaperoning students I haven't never had a group as bad as this one." Thank goodness we were not around to see what they did. They were so bad he was placing many of them on a "no field trips" list. Including an upcoming one ice skating. They were 6th, 7th grade.  Glad there are still teachers who discipline students.

Because chocolate was the theme, and it was freaking cold, we skipped the part of the walk that went to the art museum — it looped back — and headed down 19th to Walnut. There we went to 15th to look for the restaurant — Max Benner's Chocolate Bar. Yes. A chocolate restaurant. We only had the best hot chocolate. Ever. I bet the deserts are to die for. If you go, it's really on 15th, not Walnut, and it is not a cheap place to eat.

At some point we discovered we lost our Volkssport directions. But I remembered it having us go out Walnut, up 6th, around Independence Hall and back to the hotel.  Since the north-south streets were really windy and cold, we did a two east, one north, pattern to break it up. And ended up going to far north.

Can we talk parking in Philadelphia? It's crazy expensive. The hotel lot was $12 for the first hour and $10 thereafter to a $32 max. We saw some higher. One or two lower during our walk. But that seemed to be the average price. Add to that a twenty percent—20%—parking tax. I spent almost as much for parking as I did for a fancy lunch. My parking lot total was $42. American. To make matters worse, we paid for parking and when I inserted my paid card in the machine, it wanted to recharge me. That would have been crazy.

It was 21 degrees when we got in the car to go home.

All in all it was a great day. My camera is broken, so no pixs from me. Bonnie took a few with her iPhone. When I get them, I'll post them. It was just too cold to take gloves off to take pictures.

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.

day 17 of 18 new year's eve

Day 14/18 was a Sunday. Why didn't I do significant walking? Don't remember but I didn't.

Day 15/18 work day. At lunch I ran errands and didn't walk. Another disappointment.

Day 16/18 work day. Brought lunch. Nothing happening at work—everyone was off. Phones didn't ring. Emails didn't ping. Went to the movies after work to see Into The Woods. Broadway musicals on film are not what they used to be. Another day of not walking.

Pathetic, isn't it. That's five of the 18 days I didn't walk, with three in a row. Clearly, I failed at this challenge.

New Year's Eve was Day 17. Bonnie and I went to the Allentown Comfort Suites and did the end of the year volkssport paperwork and change the stamp to 2015. Then we headed off to Trexler Park to walk. We did the General Trexler loop, the longer one, and then did the extension loop that goes out to Tilghman and Cedar Crest Blvd. So basically it was a figure 8. I'm not sure what the mileage was.

Then in the afternoon I took Eryn's kids to The DaVinci Center. All three of them. At once. They appeared to have a great time. Actually it went really, really well until the last 15 minutes when I told the 6-year-old Bubba that it was time to go. He didn't want to go and had a major meltdown. The kind where when you see it happening to other people you judge them as horrible parents. The big kids said he does it all the time. Often he's successful. I never thought when we were going over the rules in the car, that when Aunt Gayle says it's time to go, we go would be one of them. Next time it will be.

The girl-child had my camera and took about 150 pictures. We were on the second floor when a voices goes "Aunt Gayle, the camera stopped working." No, the battery was not "exhausted". It goes on, the screen is dark, but you cannot push any buttons. Guess I'll be using my iPod to take pixs.  It will finally get used after three years. One of my challenges for 2015 is not buying anything but necessities. (Real food, laundry soap, ect. Clothes, shoes, cameras, snacks or other non-nutritional food are not a necessity.)

With a major grocery shopping spree, the day only yielded about 12K steps.

day 13 of 18, downingtown and a movie

Bonnie and I chose to do the Downingtown Volkkssport walk today because it is ending and we needed Chester county. Except we didn't. Valley Forge is in two counties. Oops. I only need Philadelphia county and the southeast is done. Now comes the hard part. That's about 10 of the 67 needed to finish the program. Most counties don't have sanctioned walks. Many will require an overnight stay.

Today's walk was pretty much a big figure eight. We signed in at a restaurant at a lifestyle mall. Then headed into town.

After going thru the business district, we reached the first house in the town, this little log cabin. If you look closely at the picture of us above, we would have to duck to go into it!

