yikes! i opened an instagram account

I opened an Instagram account last night. Yeah, it scares me too.

It all ties into doing social media/web for the walking group. If I'm taking pixs with my iPod, then they can be uploaded to Instagram and right to their FB page, I think. Maybe. I'll have Lydia help me.

Anyway, if you want to search for me my name is thisismygymtoday. Yeah, it does look more like a hash tag. Right now everything is generic. But I added 2 test photos yesterday. And they showed up.

It looks like you really need to be sure you want to post it. I do not see an edit or delete button, at least on my desktop. Maybe there is one on the iPod. The mobile interface is much more robust.

The only part of this that truly excites me is writing hash tags. I find myself glancing at the pixs and then just reading the hashtags. My favorite from yesterday is"wishicouldblastmymusicbutsomeoneisnapping"‬. I just need to figure out how to do it. I think you just write using the pound sign.

We'll see how it goes.

Today I substituted, so no time for a long walk. I was going to take the walking path around campus, but there is no winter maintenance. Maybe I should take my snowshoes with me to school. So I walked around and thru buildings and up the stairs. Somehow I managed to get 9K steps in. So last night, after dinner with a former Girl Scout, and putting in my final grades, I walked back and forth thru my house for the remaining 1K steps.


Mission accomplished.

Now I just need to do that everyday.

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 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.

dog walk

Today Adonis, Lydia and I walked on the Whitehall Parkway. Since Lydia can't drive, I would have to pick her up, hence the trail choice. We often do the IRT portion, but rarely do the "spur". When I sent her a text I suggested taking Adonis. He doesn't play well with other dogs and she thought maybe it wasn't a good idea. I convinced her that it was cold, miserable, and the middle of the day how many dogs would we meet.

I picked them up at 11 and we headed out. The trail is only about 10 minutes from their house.

We parked at the barn and took the handicapped trail thru the woods to the main trail. I thought it would be easier with the dog. Not. It was full of roots and was very narrow at points. And there was a bridge with high steps. Clearly there was a turn I missed.

At this point Lydia had the dog and I was leading. Before I knew it I was flat on the ground. I looked back and yelled "watch the rock".  Then I took the dog. Figured he'd see obstacles before me. Adonis was not sure about the stairs to the bridge. He doesn't do many steps. Up was fine. Down he sort of jumped. The leash was only so long. Thankfully he didn't pull me over.

 We were almost at the trail when we saw this old railroad car. I wanted to take pictures so I said "come on Adonis" and we headed toward it. It didn't take long to notice the sticker bushes.

I stopped and said, let's get out of her. Adonis went right thru the sticker bushes. Last I talked to Lydia she was still picking them off him. My jacket, gloves and pants are full of them.

Finally we reached the actual trail. Adonis was a very good dog, and brisk walker, as long as I kept him in the middle on the stones. If he came to close to the grass the sniffing and stopping would begin.

When we reached the quarry he saw a chipmunk and started to go after it. He nearly pulled me over. Thankfully Lydia was already barking commands. We had still not seen a single person.

That changed when we came out of the woods. The trail runs next to the road about a half mile to the Troxell Steckell House. It must be a popular parking spot for joggers and dog walkers. On this stretch we encountered a jogger, some bikes and a couple walking three--yes three--dogs. We crossed the street and Lydia occupied him by picking off stickers until they past. Don't you know we passed them coming back too.

We almost reached the museum and Lydia saw a dog off the leash, and another German shepherd coming toward us.  No going to see the extension of the trail, we turned around and headed back.

We only went about 2.75 miles but it was at a nice brisk pace. Adonis was delighted to be out of the house, and with the exception of the chipmunk he was pretty good.

Maybe I'll take him again.

forks trail

Usually I walk on Fridays with my friend Betsy, but she had other commitments today. So I arranged with my friend Angel to walk in Forks township. She works at Target and had a rare day off in November.

I gave her a list of places and she picked the Forks trail. She had never been there. Instead of parking at the Country Club, we parked nearer to the river and had to climb some stairs to get to the trail. It snowed last night so the wooden stairs were filled with wet leaves and ice. Fun!

