Monday Musings

Monday July 18, 2011
Utah Lake State Park
Lake Shore Campground Site #25
Provo, Utah

With all the warriors gone, it was great quiet
sleeping last night but it didn’t motivate
me to want to do anything more than get out
in the morning to enjoy more quiet.
So with the breezes blowing
I took my breakfast outside on the patio
and did some reading and journaling.
No problems with the mosquitoes.   WOW!

I just love sitting outside in the morning with the
birds chirping, the mountains to gaze at and the quiet of a nearly
empty campground.  Gives one time to think.
I know that could be dangerous.

I should have been running this morning but I
just couldn’t bring myself to spend
this lovely time doing something
I don’t really like. 
Having time in the
morning to sit quietly and read or journal or think,
is a problem for me.
Seems like, especially in the summer or warmer climes,
my schedule is dictated by the temperature.
A hot day forecast means I need to get up early and
get out on the trail or the bike or the kayak or get running
in order to beat the heat.

And I do want to do all of those things
(for different reasons of course)
I just prefer not to have to do them first thing
in the cool and still of the morning.
But by the time I am ready to go for it,
it’s too hot.

Anyway, while enjoying my breezy lovely quiet time,
I discovered something you all probably already know.

I weighed less at higher elevations.  
LOL

I wondered while I was at Bryce and Cedar Pines
at 8000 and 10,000 feet why I
could trade in running for a daily hike and didn’t
gain weight the same way I would have had I
been in Virginia. 

This theory has been tested at
200 feet elevation, sea level and at 10,000 feet.
Back in Virginia, I always said if I could eat what I
want and keep my weight in control by walking
or hiking 5 miles a day I would quit running in a heartbeat. 

And when I did the research by hiking or biking
twice the miles instead of running
I ended up with a closet full of clothes that were too small for me.
And no money or desire to buy bigger clothes. 
So back to running.

Of course the answer is,
move to 10,000 feet or at least hang out there A LOT.
And hike away. 

BUT, there is always a catch isn’t there
they have a LOT of snow in the winter.

Now you can see what my little pea brain does in relax mode.
The moral of the story is
if you can.
go to the mountains to get their good tidings
as John Muir said
and lose weight at the same time. 
Definitely a win/win!
:-))

So I’m sitting here just totally enjoying myself and
feeling no guilt for ignoring the health aspects of
running and David who really HATES to run
even more than I do
comes out the door and jogs off down the road.
SIGH………….
guilt trip starts.

But he got his comeuppance
later in the day when
it started raining and he rushed
out to put the windows up on the car
and did the big
NO NO

He reached in the open window and pulled up
the latch.  
Ruby doesn’t like that and she started BEEEP  BEEEP  BEEEP

So he’s out there sitting in the car
while it is pouring down rain with the
windows down trying to figure out how to shut the car up.
I was laughing my self silly since I’ve warned him
numerous times about this very thing.

But I didn’t want Ruby to get all wet so
I went out and since the windows were down
he handed me the controls and I shut her up.
Pretty funny though.
I laughed and laughed.

We did get over to the harbor and check
out the sunset which, due to the heavy
thunderstorm we’d just had
and its clouds, is quite different from last night
But beautiful as well.

Our cameras had two different takes on this
as you can see.

Lots of big doin’s here today at
“life on the road”.

(~;    :<{)