We turned at the cabin and entered a park, then followed the trail thru the park to the comfort station which was locked. Thankfully there was a job johnny (generous P3). We were headed back to the trail when we saw where it connected to the road, so we just went out to the road. We came out close to the lifestyle mall.  We passed the mall, turned right and picked up another trail, then turned around an came back to the restaurant.

As my readers know last April I had my first accident in nearly 30 years. Today I almost had two.  After the second one I literally had to pull my fingers off the steering wheel. I had a death grip. I'm all shaky again. The first one was right outside Downingtown. The bozo decided to turn onto the highway. To do this s/he had to cross over my lane. Bonnie screamed first. I braked and swerved. I nearly hit the cement.

Then on the way home we missed the turn for 100 and ended up in Phoenixville. We stayed on 113 to 29 and took 29 home. Our hour drive took two. On 29 things were looking fine until some young people decided that a stop sign was optional. Slow and roll I think it's called. Again screaming, braking,  and swerveing.

I was just getting my confidence back behind the wheel and it's gone again.

Then when I got home I sat in my desk chair and it broke. Clearly the gods are telling me something.

The broke chair and a lost disk resulted in a massive cleaning of my desk counter. I nearly forgot about scoobie movie night!

We went to the Banko at ArtsQuest and it was nice. $10, only one theatre, people were polite and over 16, and the popcorn was good.  (Over 60? only $8!) I made Bonnie take the picture.

Was the movie as good as the book? No. Was the movie good? Yes. Personally  don't think I would have finished the PCT.

And because I promised pictures everyday, below are the lights on First Avenue.

day 12 of 18

This is a two-walk day. Will that make up for the two days I didn't walk? I don't think so.

Today the pictures begin with my house. I only decorated outside. Ebenezer Scrooge's evil twin is inside. I didn't realize when I took the picture that the bag of trash was on the porch. (The chairs are facing each other to help keep snow off them during winter.)

I headed down the hill and out Itaska. Then out Broadway toward CVS.

I stopped in the Wells Fargo parking deck to take pictures of the graffiti art project, but too many cars were blocking it. On the way out I noticed this sign.

When I arrived at CVS, I wanted to see if they had leftover Christmas balls—I have a commission for name balls. Alas, they didn't. I'll keep looking. The clearance sales should last most of the weekend. If not, I'll get them next year.

Then I head up Fourth to Delaware.

This house probably looks better at night. Its at the corner of Seneca, 3rd and Delaware. Right on the curve.

I decided not to go out Delaware and went out Seneca instead. I've always loved this door. I was glad they had wreaths on it so I could take a picture.

This porch in the 500 block is a little cluttered, but I really like the sled and skates. The Halloween cauldron is a nice touch.

When I reached Bishopthorpe I headed home. It was only a mile and a half. But it was better than sitting on my butt.

Shortly, I be leaving for the Christmas Haunted Walking Tour downtown. I should get another mile or so in. And hopefully be entertained.

Tomorrow, we will be doing the Downingtown volkssport walk.

day 9 of 18

Today it rained. I never made it down to Spring Garden street. But I did walk a bit. Again, probably not more than a mile.

I was really late with creating my Christmas gifts and I was pretty sure the on-campus copy shop wouldn't be able to do it. But they did. A Christmas miracle. I had to walk over and pick them up, then I took the scenic route back to campus. At that point it was only drizzling.

That little walk in the drizzle was the highlight of my day to that point. Helping Angel's family decorate the tree was the only other highlight.

Since I am done with both classes I don't need to be in class tonight so I decided to update my walking trackers. I last did it on NOVEMBER 16. I am more than a month behind. When I went to my FitBit page to get my totals I saw how poor my numbers were for the last 6 weeks.

1 day under 5K
16 days under 7.5K
16 days over 10K
8 days over 12.5K
and only 1 day above 15K

Youza. That hurts. The bulk of my days were between 7.5 and 10K.

Tomorrow I will be walking down to the Comfort Suites and over to the Hotel Bethlehem to deliver Volkssport cookie thank-yous.

day 6 of 18, radnor

I guess you noticed day 5 was missing. I never made for my little walk to the Wawa. I was grading for two schools and it was suddenly time to pick up Lydia. By the time I did that, my car errands, her errands and got home it was pitch black. Tomorrow winter starts. So it should start to get light again in the evening.