After carefully climbing the stairs we arrived on the trail and followed it south along the river. When we reached the country club we turned left and followed another path until it ended, then turned around and came back.

The trail was covered with leaves and it was fairly natural. Lots of tree roots to trip over. All in all it was about 3.5 miles. The ice on the stairs melted considerably by our return trip.

Then we headed to the Forks deli for middle eastern food for lunch, and then Calandra's for cheese. On the way home I made a few stops so I figured I walked about 5 miles. I checked my Fitbit and it say "Fitbit 6.0" and made all kinds of rebooting activities. When it was done it told me I walked 16 steps all day. All before 6 am. I could have cried.

Tomorrow is the NCC 5k. I drew the t-shirts. Hopefully they look nice. They did not pick my favorite design.

costochondritis and walking.

http://kcra-kw.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Costochondritis.gif

Monday I went to work. walked a bit at lunchtime. It was a beautiful day.

Came home and started feeling odd. Indigestion maybe? But I ate dinner and turned on the computer and went to class. By 10PM I felt like there was a man standing on my breast bone. And he wasn't invited. I shut off the computer and moved to the couch to watch The Blacklist.   Laying down was worse. Was I having a heart attack? I didn't know. Took my blood pressure. Perfect. Decided it was indigestion and found some generic pepcid that expired in 2012. I took it and went to bed.  By that time my whole left side hurt and my breast felt like bricks.

Tuesday I woke up. I was happy. I woke up. Not a heart attack but it was still there. I couldn't sneeze. Coughing was traumatic. As long as I didn't make any sudden moves I could function. We needed chicken to add to our leftover "rice surprise" (damn it was good) so I took the scenic route to Aharts. Walking up to Sioux street I was both fine and miserable. Walking up Fiot and 8th was even worse. I kept taking my pulse. Perfect. It felt like cracked ribs. The pain is sudden and sharp. The "little man" was really being a PIA and I lost all sense of concentration.

Driving to work I missed the school zone sign flashing. It was 4:00! I got a ticket. $169!!!

Since I was miserable, I decided to listen to the voice in my head and go to the doc in the box. Maybe it's Pneumonia. Maybe a heart attack. The horror visions were dancing in my head. And I have a half marathon Sunday. I decided to go after work. The stress of not knowing was killing me. I could hear Bonnie yelling, "stop being so cheap and go to the doctor". So I did. It's Costochondritis. A virus in the chest wall near the breast bone. There isn't a blasted thing you can do for it but take Aleve. 3 OTC=1 Rx. (I wasn't taking any pain meds because I didn't want to mask the symptoms.) The doc-in-the-box was $148. This is why I don't go to the doctor. It's just a money vacuum. On the up side my heart and lungs are healthy.


Did I mention there's a half-marathon on Sunday? One that I haven't really trained for? Not a good time to get sick. Have another one tomorrow.


Wednesday I walked at work a bit. But the Aleve was making me sick. Thursday I did very little. I drove Lydia to Lehighton and that took my walking time. My online class and my on ground class take up the day. Plus cooking dinner mid-afternoon.


Today I drove Miss Lydia to her home visits. Last week I went walking with Betsy. this week she wasn't available so I walked myself in a whole new neighborhood. The easiest way to explain it is the backside of the muni golf course. I'm guessing 50-60 'burbs. Lots of splits, ranches and amazing mid century architecture. When I was a kid I thought it was hideous. Now I think it's beautiful. I was about three blocks away when Lydia buzzed that she was done.

 Hand-painted, with a great view of the golf course.

 In front of an amazing mid-century house.

Multi-color ghosts.


My breathing was not normal during the walk. But I still have two days till the half. I cannot breath deep so pushing it might not be possible. But I breathed thru my nose the whole time. I rarely do that when walking. I'm an open mouth person.

