Avon Walk Again in 2007!

After thinking a lot about the 2007 walk, and talking with Susan, I have decided to walk again next June in Denver. My reasons for walking again weigh heavily on my mind.

The number one reason I am walking again is to raise money for women who desperately need support when diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer is not necessarily a fatal illness. If caught early and treated properly, survival is highly possible and likely. Women without insurance or underinsured may not get the treatment they need when they need it most. It is at this point that the Avon Foundation can step in and provide valuable funding and services to help women and their families.

Awareness is another important reason to walk. If noticed and treated early, breast cancer can be beat in many situations. Awareness=survival.

Another reason I am walking is for my friends and family who have had cancer touch their lives. I am walking in support and love for them and all they have experienced and will experience.

I am also walking for myself, as a commitment to remain healthy and active.

I also want to celebrate health and friendship in 2007 - and I want to encourage you to walk with us. Susan and I are forming a team now, and I will have information about our team up shortly. We don't have a name yet, so join the team and help us come up with a team name!

If walking isn't your thing, consider crewing or volunteering. Crew members and volunteers make the walk possible. As a walker, the volunteers along the way were the kindest people, paving the way and making the 40 miles fly by quickly.

There are lots of ways to participate and change lives!

Training, fundraising, and walking are all hard work, but the reward is great!

Prayers to Beth and her Family

Harper, Eileen "Micki"
MADISON - Eileen "Micki" Harper died of multiple myeloma on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006, at the Ellen and Peter Johnson HospiceCare Residence. Micki was born in Oklahoma City, to Eileen (Kelly) and Ray J. Riordan. She grew up in La Crescent, Minn. and Madison, graduating from Blessed Sacrament Grade School, in 1956 and from Edgewood High School, in 1960. She earned a B.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1964. She attended secretarial school in Chicago for a year, then returned to Madison and worked for General Telephone Company from 1965 to 1968.

On June 29, 1968, she married Richard M. "Dick" Harper. She and Dick lived in Whitewater for several years before moving to Madison. She worked for the Wisconsin State Telephone Association from 1975 to 2000, coordinating conventions and managing human resources. She served on the Board of Directors for Nsight Telservices, Northeast Telephone Company, and Cellcom from 1984 until the time of her death.

Micki was active in local anti-abortion organizations throughout her life, serving as president of the local chapter of Wisconsin Citizens Concerned for Life in the early 1970s, and as president of the Dane County chapter of Wisconsin Right to Life at the time of her death. She was also an active member of Blessed Sacrament Parish for more than 30 years, serving terms as president of its Rosary Altar Society and as secretary of its Parish Council among other volunteer activities.

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth of Madison; son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Mara, granddaughter, Claire Harper, and an unborn grandchild due in February, of Savage, Minn.; brothers and sisters-in-law, Ray J. Riordan and Phyllis Riordan of Monona, Patrick D. and Karen V. Riordan of Dyckesville, Wis., and Robert H. and Cathy Riordan of Green Bay; nieces Brighid, Colleen, Kate, Kelly, Maria, Maureen, and Meghan Riordan and Phyllis (Eric) Gaukel; nephews, P. Daniel, Ray J., Robert and Timothy Riordan, and Philip, Nicholas, Andrew and Alexander Ribeiro; grandnephews and grandnieces, Owen, Finn and Charlotte; cousins, Ann (Pat) Colbert, Jim (Donna) Deuster and Paul (Lien) Deuster; and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dick; her parents; and her sister-in-law, Kathleen Riordan.

In addition to her family and friends, Micki loved sharing stories; her cats, Tommy and Tuppence; reading, especially mysteries (she could recommend a mystery to match anyone's interests, and loved spending time at the mystery bookstore Booked for Murder); and doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles. She was a great listener, a loyal friend, and loving wife, mother, grandmother, and sister. We'll miss her wit, infectious laugh, unconditional support and encouragement, warmth, sensible advice, empathy, and thoughtfulness.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 2131 Rowley Ave., Madison, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006, at 11 a.m. Friends may call from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the JOYCE-RYAN FUNERAL HOME, 5071 Odana Rd, Madison, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2006, and from 10 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept 19, 2006, at the church. Memorials may be made to Wisconsin Right to Life-Dane County Education Fund, Blessed Sacrament School Endowment Fund or the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Foundation. Joyce-Ryan Funeral Home and Cremation Services 5701 Odana Road (608) 274-1000 www.ryanfuneralservice.com

Los Angeles

Walkers in Los Angeles walked this past weekend and raised over $3.6 million!

Albuquerque AIDS Walk

The AIDS Walk in Albuquerque went very well, and Team Kenny Vance raised $525! Thank you for your donations. The walker turnout for this walk was smaller than previous years, but organizers say the funding met their expectations. Thank you for helping to make a difference for people living in Albuquerque with AIDS.

Below is a picture of mom, Brenda, and Charlie. Charlie was the star of the show! Many people came up to us and wanted to know what kind of dog Charlie was. And he was a good walker. He walke almost the whole way!



