BACK TO BUSINESS!

Man, being back to work is such an awesome experience. I truly am a workaholic and am a much happier person when I'm DOING something. I can not sit idle. Being inactive makes me want to just sit around all day... even nap. 

When Bob is gone, I hit the floor running in the morning. I pause to put a load of clothes in the washer as I come out of the bathroom, make my coffee and jump right into business. I keep rolling from there. Sometimes there is an afternoon nap in my future. I've attributed that to days when I normally am not drinking enough so I try to remedy that the next day.

A scrapbooking friend of mine uses a website called 'Walking4Fun' to track her daily steps. The various virtual trails on the website encourage you to get your steps in so you can move on to a new trail.

Since this year marks the 100th Anniversary of our National Park system, I thought this would be a great time to join this 'virtual' adventure.

I've always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail (National Park Service Link) and the Ozark Trail. Backpacker.com has some excellent information for a real-time hike. I signed up today and am beginning my step counting with the Appalachian Trail. In reality, the trail is 2,202 miles long from Atlanta GA to central Maine. My body would never be able to hike this trail in real life but I can look for things via the internet along the way. 

This LINK will take you to a map of the trail with potential spots to check out along the way. Today, I will hop on the treadmill and begin just north of Atlanta at Amicalola State Park at  Springer Mtn. I'll try to include pictures or tidbits of the area along my journey. 

Whether you just to do a virtual hike, or hit the trails in real time, I encourage you to join me at Walking4Fun.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kelly

189/189/150

WEEKLY PLAN - October 6-12

I love this shot. This is from Fort Drum Army road. I just want to start walking.

Which is something I've determined I HAVE to do more of. Right now a regular exercise routine is just not in the schedule. But I can walk. I love to walk. So whether I walk on the treadmill, on one of the walking trails in the area or in front of the Wii... I WILL WALK EVERY DAY.

Strapping on the pedometer and away I go....

Enjoy the Journey!

A Morning Walk

I love my wooded acreage in southcentral MO. But I truly get a feeling of 'coming home' every time I step foot in Eureka Springs Arkansas. This quaint Victorian tourist town is a true haven for artists and people who just want to live life at a slower pace. You won't find a Walmart or other chain stores here. There is a Dollar General for the little things and a McDonalds. In the sixteen years I've been coming down here, I've never been to McD's and have only been in the $General once (hey, when you're dressing up- hose are important)

I spend every 2nd weekend of October here as part of the Ozark Creative Writers conference. I always make time to get downtown and browse the shops and chat with the locals. Since starting this new journey, I decided I'd do something a little different this year. So at 6:30 a.m. I was dressed and started out to enjoy a good walk along the Historic Loop - 3.3 miles. Mind you... Eureka Springs is called a 'stair step town' for a reason. There is almost no flat walking anywhere. Regardless of which end of the trail you choose to start at, you're going down hill one way and coming back up the other... and up is STEEP and at the end of the hike.

But the exercise felt great! I enjoyed stopping to pet dogs, admire cats and chat with other early morning risers. I spotted a couple pieces of property I'd love to have... someday. I was gone 1.5 hours. I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow, but I'm only planning to walk half the treck so I don't have the steep hill at the end.

Are you walking?