Running Out of Gas
I enjoy bicycling and am now living in a part of the country that I can ride for most of the year.
I live in the White Mountains of Arizona, we are north and east of Phoenix at an elevation of 6500′ (1980 meters). We do not get the hot weather from the desert valley below us, nor do we get the accumulation of snow like states further north. One of my goals in my fitness and weight loss program is to become a better cyclist.
The problem with living in the mountains is that it is not flat here. Just the nature of the rolling hills means that the roads and trails follow the topography. It seems that regardless of the route that take on my rides I am going to have to tackle some hills.
If you are an observer of bicycling in general or the current Tour de France race you will notice that competitive cyclists are not big people. Many of the best are 6′ or under weigh less than 150 pounds and have very low body fat. When you are climbing you are battling gravity and the less weight you have to push uphill the better off you are. I am never going to be a great hill climber, my body type is more like a football player than a bicyclist.
I know that there are some things that will help me; having better technique and style, but the biggest thing I can do for myself is to just get stronger, add endurance and get lighter. My goal is to be able to climb the hills around my regular riding area in a comfortable manner.
I left my home recently to ride to my new work place. I did not have to work that day, it was a trial ride, so there was no pressure to get there in a certain amount of time. But I want to be able to commute to work often. It is about an 8 mile ride. It is a gradual uphill the whole way, there is no break to coast or rest up unless you stop. I made it to about the 6.5-7 mile mark and ran out of gas. I stopped, out of breath, and exhausted. I was nauseous and sweaty. I called my lovely and asked her to come get me, then I found a shady place to sit and drink some water.
I was recovered in 30 minutes or so and I did not have any issues except sore legs the next day. Plainly I just over did. My body was not fit enough for that much effort YET!
I have a goal, to commute to work (comfortably) because I do have a job to do when I get there, and I have a plan to get to my goal.
I will work at my endurance by riding some longer rides and I will spend a couple days a week just riding hills. There is much more to it than that but those are the basics. I also want to lose some more weight so I am going to have to watch my nutrition plan and have enough fuel to work toward my fitness goal, but to be in a calorie deficit so I can continue to lose weight. That is a fine line.
This is something I want! It will take a lot of effort, willpower and time but it is something I am capable of and it will benefit my overall goal of being more health and fit.
A Broken Shoestring
I have retired twice and neither time was it really planned. If you have read very many of my blog spots this Accidental Adventure was just that accidental, not planned and therefore has been a work in progress.
Our retirement budget is pretty slim, but with good financial management (thanks to my lovely) and some seasonal work we have enough money to live our daily lives and also to have some excellent adventures.
But our “retirement on a shoestring” program is temporarily over. The shoestring broke!
We had to limp home from our RV adventure due to transmission problems in our truck. The cost of repair is more than we have in our savings and we choose not to borrow money to do the work.
I have a steady seasonal job doing personal income taxes but that income is still seven months away. We are able to drive the truck, carefully, and preferably not at highway speeds. We really need a source of income.
I have always known that during our retirement my ability to earn some money either part time, full time or seasonally would be important. With that in mind I have concentrated on doing a few things to keep myself employable.
I am in better physical shape than I have been in years, I work on making my appearance presentable. I read a wide variety of literature thereby keeping abreast of current trends in areas that I have been employed in the past. I continue to study, I am currently studying a course to become an Enrolled Agent, this is a special designation that is given to individuals to practice tax preparation, auditing and representing tax payers in hearings before the I.R.S. It is a rigorous course and I hope to be certified before the 2015 tax season.
I felt positive about getting a job, but I just hate the process. Applying for a job is now often done online. This is hard for me as I feel that I am a relational person and that quality that has served me well in my vocational career. There is no relationship building with an online testing program.
I took the job-seeking seriously and got up each morning with a plan to search for work for at least 4 hours a day.
