dang it was cold

When my friend Pam and I decided to walk today, it was a balmy 45 degrees out. What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

We planned to go to Cedar Creek (beach) Park off of Hamilton Street.I awoke this morning thinking, "does the city do winter maintenance"? The parks are heavily used, so I hoped they did. the backup plan was Trexler Park. I was fairly sure they plowed that.

As I was driving down Ott I could see the left side was plowed. Yes!

Pam was waiting for me by the pool. We headed east around Lake Muhlenberg. But when we went to cross the bridge quickly realized the other side was not done. We headed toward the sidewalk but that had drifted shut. We returned to the pool the way we came. After crossing Ott we went south towards Cedar Crest College. (All directions are totally random. Hopefully after hearing landmarks you can make your way around.)

After we went past the rear of the college there were city trucks working. They were pruning and removing trees. It was 30 degrees out. Maybe. Why? Seemed like a more appropriate job for spring, summer, autumn ... not winter. Pam had a great theory. Maybe it's true. Many of the trees run along the creek. Perhaps the banks of the creek are so soft and unstable that they do it when it is hard and frozen. And the trucks won't fall in. Sounds plausible. I'm sticking with it.

When we finished the loop at Ott, we decided to go around again.

As we returned to the pool, Pam told me the Allentown JCC was  having a Polar Plunge and was I game. It's supporting their aquatics program. She always goes with me on my adventures, so I said yes. Yes, I know. No spending money. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

On the way home I took a picture of this fellow on Hamilton, across from the park. Clearly he is a Phantoms phan. He's built on top of the snow bank and pretty hard to miss.

A friend posted this race on FB. It's in York. I am so tempted. How many times do you get to race around a giant shoe? I will resist. It's 3 hours away.

Sunday is the Tri-to-help Triathlon. I signed up to do this event, but my friend backed out. Not really interested in doing it alone. It's a two-hour drive. Probably will just skip it.

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.

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.

half the hills in easton.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/old-photos-pennsylvania/33064-hacketts-park-easton.html

Today we were supposed to walk at Columcille in Bangor, but just as the weather people predicted it was pouring this morning. There were quite a few people who wanted to do the walk.

We were supposed to start at 10. When I turned on the computer this morning there was a message from Angel. "Let me know when you leave for Columcille if you're online. I'm on the fence with the weather". I assured her the weather would clear up by nine. It didn't. In fact when I was prepping to leave it started to pour. After Angel's email, then Lyd called. Pretty much the same conversation. She opted for plan B. "Even if it stops raining it will be really muddy". Then I called Bonnie. They were out also. A text to Dawn confirmed she was bagging it.

Angels child is at camp for the weekend. There are not many opportunities for many childless activities with a 10-year-old in the house. Another email comes...

"Is there someplace Indoors we can go?" And another ...

"We could Mall walk. *cringe*". 

The rain had stopped and it looked like it might clear up. Since I had to go to the farm for eggs I suggested the Palmer rail trail. It's paved. Then Angel sweetened the pot with "You want to come over, get cauliflower and walk from here to Hackett park? Or I can make lunch..."

So that's what we did, Angel, her husband and I walked from her house to Hackett Park on the Wilson section of the rail trail. Like the old cliché it was up hill in "both directions". When we entered the park I had 30 stairs on my FitBit. And it was park-like with swings and pavilions and things. Not a field like when I entered from the rail trail. And there's a cemetery in the middle of the park. With a cannon. And obsolete plaques. Who knew? Wish I would have had my camera.

When we came back we left the trail and hiked up the hill to Northampton Street. I have always wanted to walk up that damn hill. Why? It's steep. But only earned us another seven flights.Then we worked our way back to Angel's house including a set of stairs. Who knew there were stairs on Northampton street? Total stair count—46!

We made lunch—huge salads with peanut-sesame dressing — and then I ate and ran.

First stop, the farm. I had to get a pot roast, a steak and eggs. I eat a lot of eggs. I also got some cherry tomatoes and some peppers. This is pretty much the end of the veggies. They also had pumpkins and squashes of all varieties. While I was shopping others came, and then the hay truck. Nobody yelled HAAAAAAAY! Shocking. But we were stock for a few minutes. Let me assure you that they hay truck driver had some driving skills.

