Take My Breath Away

Went to Opening Day at Camden Yards (O's lost to the Rays 6-2) today. Climbing to the highest seat in the stadium definitely tells you what kind of shape you're in! The second time I climbed the stairs to the upper deck I was really huffing and puffing.This looks like good training, so I'm expecting to go to a lot of games in the next couple months.

Incidentally, the new scoreboard is a winner. The new hotel is NOT. It blocks the view of the Bromo-Seltzer tower from my seats.

Money Money

While out walking around Catonsville, I spotted this sign. No wonder the economy is in trouble.

I am faring much better. Lost two pounds last week, walked 15 miles.

(If you're wondering what happened to the "R"...it stands for "Responsibility". They throw that away)

A Hard Day's Night

After lugging a huge heavy backpack around all day, at night we get to sleep on the hard ground.

I have a pretty good sleeping bag....weighs 4 pounds, is a little bulky, but manageable. Tom's is more compact, and lighter at 3 pounds. Now we have to figure out what's going to go under and over.

Under is rock, and over is bugs, so what I need is a sleeping pad and a tent, both of which will add considerable weight to haul out of the canyon on the last day (more on that in another post).

When we go car-camping I use a self-inflating sleeping pad, but I am considering a lighter foam pad. I don't know how comfortable that will be-- may have to sleep out in the back yard for a couple nights to test them out before deciding.

Meanwhile Josh is working on a tent solution for us, so we'll see what he comes up with.

Good progress walking last week, just over 12 miles.

On the Radio

Josh passed the test for his Ham Radio license, so now we're trying to sort out all the communication possibilities--

(WARNING -- Jargon Alert)

There's a UHF repeater near the South Rim, so we should be able to communicate with the outside world using handheld radios. I have also thought about bringing a low-power HF rig to try for some DX (long-range). We don't know about Blackberry or cell phone coverage in the canyon either. The issues are weight and battery life. We obviously don't want to lug a bunch of stuff around that won't work. I thought about some kind of solar charging solution, but that may get too complicated.

On a more basic level---After my walk the other day, accompanied by Beth, I stopped in at Bass Pro Shops to investigate the water purifiers some more. The salesman wasn't too keen on the UV bug-blaster. Said it was more appropriate for sticking in your glass of water while sitting at an outdoor cafe in Paris, rather than in the backwoods. He recommended a brand that Bass Pro doesn't even stock. Some salesman.

Dropped 1 pound this past week.

You Light Up My Life

....Unless you're a Cryptosporidium.

We stopped at Bass Pro Shops (conveniently located in Arundel Mills Mall) to look at some of the gear we hopefully will not have to buy, and spotted this ultraviolet water purifier gizmo. You stick it in your water bottle for 45 seconds or so, light it up, and it destroys all kinds of nasty viruses, bacteria, and protozoa.

Check out their web site. This looks like a must have!



Meanwhile, the weight report this week is so-so...
nothing gained, nothing lost....
maybe if Valerie Bertinelli would be my weight loss buddy....

Doing better with walking...11 miles this week.

The Tide is High

My friend Virginia emailed me today and asked what impact the flooding of the canyon would have on our trip....WHAT? Flooding? When did this happen?

Fortunately it's only for a few days and is supposed to help the fish.

Click to read more.

Walk Like An Egyptian

I do most of my walking at Arundel Mills Mall where the movie theater has an Egyptian theme...I can't figure out why, but they have hieroglyphics, statues of animal-headed people, stick figure paintings, and the like. I have never seen a movie there, but I have seen Egyptian movies when I was overseas and they aren't very interesting.

Anyway, I try to walk every day. The target is about a mile and a half per day right now...would like to build up to 3 miles a day, maybe 20 miles a week. I had two outside walks this week, once on Monday when the weather was great, and again yesterday when I ended up stranded at the library in the rain....soooo....back to the mall today.

I decided to make Wednesday the "mileage day" to check my weekly total.
This week -- 7 miles. Not so good.

LUV Is In The Air

We bought the plane tickets today, non-stop on Southwest to Phoenix, June 6th. The flight is a little under five hours, arriving at 10:45AM. Then we’ll drive to the Grand Canyon area, stay overnite at a motel and start down into the Canyon Saturday morning June 7th. Return is Wednesday June 11th, also nonstop, Phoenix to BWI.

And, yes, we will have a motel stay the nite before coming home, so everyone will get to take a nice shower and have clean clothes to wear on the plane. Fellow passengers won't know what they missed! (Think John Candy and Steve Martin.)

Weighting for Tonite

Monday...and only Monday....I get on the scale to see if my half-hearted attempts to cut back on junk food and my slightly more dedicated exercise routine are having any positive effect. Actually, I'm looking for a NEGATIVE effect, namely the shedding of a pound or two.

I have been doing this for weeks, but until today, there was nothing positive to tell...well, negative....I'm sure you get the idea.

Tonite I can report success, though. I actually dropped three pounds in the last week! And I didn't reward myself with a Super Big Gulp or Double Quarter Pounder, either. Fortunately California Navel oranges are readily available at not-too-outrageous prices; they make a pretty good snack, and they use the same artificial coloring on them as they do Cheese-Nips.