I first visited a few job construction job sites and sales offices in the town I live in. The results were negative but I was able to talk to real people and begin to get my confidence back.
I then began the arduous task of tackling the employment maze of the national chains. I concentrated on the two major home improvement stores that are in my town: Home Depot and Lowes. Both of these companies have a culture of hiring knowledgeable older workers. Both of the stores in my area have good customer service and both were places I thought I could be content.
I completed all the applications and tests and must have tested well as I was able to interview at both of the local stores. I worked through the several layers of interviews and was offered a job by Lowes Home Improvement store.
I felt like I was at the right place at the right time: there was a position available that had not even been posted on-line. The Human Resources Manager mentioned that I may be qualified for that job. I was fortunate to be the first interviewee that day and was offered a job in the Tools and Hardware Department. When I started looking for employment my thought was if I am going to go back to work it would be nice if it was an enjoyable job. This position qualifies as that job.
It will be interesting working for a big corporation. I have never been 1 employee of 238,000 employees. I have gone through a week of orientation and get to really start working next week.
Another chapter in the Accidental Adventure.
The Adventure Derailed
Coming out of Mesa Utah a week ago our transmission started acting funny, it appears we have no third and fourth gear in our automatic transmission.
Fortunately we were able to limp home so we can get the work done here in our area instead of on the road by someone we did not know.
We were terribly disappointed that the trip was cut short by about 20 days.
We had a great time while on the road and saw some incredible sights.
I still have a couple of blog posts to make to catch-up to where we had truck trouble.
See you soon.
Visual Overload
The next section of our Accidental Adventure is based in Panguitch, a small town in Southern Utah. From there we visited: Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon State Park and Kodachrome Basin State Park. We allowed ourselves enough time to see all of this and have a day off just to hang out at the trailer and take a mid day nap.
The big problem with all of this on the agenda is my eyes are hurting from all of the incredible scenery. The views are just amazing. We were walking through a big wash, actually a pretty good sized canyon, that the notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy once had a hideout in, and we met another couple that was walking out. I commented that I hoped that they had got a good look at it because no matter how good a photographer you are you cannot capture the whole scene, it is just too immense.
Cedar Breaks N.M. is at an elevation of over 10,000 feet, there was still a little snow there in the shady areas and it was a cold windy day. The mixed conifer forest was variegated with millions of Aspen. The Aspen were in various stages of leafing out so the colors were sensational!
We spent parts of two days at Bryce Canyon N.P. This was Memorial Day Weekend so it was busy. There were hundreds of tour buses filled with excited tourists. Bryce is a small park with limited access to the viewpoints. We drove the first day and it was not too busy. That day the weather was interesting, in a six hour period we experienced just about every condition: snow, sleet, rain wind and then sunbreaks between all of that. The next time we went it was a zoo with all of the tour buses. We tried to co-ordinate our stops at the viewpoints when the busses were not here but we could not avoid them all.
Bryce Canyon is a unique place the incredible beauty that is contained in such a small area is beyond description. I will follow with pictures but again they are a feeble attempt of sharing with you what we saw.
Red Canyon was a delight! It is a Utah State Park so we were able to take out two dogs with us on the hike. We kept them on six foot leashes as required and they loved being with us instead of stuck in the car. We hiked a couple of miles up and down the hillside not just getting views of the features but standing right in them. The tall rock formations are called hoo-doos, the early settlers thought they had some spiritual significance, I don’t know about that but they were sure cool.
The next place we visited on this leg of the journey was Kodachrome Basin State Park. National Geographic visited this area before it was an official park and called it that in a pictorial essay in the early 1950’s. The name was adopted by the State of Utah when it made into a park. It is a small area with some interesting formations and lots of beautiful colors hence the name.
One other thing we did was check out some slot canyons. We were able to walk through one at Willis Creek. This was a short hike though the narrow canyon with a small stream at the bottom I loved it. There are a few pictures of that adventure below. It is hard to describe what it is like to be in one of these slots and have the tops of the walls of the canyon a hundred feet above you and almost touching.