Second stop ArtsQuest. We have a race tomorrow and today was packet pick up. I should have told them "event" instead of "packet pickup". I had to park in the casino overflow employee shuttle lot and hoof it in.

I ended up with 6.5 miles and I still have a deficit in my goal for this week. I'm only at 75%. No way I'll get to 100% this week. Oh well. But damn certain I will make 50 stairs. I will walk up and down the hill until I do.

When I arrived home there was another email from Angel. "Are you blogging about today? Because if you do:
- we walked about 4.2 miles
- we had crazy fitbit issues (hers got stuck and somehow turned on iTunes which played do-wop)
- we ate good food
- we had a great time
- and my fit bit gave me 92 active minutes!!! (mine gave me 1.25 hours active, 31 very active. That's good. I rarely get double digits for very active minutes, yet alone out of the teens.)
- next time let's do six miles!"

You are on Angel. Now what to do about the child ....

a mad cap adventure

This mornings walk was crazy. It was a mad cap adventure of confusion.

When I woke this morning it was raining. No walking. Then it stopped. Walking back on.

We decided to go to Fairview Park in Palmer to do the bike trail—9:30. Bonnie's car doesn't hold 5 adults with the babies car seat so we need to take two cars. I assumed Bonnie was going to call like she normally does, and then we'd head out. She assumed we were meeting at the park. We are waiting at the house. She is waiting at the park. Nobody is going anywhere. Finally Megan called "Where are you?"

We started about 10:20. Oops. By that time the sun was out. The trail is out and back. We head toward Rt 33, turn the corner and go toward the hospital. At the back entrance to the hospital, we turn around and come back.

On the way back Lydia and Megan were in front doing a 14 minute or less mile. (Lydia's PR) and they turned right. They were headed for the swings. The baby was sleeping. But as soon as we got airborne he woke up. He had his first ride on the baby swing and loved it! He also loved going down the slide with me. Too bad there was water puddled at the bottom.

The park was set up for Community Days. It was starting to smell good.

On the way home we stopped at the farm for eggs and corn, then picked up lunch at Lehigh Pizza. Any calories burnt were consumed.

After lunch we took the very patient dog for his walk.

irt and monocacy park

There was a Boot Camp class at the Hokey Playground today and three of the gang were planning on going. So we planned to walk the IRT afterwards. But things happened on Saturday night and everyone but Megan backed out. And she didn't really want to do it alone, so we ended up walking earlier.

We also ended up doing the entire loop—5.3 miles.

The IRT is a nice walk. Fairly flat. Visually interesting. You meet a lot of friendly people because it it such a popular spot. The baby did fairly well with the longer walk. He got fussy and then fell asleep.

Bonnie rated the the facilities an P-2.5.

After I returned home, Lydia sent me a text—she felt well enough to go out for a walk. Wanting to avoid Musikfest on both the north and south side we headed to Monocacy Park. Another happening place. Again, the lot was packed. Could be because someone was getting married at one of the pavilions.

We took the nature trail that rail next to the creek. We encountered a family laying in hammocks in the creek. Looked delightful. We also encountered a lot of downed trees.

 Here's me climbing over a couple. Slow and steady. Have I mentioned I had Birks on?

On the way back, Lydia noticed a rock moving. Turned out to be a turkey hen. Her dinner is laying next to her.

We crossed the lot and the street and looped the park. While Lydia was taking pixs on the waterfall, I hit the comfort station. The last time I was there there was a fish in the sink. Today, it rated a I-3.5. The toilet tissues was padlocked to the roller. Are things so bad that people steal TP?

Of course we walked the dog when we returned home.

fitness challenge 3 — boot camp

Clearly I am doing poorly on the fitness challenges. My goal was one per week. I'm barely making one per month.

Tonight Megan and I tried Boot Camp at the Rose Garden. It's one of the Fitness in the Park series. I've never experienced fitness boot camp. Megan has in Kentucky.

I liked that we were outside. I liked little else—except pushing/pulling the sled. That was sort-of fun.