I did promise my sister that I would not be a hero. I would get my ample butt in the sweep car  if I had to. I think if I pick a steady pace I should be okay. I will take two Aleve before I go. Don't want to lose my breakfast on the trail. Who am I kidding? Breakfast will be after the race. No personal records will be broken. I will use the full four and a half full hours if needed and the route is flat as a pancake.


Tomorrow we are walking on the D&L in the area of the marathon. The more familiar you are with a course, the better it is. Then after walking we'll go pick up our race gear. Michelle, the walking coach, is hosting a pre-race dinner on Saturday night.


If with my weak walking totals this month, I am still past 1000 miles for this Tail on the Trail Challenge. That is about six times around. The challenge ends Sunday.

my house smelled like autumn

Lydia is still having car issues so I planned a walk near her house on the Nor Bath trail today. That way I could pick her up and we'd be almost there.

The plan was to meet Bonnie, Megan and the baby, and Angel and her family at trail head. But Angel wasn't feeling well and Bonnie and Megan went to the wrong trail head. So Bonnie and I headed into Northampton to meet them at the Siegfried* train station. Then we moved across the street to the Northampton Heritage trail, which is part of the D&L. That section is paved, but once out of town it is totally natural. This is one section of the D&L that is not developed.

Then I took Lyd home and we picked up Adonis to go to my house.  It was the first time an animal had been in my car since I brought Snowball home for Megan when she was a child.

We opened the door and the house spelled wonderful. I had a beef roast ready for the oven when I left. The roomie put it in at 10:30. When we were kids mom put a roast in before church and it was ready when we came home. It smelled like that. And it tasted even better. Can't beat the meat from the farm.

The dog managed to get two walks before we had to leave for Basket Bingo. This bingo is held by the Boy Scout Troop Camp Association. Jarrod loved the camp that they manage in Allentown. Or is it Salisbury? Anyway, we go every year. And usually leave empty handed. I call it a charitable donation. But this year we won. A lot.

All in all, it was a good day.

* The Siegfried Station name came from the original settlement's founder, Lehigh River banks store/tavern/ferry/bridge owner John Siegfried. In 1902 the nearby communities of Siegfried, Stemton, and Newport had merged to form the Borough of Alliance, a name which lasted until 1909 when it was renamed Northampton.

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 ....

morning star celtic classic 5k

Today was the Morning Star Rotary Celtic Classic 5k. Yeah, it's a mouth full.

We didn't do this race last year, but in 2012 it started at a different place and went to the south side. This year, it began at the Luckenbach Mill, and headed to Union Blvd, out Main, and down the HBI path back to the mill. We went past the mill and out Conastoga Street. We crossed Union Blvd, and headed out the Monocacy Trail to Burnside Plantation. Then we turned right on Paint Mill Road and made an immediate right on to Mauch Chunk Rd. Up Geopp, and down Monocacy and back to the mill.

I finished in a hair over 51. Bonnie in a hair under. Megan came in 15 seconds behind me. Our times were slightly higher than the last time, but trails were not involved. I'm happy with it.

When we first started the race I thought it was odd that a girl had a Camelback for a 5k. On Mauch Chunk Rd we ran into her again. It wasn't a Camelback. It was oxygen! We leap frogged a lot but ultimately she ran into the finish and beat me.

This race always has good cheese, lots of fruit and water, and the best part—men in skirts.

The "boys" were meeting Bonnie and Megan at the event to hang out for a while. I had a meeting with a client at noon, and I didn't bring a cent with me, so I opted to walk home.

trout creek park

This morning we walked thru Tout Creek Park. The baby was quite happy today. Clearly he liked the cooler weather. Or maybe he's just excited that daddy is coming this week.

Trout Creek Park is not the prettiest park in the Allentown Park System, but it's got a walking path. Once we reach 8th street, then we head towards Mack Blvd. But we don't go that far. I think the street we turn on is Dixon.

We head down Dixon, and thru the development.  to the shopping center. We found the stacked tires at the edge of the shopping center. If you look thru the yellow tire, I'm in the shadow. The baby wanted no part of looking at the camera.