We are loving our time together visiting these beautiful places. Life in the travel trailer is easy. We do need to watch our water and energy consumption when we are at remote camping spots without hook-ups. Next year we will be better equipped; we plan on adding solar panels for electricity and some additional fresh water storage.
The next stop is a small campground in the Dixie National Forest near Torrey, Ut. From there it is our plan to see the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument and The Capital Reef National Park.
Keep living the Adventure!
Will it be Just as Grand?
We finished our last day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and I thought maybe we should have planned our trip with the Grand Canyon at the end of our adventure. It then could have been the ultimate final highlight. It was so incredible that I was worried that it would be a let-down to go to our other destinations.
Our next stop is at Lee’s Ferry. This is right below Glen Canyon Dam the major dam on the Colorado River. Above the dam is Lake Powell and below is a different Colorado River. After the dam the river has controlled flows of cold clear water it is no longer the “Rio Colorado” red river. The fish biologists, environmentalists, river rats and others will debate the dam and its effects for years to come. But for now the dam is there and probably will be until the end of the ages.
One thing the dam does is to keep the flows steady and to regulate the water temperature. Because the water is released through the penstocks and turbines that generate power it is taken from the lower part of the reservoir, that water is 45-48 degrees year around.
The fish like this and so do the rafters that travel through the Grand Canyon.
We arrived at our destination and set up our camp on a plateau right above the river. At 3800′ the temperatures were way higher than when we left the Grand Canyon at 7000′. It would hit 100 degrees the next day!
Being a casual whitewater rafter in the past I was interested in seeing the rafts that were used on the big river. This trip down the Colorado from Lee’s Ferry to Lake Mead is about 250 miles. The trips last 14-16 days. The rafts hold 15-20 people. I wondered where they put all of the gear and all those people.
The boats are HUGE up to 30′ long and 16′ wide with the added pontoons they strap to the sides of the rafts.
These pictures will give you and idea of the scope of the gear that is needed to do a trip like this. The number of rafts is limited by the National Park Service each day. The outfitters have a limited number of permits and the private parties compete by drawing for the few permits available to individuals
I did fish two mornings and had a lot of success catching Rainbow Trout up to 15″. The scenery is amazing, however the area to walk in and fish is small. I was able to stand pretty much in the same place both days and catch about 30 fish. When you fishing alone and practicing catch and release good fish pictures are hard to get.
We were actually glad to be moving on the temperatures were hard to deal with. Here are a couple of departing pictures.
We picked up a few supplies at the small country store and headed to the Grand Canyon North Rim. We had heard a lot of stories about the North Rim. We were anxious to see what it was like compared to the South Rim where we had just spent a few days. The North Rim is 12 miles from the South Rim “as the Crow flies” but is over 200 miles by road! Of the 5 million or so visitors to the Grand Canyon only 10% go to the North Rim.
We found our camping site and got set up. This was a beautiful campground, situated at over 8000′ in elevation
in a beautiful meadow surrounded by a mixed Conifer Forest.
The North Rim was WAY less busy, it was higher in elevation and there were fewer viewpoints and overlooks. But that was not a disappointment it was just as incredible but different. The forests were unique; the conifers grew on the rim, as well as down into the canyon in many places. There is much more snow here in the winter up to 10 feet so it is greener.
We walked more as the places to view the canyon are not right where you can drive to. We did one four mile hike to a location called Cape Final it was our last day there so it was a fitting end.
My lovely has taken a fancy to “living on the edge”. She is willing to get right to the edge of some really big drop-offs, I wont go there and it gives me “jelly knees” just watching her. I have been taking the pictures of her on the edge. It seems appropriate that living on the edge is just part of The Accidental Adventure.
The Canyons are Grand.
We have been on our adventure for a couple of weeks and have been having a great time.