Here is another dog on the walk.



We were near the end of the walking pack. Brenda had stopped to help a dog that was dehydrated. This is a picture of all the walkers going west on Central.

Last Year's AIDS Walk

Here are some photos from last year's walk in Albuquerque. Last year the walk started at UNM, went east on Central, and then turned back and ended UNM.

Walking for AIDS

Every year my sister, Brenda, and I do one AIDS walk. We walk for my Uncle Ken who died in 1988. This year the Albuquerque AIDS walk is on September 9th. One of the great things about the walk (if you don't have a dog) you can adopt a dog just for the walk. It is very exciting for dog lovers who don't have dogs! So think about joining us. Our team page is on this website:
http://www.active.com/donate/AWABQ2006/BNye2

This walk is a very short walk - a 5k (3 miles). We would love to have you join us!

End of Donations

I believe the final matching donation for the Avon walk has come in. With your generous help, we are donating $2585 to help people in very personal and life change ways! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hiking - a great idea!

Here is an article I got in my email today. Anyone want to join me!

Hikers raising cancer awareness along trail

NORTH ADAMS — Two hikers popped off the Appalachian Trail and into the city Tuesday on a journey to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Cousins Chad "Stretch" Anderson, 22, and Daane "Goat" DeBoer, 20, both of Grand Rapids, Mich., wore scraggly beards and T-shirts advertising the cause they titled "Hike for the cure."

"Four years ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer," Anderson said, "I saw her go through chemotherapy and radiation. I saw the pain and trial she went through and also the trial on me and my family. I don't want to see anyone else go through that."

Anderson said he felt helpless during his mother's illness and recovery process. He shaved his head in sympathy with his mother when she went through chemotherapy, but that was only a first step.

Now, he is taking four months to complete the 2,174-mile trail in order to increase breast cancer awareness.

To read the rest of the article visit this link.

News from San Francisco!

Over 2300 people walked in San Francisco on July 8th and 9th and raised over $5.4 million! To read how a portion the San Francisco funds will be spent, visit this web site.

Healthy Weight Important

It is increasingly clear that maintaining a healthy weight throughout adulthood is one of the best things women can do to protect themselves against breast cancer.

Findings from a study involving more than 87,000 female nurses show that weight gain during adulthood is a strong risk factor for breast cancer. Researchers also found that weight loss after menopause helped lower breast cancer risk.

Gaining 55 pounds or more after age 18 was associated with a 45% increase in breast cancer risk after menopause over women who maintained a healthy weight throughout their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

To read the entire article visit: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/124/115751.htm

Lunch Stop First Day

Photo from the Multiply Website.

The Walk - The Long Version (the short version is the next post)

SATURDAY MORNING

Joel and I woke up at 3:45 on Saturday morning. Since Joel was a member of the crew, he had to be at his truck at 4:30. So we arrived at Washington Park in the dark. I was waiting with Joel for the rest of his team when JM appeared out of the darkness, smiling and happy as if she had been up for hours. I was so happy and relived to see her. I knew we would mentally and physically need all of the help we could get over the next two days.



I said goodbye to Joel and walked with JM to the volunteer sign-up tent in the event area of the park. JM was assigned to breakfast set-up, which took all of 5 minutes once she was signed up and ready to go.

JM and I ate breakfast together and Sean and Susan came for breakfast once the sun was up. It was good to see them. After thinking about the walk for months, it felt like everything was falling into place.

We all went to the opening ceremony together. Jackie came to the ceremony. Saturday would have been her sister's birthday and her sister's name was on my walking shirt. It was so great to be with her for the ceremony. It meant so much to have her with us all weekend.

JM, Sean, Susan, and Me.

THE WALK STARTS

The walk started with the end of the opening ceremony. The walk began with a team of motorcycles ahead of us. At first I thought the motorcycles were just part of the noise and excitement of the opening ceremonies – big burly guys wearing pink and carrying stuffed animals and petite women, also in pink, on giant bikes lead the way. These are people we saw over and over throughout the weekend. The motorcycle team directed traffic at nearly every single intersection we crossed. They stopped traffic, directed walkers, played loud music, and cheered us on at every crossroad. They were all so generous. I later found out that a number of them had traveled from California to do this event.

We walked in a fairly tight pack, over 700 of us, until lunch. So it was slow going the first several hours. We walked through some of Denver’s beautiful old neighborhoods in the morning.

Joel at the rest stop

Joel was at quick stop A (which was the second stop). When we got to the stop he looked happy, serving Gatorade, dressed like a pirate (each stop had a theme).

JM and Butch waiting for us at the first cheering station!

Susan and Sean

In the afternoon we walked by some really giant homes. Some of the areas we walked through looked like old farm areas. A quiet and peaceful walk. JM was also following us along the way with Butch. It was like a glass of cold fresh water every time we saw her. I knew we had made another milestone every time I saw them in the distance.