We have less than three weeks off from school. Can you believe it? We go back January 12. Getting walking in Mon-Thrs will be a challenge. Mon/Wed is a two job day. Tue/Thrs only one. I have hope for Tues/Thrs. How I am going to get the to-do list done by then I have no idea. One thing for certain, I must buy health care. No more disposable income for me. My kitchen money will probably also go to health care until my car is paid for. For more than 30 years, I supported universal health care. Hell, I even supported it when I thought that "affordable" meant affordable. Why? there is nothing about health care that is affordable.

Today I did a Volkssport walk in Radnor. I had to go to Collegeville to pick up the 2015 materials to switch out the boxes (yes, on that dreaded list) and cookies for our host hotels. So I told the president I would just come to the Radnor walk. Alone. It was a bit odd without the others.

This walk was a major supply drop off. Everyone was picking things up.

The Radnor walk is a big square—at least the 6K is. You leave the hotel and pass the high school, turn a corner and get on a trail. You stay on that for a good mile. Then you turn left, on Wayne Blvd and head into Wayne. Then you come back Lancaster Avenue, with a tiny  detour.

It's a nice walk. Not many Christmas decorations. But I found a few to take pixs of.

Lancaster Avenue is route 30, the old Lincoln Highway. Along the way there are mile markers that look like huge tombstones. There was one at the High School also and I thought it was odd. But when I saw the Mile Markers I put two and two together.

The original ones are very small. But they only had to compete with cows and corn. Not shopping malls and industrial parks.

It was a nice walk. And I got Delaware county in my book. Next week is Dowingtown in Chester County, and it is going away Dec. 31. I'm seriously consider going. Anyone want to come?

Next Saturday night I am planning the first ever (and probably last)  every two feet movie night to see Wild. I'll go alone if I have to. There will be lots of other hiking/walking nerds there. It is playing at the Banko. (Well the Carmike too, but the Banko is in the 'hood and owned by a non-profit and not a mega-corp.) I read the book in about two days. Generally I hate movie versions of books, but I hear they did really well on this one.






When I read the book I kept thinking, I would do something dumb like this. (Hike the PCT unprepared, not sex and heroin.). Good thing I hate being alone. The PCT is much different than the Appalachian. You don't get desert and snow on the Appalachian.

no I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

Honest. I just have not been doing much walking. While I am looking for my mojo, I am gaining all the weight back it took me years to get rid of. I am eating like it is the end of the world. I've totally lost control.

The excuse of the moment is the end of the term. I am up to my eyeballs in grading. Chained to a computer like it's a prison sentence. Free time is spent chauffeuring people to and fro.

But it's bigger than that. I think I finally pinpointed it.  I've all my walking buddies are unavailable. I need to re-learn to walk alone. And that's hard. I hate solitude. Blame it on mom for having me last. I thrive in choas. Megan is now working. Bonnie is baby sitting. Lydia has no access to a vehicle. Betsy is injured. Angel is almost living at Target till the holidays are over. Even my colleague moved to Virgina. Everybody is unavailable.

In addition, I am sidetracked by Christmas.  

So far I worked on Christmas gifts. (I'm way behind.) We gone to the lights at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, and made candy house with my niece, her cousin and my friend. Next weekend we are all baking cookies and then sharing so we have more flavors and less quantities.

And Bonnie and I drove the baby to Christkindlmarkt. A mile and a half and we took the car. Sinful. But we wanted a happy baby with St. Nick. Ultimately, he did not care for the experience. (Over the weekend the wee one learned to stand up.)

Saturday Bonnie, Lydia, Megan, baby and I did go to Litiz for the Volkssport "Walk Through Time". It was held at 10:11 on 12/13/14. Cool, huh?

Litiz reminds me a lot of Bethlehem. I guess it's the German and Moravian influences. And it's packed at Christmastime. It was crazy finding a parking spot. We had to walk about a mile to the event, and it was so well attended that they ran out of maps. So we had to wait. Babies don't like waiting.