We are not in a hurry to get anywhere so we have had a chance to visit some lesser known attractions. We visited Walnut Canyon which I wrote about in my last post. We also went to Sunset Crater National Monument and Wupatki Indian Ruins. These were both on a side road off of our main path. The Sunset Volcano area was unique. There were huge piles of black lava rock that looked like it was blown out of a volcano yesterday rather than 1000 years ago.
The Indian ruins were cool because you could go right up into the remains of the housing units.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon and again we enjoyed the privilege of being senior citizens, we handed the Ranger our Senior Access Pass and the $25.00 fee was waived just like at all of the attractions we have visited so far. This card will save us hundreds of dollars.
Our first views of the Canyon verified the reason it is called “Grand” it actually brought tears to my eyes it was so incredible. I looked at my lovely and she had the same reaction, teary eyed at the indescribable beauty. I have seen thousands of pictures of the canyon but there is nothing like seeing it yourself for the first time.
These few pictures were just from our first day of four we were going to be at the South Rim.
The succeeding days we rode the shuttle, hiked the rim and spent one afternoon hiking below the rim.
A friend advised us to take a hike down into the canyon to really get a different feel and view. We did that on the South Kaibab Trail We went down into the canyon on a trail that was very steep with many switchbacks. The distance was only about a mile one way, but had an elevation drop of over 1200′. We turned around at a viewing area appropriately called “Ooh Ahh Point”
It was a hard trip up the trail back to the trailhead but we made it. I was so proud of my lovely! This was a major accomplishment as you can see from her victorious pose.
On to Lee’s Ferry and some fishing next.
Finally on the Road!
We left our home in Eastern AZ on Saturday for the short drive to Flagstaff AZ a distance of about 150 miles. Our camping reservations at the Grand Canyon don’t start for a couple of days. It is nice to travel with time to see and do things that are not on the schedule.
We were able to do that today after restful night in our travel trailer. We saw a sign for Walnut Canyon National Monument on the way to the campground so today we went back and checked it out.
This is a very steep walled canyon with Native Cliff dwellings in the canyon walls. The Sinagua Indians lived here in 1000-1100 AD. The area is very rugged arid country and the conditions must have been difficult. These native peoples had to be in incredible condition to build these shelters and live here. The elevation is about 6000′ and the winters can be difficult. The pueblos (the name the Spanish explorers gave the dwellings) had hundreds of years of soot from the wood fires inside the shelters. After all these years the smoke residue was shiny and hard.
We did not have to scramble down the sheer rock cliff to enter the pueblos there were steps built in for the current visitors. Lots of steps 240 to be exact.
The dwellings were built under natural rock overhangs, the depth varied but most were under 12′. The family units would build many rooms in a row under the same overhang. They built masonry walls at the ends if necessary and the front. They allowed plenty of walkway between the front wall and the face of the cliff. I can imagine them out in front of their homes kind of like on a patio. Although I don’t think they had much leisure time, between building, farming up on the ridge and hauling water from the stream below.
It was a strenuous hike not because of the distance but the elevation loss/gain.
The views from the trail down into the canyon are incredible
This gnarly old tree almost blocks the trail.
This is a picture of my lovely at the end of one of the pueblos.
A view from inside of one of the rooms.
A Yucca plant with a Pueblo in the background.
The stairs back up to the rim and the parking lot.
We had a great time and we got a good work-out on the trails. It was a good start to our Accidental Adventure.
I Hate My Feet!
There was an animated movie that was titled, “Happy Feet”. I don’t know much about it except it was about a penguin and as far as I know Penguins don’t wear shoes.
I was born with WIDE feet. I am happy my feet are not deformed or otherwise unusable, I know there are people with worse situations than wide feet, but this is my story.
