Nevada, California, & Utah

Funny how life changes plans, this was supposed to be a trip to go out and attack a 1000 geocache power trail and dinner with a friend in LA.  Plans will change, but since we made the original plan before even step one in this journey it would be fair to say we have changed.

We arrived in Las Vegas late Friday and had seen there was an organized walk in Henderson .  10K so what would 2 hours out of our day be.  This was an organized club walk but we were slightly disappointed in the turn out.  See it was us, the head of the Hawaiian AVA club and her husband  plus the head of the Las Vegas Club (he had to leave after 5K).  What was cool about this walk was how it took you thru the lobby, pool and casino of the Green Valley Ranch Casino.  The other really cool thing was how the Hawaiian couple tried to provide us more knowledge about the AVA and its different walks and events, we hope to get a chance to walk with them again this summer as they will be in our area.

From there we set out geocaching and got the first 100 caches in the series before night fell, so we made the decision to head to Toponah for the night.  The 100 mile drive should have bee no problem, but as we mad higher elevations we started getting snow.  After a bit it started sticking and there was black ice.  Our speeds went from 70 to 40 to finally 25.  Along the way we saw a flipped SUV and even did 500 feet going sideways our self.  Once in Toponah we found that they do not use salt or sand even very much and the some nearby areas were being closed.  The snow finally tapered off about 10 Sunday morning, we stayed stuck there until 4 am the next morning.

We made it into Onatario CA and grabbed lunch and got to our hotel by noon and my wife suggested doing 2 nearby walks in Claremont, both 10K.  Until this point we had never done more than 10K in one day.  The first walk is a 4 terrain (5 being the highest) and it is called The Hills.  The walk instructions indicate the 4 terrain is for a steep hill at the beginning, how bad can this be.  The hill was over 2 miles long and rose 1200 feet, before leveling off and allowing 2 more miles on basically flat terrain until a 2 mile downhill descent to the parking lot.  Along the way we saw several deer and a tarantula and the walk has some amazing views of the valleys below.  In the past there is no way we would have made it up 1 mile of this hill, and yes we were huffing and puffing some, but not like we had done on some smaller hills we climbed while geocaching.  We climbed Mount Baldy. The challenge and views make this an immediate favorite.

The second in Claremont came with a bit of bad news, our friend that we had planned to have dinner with contacted us to inform us he had to cancel due to a family emergency.  The second walk in Claremont was in the college grounds and the general downtown of Claremont itself. This walk was a treat as the college area is really 4 or 5 schools that share parts of the same campus and each has its own flavor and it has a very nice downtown area of small shops that make you want to peak your head in for a look.

Tuesday bought us first to San Gabriel and then South Pasadena, both 10Ks .  The San Gabriel walk lead us thru some of there neighborhoods, much with a mission style of architecture.  The highlight of this walk was the San Gabriel Mission itself, a historic old church that has been used in Hollywood for several films including Father of the Bride, and a curious item we saw was a plant that is on the historic register of places.  Grapevine Park features a grapevine that was planted in 1861 and is still growing today, the twisted trunk of the vine is bigger around than me.

The Pasedena walk took us thru part of the area that Route 66 is part of and along Arroyo Street.  Last year when we went on vacation in LA we cached the park that is below this street, we had 20 finds over a 5 mile hike then and this time we stayed on the street above.  This walk started up small blisters for both of us.  The start point was a shoe store that sells Vibram Shoes.  They are a unique pair of shoes as they have individual areas for each of your toes and have a thin but durable sole to them.  Supposedly they make you feel bare foot and supposed to improve balance and posture.  We both purchased a pair at home and will be finding our if the claims are true.

Wednesday left us heading for Redlands and Riverside.  Redlands was a very nice walk as there are varied architecture from Mission to Victorian right next to another.  Many homes had rose bushes growing or fruit trees, we saw grapefruits, limes, oranges and peaches.  One part of the walk featured a city park that includes a orange orchard.  But by the end we were hurting, our blisters had refilled and gotten bigger.  Not wanting to stop after we completed we found a Walmart and stopped to do some blister maintenance.

Stubborn as we are we decided to try Riverside, but we opted out of the 10K and only did 5K.  This walk featured a very large hotel called Mission Inn, it was at least two blocks in size and I think we arrived a few days to soon as they were hanging the holiday lights, I think this place would have looked even more amazing all lit up.  If I can remember it this would be on my list of a place I would like to stay during a future visit.

Thursday bought us back to Vegas and two 11 K walks, basically Strip East and Strip West, From the Mandalay Bay area to Stratosphere and back going thru a variety of the hotels, liked the fact it went thru new places like Aria.  Since we have had been to Vegas before we have done this walk previously, however this time cost us less as we didn't sit down at any location.

Friday we headed for Boulder City to do the Tunnels walk to Hoover Dam, this walk can be as long as 5, 11 or 13K, due to time issues we opted for the 5K.  The entire hike we could see Lake Mead as we passed thru two tunnels that were created during the building of Hoover Dam.  The 13K takes you thru 5 tunnels, over the Damn and into Arizona.  There is a walk for the Grand Canyon that is on my to do list, I am adding this to that list, but I want to do the 13K next time.

