The last weekend in March members of the Dairyland Walkers made a trip to Iowa to prewalk three off the AVA Convention walks. The walks in Rock Island/Davenport and Cedar Rapids our club is responsible for manning and the walk in Des Moines many of our members wanted to do since they would be working our booth at the convention that day (us we have to be back at work)
The first walk we did was Rock Island/Davenport which had its strong points and some weak ones. Rock Island is a city that just looks rough, old and tired but I assume that they added the area in so that we could cross the Mississippi (twice). First thought on this, the second crossing was part of the Americas Discovery Trail, a trail that goes from Delaware to California (I think this is the first I stepped foot on it). Second thought, crossing the river was bitter. We liked the Davenport side much better, having been in this are before I hoped the walk would go up by the Putnam Museum, but didnt. It did however go on the skywalk by the casino, in theory this sound nice (and the cache is still in the skywalk) but several hundred people going into this taking the elevator up will cause this to become a choke point. Walked by the Davenport Minor League Stadium which looked real nice, and along the downtown area.
From here we headed to Cedar Rapids, starting by their Minor League Stadium. This walk went thru some areas that were severally damaged by floods in 2008 and you could see it in some neighborhoods. The path took us thru their Czech neighborhoods and onto a River Walk that had a Czech Museum and an African American History Museum. In front of the later was a unique sculpture called Trumpet dedicated to Dr. King with some of the words from his "I Had a Dream" speech. Once off the trail the course took us thru some more residential neighborhoods and into a very ritzy neighborhood that include a historical mansion of one of the city's founders.
Sunday we found our way to Des Moines. The first thing I thought was a little odd is they have a Papa John education center. As we are walking we come to some sculptures that we donate by the found of Papa John and his spouse, well I understand art is abstract and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but really a 12 foot tall, red garden spade. The walk goes up to and onto the grounds of the Governors mansion and thru many of the streets around the governors mansion, most of which are cobblestone and the streets are very hilly making for tough walking. Finally we ended up back downtown after a long 12.75K walk
I can say that Cedar Rapids and Des Moines impressed me, not ever being to either one before the came off as friendly, inviting and seemed like a nice place to visit.
This last weekend we did the clubs Cedarburg walk, with a little twist, we invited friends along. For most of those who came with us the idea of walking a 10K may have seemed a little much, but I have a lot of respect for everybody as they all finished it. Some had some medical issues that prevented them form walking quickly or comfortably but they pushed thru. Kevin and Megan are who we originally challenged and I have to say they did better than I expected, but they have taken their lifestyle changes seriously and have really changed. When I first met Kevin this 10K would have kick his butt, not now. The both of you two continue to impress me.
As for me I saw some new milestones this last week, the 240's are gone and I am getting very close to 60 pounds down, my wife continues to loose at a faster pace than me. Other than one point when I got very ill I think this is the smallest we have both been during our nearly 17 year marriage, its kind of like having a different woman, but in a very good way.
I also eclipsed 900,000 steps walked in this journey. I figure roughly May 14 for 1 million and figure to get to the weight I want to be I am a little over 1/2 of the 1.75 million steps I am thinking I need to go.
Anybody want to go for a walk?
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