One of the first recollections that I have in regards to what my future was in the shoe world was when I was school shopping with my Mom and Dad. This was back in the day when every school child had an annual event called back to school shopping. We did not wear the same clothes to school that we wore on non-school days. We actually dressed up for school. I remember the very first thing my mom would say to me when I walked in the door from a day toiling at the old school desk. “Jesse change out of your school clothes” she would say. Not “How are you honey” Or “Did that bully beat you up again” or How was your math test” It was always “Change out of your school clothes”
I had school clothes and play clothes. Nice pants, not jeans, button up shirts and shoes that had to be polished. They were taken off and carefully put away until the next school day.
Well back to my un-happy feet. We were on our annual pilgrimage to the department stores in my town shopping for clothes and shoes. We went downstairs to the shoe department in the J. C. Penny store. I knew what to expect but there was always hope that this time I would get some cool shoes.
The salesman had me take one shoe off and stand on the foot measuring device. He groaned a little then pronounced in a voice that could be heard all over the store, “The only thing I got that would fit his feet is the box the shoes come in ha ha ha”. True story.
Look at them dawgs, fat feet for sure.
I wanted a pair of penny loafers or saddle shoes so bad, all the cool kids had them and I know my life would have been different if I had a pair of saddle shoes. It would have instantly afforded me membership in that elusive club of cool kids. But it was not going to happen. I ended up with a pair of black lace up shoes like postal carriers wear. They were sensible and ugly.
This pretty much has continued my whole life. By high school I had size 10 EEEE feet. Not a large selection in that size. When I played baseball I could not get real cleats, I wore high tops, I am sure that is why I got cut from the squad. My coach said it was because I could not hit a curve ball but he was looking at my shoes when he said it. My future career as a Major League second baseman was squashed like a bug, because of fat feet.
For recreation and exercise I walk and hike it is something that I have come to enjoy. It is something I can do anywhere with no equipment needed. I walk on the streets and sidewalks, paved trails, hiking trails and paths. I hike up to 8-9 miles some days. But hiking shoes are a problem.
I have a pair of wide 11 EEEE “casual” hiking boots that I have put a lot of miles on, they were worn, the foot-bed was smashed and the support gone. Even though they were shot I kept wearing them because they actually fit.
Recently a couple of friends came to our area to enjoy some of our local hiking trails. We hiked nearly every day (see blog Training for Vacation) My friends commented on my broken down shoes telling me that I needed to get some new, more substantial boots because it would be better for my feet. I thought “Yes that’s true but you DON’T HAVE FAT FEET”.
With our RV adventure to the canyon lands of the Southwest coming up, I decided it was time to see if I could find a real pair of hiking boots.
With the encouragement and support of my hiking friends we went to a Red Wing Brand shoe store in a nearby city and I had the same feelings I did when I went into the Penny’s store 60 years ago. But I have worn work boots from Red Wing and was hoping for the best.
I tried on a pair of real hiking boots and they felt really good. As it turns out my feet are narrower, now that I have lost a substantial amount of weight and these 11 EE boots felt wonderful. I bought them.
But the test was still to come. I have purchased boots and shoes that I thought would work, only to have to return them because they hurt my feet after wearing them over a long period of time.
I got home and walked in the house, OK so far, I walked through the neighborhood, still feeling good. I walked a five mile route on pavement, a real test, these boots seemed to be fine. I have worn them a week now and have tested them in all kinds of terrain and my feet are happy, when my feet are happy I am happy.
Happy feet in REAL hiking boots.
Training for Vacation
We are getting ready to leave for our Adventure through a portion of the Southwest U.S. in a week or so. We are going to be gone for 6-8 weeks so there has been a lot of planning.
Our route and schedule is planned and we reservations for camping at several National Parks and some private campgrounds along the way.
We have built in three stops so I can do some fly fishing so yesterday I went on line and purchased fishing licenses for Utah and New Mexico, the other fishing location is in Arizona and I already have that license.
We did some remodeling in the travel trailer to add more efficient clothing and kitchen pantry storage.