When we reached the Susquehanna Street Bridge, we crossed, and went under, back to the park. We too the trail north, then spun around at the end and came back. Everyone's trackers said something different. It was somewhere between 3-4 miles.

After arriving home, we took the dog out for another 3/4 mile.

fitness challenge—horseback riding

I can't remember the last time I went horseback riding. It was with Girl Scouts, at a dude ranch, and I had the worse allery attack ever.

Thankfully that didn't happen this time. (Thanks generic Claratin!)

My friend Pam suggested this activity after our paddle boarding adventure. She found us a Groupon, so we saved big bucks on this outing. (Groupon could be hazardous to your budget. Must stay away!)

Fitness friend Dawn also came. Riding is on her bucket list. Dawn and I met at the Rt 33 Park and Ride and we headed up to "Bangor". I have no idea where we were but Bangor was 15 minutes south. We left at 10 for our 11 ride. It took 45 minutes. Google suggested 37. Dawn brought the GPS so that save us from getting lost.

We arrived and parked and waited for Pam's family to arrive. They got lost so they were late.  Pam brought her husband and both girls. Hannah came home from college to ride today. She really wanted to come.

Dawn got the first horse. It probably took a good 20 minutes to load us on to horses. I left the others go first, so I got the last one — Rocky. He likes to walk fast so they make us stay at the end. He didn't like it. He kept creeping up on Pam's horse and getting his face in her horses butt. "Rocky, stay out of Pam's tushy!" He didn't listen. He wanted to be in the front. Hannah's horse had pretty white spots.

Rocky like to hug the trees and my knee actually hit a stop sign. His love of trees also may have gotten me in trouble. We were on the way back and Pam said, "watch, poison." Too late. I thought that my shirt got the bulk of it, but perhaps not. After I showered I noticed my hands were red and bumpy. I might have transferred the poison from Rocky to me when I got off. We'll see.

I'm not sure how much exercise this was. I guess a lot would be muscle control. Almost isometric. Maybe. Science is not my strong suite.

During the ride we discussed other fitness challenges. Pam suggested belly dancing. Alas, I thought of that also but no one I found so far offers single classes. Connie, who's 16, wants to try pole dancing. If only we were in Kentucky. Maria would do a class for us.  However, Sweat Like A Girl, which is in Nazareth, you need to be 18. But they do have drop-in classes for a wide variety of classes similar to what Maria offers...

Tomorrow is the Via Marathon. All our nrmal haunts will be cluttered with people. Roads will be closed off. So we're going to walk in Trout Creek Park under the Susquehanna Street bridge.

Storms brewing. Night all.

ugly sock 10k

Today was the Saucon Rail Trail 10K. I call it the Ugly Sock 10K because you get these absolutely fantastic—best. socks. ever.—as part of the goodie bag.  These socks are so great that if I wasn't so cheap I would buy them.

But the free ones are, well, ugly. Every surface is covered with ads. This year were not so bad. There was four colors with four sponsors. (I borrowed the pix from the FB page.) Last year's socks had four sponsors, and the logo, and the date on them. Bonnie and I both got the green. They are made in the USA from recycled water bottles. I cannot wait to wear them. Last year's are starting to getting ratty.

The 10K starts at the rail trail entrance of The Living Memorial Park. It heads west toward Hellertown, turns around and comes back. Then it's down the hill to the park, around the ball fields, thru the woods and your done.

We were the only true walkers this year. There were a few run/walkers ahead of us. Michelle, the walking coach didn't even come. It was her birthday and she was out of town.

It was hot. But more importantly it was humid. You could cut the air with a chain saw. Though I did a good job of moving fast and keeping up with Bonnie, but we both finished in 1:47+. Last year it was also really humid and Bonnie finished in 1:38+ and me at 1:39! That's nearly 10 minutes different! In 2012 I was last at 1:44. What went wrong? Is it because we do less races.

Bonnie was kind of mad that the crossing guards left before we arrived. But the clock was still up, and I didn't have to wait for traffic, so I was okay.  She's thinking about not doing it next year beacuse it is always humid.