The route was pretty much a square. It went past Wilbur Chocolate, Linden Hall, and the Julius Sturgis Pretzel factory. Oh, and Hendricks' Flower Shop. I'm sure they thought we were nuts taking a selfie in front of their place.

The baby was pretty good. Talking a lot. We were pretty close to the finish when he became really unhappy. Mommy took him with her to get the car and his food. He was screaming by that point.

After getting our books stamped, I headed for my car and Bonnie and Lydia looked for a restaurant. We ended up going to Pork and Wally's. A lot of Liberty Bell Wanderer's showed up there also.

They we nice. The even nuked the babies food so it wasn't icy cold from the car. He had taken a power nap on the way back with the car, and was perfectly happy again.

Bonnie had "ham wings". They looked delicious. It was the shank portion and made to look kind-of like a lollipop.   Smoked ham on a stick. How could you go wrong?

After lunch we headed to Wilbur, and then back to the Pretzel Factory for the tour. I know I went to a pretzel factory when I was about 12 on a school trip or girl scout trip. But I think it was in Reading. I don't ever remember being in Litiz before.

Nice day. And it's a nice day today. Must get my lazy fat butt outside for a walk.

what happened to my mojo?

Yesterday  Bonnie, Megan, the Wee One and I did the Bethlehem Volkssport walk. We had a great time doing the the second-loop 5K.  That loop goes west to the tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, the armory, then back to the Fahy Bridge. Up the hill and circles thru the cemetery. Basically a odd shaped figure eight. It was chilly but nice. The baby even fell asleep for awhile. We parked in front of the Moravian Bookstore -- why didn't I go in? -- and went shopping in the Christmas Village. It was my best walking total in a long time.

But I'm still looking for my mojo. Can't find it anywhere. I have had about six weeks, maybe even eight weeks of sucky totals for walking. I made my goals maybe twice, but only because of half marathons. My clothes are telling me I am gaining weight. Yet I exercise less and less and stuff more and more into my pie hole. Pie-hole stuffing is out of control. Today was the first day in forever I ate vegetables. And I love vegetables. It stinks.

Even if my Fitbit wasn't acting wonky this week, I would have still had lackluster totals. Again.

I did no exercise walking today. First I was going to call Lydia. Then not. Then I planned a route in the neighborhood. But something always got in the way. Obligations from 20 directions. Can't anyone do anything themselves. No. because I'm a push over.

Do you want to know how bad my laziness has gotten? Thursday I walked down to the South Bethlehem Volkssport walk at the Comfort Suites and collected the paperwork and then didn't do the actual walk! Who am I and what have I done with Gayle? I had sixteen people to walk with and I went home. I just had so much grading to do.

I even missed my regular Friday walk with Betsy. She cancelled, so instead of walking I shopped for Toys for Tots while I was driving Lydia.

Sadly, the more I don't walk the more it becomes easier to sit on my fat ass and let it get fatter. Any ideas how to get me out of this rut, let me know. I'm begging.

Meanwhile I have two 5Ks this week. I'd better get my fanny moving.

This week the swag came from Tail on the Trail. (Thanks for the pix Lydia!) We had gotten a long sleeve grey tee a couple weeks ago. now we've gotten a flannel blanket with a plastic back. I'm guessing it's for picnics after your walks. I'm kind of perplexed over the super-duper stadium cushion. Isn't sitting something they are not promoting? It's nice. If anyone needs a stadium cushion I have one. Otherwise it's going in the hand-me-down bag. The blanket is in the emergency kit in the car.

autumn revelations

I walked today at lunchtime. I was stressed to the max and it was either take a long walk or say something stupid and get fired.  I chose the walk.

Dang I wish I had my camera with me. (Photo from Wikipedia.) College Hill was painted in brilliant shades of red. There isn't much prettier in Easton than Victorian mansions cloaked in bright red leaves.

Since the D&L marathon two weeks ago I've been thinking a lot about racing and what role it will play in my life moving forward. It started at the pre-race dinner. Person after person stood up and said how wonderful racing was, and how they break down in tears from joy when they finish. It was like a Hallmark card for walkers. I have never shed a tear or jumped for joy. Sure I was happy it was over. I was happy I finished. But that's it.

