Adventure Awaits

 Retirement is getting closer... 6 months, 2 weeks. The most common question I get asked is " what are your plans after you retire?' I of course reply travel, volunteer and hike. This blog is of course was originally created to document my journey to get fit, and prepare for my trip to Nepal next year. I have since added the hiking trips I have taken while getting in shape and then of course the plans I am making for new adventures. Colorado this autumn, Guadalupe Mountains next winter, Peru in the spring (autumn there) and then the big one to Nepal. 

My plans don't just stop at Nepal though.  I have so many more places I want to go and things I want to do. I am already looking at 2027 and a 6-8 week camping road trip to twelve National Parks in the western and northwestern states. I've looked at camping options in the parks, the hikes I am interested in so I can plan on how many days I would need to stay. I've looked at distances and drive times from park to park so I can see what stops I can add between them. I want to build in some days so I can be flexible, but I will have to also set a schedule to arrive in the parks if I have campsite reservations. The total distance I would be traveling is over six thousand miles, That is a lot of driving. Two of the National Parks I have been to, but did not do any or very little hiking, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain. I love both parks and would love to explore them a bit more than I was able to on past trips. I also love the Jenny Lake Campground at Grand Tetons. It is my favorite campground of the ones I have stayed. 

Here is my list in the order I plan to visit:

• Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
• Rocky Mountain NP
• Grand Tetons NP
• Glacier NP
• North Cascades NP
• Olympic NP
• Mount Rainier NP
• Redwood NP
• Yosemite NP
• Sequoia NP
• Zion NP
• Bryce Canyon NP

I plan a a later trip to Arizona to take in some places there that look interesting. I also have several places in New Mexico that I want to visit that I will add to one of these trips. 

I have ideas of places and things I am considering down the road. A volunteer trip to Guatemala to work with a Sea Turtle Conservation program. National Parks staff volunteer or seasonal employee. Summer work in Alaska at a lodge or park. I might even decide to return to Nepal to teach again and maybe trek the Annapurna Circuit. The problem with aging though is you never know what can happen. Illness, injury or death. I've had family members be active up to their 90's. I've had others that were old and feeble in the 60's. I am going to do my best to stay active as long as I can. I would love to still be hiking in the mountains well into my 80's. I just can't let myself slow down. 

Finding Calmness

 

What a week it has been and it is only Thursday. It had been very stressful up to last night. Things were finally resolved on a positive note and I felt as though a weight had been lifted off of me. I just had to quit imagining the worse case scenario and know that things would most likely work out for the best. You know what? It did! One bit of advice I have is DO NOT try to shop for a good used car right now. If you can wait - do so. I also had been worried about the new boss we were getting. The staff here was imagining the worst. She started on Monday and so far everyone seems to really like her. She is struggling a bit and is overwhelmed by the chaos and workload that has landed in her lap. I just tell her to breathe (something I have been telling myself a lot lately) and to let it all just fall into place. 

I had hoped that with the stress having departed and my mood more joyful, I would get a good nights sleep last night. Mother Nature had other plans. Sometime between 2 am - 3 am an insane thunderstorm came through and lasted at least two hours. Thunder, wind and heavy downpours. I went outside as soon as it was light this morning (after the storm had passed) and checked my rain gauge... It had over-flowed. It has markings up to six inches and then another 1.5 inches to the rim. So we had over 7.5 inches of rain in just those few hours. The rivers and creeks around us all flooded over their banks. Luckily the drive to work was not impacted and I easily made it in on time.

Workout updates... I have started watching YouTube videos during my workouts. One on the EBC trek, one on the Inca Trail and a few of other sights to see in and around Cusco Peru. They really help the workouts go by so much quicker than listening to music. On Saturday I did 1500 steps (30 minutes) on the stair master, an hour on the treadmill with 30 minutes at 15%, and then 30 minutes on the rower. I felt great. Sunday was a different story, 800 steps, 50 minutes treadmill and 30 minutes rower. It was all a struggle. This weekend I will try again for the 30-60-30 on Saturday. My daughter will be in town on Sunday so we hope to go hiking. I'm not sure how the trails will be after all the rain, but we will see. 

I do have a ton of yardwork to do so that will be a good workout too. 

Breath in

Breath out

Deep

Calm

Smile

Release

Present moment

Wonderful moment

In... out...