YUCKY!!!

Blech! Tonight Ole and I innocently went to our new fav trail off 88th. As soon as we hit the trail parallel to the mall, the smell of raw sewage assaulted us both. Somehow Ole managed to get soaked with the stuff too. We hightailed it out of there and did a loop that included going past the Wahoos/Noodles/Starbucks strip, so now I know that is 2.25 miles from my house, 4.5 miles round trip. Since Ted likes to ride his bike there, I now know how to get my walk in if I'm desperate. I took Ole in the shower and gave him a thourough cleansing so he doesn't reek anymore. BLECH! SOOOO disgusting.

It's flower season

I did a kinda new walk tonight. I walked up the hill, then over a train by NCAR that put me back in the Devil's Thumb area. Then I walked back home, stopping at the grocery store because I forgot to buy oil, dishwasher soap (heavy!), cat food and a light bulb. Oy.

Mileage: 94 miles, 335 to go
Pledges: $165

At least the rain stopped

I had a very uneventful walk over to the Devil's Thumb neighborhood. I finished listening to Plum Lovin'. And my camera battery was dead so no pictures. It rained today for about 5 hours so it was nice to be out in the cool evening and not get wet.

Mileage: 90 miles, 339 to go
Pledges: $165

Turkey Toe Ranch

The Wet Mountain Valley is a beautiful place to take a long walk. My mother-in-law Judy walked the first 3.5 miles with me 70% of the 5 mile square, then I was on my own. I walked up Horn Road for a while (up to the trees, approximately 4 miles up the road from the ranch):



See, trees:



But then I had to walk all the way back. I think the ranch is up there where the thick road ends.



On the way home I saw this pretty flooded hay meadow (which luckily it's been so wet that the hay wasn't pollinating yet and my hay fever didn't act up):



There were mile markers and I timed my mile, about 17 minutes, as I thought. But that also meant I walked an extra 13 minutes, or 3/4 of a mile. Always the overachiever.

More pictures from our Turkey Toe vacation are here.

Mileage: 86 miles, 343 to go
Pledges: $165

I did it!

I have been a little worried about this walk, but I did it and it was fun! And I feel fine too. I was tired the last mile, but that's to be expected. Yay me! And Wendy and I even texted each other a few times and seemed to be walking on the same time schedule too. Fun!
It was 7 miles to the old trailhead from my house. My first goal was to Starbucks at SuperTarget, 4 miles into the walk. Then 3 more miles to the old trailhead. I called Paul so he could load up the kids and meet me at the new trailhead, a mile further on. I finished up that last mile and waited for them at the new trailhead. I was SO HAPPY to see a bathroom!! Hooray for that. We suited the kids up with their waters and walked a mile and a half (out and back) with lots of whining on the return. Geesh! Next time (if there is a next time that I have to walk long alone) I'll have Ted bring his bike. That put me at about 8.5 so we drove to Jamba Juice and Paul dropped me off at RCP/Indiana, which is 1.5 miles from home. Voila!
Next week is a new schedule. Tues, Wed, Friday.

Purple Mountains Majesty

You know, America the Beautiful was inspired by Pike's Peak. I don't normally get to see it, as it's 100 miles south down in Colorado Spring, but today I took my 4 mile walk here. I also took my trusty dog-in-law Hooker, who was very well behaved. There was some confusion as to the meaning of this sign:



For starters, Hooker is never on a leash, so I figured my father-in-law could pay the ticket if I happened to get one. But what is a dog nuisance? A euphemism for dog poop? Or is it a dog being a nuisance because it's off leash? Luckily, we didn't have to find out.

Mileage: 76 miles, 353 to go
Pledges: $165

Bugs!!!

Tonight I biked for about an hour or so (8 miles) and it was very refreshing. But the bugs!! I need a bug deflector! Blech! I followed my new path to Interlocken. It is so pretty back there. I missed the path that led around a lake, so I'll try and find it next time. Really pretty. But holy moly, it is so hilly! My quads are killing me. Looking forward to my big walk tomorrow!!

discoveries

Tonight Ole and I discovered a trail I've been curious about for years, but never bothered to check out. After half a mile on Rock Creek Parkway, there is a trail just before 88th Street. We followed it down near the Horizons apartment complex and onto a gravel path that eventually led us to the trail that we have all been on before, near the mall. When I stumbled upon the 'gravestone memorial' I remembered this trail. We've gone on it a few times as a family when we were at loose ends and tired of the mall itself. The oddest thing about this trail was that there wasn't anyone on it. At all. As a result, Ole was off leash for all of it, besides the RCP part, and he was in heaven. In preparation for my long walk on Sunday, I plan to bike on Saturday and I think I'll do this trail and see just how far it goes. I *think* it might lead into Interlocken. I found that I was a little stiff at 3 miles, so I hope I can kick that soon, or it's going to be a long few months!!

