Workout:
Digg! this story.
Workout:
Digg! this story.
Workout:
Digg! this story.
Workout:
Digg! this story.
Body fat down 0.1% and overall weight down a pound and a bit…nothing much exciting really.
I don’t expect any losses this week coming…it’s our sons birthday and there will be cake and generally unhealthy stuff!
Health:
Digg! this story.
We’re almost through April and I’ve not managed to get out for a ride!! Good grief.
They say it’s the thought that counts, and I’ve certainly thought about it.
On the bright side, I’m at the gym most mornings - Monday to Friday - and generally feeling pretty healthy. Right now I don’t think I’ve lost any weight since the move (I was down some, but have since come back up a little) but I feel like I’ve dropped some fat and gained some muscle.
Also we’re just about done unpacking following the move. There are a handful of boxes left to unpack, but they are just magazines and a few books. We even have an empty bookshelf to put them on…just gotta get it done.
Spring sprung very quickly and it’s suddenly worth cycling again. I have the bike together and know where all my gear is…this weekend could see the first outing. See if I can put in 20 miles or so.
I need to get into the habit of keeping my posts more regular than a month apart. I get up at 4:30, out the door at 5:00, in the gym at 5:30, out of the gym about 6:45 and at work by 6:50…home again at about 4:30 in the avo and just don’t feel like typing - weird, huh?
Digg! this story.
Well, I’ve been pretty busy since the epic cross country journey, but thankfully I have managed to start getting active again.
What I haven’t managed to do, however, is log my activity on here!
Having taken the decision to join a gym, after finding one that looked decent and opens at 5am, I’ve been getting up and hitting the gym on the way to work most days.
This is the first time I’ve lifted weights in a long time (at least with any regularity). I’m using muscles that haven’t been used in a while and it’s a painful beginning.
Overall, now 4 weeks into working out again, I haven’t lost any weight, but according to my electronic scale I’ve dropped 1% in bodyfat.
Is it telling the truth? I don’t know, but I’m feeling stronger.
The weather is starting to warm up (although snow is in the forecast in the next couple of days) so it might soon be time to unleash the noble steed on the local highways and byways!!
The biggest problem I have right now is: I have no goal. What should I be aiming for???
Digg! this story.
The last day of the marathon road trip went pretty smoothly. Since it was just over half the distance of some other days with decent weather that shouldn’t be a shock.
The second half of Pennsylvania was a huge improvement over the first half…thankfully! The roads were infinitely better!
From PA we had a short (70 mile) hop across New York state then into Connecticut and down to New Haven.
Some of the running jokes from the journey:
****
Every time a horse went past in a trailer I said “Why the long face?” - actually this is a full time poor joke by me
****
As we came into Oregon this exchange happened:
12yr old daughter: “What are those overgrown black sheep?”
Mom: “Around here we call them cows!”
Every time we past a herd of cows we pointed out the overgrown sheep to the girl…she didn’t see the funny side after 3300 miles of that!
****
Going over a bridge in Kansas the announcement was made “Now passing over the highest point in Kansas”.
This was repeated in southern Illinois and Indianana!
****
The midwest had a huge number of adult stores and fireworks stores on the roadside. This lead to a lot of jokes that shouldn’t be repeated!
****
The 4yr old boy told a great many jokes…some were very bizarre and most referred to bodily functions - again not to be repeated!
He also repeated a couple of lines from Underdog (the movie) which got much airtime on the DVD player on the drive. His two favorites were: “Freak!” and “Whoa, whoa, no stripes, they make me look fat!”
****
Many jokes were also made about the muttroid (half dog, half mattress - derived from mattroid to describe someone who is half person, half matress - referring to Scout’s many sleeping positions)
****
Finally there was the stalking hawk. Not much of a joke here…we just saw a hawk, many times over during the drive (on lampposts, fences, flying overhead, etc). Every day really! Maybe it wasn’t the same hawk every time, maybe it wasn’t…but we know it was…and it was watching us!!!
****
Ok, here are a few more pictures from the trip.
The kids take in the scenery on day 6!!
Scout takes in the scenery on day 6!!
Now entering Connecticut!
World’s Largest Fireworks Store!
Now entering Ohio
Downtown Indianapolis
Sunrise over Kansas - can you see any hills??
McBreakfast in Kansas, stalked by McHunter Dog.
McHunter Dog says “Who me? I’m innocent!”
Biggest barn in Kansas (so the signs said - may also be highest point in Kansas)
Erm…something we saw in a truck stop in Kansas
Snowpacked roads on the way up Monarch Mountain, CO
Eerie snow blowing across the road outside Gunnison, CO
Summit of Monarch Mountain
Digg! this story.
Well, there’s been a bit of delay in getting this progress posted due to poor internet connection followed by a long day and being too tired to write yesterday. Today was also a long one but I wanted to get something done.
Day 3 - Fruita, CO to Limon, CO - Through the Rockies
After a long run from Oregon, through Idaho and Utah to Colorado we got to Fruita to find out that Vail Pass was closed due to high winds and drifting snow.
A little bit of looking at a map and talking to locals pointed us to Monarch Pass (Hwy 50) through the Rockies. Snow-packed and a bit off the main path, but it was open. So off we went…
The start of the drive on 50 was pretty easy going, clear pavement and straight roads…that changed at Cimarron where the roads became snow-packed and winding. After going gradually up to Gunnison we stopped for lunch at the Golden Arches with the temperature a balmy 6F (-14C) we headed on to the pass.