Our first indication that it was going to be crappy was upon our arrival. We parked where I always parked and waited. And waited. And waited. Nobody. They usually meet near the bandstand. We saw someone arrive and followed her. She went to the playground area and there was lots of people.

The instructor came over and greeted us. But he left the wavier at home. He also forgot to collect our money. Don't think his bosses would like that.

It bothered me a lot that he was on his phone constantly. I hope he was checking notes and not twitting or texting. Megan said he also used it for the stop watch.

It opened with a run. Megan and I power walked. That should have been his first indication that things would be different. While he was running backwards with us, Megan told him we both had bad knees, and that she is post pregnancy.  He clearly understood that adaptions would be needed. But he didn't show any, and that pissed her off. At one point he said something like, 'if you can't do this adapt it'. But never said how.

The bulk of the exercises were on the ground. A lot of body weight, and pretty much all legs. No upper body workout except holding yourself up. I discovered I can no longer do jumping jacks. I could doing them for hours at 10.

I'm guessing the ladders were the aerobic part. Here I discovered that I cannot do more than 3 hops in a row. Again, the 10-year-old in me was disgusted. At this point I could no longer see out of my glasses. The sweat was dripping uncontrollably. There was only 2 ladders and about a dozen people. Though it kept moving. So there was no break time

The sleds were last. Again, there was only two.  It was a long wait—Megan and I were last—and I was totally cooled off by the time it was my turn.  The sled weighed about 10 and it had a 10 pound weight on it. I probably should have had added 5 more pounds on it. Some people were using 45 and a 10 or a 25. We pulled it up hill and pushed it down.

Then the class was over. Everyone high fives and you go. I realize I cooled off while waiting but there was no real cool down. No stretching. We stretched a bit and then walked around the block to get to the car.

The a/c int the burple people eater felt good.

fell into a ground hogs hole

Today I had off from my day job. (I just finished the night one.) So it was my turn to drive Bug to swim lessons at Memorial  Pool. (Yeah, Eryn finally got a learners permit!)

So we pull into the pool parking lot. I tell her I'm going for a walk, and I should be back in time, but if not, I left the car open, or she could sit on the lawn or the stoop and wait. Off she goes.

The pool sits at the top of the hill. So I decided to check out the "stairs" function on my new Fitbit. Stairs is really not the right word. What it really measures is inclines up. I headed down the driveway, then down the hill to Monocacy Park, then up the hill to Center Street.  I received a 5.

I turned around came down the hill, headed thru the park, over the waterfall bridge and back, and headed up the hill and up the driveway. At this point I was at 12. Clearly, it's steeper going up.

It was only 11:40. Still about a half hour to go. So I decided to loop the pool and the dog park. There were people everywhere. Apparently the come for both age level swim lessons and just hang out till the pool opens. They even bring coolers with lunch!

I returned to the entrance of the pool and there was still time, so I looped the pool again. This time, I was at the front of the pool and zig zagging up and down the grassy bank. I stepped in a groundhog hole and tumbled. Thank goodness I didn't roll! I am becoming a professional faller. When I was done my stair count was up to 18.

A pretty decent workout. I finished at the same time as Bug.

But something was quite different at the pool. Little of the grass was mowed. 70%, maybe is allowed to go fallow for environmental reason. They even put up a sign. But we all know it's a lot cheaper to leave big lawns go fallow than to mow.

Paths were mowed around the pool, the dog park, and another down to the street near the edge of the property, and a fourth down to the Monocacy trail.

tail on the trail, sand island event

Today was the Tail on the Trail, Sand Island event. Today you could choose between a bike and boat or a walk run. I didn't know about the bike/boat before yesterday. So we walked.

We arrived in plenty of time. Today's theme was healthy snacks so they had dried fruit and nuts. Though on the display board they had nutrition bars. There is nothing healthy about those. They are filled with sugars. Even my Kind Bars use honey.

I digress. I always do.

Since this was a program event we needed to sign in. Megan had to fill out the minors form for the baby. It was amazing how many people were wearing last years shirts. Including us.

At 9, there was speeches and nearly everyone headed towards Allentown, including the bikes. We headed towards Freemansburg, walked a mile and a half or so, then came back. The wee one mostly slept.

