My Bladder's Full

My hydration backpack bladder, that is! It arrived in the mail yesterday along with three books I ordered from Amazon - My Sister's Keeper, Oryx and Crake, and Never Let Me Go. I get to pick the next book club selection for my book club group here in Florida and I'm debating between these three books. One of the rules of my book club is that you cannot have read the book that you pick for book club. That makes it tricky!

Anyway, I'm about to hit the road with my full bladder! As soon as my iPod charges, I'm outta here. I downloaded the DaVinci Code audio book onto my iPod to help the time go by quicker. I read the book about three years ago and enjoyed it. The narrator of the unabridged DaVinci Code got a good review on iTunes. I'm only about 2 hours into the 15 hour book. I plan to see the movie on Saturday night with my husband and some friends, so I will have read the DaVinci Code, listened to the DaVinci Code and seen the DaVinci Code! But really, I'm not a fanatic!

Getting old STINKS

Without going into details and violating my grandmother’s privacy, my dear grandmother is not doing well at all. I’m headed back to Seattle soon for work and will be in Washington over Memorial Day weekend, so I plan to spend that weekend with her. She lives in Westport, which is a little town on the Washington coast. Apparently some Westport local won a contest and the prize was dinner with Tom Cruise. When the medi-vac helicopter landed at the hospital on Tuesday to fly my grandmother to Harborview, a crowd of people thought it was Tom Cruise landing. But no, it was just my granny’s ride! However, I must admit that she certainly deserves to have a crowd of screaming, adoring fans just as much as Tom Cruise does….if not more so! So there you go, Grandma – you’re going out in style!!!

On a positive note, Julie and I are trying out a new trail tomorrow. It’s called the West Orange Trail. It’s called the West Orange Trail because it is in the western part of Orange County, Florida. Apparently it is 22 miles long and is an equestrian trail. Hopefully I won’t step in any horse poop.

I had to order my hydration backpack from Amazon and it has not arrived yet. Hopefully the West Orange Trail has water fountains along the way so I can refill my water bottle. We’re going to shoot for 10 miles. I finally replaced the battery in my pedometer and calibrated it on one of my 5 mile walks this week. I think I’ve got it tracking my mileage fairly accurately, so I can use that to track our miles tomorrow. I know I’m a dunce, but I always get confused when using mile markers on trails. Unless I start at mile 0 – or mile 1 – or whatever, I’m never really sure what’s going on! I seem to get going on a trail, look up, and see mile marker 4 or something. So that’s why I use my pedometer!

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain...

The summer thunder storms have arrived! I have mixed emotions. Yes, it's good for the yard. Yes, it's good for the air quality. Yes, it will help prevent those pesky wild fires that are spreading over Central Florida. But I really don't enjoy walking in a full force shower - and for those of you who have never had the joy of experiencing a Florida thunder storm, that is exactly what it is like....a hot, muggy, full blast shower with the occasional hail chunk thrown in. And if you're lucky, you get to dodge lightening bolts.

I was watching the news tonight and they had a ticker counting the number of lightening bolts to make contact with the ground in the Orlando area. This was tracking only the latest storm of the night and it was counting 48, 49, 50, 51, etc... at a very steady clip. I swear, it is just a matter of time before I'm nailed by one of those suckers. Maybe I'll be lucky and it will give me ESP or the ability to move objects with my brain.

This could be an urban legend, but I was talking to my hubby's co-worker and he said his buddy was lying in bed watching TV when a bolt of lightening hit the house and flew out of his TV and struck him. Right now I'm on the computer AND watching the tube. So, if this post ends abruptly, you'll know what happened to me......

The Road to Tampa...

Walking, walking and more walking....

Florida doesn't seem so hot when you're by the pool with an iced tea or when you're all cozy inside the house with the a/c set at 75. However, when you're walking 7 miles in 88 degree weather without a cloud in the sky, it's freakin' HOT!!!

A trip to Target is in order today. I'm going to break down and buy one of those dorky hydration backpacks. So you've heard of tennis elbow, right? I think I'm developing water bottle wrist. Lugging a 25 oz water bottle around on my walks is making my right wrist hurt. And with the length of my walks increasing, I'll need more than 25 oz to tide me over.

Julie and I are going to try to complete a 10 mile walk on Sunday at the Little Econ Trail, weather permitting. The Little Econ Trail, also known as the Little Econ Greenway, runs along the Little Econlockhatchee River.

"The Little Econ River and its freshwater swamps provide an ideal habitat for a wide array of reptiles, amphibians and birds. Catch sight of some amazing wildlife while hiking the trail or paddling the river in a canoe. Birds, like Osprey and Red-Shouldered Hawks, as well as turtles and alligators may be seen while using this trail. And smaller, 4-winged friends can be found in our butterfly garden, which is also located along the trail." - Orange County Parks Dept.

Wish us luck!!