Finally we drove to Ivins Utah to do a 10 K there, Ivins is North East of Saint George and this walk takes you into Snow Canyon State Park.  This is a fabulously pretty park, lots of red rock all around you, many great views.  My only complaint is the first half of this walk is downhill, making the second half a real pain.  We really like the Saint George area and have considered moving to this area of the country, this hike may have caused my wife to fall deeper in love with the area.

In all 3 states, 113K and roughly 65 miles inn 7 days.  I know I have a friend or two that could do this, but to those who look at this and say I'm nuts (thanks), remember it was a little more than 60 days ago I was on the couch and if I can do it anybody can.

Gearing up for my biggest walking attempt yet

We haven't been able to get out as much as we would like because things like life and weather have kept us busy.  This last weekend we had hoped to do our first AVA walk outside of Wisconsin.  We were up at my Father in Laws and were going to leave a little early to do a 10K in St Paul on Sunday.

If you missed it they had a major snowstorm on Saturday, so toss that plan.  We drive right by Eau Claire and there is a AVA walk there, that goes on some non paved trails.  As we near the city we can see everything is soaked.  Strike two.  Ok there's Madison and many AVA walks there, and pouring rain.  Ok the Snap 24/7 will have to be the option for today.

One of the things we have done is started going thru our closets.  Since my waist is down nearly 4 inches I don't want to have a wardrobe malfunction.  I was amazed at the number of shirts and pants I grew out of that are now big on me.  The nice thing is I saved enough that I can replace my now fat dress clothes with slimmer version that I can hopefully make a temporary stay in. I was at one point nearly a 52 inch waist, now at 44.5 and hoping to get to 34 or so.  My wonderful wife of 16 years has never sen me under a 40 inch waist, I graduated some 27 years ago (yikes how did that happen) from high school and that was where I was at then.  It would be nice to return to that size.

Over Thanksgiving we have some time off from work and plan on doing some geocaching.  Presently we are at 3221 in finds and in the next 10 days we would like to be over 4000 finds and between Saturday the 20th and Saturday the 27th we are hoping to walk 50 miles.  Yes I said 50,and before you ask is he nuts, be aware you should not need to ask you should know this answer already.  So who thinks we can make both goals?  Any bets

Back from Injury

Last Sunday I blew up a blister on the back of my heal and I knew that would slow me down.  How much I didn't know but at least some.

Monday came and it was apparent that wearing my wingtip shoes to work, simply to tight on the raw skin of my heel, even with a bandage.  So I switched to more of a Dockers style of shoe.  It only hurt 50% of the time, whenever I took a step with my good foot it didn't hurt.  And of course several people are telling me I should go to the doctor, including my wife who has become my home health care practitioner, pouring hydrogen peroxide here and applying liquid bandage there.  Needless to say no walking.

Tuesday I wake up to a developing cankle, ok I have had this before and I know this isn't good and of course being male I convince myself that I am invincible and there is nothing wrong with it.  But that night my wife makes comments about the lovely colors its turning and she finally gets thru to me and I make a doctor appointment on Wednesday.

Now my doctor is a really good guy who has tried over the years to get me to change bad habits, but I don't make it easy on him.  When I quit smoking he suggested a cholesterol test, now I didn't fast like your supposed to and a few weeks later he is calling me with the results, cursing.  I am lower than him and he is a avid runner.  My blood sugar level is very low and I have an above average resting heart rate.  In fact he has declared me one of the healthiest big guys he has met.

So he sees me and first looks at the chart and comments about my weight and blood pressure looking much better, and then asks me if the reason I was there was to see him for an injury due to me trying to get healthy.  When I said yes the poor doc nearly fell out of the chair.

The good news was he didn't think it was infected , but could not rule it out.  So I get to go on antibiotics.  Better news is he gives me a few tips to help prevent the blistering in the future, and tells me I can start walking again once it scabs over well.

Friday morning I new it was scabbed over, so I was good to go.  Saturday my wife helps me put a piece of gauze to the injury and applies duct tape to it.  It hurts a little but nothing I can't take and nothing causing reblistering.  We head to Janesville to take a city streets walk there, with the exception of about 1 mile when we are on a paved portion of the Ice Age Trail, they even have a sign on the trail showing 776 miles to Interstate Park (the drive seems less than that).  This is a nice easy walk with just one hill and it felt great to be out walking again, and a 10K none the less.

Sunday we were back at it, this time for the Jingle Bell run/walk and the Milwaukee County Zoo.  This was only a 5K but it was with a group that my wife's employee sponsored, so I knew one or two others on the trail.  The best part of this walk was when we passed the Brown Bear exhibit two bears were playing.  Or at least I hope it was playing, if not they were having a fight.  But it was fun to stop a moment and watch.

It felt good to be back out walking, and after a week off I was worried about my weight but when we weighed in on Saturday and did measurements I was happy, nice losses in both areas.

This weekend over 20K steps for a total of 287712 steps since starting and 158 miles walked.  I have reached a point where I can see a change in myself, not mentally either, the body is starting to change in a positive way.  Exercise and better eating is starting to pay off.