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!!