At the Minsi Trail Bridge Megan and I headed up the stairs (90). Bonnie stayed with the wee one. Then it was her turn. We of course, went on ahead so she could power walk to meet us.

Tomorrow we are meeting at Penn Pump Park and heading towards Tatemy.

The bathroom rated an I-3.5 today.

the bathroom "scale"

 Remember when we encountered the dead fish in the sink at Monocacy Park?

While walking on Tuesday in Ohio, we encountered an awful restroom. During that walk we came up with a bathroom "scale". On each walk, instead of us telling you the dirty details of how disgusting the potties were, we'll just give them a number.

Kind:
L   Latrines/outhouse
P   Port-o-potties        
I    Indoor                   

Scale:
0    Locked. My least favorite kind of restroom.
1    Disgusting/gross/foul, no running water or hand sanitizer 
1.5 Disgusting/gross/foul, running water or hand sanitizer
2    Dirty, no running water or hand sanitizer
2.5 Dirty, running water or hand sanitizer
3    Clean, no running water or hand sanitizer
3.5 Clean, running water or hand sanitizer
4    Very clean, no running water or hand sanitizer
4.5 Very clean, running water or hand sanitizer
5    Impeccable.

So the bathroom Thursday at the recycle center would be a I-1. Pretty much useless. Unless you are having a gut bomb. Clearly useless when you fall.
The park in Xenia would be a I-1
Riverside park in Louisville would be  a I-3.5. They had fountains that worked and signs that said, break the bottle habit.
The Y in Frankford was probably a I-4.5. After all it was the locker room. It was also hot and steamy.
And Fairy Hill was a P-4.5 Actually I wanted to give this bathroom a 5, but no hand sanitizer. This was single handily the nicest port-o-potty I've ever used. (Our tax dollars at work.) It was huge and wheelchair accessible. So glad I didn't go in the woods.

I generally hope for a 3. And if they have TP it's even better. I generally always have tissues.

walking vacation, day 7

We arrived Saturday night and went to the hotel that hosts the walk box. They were booked. They sent us to a town a couple miles away to the Comfort Suites. They were booked to. Everyone was booked. There was a film festival in town, a motorcycle rally, and a huge accident on the Interstate. Who would have thought that a sleepy town in West Virginia would have no room at the inn?

The Comfort Suites clerk was wonderful. She called around. The Knights Inn 10 miles away had 2 rooms left, but wouldn't hold them. By the time we got there, they were gone. They sent us across the street to the Roadway Inn. Finally, a room for the night.

Since we did the Volkssport check-in at the host hotel Saturday night, we parked near the middle school. No use walking the long driveway for nothing. Getting the instructions early allowed us to read them, and become familiar with them. That saved us a lot of time.

I believe this was an 11K. We headed toward "downtown" and they were setting up the Farmer's Market. Bonnie decided to get peaches on the way back. there is a historical marker on every block in this town. We walked around town a bit more, then headed into the university, and across the bridge to Maryland. Once we crossed the bridge we headed down the path and snaked around to almost the canal path. Instead, we turned right into the woods. It was a rustic trail. I wished I would have brought my walking stick. It was a climb back up the hill.

When we reached the lawn of Fairy Hill we were soaked with sweat. So what do we do? Take a tour of the house. Lucky for us the air conditioning was broken. They had fans running. We did not get overly cooled down. While there we bought National Park Passports and started collecting stamps. Something else to carry and never fill.

Then it was back down the drive, and back over the bridge.  Back thru the university's athletic fields, and back thru town. Somehow we read the instructions wrong, and I missed the farmers market. So we drove down, Bonnie hopped out of the car, and I drove around the block. Those peaches smelled good.

On the way out we stopped at Antietam National Battle field. Why not? We were in the 'hood.

walking vacation, day 3

This morning we headed to downtown Louisville to do the Border Crossing Volkssport walk. Had I realized it was 12K I probably would not have had Maria drop off Foxy and Kitty to come along. We shaved a bit off, but it was still about 6 miles.