P-3, I-.5 or less. Can't give it a 0, it was open. And it did have running water.

a walk on the D&L

Thursday Bonnie, Megan, the Wee One, and I walked again to the south side farmers market. We took the scenic route through Fountain Hill to get there.  Again I bought heavy food. Will I ever learn. This time it was a giant head of cauliflower. I almost wished I would have had a knife with me. I could have cored it and left all the leaves there. It probably would have weighed half as much.

I had mail to take to the post office. I put it in my grocery sack to carry it for the first part of the walk. At the farm stand, I took it out, but needed to set it down to get money out. I was nearly to Broughal when I realized I left my mail (and Bonnie's mail) at the farm stand. I ran walked back and it was still there.

Next stop, the post office. I needed to mail the letters, and buy 100 stamps. They have no machine at that branch. There were two people in line and the person in front of me looked aggravated. I can see why. The person in front of him had 50 letters and each one needed to be weighed individually. Because it was lunch time there was only one clerk on. Bonnie and Megan though I got lost.

We finally reconnected and walked home. We were about 2 blocks away when the Wee One decided he no longer wanted to be in his stroller.

Friday I walked with Betsy early in the morning. then Pat and I headed up to the Monroe campus to see the faculty art show.

Yesterday, we all did the D&L tow path from Bethlehem to Freemansburg.  It was advertised as 6 miles. It was a little longer. An no, I didn't get the uniform memo.

We started at the ice house and headed east thru Sand Island to the D&L. The weeds on the side of the trail are giant. You can see that in the group picture. The narrow portion of the trail is very narrow. We arrived at the first Freemansburg bridge in about an hour. We only had one stop with the baby. He was not a happy hiker and cried a lot. By Freemansburg he was asleep.

Megs, Bonnie and I wanted to climb the stairs to the bridge. Lydia didn't. So she took the baby and walked ahead. We'd catch up.

Back when mama was alive if we gave her a grocery cart, she forgot all about her arthristis and flew thru the store like she had wings. Apparently Lydia is the same with a stroller. I had to run to pass her to take the picture. She stopped so Bonnie and Megs were able to catch up.

Megan took over the stroller until we reached the Minsi Trail bridge and the same thing happened. We climbed, she took the baby and flew away.

By the time Lydia gave him back at Sand Island he was awake and unhappy.  Megan took the stroller and kept moving. But he was over the stroller.

When we returned to the road I took him out and I gave him my piggies hat. And we walked back to meet Lydia. She had climbed down some stairs to get a picture of the Steel.  We took selfies. He didn't understand. But he was quiet. In the distance I could see Megs and Bonnie coming down the Fahy bridge stairs. I gave them back the baby and I climbed them. All in all it was about 7 miles.

Bathrooms, according to Lyd were an I-3.5.

When we arrived home, we took Adonis out for another 1/2 mile.

Later in the afternoon, I went out for another mile or so. My total for the day was 20K steps, and 25 stairs.

and the carillon played

Yesterday we drove to Valley Forge to do an 11K Volkssport walk.

I've been to Valley Forge before. I don't remember it being so ... sparse. Lots of fields and woods. Few historic buildings. I kept thinking how did Washington command his troops—everything is so spread out. I pity the poor courier that had to ride back and forth to get from place to place.

I guess I am spoiled by Gettysburg where there is a tombstone every 5 feet.

We followed the Multi-Use Trail or the MUT around the park, and then down to Washington's Headquarters. About 2/3rds of the way to Washington's HQ we passed the Washington Memorial Chapel. It was a huge church. With a carillon. Megan had just finished changing the baby when the carillon began to play. Timing is everything. I have never heard one in it's natural setting. Just off the Cast In Bronze truck. It is even more beautiful when the sound dissipates into the air and falls downward. (If you are near Valley Forge, free concerts, Weds. at 7, I think in July and August.)

After coming back from Washington's HQ, we followed the MUT to the history trail. It was nice to walk in gravel. It was a nice break from macadam.

After returning to the MUT, we headed thru the arch and back to the parking lot.