The day of the race I counted down the miles like I always do—7-6-5-4-3-2-1-thank goodness I'm done. They hand you a medal which is lovely for about 2 minutes. Then my mind switches gears to what shall I do with this? And I really don't need another t-shirt. Three-quarters of them go to Pat or Goodwill.

But I was signed up for another the next week. It actually would have qualified me for a group called Half Maniacs. After becoming a member the least you could do was one Half a month to keep up your membership. The highest —52 in one year. Yep. One a week. Clearly those people have no life outside of races. And an endless supply of money. Half marathons are not cheap. Plus you need to add in travel, hotels, tolls, eating out, ect.

My fitness friend Nora is a member. She rarely does a 5K or a 10K anymore. She loves the half, and I anticipate that she'll move towards full marathons soon. She check race results. She knows the race staffs. She does two every month. I think I'd rather shoot myself.

Last week I was bored to tears at the Deja Vu. Solitude was not one of my life skills. There was no joy at the finish. Just relief. The shirt went into the hand-me-down box.

The 10K on Sunday was great. But was it because it was half the length or was it because I was walking over a beautiful body of water? Again, no joy at the finish, just relief. And wanted to be sure I caught the right bus back.

Saturday is a 5K. Looks like I'll be going it alone. Again. Bonnie just had surgery, and Megan can't make it. It's at NCC and I designed the tee shirts. I got to go. The money benefits my kids. But I'm not sure I want to.

Bottom line: With the exception of NCC, races are expensive and getting more expensive. I have to buy health insurance next year so there goes my disposable income.  I need to get really picky.

I'm not sure if I've signed up for anything next year. I have to look. (Oh wait—The Yuengling Lager Jogger with Angel and Eryn, and the Hangover 5K on New Years Day....bet there's more.) I need to evaluate how much racing I will actually do. Will 2015 be more Volkssport? More state parks? More fitness challenges. Not sure.

In the meantime,  I found a plastic box for the medals. Not quite ready to recycle them to Medals4Mettle. Maybe when the box is full.

fall walking festival day two

Yesterday we awoke to rain. Cold rain.

After breakfast we checked in and headed to the Milkbrook Marsh Nature Center for our first walk. I bet it's beautiful in summer. In late October it was pretty, but most of the leaves were already down and the grasses were dead. It was raining when we arrived. It only lasted five minutes.

We walked on a lot of boardwalk, three different bike trails, and thru a park and a covered bridge. It had a little bit of everything. We also met the president of LBW, the trail master and Bill.

The covered bridge in the park. The bathrooms in this park were open, and nice. They were old, but really clean so they rated a I-4.5. they also had a baby changing station, two kinds of soap, and these disposable mats for the baby. Class operation.

When we finished the walk and returned to the nature center in time for the rain to begin again. We stood in the rain and talked with walkers from York and Lancaster.

We returned to the hotel and had our books stamped then headed to Williamsport to do another walk. That walk ends at the end of the month.

Williamsport is a beautiful city. It isn't as nearly run down as I thought it would be. (The huge park park with 3 ball fields and a bandstand has no bathroom which confounds me.) Maybe they didn't take us into the "bad" neighborhoods. They didn't take us to the ballpark either.

We checked in at the Y and headed to the car to get our stuff. The skies opened again. We ran into the car with seconds to spare. The skies opened into a downpour. Five minutes later the sun was trying to come out.

Abut four blocks into the walk we reached the parking lot above (the mural is on all three sides) and the rain began again. It was a good time to stop in the brewpub for lunch. The sun was out when we headed back into the lot. Only problem was we lost the instructions in the restaurant. We had to walk back to the Y's lot for another set.

I took more pictures in Williamsport than I did the rest of the weekend. Art was everywhere. Interesting architecture and beautiful buildings were plentiful. My camera became exhausted. Bonnie started taking pixs with her smart phone.

We probably did a total of 25 miles in two day. Maybe this week I'll have more steps than my brother. he's been kicking my butt for the last couple weeks.

fall walking festival

Today Bonnie and I headed to Penn State for the bi-annual fall walking festival. We arrived at about 9:30 and were walking by 10.