In Louisville one bridge is under construction, so they are down to one bridge. To get to the YMCA logic would indicate using I65. But that's right in the heart of the chaos. We took I64 and the longer route. Avoided all of the traffic.

 After signing in at the YMCA we headed off with the children reading the instructions. When we arrived at Main Street, we cut off the loop that went down to the Slugger museum and back. 1K gone. We headed up the Belvider thru the fountain, and up to the river walk. Then down the stairs and thru River Park and the wharf. I was at least a mile thru the park to the pedestrian bridge. The children were tiring so we took a break in the park. Then before heading up the ramp to the bridge, we rain thru the water sprinklers. That, and the breeze, cooled us off.

 Then it was over the bridge to Indiana, and back. We stopped at the same park for ice cream from the truck. Then headed back to the car. It was a good mile and a half away.

In the car the children were talking about a troll restaurant.  But didn't know the name. We ended up at O'Charleys near Barb's house. I looked it up online when we got back—We walked past it within a half block. Crap. It sounded cool.

Next Volkssport walk is Friday, maybe. In Frankfort.

Tomorrow will be spent on a short walk, then doing some running around with Barb.

Oh, in case you are curious, Bonnie was attacked last night by her father's dresser. Aparrently it was hungry.

cedar creek park

Today we went on an adventure. Lydia is always wanting to try new places, and we actively search for stroller friendly routes.

First stop, Cedar Creek Park East. There was a trail but it was rustic. Clearly not stroller friendly. And there was a huge boys soccer tourney going on.

Second Stop, Cedar Creek Parkway West. Much bigger, and another tourney. this time girls soccer.
We couldn't find any place to walk. Back in the car, again.

Final stop. Cedar Creek Park in Allentown. Same old park we always do. This time we headed toward Cedar Crest, around the rose garden and back to Ott. Then we crossed Ott and looped around Lake Muhlenberg and back.

The baby slept most of the time.

Then it was off to the Comfort Suites to do my paperwork for the Volkssport club. The Allentown walk (196) is popular! I have at least three pages of walkers.

North Bethlehem (717) isn't. There were very few on that tally sheet.

Personally, I finished my Distance and Event books, as well as my Pennsylvania book. It is time to send them off to Houston! I've ordered a starter kit for Megan and the Wee One. If my new books don't arrive by the time I leave for Kentucky the trip will be done with the dreaded Insert Cards.

Speaking of finishing. Lydia finished her Gold Award for the President's Challenge yesterday. Unlike me, she will not be doing Platinum. Maybe by the end of summer I'll get to 50%.

it is hard to take a selfie with a baby

Happy Birthday David.

The gang walked today on the Palmer Bike Trail, the portion that serves as the D&L thru Palmer. Usually the walk photos have the baby in the carriage, but I got the silly idea to do a selfie after he was fed and changed. It's difficult. Babies don't cooperate.

Today Bonnie's family arrived right on time, and she left the car running. "I don't think five people will fit in my car with the car seat" she said. We ended up taking two cars.

We started walking in Riverside park off 25th street. It's kind-of under the Glendon Bridge. The lot was empty so we got two prime spaces in the shade, and near the bathroom. The we hit the trail. this is an out-and back trail. If you walk long enough you'll get to Jim Thorpe. Maybe another day. We went about 1.5 miles before the baby was unhappy. Megan was going to stop to feed him, but no benches. Luckily there was a bench where the Palmer Trail and the D&L split.

 As Megan fed the Wee One, Bonnie gave Megan water. It was hysterical.

While they did that, Lydia and I continued on about another mile to the boat launch. Then turned around and came back just as she was diapering the baby. Perfect timing. Then it was time for the trip back.

Somehow I arrived near the front, so I headed off to the swings. And then headed east on the new section of the trail, alone. I wanted to see how long it was, how it went, ect. this connecting strip to Hugh Moore Park was done last year. You used to have to walk on the highway.

As I was walking a few people passed me, and I thought "shouldn't be out here alone". (Easton has had some issues lately with assailants hanging out on the trails.) But all was fine. The path is slightly downhill and straight from the park until the end. Then you start seeing curve signs. The sign below is no exaggeration. The serpentine curves are downright U shaped. The path is divided so no one gets run over by an out-of control bike.