There are a few more things we will do next week: truck maintenance and more shopping to outfit the trailer.
This trip is going to be taking us to some of the most beautiful places in the U.S. A lot of this country is remote and to get the best views and photo’s it will take some effort.
This Accidental Adventure is not just a vacation to rest and relax it is going to be very active. So this week I stepped up my physical training as well. We had some good friends come to Arizona to visit and see the area, they are an active retired couple and they let me know they wanted to hike and explore.
We set up our travel trailer for them at a state campground near our home. The campground is right on a lake. Here is a picture of their beautiful camp site.
We had a great week with lots activity. Here are some pictures of a few places we visited:
We found a wonderful place kind of off the beaten path it is called Seneca Falls, right now it is a “Dry Falls” the river bed is dry but still the views were incredible. Along the way we crossed the Salt River. One of these pictures is taken through an architectural feature in an abandoned bridge.
In the past this has been a popular rock climbing location, but there was no one climbing when we were there.
Later that first day we visited a restored early Native American village.
After a day of fishing, (sorry no pictures we were too busy “catching”), we did some serious hiking we went on two trails with different scenery and style in one day. We walked about 9 miles total.
Our next adventure was at the Petrified National Forest, this has turned out to be one of our favorite places to visit near our home. This was our fourth trip there.
On our last day in the mountains of Arizona we made one more hike. We did a 7mile loop trip in an area called Juniper Ridge. This is an area that was devastated by fire 12 years ago, it is interesting to see how it is recovering.
On Friday we left our home area and traveled to Phoenix to view the Dale Chihuly “Glass” exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens. These hand blown works of art were scattered throughout the grounds. My pictures do not do these works of art justice. Viewing them during the day and then later in the evening when they were lighted was really incredible.
It was a great week, lots of activity, plenty of miles on the trails, incredible scenery, good food crafted by my lovely and great times with good friends.
It was good training to our trip. We only have a few days left to prepare for our next Accidental Adventure.
Fitness on the Road
As the departure date for our long Recreational Vehicle trip in the Southwest U.S. approaches I have been thinking a lot about my fitness/nutrition plan. We will be on the road for about six weeks and without a plan and some goals it would be a disaster.
The first thing that I need to do is not consider it a vacation! To me a vacation is an excuse to eat, drink and be merry and pay the consequences later. I must not do that.
We have all the conveniences of home in our RV. A fridge, freezer, a portable gas grill, a four burner gas stove and oven. We have a decent size food pantry and an area to prepare good nutritious meals. The key for me is to continue the good nutrition practices that my lovely and I have at home and just translate that to the road trip.
We have planned our trip to have plenty of time to hike, bike and explore each area so there is no reason to stuff our days so full of activity that we feel the necessity to eat out just to save time, that is a trap we have fallen into in the past. Planning meals and shopping will be an important part of the trip, this is something my lovely is very good at. We will want to eat out occasionally because that is one of the fun things to do while on the road but eating out everyday would burst our budget and my new walking shorts.
Exercise is the next part of the trip I need to plan. Yes, we will be active; walking, hiking, bicycling and fishing but I want to plan some exercise routine into my day beyond just activity. A walk or hike exploring the area and taking pictures sometimes is not enough of a cardio workout. I am going to do my best to get a good heart pumping hike or bike ride at least four days a week. In addition I am working on a routine of body weight exercises that I can to at the campground; things like push-ups, crunches, squats, chair dips etc. That program still needs some planning. AND I am taking my bathroom scale, I hate that thing but it doesn’t lie, that will keep me accountable
I will continue to participate in the Men’s Health 52 Day Challenge, that will keep be motivated and in touch with that forum community while on the road. I wont be hosting for this next Challenge because some of the locations we will be staying do not have internet access.
This is going to be a great Adventure and I want it to enhance my fitness program. I need to have a good balance of fun, fitness and relaxation.
My Accidental Adventure 