1/16/2010 Crossing Four States

This morning we started our adventure in Minnesota; 12+ hours later we arrived in Bozeman, Montana.  Thus my "walk" today was once again 32 minutes on a treadmill, 1.3 miles.  Other than that, today wasn't too active of a day as far as walking went. We headed out to get an early start on the roads; they seem to be better during the daylight hours--duh!  Besides that, since it was 14 degrees outside when we left this morning, it wasn't too condusive to walking.  Our first stop was in Mitchell, South Dakota, at the "world famous" Corn Palace. The entire outside of the building is decorated with corn.  We didn't go in, just hopped out to take a quick picture--can always say we have seen it now...

After that we drove on until Wall to visit the famous Wall's Drugstore, where we also had lunch. Now that's quite a place!  I decided that there is lots to see in South Dakota, at least that's what the gazillion billboards advertise as you fly down the freeway.  Maybe it's so you don't notice how boring the mile after mile of nothing is...We passed an exit to Laura Engel Wilder's home. I have to say that if I hadn't been in a hurry to get back to Seattle, I would have taken the exit and gone to see her  home.  We also passed dinosaur parks, and an "authentic" 1860"s town that looked pretty staged to me. 

We took 212 out of South Dakota into Montana; a very nice drive. Two lane highway, but through the Badlands area. Very nice scenerey. We also crossed  a frozen section of the Missouri River, seen in the picture below.

Eventually we made our way to Bozeman,and I headed to the treadmill at the hotel. Another day in the books!

1/15/2010 A Walk Around Notre Dame

This morning we opted to walk early, before we headed out for our what was to be a 9 hour drive. Since we were staying withing 5 minutes of the Notre Dame Campus, we killed two birds with one stone: sightseeing the campus and getting a  walk in.  It was a great walk, probably about 37 degrees, snow on the ground (but not on the sidewalks or roads), and overcast, but it was so peaceful on campus. We walked from the bookstore down the Quad, and  then went on down to the Grotto, back up to the church and on to the car. It was a great, refreshing walk, and I am amazed at how just in 15 days, this walking is becoming a part of my day and how much I am enjoying it.

We also went past the stadium, but it was all closed up, no access for the public.  Then we were on the road again.  One of the things they have in the East and Midwest that we don't have on the West Coast  are Travel Plazas on the Interstates. These plazas have gas, a souvenier shop and then a choice of at least 2 restaurants, sometimes as many as 4, and a coffee shop of some sort. Many of them have Starbucks. It is very convenient--one stop can take care of everything.  We drove through Chicago today, into Wisconsin where we had to stop for cheese curds and sausage, and then across the Mississippi River and into South Dakota. All in all, quite the day.  My walking route is here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/600781

1/14/2010 Driving All Day; Treadmill Time

Today we drove from Philadelphia to South Bend, Indiana.  A 10.5 hour drive plus rush hour traffic, gas stops, pit stops, meal stops, turned the travel time into 13.5 hours.  It was 9:30 PM when we arrived at our destination for the evening.  Luckily this hotel has an exercise room, so I headed down and put in 32 minutes on the treadmill. It wasn't so bad, and I have to say, I was mighty proud of myself for making the effort to do that. There is no way prior to my knee replacement that I would have even considered such a thing. 

My knee held up great being in the car that long; another indication of the healing process, and reinforcement of the decision to have it done.  I managed to clock 1.76 miles today, and 1.3 miles of that was at a sustained pace to be considered aerobic, so I'm happy. We are staying very close to Notre Dame, so I'm thinking about a walk around campus there tomorrow before we hit the road.

1/13/2010 A Walk in an Airport

Today I flew to the East Coast, but I vowed to get at least 30 minutes of walking in. First there was the trek through SeaTac Airport to my gate; not aerobic, but there was some walking since I was at the S gate.  (There were also escalators and a tram ride.)  When I landed in Detroit I had about 30 minutes before boarding my connecting flight. I came in at gate A68 and my next flight left from Gate A21, so off I went, pulling my little bag on wheels behind me. For the first time in my life I walked the entire way, didn't use the people movers or the tram they have. It was a 15 minute walk just from gate to gate, at a good fast pace and it felt great! 98% of the people were using the people movers, as you can see in this picture, but not me; my pathway was clear.