How bright it is in the day!

I got to walk in the morning today, as Jeremy was home sick with the plague (aka pink eye) and could watch the kids. I just did the campus walk, and passed up Starbucks twice. Still listening to Plum Lovin'.

Mileage: 72 miles, 357 to go
Pledges: $145

what? no sidewalk?

Tonight I had the bright idea of taking Mae in the stroller and walking to my meeting in Louisville. I misunderstood the map and thought it was 4 miles roundtrip; turns out it was 4 miles THERE. I got 2 miles underway (88th at Avista Hospital) and the sidewalk just stopped. Nice. So I called Paul to rescue me but he wouldn't do it so I had to turn around and skip the meeting. It was a cold 4 miles for Mae so in the future if I walk with her when it's cool I'll bring along a blanket to help keep her warm. She cried herself to sleep tonight saying 'owie' because her hands were cold and then she bit her finger. Poor thing. Paul informed me tonight that he has no interest in biking so I guess I'll be attaching the tag-a-long to my bike behind the baby seat. On Thursday I think we'll take a nice long bike ride, if it ever stops raining. Anyway, 4 more miles in the bag. Oh, and I have a plan for Sunday, when I have to walk 10 miles ALONE. I'll walk to Marshall Mesa and have the fam meet me there for the 3 mile rountrip hike, and then walk home. Or something like that.

Bedraggled

It looked liked it was going to rain all day (and boy did it in Denver) but it hadn't when I left for my walk at 7 and I thought I would be safe. I was wrong, but the rain did hold off until the last 15 minutes, just enough to soak me.

I decided not to listen to The Program anymore and instead tried something new, ripping a CD book and then putting it on my MP3 player. And I learned a very valuable lesson. I should only put one CD of a book on the MP3 player at a time, or it gets out of order. That took me about 25 minutes to figure out and fix. Listening to Harry Potter will be annoying, that book is 17 discs long. But the good news is, most of my short walks are about as long as a disc, so it should all work out.

Let's see, I did the campus walk and didn't see most of it because I was fiddling with the MP3. I'm now listening to Plum Lovin', another Stephanie Plum book. It's a bit odd, but still better than The Program.

Mileage: 68 miles, 361 to go
Pledges: $145

Royal Arch

Poor Ellen showed up at my house at 7:00am and I was still asleep. But I had a very good excuse. The boys and I stayed out partying at Aunt Sarah's birthday and didn't get home until late. And THEN the power went out last night and my alarm was reset. But I got dressed and ready pretty darn quick.

We hiked from my house to Royal Arch. I estimated that it was an 8 mile walk, but with all the hiking it took longer than just a walk.

We got up to the Royal Arch at 9:15. Both Ellen and I had hiked this trail before but I had forgotten how much I didn't like it. The trail goes up for a while and then you get to a ridge and you think you are done. And then it goes down the front of the ridge and meanders another 15 minutes of steep up and down. But now I've done it from my house and I don't have to do it again.

When you finally get to the Arch, this is what you see (the opening is probably 20" high.



And then you go through it and can see all of Boulder. I drew an arrow from where we started, only it was a lot more curvy getting there:



Even the Ole-ster made it:



And then we had to hike back down to where Starbucks and bagels were waiting for us:



And this is what it looks like looking back through the Arch the other way:



At the top of the arch, a group of women and a weiner dog were having a birthday party complete with cake in tupperware. Apparently the dog hiked all the way up.

We got back down to Starbucks around 11:00, where we tried the new double chocolate light frappachino (not as good as a java chip one) and then got home at 12:00. I think this was the first serious walk of the year and I'm a bit sore.

Mileage: 64 miles, 365 to go
Pledges: $145

CF Walk

For today's walk, the boys and I joined Ellen and Ted and Team JJ at the Cystics Fibrosis Walk in downtown Denver. The walk started and ended at the Denver Center for Performing Arts:



Jack and Ted discovering how to let the air out of all the balloons:



Jason trying (and succeeding) to pop Ben's balloon:



Stacey trying to check in with Jack on her back:



Free ice cream sandwiches:



Ellen carried Adam on her back and I pushed Alex and Ted for most of the 5k walk. That is, the part that Ted wasn't sprinting and the part where Alex went ahead and then got lost. But I did learn that Alex knows my name is Wendy, that's a very good thing to know:



Jacob walked with us too:



For lunch, we all had tickle juice and potato chips. Not a lot of vegetarian options at a BBQ:





And then we all got tattoos. Adam picked out Saturn all by himself:



Everyone has tattoos!



Family shot:



Ted's Dragon tattoo:



It was a hot day, probably 85 degs. But still fun to hang out with friends from preschool and walk for a good cause.