After the wacky curves, I arrived at the Hugh Moore trail head, turned around and walked up hill back. All-in-all I did about 6 miles. The came back and took Adonis for his walk.

Tomorrow we are doing Cedar Beach Park. We are going to try and find the trail behind Dorney, behind Haines Mill.

lock ridge park

Today, Bonnie, Megan, the wee one, and I headed to Alburtis and Lock Ridge Park.  We chose it because we thought it was all was paved. It's mostly paved.

Lydia was sick—she's got Bonnie's 5-pack-a-day cough—so she didn't come. Rumor has it that she spent the day reading. Jealous.

When we arrived we parked and a dog started barking at us. We said out loud "would leave their dog in the car on a day like today?"  I said, maybe they went to the latrine. Five minutes is fine. Then a girl came over and said "he's mine". Turned out they were doing a photo shoot of shelter animals, and he doesn't play well with others so he had to stay in the car.

She was no more than 20 feet away, so he was okay. (Now. He was a pit/bull mix. Abused. Megan noticed the scar on his back. It was ugly. The rescue-girl said that was 100% better. I can't imagine what condition he was in when he arrived."

A loop—with several paths— at Lock Ridge is about a mile and a half, so we walked around twice. But we didn't take the same paths so we were a little closer to 2.5 miles in an hour. The one by the railroad was flooded and we couldn't tell how deep it was. Probably fairly deep. It extended into well onto the grass. So we didn't complete it. We turned around an came back.

There was one much longer path, but that one was not paved. Megan didn't want to jostle the baby around on stones.

I usually only come to this park for the 5K in August. To get to the park we drove to the start point, then followed the 5K route. A lot out-of-the-way but it worked. During a 5K there is no time to look at anything or take pictures. Today, I looked at everything and took pictures. I found two staircases and took them both. The others continued on. That's fine, I'm a big girl. But then I came to a fork in the road and yelled "Which way did you go?" They yelled "left" and I went left and caught up with them. The museum was not open until one, so neither were the bathrooms.

What is this place you might ask? From the Lehigh County website: "What looks like a stone castle was a coal burning iron furnace. The beauty of the furnace and surrounding structures belie their industrial roots."

When you live in the Lehigh Valley you can't escape iron. Or limestone. And by extension cement.

volkssport walk, with a twist.

I thought today was the Bethlehem North Volkssport walk. At some point the rearranged the schedule and it was switched to Philly. Who'd want to go to Philly when mass transportation is on strike! Certainly not me.

So Lydia and I did the Bethlehem North walk. With a twist.

Volkksport walks use well established trails and sidewalks. Instead, we followed the route but spent a lot of time walking along the creek, railroad tracks, and offshoots of the main trial. That same old walk was suddenly exciting again.

For example, in Johnson Park we found this in bricks. It say "Monocacy Park". It's a WPA project so it's been there since the 30s. I've walked in this park for 50 years, but never went near the walls and stairs. What else is lurking there?

What about a tunnel. Where does it go? Does Bethlehem have catacombs? what is lurking under the senior center?

We found paths on Sand Island that I never knew about. Today's volkssport walk turned into a bit of an adventure.

fitness challenge 1—fitness in the park

Fitness in the Park is a series of fitness classes sponsored by the recreation department. Each set is 4 weeks, and it's cheaper if you buy by the set. A single class is $10. Can you tell from the picture which park?

Tuesday night is Power Toning. I've taken a toning class at Lafayette before and it was torture. Maybe it was the instructor. Or maybe it was because it was inside.  Or maybe because everyone in the class was a minus zero in size. Anyway you look at it, this was better.

The instructor was nice. She demonstrated every move and showed adaptions for the physically less fit. I still couldn't do them but it was nice. There were skinny girls but about half were plus size. It was outside. With a breeze. I took my dumbbells but they provided mats. I should have taken my yoga mat.

I did everything, but just less of them, with all the adaptions and then some. Not nearly as high or straight but done. I worked up a good sweat. Might go back again. I confirmed that my muscles are all sleeping and need to be woken the heck up. How do you do that? Squats are out of the question. Even pliés hurt. My knees were singing tonight!