The first walk was a 10K. It started at the host hotel—a Super 8—and wove thru town to the University. The hills were plentiful and the street signs lacking. At one point we became off course but quickly corrected ourselves.

The campus is huge. It makes Lafayette and Lehigh look like a grade school. Probably three miles was on campus. I have never been on a closed campus with that many buses.

On the way back to the hotel we walked past a farmer's market. I had wondered why so many students had flowers. What astounded me is that 75% of the farmers were Mennonite/Amish. In North Central Pennsylvania. South Central would be a totally different story.

Then it was off to Boalsburg for a 5K. Boalsburg is the birthplace of Memorial Day.

The walk began at the Pennsylvania Military Museum. Then we headed across the street to visited the "ladies" in the cemetery. Crossing the street was a half mile away! Then we were off to see Chris Columbus and a mansion, but alas, they were closed for the season. Next we walked the original highway, then back the new one. The final section of the trail took us into town. We bagged it and looked at the military museum property. Lots of tanks. Lots of cannons. Lots of memorials like Gettysburg. We couldn't go in the museum because we didn't bring money.

After checking in at the Super 8, and turning on the computer, I discovered I earned a new fit bit badge. I'm now flying high in a hot air balloon after climbing the equivalent of two thousand stairs.

Tomorrow, two more walks. Then the long drive home. We are not staying for day three.

sunday follies

This morning Pat and I drove into Allentown to see "Rise Up Allentown". And Installation made from donated ladders. I contributed three. There were many decorated. It never dawned on me to paint mine. They were hard to find.  You can walk thru it but you cannot climb on it. It's getting a lot of press.

When we returned home I walked the Bethlehem Greenway, thru the casino and came back.  On the way to the Greenway I saw my nephew, who was at one time homeless. He weighs less, no longer looks like Grizzley Adams, and is employed at Wendy's. Apparently he has gotten his act together again. Since I didn't talk to him I have no details.

I arrived at the Comfort Suites to sign in for the south Bethlehem Volkssport walk. The desk clerk had the box out by the time I arrived at the desk. I said "could you tell by my outfit"? She said "No. I remember you." Clearly I spend too much time at the Comfort Suites.

I've mentioned the garden on the Greenway near Webster street, and how I wondered if people would steal the food growing there. These signs have appeared. What I find interesting is that Chinese is in the first position, not English.

The Greenway is utilized heavily by people exercising, but also by the Asian casino bus riders. They just walk up and down (or across the bridges) till it is time to go home and then do it again. Not the way I want to earn a living.

Signs in three languages are popping up all over, including grocery stores.

Signs of the times.

lake galena

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Liberty Bell Wanderers. There was a 10K walk and picnic at Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park near Doylestown. It rained.

Thankfully when we arrived it stopped. And it stopped for the whole two hours we were walking. then it started again. Over 100 people were packed into the pavilion. Plus the food. Plus the pig. Let's just say space was limited. By the end of lunch it was pouring and everyone went home.

The lake loop is a 10K. More or less. Lydia's tracker had it at 7 miles. Bonnie's as 6.2 miles. Didn't ask Megan about hers. Lydia started whining about 4 miles in. I think it was because she ran out of things to take pictures of. We were in the woods.Think I'm kidding? Check her FB page. She post 85 of them!

The lake is man-made. But it's beautiful. A few hardy souls were out in boats and kayaks. But not many. The dam was covered with birds of all kinds. The fields fill of wildflowers. The trail is macadam so there is no gravel slippage under your feet.

Since we saw nobody after about the half way point, I think we were the only ones that did the 10K.

Some sights along the way—

 Orange fungus on a tree trunk. The tree still had leaves but was half-fallen and dying slowly.

 A telephone. You cannot see the cob webs on it. But it worked. Here I thought they were extinct.

 A woodpecker condo. And the tree is still trying to grow. I can't count how many holes are in it.

 Boats lined up waiting to be used.

The pig. Mostly consumed by the time we got back.

Comfort Station I-3.5, and they were plentiful.

Today I'm on my own. Bonnie and Megan are taking the baby for swim lessons, and Lydia (and maybe Dawn) are at Bushkill Falls. I think I'll be doing the south Bethlehem Volkssport walk.