Mileage: 56 miles, 373 to go
Pledges: $145

Devil's Thumb

As much as I morally and philosophically oppose the idea of covenant controlled communities, the reality is I quite enjoy them. Much the same way I enjoy Boulder's smoke-free restaurants. Sure, it's trampling on some rights, but it just makes everything so much more pleasant. Anyway, tonight I walked in the Devil's Thumb neighborhood (named for that rock formation above), which is covenant controlled and very nice. I didn't see a single dandelion and for Boulder that's downright miraculous.

And Ellen's right, it's wildflower season now. I need to do something nicer with these gorgeous yellow daisies by the Flatirons. But that would mean getting up very early and I don't do early well.



I finished my Stephanie Plumb book a few days ago, and started reading a Stephan White book. He's a Boulder mystery/thriller author and his books are based in Boulder. I was very confused because this book (The Program) started out in New Orleans, and was still in LA when my battery on my MP3 player ran out. But I checked the summary and it does move to Boulder, so I'll try a bit more. But, I'm also ripping a CD copy of the 6th Harry Potter book, so I want to start that too. Only two more months until book 7!

My walk turned out to be 4 1/2 miles.

Mileage: 53 miles, 376 to go
Pledges: $145

a pic!

I am not a photographer, so this picture doesn't do itself justice at all. The wildflowers are in bloom and on my walk today, I was happy to see the purples, yellows and oranges that mean summer is almost here. My feet hurt (note to self: don't wear Tevas for a 4mile walk on concrete) but I did get a Starbucks so it was worth it. Today Ole and I did a 4mile loop that included some trails up past the park/Starbucks and that was a refreshing change of pace for both of us. Had I really retraced my steps, I would have probably gotten 5 or 5.5 miles in, so I'm keeping that in mind for when the walks get longer. And it didn't rain on me which was a surprise-it's been threatening all day.

Not the way I like to do it....

I did walk my four miles today, but it was not consecutive. First, the boys rode their bikes to the library with Ted, which means I pushed Adam on his trike. That's actually a pretty good clip to keep up with the big boys, and one mile round trip. In the afternoon, the boys rode their bikes to the post office, two miles round trip. Again, a fast pace, but Alex was tired and stopped more for rolly pollies and flowers and falling off the slanted drive way dips. And then tonight we walked up for pizza and my knitting meeting, another one mile round trip. And no pretty pictures from the day, either.

And two interesting things about my stats - one, I already messed up so I had to add 3 miles to what I have left and two, 49 miles is almost 50 miles and is the amount that we are training for. Only we did 50 miles in 13 days instead of 3.

Mileage: 49 miles, 380 to go
Pledges: $145

noon walk

Today I got a nice 4 mile walk in at noon while Sam & Mae napped and Ted played at home with Daddy. 90% of the walk was off-leash, which made Ole happy (and wet. and dirty.) I like this walk because it's pretty and mostly empty of other people. I'll try and remember to take pictures on Thursday.

Weekend Jaunts

Wendy's post is way prettier with the whole picture thing, so sorry for the boring text.

Saturday I biked for an hour in serious wind and a little bit of light rain. I'm counting that as my 4mile walk.

Today I walked for 2 miles with Sam on his bike and finished up the other 4 with a nice walk to the mall via paths I hadn't known existed before now. Quite nice really. I had planned to look for some shorts for Mae at Old Navy, but the mall shuts down at 6pm, so I was out of luck. I picked up popsickles for snack tomorrow (Ted's request) and called it a night.

Ole and I both missed our beautiful hike in the mountains this weekend, so next Sunday I'll be back on board for the long walk. And next Saturday is the CF Walk so that walk is taken care of.

I AM an over-achiever

Yesterday afternoon after the MS walk, I also did the Shabbat Hike with the Adventure Rabbi.



It was a very nice hike and my first havdallah service. I'm sure it was 3-4 miles, all on trails.

And today, the opportunity presented itself to take another walk and I jumped on it. I did my 3 mile uphill walk. Saw two does under a porch (only one is in this picture):



Some pretty wildflowers:



I'm listening to the 12th Stephanie Plumb book now and it's a riot. I had a couple laugh out loud moments today.

Mileage: 45 miles, 381 to go
Pledges: $95

MS Walk

Today was the Boulder 5k MS Walk. All us girls turned out for it, though I think Mom was the only one that actually registered.



The walk started on campus, so I walked there from my house. Then the walk portion was more of a mosey with a pit stop at Starbucks.

Hannah-Banana slept for the walk, but woke up afterwards for a feeding by Dee-Dee:



We got enough Swag to make Dad proud. I got a bag of Moe's bagels and we all got burritos and water and soyjoy bars (which look a bit frightening).



And on the way home I saw baby geese. Too bad they turn into poop-machine nuisances.