Almost all the skinny girls take the other classes. Monday night is Boot Camp (Todays tip: Take a towel if you don't want to work out on the grass!). It sounds like Hell. Wednesday is Yoga. From the way they were talking it isn't beginners. Better skip that one. I can stand an hour in Hell. Have you met my roommate?

Still looking for more ideas. If you've got them, let me know.

beating the storm and the humidity

Today I walked early. Bonnie is still sick and I wanted to get out before the violent thunderstorms and humidity. Neither materialized.

I decided to do the south Bethlehem Volkssport walk. I'm kind-of itching to get my books full and get new ones. I have two more in the distance book. Three in the total fifty walk book (I think it changes color next time!) and four in the Pennsylvania walk book. All of these will be done by the end of the month. I'll do three walks just collecting paperwork at the end of month!

Things have changed a bit on the Greenway. In the area of the meadow and the Asia gazebo they have built vegetable gardens. With no fence. Clearly this is a pick-your own adventure? The cabbages were huge.

Further down, by the townhouses, people have started planting flowers on the Greenway. I wonder what the city thinks of that. I bet it makes mowing harder. But it sure looks pretty.

The casino, and ArtsQuest area is the same as always. When I arrived at OraSure it started to drizzle, but it never materialized as rain. Coming back thru Lehigh I found more sculptures and more stairs! I'm sure the others will be thrilled about that.

Crossing streets at that hour is a real pain. But otherwise it was a nice hot, sweaty walk.

I thought I try a fitness challenge tonight—Kettlebells. But I read the website wrong. It was drop in, but you needed to be a member. Further investigation led to the discovery that no kettlebell classes are without some sort of membership class. And, a three-hour orientation before you can can take one. Cross that off the list.

I checked the Saucon, Palmer and Bethlehem Tsp Community Centers, and the Y. Nothing new. Nothing different.

Tonight in the park is Power Toning. If we are done with dinner I might try that. Once Bonnie gets well I'll try one of the swim classes.

This fitness challenge takes a whole lot more planning than I anticipated.

sunday afternoon

  His first selfie.

Sunday afternoon I had to babysit for the "blonde tornado". Don't let this cute face fool you. This kid can be a terror. But he wasn't.

He arrived with a bag of games and immediately asked me to play. I had other plans. I told him he need to play by himself so I could finish my work. Then we'd —the dinosaur, him, Aunt Sharon, and I—go someplace special.

He did. We did. He's about 5.10 years old. Too young to walk to and from the Fountain Hill playground and play. We packed water and cups. We looked for appropriate hats —he wore my Volkssport one—and headed for the park. But I forgot to get the car seat when he was dropped off. He told me about it. I strapped him in the center back and off we went.

He was excited to see the playground. He was excited to see the that there were baby swings. Not for him of course —he doesn't like swinging—but for Dinosaur. (Yes, that's his name.) The "three" of us played about 45 minutes. Aunt Sharon took pictures. I did not get to swing!

I did get to ride the bee alone, and with the Tornado.

Everyone went down the slides multiple times.  Dinosaur usually went down head first. Some of us fit better than others.

 We went on rope bridges and moving plank bridges. Frequently.

 Tornado didn't have enough body strength to do the zip bar, but Dinosaur put his full body into it. I was too tall. Even bending my knees.

 I asked him if he wanted to go on an adventure. He was all for it. So we took the trail thru the park into the woods where he picked weeds for aunt Sharon. We did the whole trail, then came back and went down the big hill—it's steep. No bikes, boards or blades are allowed. Then back to Aunt Sharon. Dinosaur was a hot sweaty mess when we got back.

Then it was time to make dinner. I was told he was a fussy eater. Not when you make him help make it. I even almost got him to try peppers. But he really "thought and thought and thought about it and decided I really don't like them". He ate everything else. I ain't fighting for peppers. (Though his measuring skill are poor. I had to dump water off the rice then jack up the heat. Oops!)

After nearly 1.25 hours at the park we ate dinner and watched Frozen. The trolls were so much fun. The ice castle was beautiful. Still trying to figure out what all the fuss is about.