There were a lot of hills on the walk. We discovered that the fitbit might not be as accurate as we thought. Our steps were similar. Our distance was similar. But our stairs (it measures inclines and can't tell difference between a stair and a hill) Megan had about 70 flights of stairs (stairs/hills) Bonnie had nearly 50. I had the fewest. We walked exactly the same route. Megs thought it might be pushing the stroller. But that makes no sense to me.

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.

fitness challenge—making believe you are still 10.

Yesterday was the 75th Anniversary celebration at Camp Mosey Wood. The oldest Girl Scout there was 92. Yep, it's true. Our blood is green.

I picked up my friend Mary Liz first. Her mom was instrumental in the creation of Mosey Wood. Her father designed some of the buildings. They courted there. It's so romantic. Have her tell you the story of the trees.

Then I picked up Angel and Little Miss at the Rt. 33 Park and Ride and we were off. You should have heard us driving down 80 singing girl scout songs. You just knew it was going to be a good day. And it was.

We arrived in an hour—there is no traffic at that hour in the morning. Mary Liz immediately started her reunion. Because of her walker she spent the bulk of the time visiting and talking with old and new staff members and scouts. I missed a great picture. The vintage girl scouts sitting on the dining hall porch talking. I ran in for my camera, but the moment was gone.

There was a lot to pack into a small amount of time.

First stop—archery. On my second round I hit the target four times. One is even in blue.

Second stop—hiking. We started on the lake trail and then branched off to Harvey's Hike. HH was part of one of the Ranger's Gold Award projects. It's in fairly good shape. The back end of the lake trail, not so much. Bug is looking for a Silver project. This just might be it.

The back side of the Lake Trail, and Harvey's Hike are great places to pick blueberries. It's no coincidence that they call it blueberry hill. In addition to having a nice snack, we carried some back for Mary Liz.

 After lunch we went to the waterfront. We had about 20 minutes to kill before it opened so we ran up and down the steps. The real 10-year-old is still a bundle of energy.

The waterfront opened and Angel and I chose the row boat. It was cool, we had no interest in getting wet. The child chose stand up board paddling (SUP). She actually dove in a couple times. I had a mommy moment and yelled that she was too far away from the other people, and the lifeguard boat. She had to come back. The real mommy didn't whack me for overstepping my bounds.

We were trying to get back to shore and the child is giving lessons on the waterfront. She has an incredible memory (except when mom requests something) and was doing pretty well. The waterfront staff didn't stop her. Somehow she convinced mom to SUP. Mom did stand up, but fell off the board. The child didn't have her adjust her paddle or use it as a third leg. They probably don't teach children that. Balance comes naturally to them.

Next stop—climbing wall. The child was a monkey and did all the walls at least twice. Angel did two. I could not get past the first row. She wanted to go again, but then there would be no high ropes course (HRC).

We hiked back up the hill to the HRC. When we arrived there was a backload of people. Someone was stuck on the swing. She couldn't jump. It took at least 15 minutes. Waiting is not good. I was no longer feeling confident after the rock wall, and now I get to watch someone sweat it out. The child, on the other hand, took to it like a fish in water. She kept saying she was terrified. That she couldn't do it. Does she look terrified? No. Did she come down and say can I do it again? Yes. I gave her my spot if she gave up a swim. Angel also completed the course successfully.

That was the end of the adventure portion of the day. We headed back to DJs Place for dinner. On the way back we stopped for our t-shirts and or "cookies" for the wishing ceremony.

First in the water was 1939-1959. Little Miss took Mary Liz's and placed it in the water. (She also created it.) I get a little bored at a Scouts Own so mine is sitting on top of the sandbiodome I made. As you can see I picked some gnarly wood and doodled on it.

 It floated well.

The night is nearly over. It was 9 when the ceremony was over and the campfire was yet to begin. We all agreed we could skip the fire. The child—and the adults—were fading fast and the child slept all the way home.

I arrived home at 10:30 and went straight to bed with a realization. I am no longer 10.