Flying used to really bother my knee and thus my leg, but with my knee replacement, it's great. The flights didn't bother me at all.  After my arrival in Philadelphia, I walked to dinner and back with my friends, and kept up with them block after block.  All in all today I walked 1.99 miles.  Only 6,300+ steps, but that's not too bad. I have ranged between 6700 and 12,100 daily this past week, so not too far off considering it was 8:00 PM here by the time I left the airline terminal. Tomorrow we have a 10+ hour drive ahead of us, walks every so often will be a necessity. Stay tuned.

1/12/2010 Port of Skagit Trail #3

Today I vowed to walk outside even if it was raining. One day a week inside is enough. It feels so good to get outside.  My friend Christie went with me today, and we tried another of the Port of Skagit Trails. This one follows Ovenell Road for a bit, and then makes a loop through the trees at the back side of the Skagit Regional Airport. I opted for a "woodsy" route today, because I thought if it DID rain hard, at least it wouldn't be as bad in the woods. As it turned out, it was just sort of sprinkling when we started and never really rained very hard. Very mild today, too, in the low 50's, and no wind. All in all, a nice day for a walk.

Still lots of berries left for the birds; hopefully they'll still be around if it freezes.  This route should be very nice this spring and summer and even this fall when the leaves start turning color. It will be fun to walk it each season and see how it changes.   Christie say this log she is standing next to is called a Nurse Log, it allows other plants to start growing from it. According to an online dictionary: the decaying wood provides moisture and nutrients for a variety of insects and plants.

The next few days will be challenging as I am flying to the east coast tomorrow and then driving back cross country. Should be back home by next Tuesday.  I have vowed to walk every day of the trip, however, so blogs will be coming in from Ohio or Indiana or South Dakota...who knows. It might be that I circle a rest area several times, or take two 30 minute walks at different times, but I'll continue on and post pics. You can see data from my trip today, including my route here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/599321

1/11/2010 Skagit Valley Mall Walk

Today although the temperature was quite mild, (in the 50s), it was very rainy and windy. I sort of kept waiting all day for it to quit raining, but it just kept coming, so my friend Christie and I opted for the Skagit Valley Mall walk. Even though we didn't go until early afternoon, as a sign of the times, the mall was pretty empty. It took about 10 minutes to make 1 loop. Compared to Alderwood Mall, then, I'd say ours was half the size. It took 20+ minutes to loop Alderwood.  Our mall is a pretty typical small mall--theaters and 3 anchor stores, multiple jewelry stores, although not as many as there used to be, some empty stores, like Alderwood, and a food court. Must not be able to be called a mall unless you have a food court.  I was excited to see a new clothing alteration shop in our mall. And one jewelry store has been replaced by a gold, silver, and coin shop--which, by the way, happened to be the busiest spot in the mall.  The unusual thing at our mall is a Children's Museum. What a great idea to place it at a mall. And we saw lots of parents and children there.

We walked for about 43 minutes today, 5,410 steps on my pedometer. (Remember my GPS tracker doesn't work inside buildings.) I'm pretty confident we went over 2 miles, as my total today on the pedometer is 8,324 steps, and 2.6 miles.  For some reason I am pretty sore today, but I think it's because I haven't had any ibuprofen for a couple of days. Guess I'll get back on it.  Tomorrow it's back outside--rain or shine!

1/10/2010 Burlington Dike Trail

I had no idea how many trails there were around here. Today is day 10, and 10 different walks so far, all within about 20 minutes of my house. (Not counting the mall walk...) The trail I was on today is built on top of the dike that runs along the Skagit River through Burlington.  The trail guide said it was 2 miles round trip, but it ended up nearly 3...but we think we started in the wrong spot. No worries; my friend Susan walked with me today and time went by pretty quickly.  I remember thinking when I got home yesterday that I was going to go on a nice, easy 30 minute walk today, but once I get walking, time seems to fly by. The dike trails are very nice, wide and graveled. I was expecting it to be a bit muddy, but it was very dry. Hmmm. Actually, I think that's a good thing that dikes are dry--a soggy, wet dike wouldn't be very good for holding back water.  It was probably close to 50 degrees out today, and no wind, but definitely gray skies. As you can see in the picture, the river is lined with deciduous trees, so it will be quite pretty this spring, summer, and fall. Weather forecast calls for rain the next three days along with a high wind warning, sounds like a challenge to me!  You can follow my route here: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/598011