The entire drive was snow-packed with drifting snow and steep climbs. It was slow going, 4-wheel drive at about 30mph but not too difficult and ended up 11,312ft above sea level. From there it was a steep run down the other side into a meandering canyon system that went for about 40 miles…lots of spectacular scenery but tough driving.
From there we nipped through Colorado Springs and on to Limon. This ended up being several hundred miles less than planned due to the backroads route, but it was more progress than going nowhere over Vail Pass!
Limon was -6F (-21C) that night which meant the dog was not a big fan of going to the bathroom and made the potty breaks as short as possible.
Oh yeah - Happy New Year in Limon!
Day 4 - Limon, CO to Greenville, IL
To make up for the short (distance) day 3 we went for a monster. 804 miles I think was the total.
After Colorado we rolled into Kansas which is flat, flat, flat and the roads are straight. This made for good speed, but not much in the way of scenery.
Kansas made way for Missouri which was more interesting to look at, but it was dark within half an hour of entering the state. Straight through there and into St Louis, and right on out the other side…a few more miles later we were in Greenville, IL at about 10:30 at night…too tired to type anything!
Day 5 - Greenville, IL to Somerset, PA
Illinois and Indiana are pretty similar to Kansas. Flat.
In ‘99 we drove Orlando to Minneapolis and the only state we didn’t stop in was Indiana. It didn’t look much better this time through, but we did have to get gas once!
After Indiana came Ohio, which was decent as far as scenery goes but the weather was looking a bit grim. Towards the end of the state the snow had started coming down pretty hard. Whilst this wasn’t really slowing progress someone else wasn’t so lucky. A crash on I-70 had us parked for an hour and a half about 30 miles from the end of the state.
Once we got going we finished off OH, went through WV then into PA.
The theme for the day was steadily deteriorating quality of roads. This culminated with PA. These have got to be some of the worst interstates in the country. Certainly the worst I’ve seen. We’ve made it about half way through the state so far and these roads suck.
After 50 miles or so the I-70 becomes the Pennsylvania Turnpike toll road. Every other toll road I’ve been on in the country is better quality than the regular interstate…not this one. What a chunk.
Anyway, there should be one last post on this adventure where I’ll go through some of the running jokes and stuff like that!
Digg! this story.
After a day to reassess and reorganize I was happy with the loading and weather was actually permitting!
We headed out on the 6:30am ferry off Whidbey Island into, what turned out to be, the worst road conditions of the day. Those that know Mukilteo and the ferry know that the ferry traffic comes up Mukilteo Speedway and onto the I-5 or I-405 in Lynnwood.
As we were coming up the Speedway we hit some ice at a traffic light and had a bit of a sliding spell (then turned the 4 wheel drive on)…further on as we crossed over 99 towards the freeway a mini-van came flying (literally) over the central reservation and was hit in flight by an SUV just in front of us. Clearly the guy in the mini-van was carrying a lot of paperwork with him as it look like a bomb going off in a filing cabinet.
The mini-van was hit, spun fully a couple of times end for end scattering paper everywhere and landed on its wheels pointing the same direction as us. The SUV stopped about 100 yards further up the road. My wife and I stopped and got out to check on people (all were fine by some miracle…not even a scratch…I’m now a believer in airbags) then handed over to a paramedic who happened to be going home after the end of night shift.
Ok, less than 20 miles in and more excitement than I needed.
After that Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades was snow packed, but easy enough driving in 4-wheel drive. About 40mph and a steady climb over it.
After that the rest of the day was pretty uneventful (excepted being stalked by a hawk for a couple of hundred miles - long story). An evening with the in-laws was ok too!
This morning we headed out at 6:15am from eastern Oregon aiming for Colorado.
We hit Idaho and had a long, straight, flat drive through the state..ok there were a couple of hills and a lot of scenery that looked like something post-apocolyptic with snow blowing across the plains and over the road. No sign of road markings or anything like that.
From there is was through Utah which was entertaining.
The best part of Utah was the fact it’s where my wife grew up. Her reactions to the amount the place has changed since she was last there were fun. Huge areas had been filled in with housing and businesses that were previously farmland.
Beyond that the weather was a bit disappointing. There was a lot of fog and low cloud so we couldn’t see the mountains, or the Great Salt Lake. We did see a lot of Mormon churches though…actually a crazy number of similar churches!
Once through Slat Lake City we took our only major jaunt away from major interstates with a short cut along route 6 over Soldier Summit. Now that was “exciting” driving. There was a stretch of about 30 miles done in blizzard conditions with drifting snow, no road signs/markers visible going over the summit at around 7000ft above sea level…then back down again.
Once we got clear of the town of Price we had a pretty quick run to where we are now, Fruita Colorado.
Tomorrow we tackle the Rockies and Vail Pass (10666ft above sea level).
Below are a few pics of the fun so far:
At the in-laws, Ontario, OR
Gassing up in Caldwell, ID
Scenic Idaho. A rest stop near Bliss (only a name)
Driving through Salt Lake City
Mucky Truck after Soldier Summit
Digg! this story.