It's a mile and a half to campus and the walk was 3 miles to I did 6 miles, which is conveniently the long walk this weekend. This is as close as I get to cheating, doing Sunday's walk on Saturday.

Mileage: 42 miles, 384 to go
Pledges: $95

Ahhh, two foxes!

My little fox-y-poos. Aren't they adorable? Maybe some day I'll bring my good camera so that the picture will come out.

Walked down to Horizons and met Ellen. Joined her for a lovely Indian dinner, and then a Michael's excursion. We walked back to my house, then I drove Ellen back to her car.

4 miles for me, on top of the 2 miles this morning on the boy's bike ride.

Mileage: 36 miles, 390 to go
Pledges: $95

half and half

Gotta love Boulder. Yes, it was warm today, but barefoot and in a bikini? Ted pointed out that she had no helmet on. What does this have to do with my walk tonight? Well, we were on our way to swimming which lets out at 4:30, awfully tight for my 5:15 Parent Orientation at Horizons. We met at Horizons, Paul took the kids home, I went to my meeting and then met up with Wendy to walk around the neighborhood. We ended up eating a delicious Indian meal and poking around Michael's before heading back to her house so she could drive me back to my car. So, between the 2 miles we walked this morning with the biking boys and tonight's romp, I'm guessing I did 4-ish. So far, this training program is very reasonable and doable. Hooray!

A sign of the times

I wasn't happy to see this tonight. My car's gas light is on yet again and I dread putting $60 of gas in. Of course, last time I went to this station it cut me off at $50, even though I was paying with a credit card. Sigh.

So, I did not cheat tonight, though I bet Ellen wished I had because it took that much longer for me to get the Gotcha Day pictures on the web. I walked up to campus. Not exciting, though it will be more exciting once school is out. Still listening to Stephanie Plum.

Oh, and let the record show that it's a mile round trip to the library...

Mileage: 32 miles, 394 to go
Pledges: $95

cheater cheater

Tonight I only got in 3.2 miles. But I figure I got in at least 3/4 mile today on our walk to the library and back, so I'm OK with it. Plus I had a lot of Chinese food, 2 glasses 'o beer and 3 delicious slices of Gotcha Day Butterfly cake in my tummy, so there. Heh.

Pearl Street

Gotta love tulip season. Ellen and I walked to Pearl Street today. A nice cool, dry morning after a wet night. We walked through my neighborhood and checked out neat remodels.

The Pearl Street Starbucks was hopping with high schoolers, some of them in fancy dresses. I did some sleuthing and found that Boulder High had their prom last night.

And after we got back to my house, we looked at more houses on the internet and Ellen found one she wanted to check out, so we walked another mile. I think we walked about 7 miles today, and 5 was on the schedule. We're just overachievers I guess.

Mileage: 28 miles, 398 to go
Pledges: $95

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head...

...but walk on I did! Tonight I headed out for my 3 mile walk (aka my 4-mile but w/out the Starbucks extension) with Ole, amidst some light rain. Nothing big, and very refreshing and cool. It was lovely and I only ran into one person with a dog, on leash of course, but Ole was fine and ignored it. Tomorrow I think we are going to stay on the pavement to avoid the mud on the trails, so I don't think I'll bring the Olester along. 3 miles in 45 minutes or so...Paul's GPS died on me at about 2.86 with just a few blocks left to go.

Rainy Saturday

We had rain on and off all day. Jeremy took a bike ride in the morning without getting wet, and I managed to walk with just a few sprinkles. I meant to mail a package at the start of my walk but the store was already closed to I had to carry it the whole way. I did my standard 3 mile road loop, but backwards. The loop backwards, that is, not walking backwards.

And, this is a nice garden:



Still listening to the Stephanie Plum mystery.

Mileage: 23 miles, 403 to go
Pledges: $95

Character Building

Today the kids dug deep. Real deep. Ellen and I took them on a bike ride at Teller Farm hoping to get them a good ride in while also doing a training walk. We half-way succeeded.

It was classic. We had some water at the 1 mile walk (and also our turn around point). And Alex and Ted announced, "Ok, we are done riding bikes now." Um, no you aren't, buddies. And of course the way home was also up hill.

Sam didn't even like the down hill much:



Ariel fell asleep in the backpack:



Ole was definitely the happiest one of the bunch:



Alex ("I think I can I think I can I think I can...") and Adam ("Mom, come back and push meee!")



But I saw (Ellen missed them) pelicans on the lake:



So all in all, amidst great grumbling, we did 2 miles in 90 minutes.

And later in the afternoon, Ellen watched all the kids (3 were sleeping) while I did another 2 miles around her neighborhood.

So yeah, character building all around :)

Mileage: 20 miles, 406 to go
Pledges: $95