By about 3pm we were all getting really tired. Our conversation nearly came to a stop. Sean was having trouble with one of his feet. It was hot. And near the end of the 26 miles we found ourselves in a fairly new neighborhood in Littleton, with uninteresting homes. It was also at this point that Susan explained that we were going to be spending the night in a park adjacent to Columbine High School. There is even a space at the park that has been set aside for a memorial, because it was the park where all of the people evacuated to during the shootings. This information really dug into my mind, and the oppressive sun began to have a really foreboding feeling.

Sean having his foot bandaged.

MARATHON COMPLETE

Near 5pm we reached the park. Just before we came into the park we passed a woman with hundreds of names on the back of her shirt, her husband had his arm intertwined with her’s. He was physically supporting her the last steps into the park. People were cheering up ahead, we knew we were close!

JM and Jackie were there to welcome us into the park/Wellness Village. Susan and Sean left to find their kids and her parents. We sat down to wait for Joel to come in from the work he was doing at quick stop F.

While we were waiting, I was given a 3-minute ribbon. They are “connection ribbons” that are handed out every 3 minutes at the walk. Each ribbon represents a person who has been diagnosed with breast cancer (a person is diagnosed with invasive breast cancer every 3 minutes). Over 600 were handed out over the weekend.

TENTING IN A PARK

After sitting for a while, I decided to find our tent. JM left and Jackie went to find the tent with me. Boy Scouts were setting up all of the tents – there were hundreds. The tent in our spot was missing so we went to get one from the group setting them up. As we were waiting for the tent, we noticed a really dark storm moving in. Jackie told me to go wait in line for a shower and she would take care of the tent.

I was waiting in line for the showers and there was a lot of discussion about the storm that seemed to be coming our way. There was talk that the showers might have to close because the lightning was hitting so close. At this point – a point of total exhaustion, I just felt like crying. I was so tired and I really wanted a shower! The feeling of exhaustion would soon be burried.

I decided to leave the line of about 30 people because it really seemed like the showers were going to close. When I got to the tent, Jackie had set up everything. The therma rests were out, sleeping bags set up. All so cozy. The wind was picking up, and I suggested that we should get back in the tent so the tent wouldn’t blow away in the wind. So we got in.



Moments later the wind really picked up and the hail began. Not normal wind, not normal hail. Jackie and I were leaning against the edges of the tent, trying to keep it upright, and rain was soaking through the fabric. And every once in a while a giant wind would come up, totally flattening the tent to the ground. Jackie and I just laughed and laughed, it was so frightening and unbelievable there wasn’t anything else to do except laugh. We could hear people screaming outside and we could hear things blowing by us in the wind. The hail was beating down on our hands and heads on the tent, I was sure we were being bruised by the pelting hail. For several moments we thought we were both going to totally be picked up by the wind and carried away. The wind was stunning.



Once it stopped and we opened the door, the tent city destruction was everywhere. Tents were blown all over the landscape; piles of hail were sitting on top of luggage left outside.

The Walk people were amazing. The situation was total chaos. Everything was wet, tents were ruined, torn, broken. Walk workers were rushing around to every tent looking for people and verifying that everyone was ok. Bus service back to Washington Park was arranged for those who wanted to go home or go to a hotel. A lot of our things were wet, but I just felt this was one huge adventure. I was open to anything and everything this weekend – I had nearly no expectations (except that I would finish the walk) and I thought we should stay and just go with the events as they were given to us.

During this time, Joel was dispatched to Invesco Field to pick up boxes of emergency blankets. Before the emergency blankets arrived, the Walk workers had already begun handing out silver thermal blankets to everyone. Everyone was wet and the weather was cold. As blankets were distributed, the Walk workers were continuing to make sure everyone was ok, and were saying “we are still having fun, everything is ok.” The situation was really stressful, yet just hearing someone say we were having fun changed the mood of everything. And they were cheerfully comforting everyone, knowing their sleeping bags were totally soaked and their tents were 100 feet down the field. I have a great deal of respect for the way the workers handled the situation.

Susan and Sean’s tent was tumbled and all of their things got wet, so they went home. Sean was also having continuing problem with his foot, so they planned to not walk on Sunday morning, but come to the closing ceremonies on Sunday afternoon. (After the walk Sean went to the doctor. The doctor said his foot had a "marching stress fracture" caused by walking long distances on a hard surface. Sean walked around 10 miles with the fracture on Saturday). I was going to walk alone, which was ok. I have trained alone, and I wanted to know what it would be like to do the walk alone – because when I originally signed up to do the walk, I was ready to walk without knowing anyone.

A picture I took at dinner after the storm had passed and most of the people had gone home.

I went to the dining tent around 8pm and ate dinner. I got really cold while I was eating and went back to the tent to wait for Joel under the damp sleeping bag.

Joel returned around 9pm and we tried to sleep. Everything was damp, but we were ok. The wind kicked up in the night and there were lots of strange noises against our tent. We both had a short night sleep – getting up at 5am Sunday morning.

SUNDAY MORNING

When we opened the tent door on Sunday morning, we found that tents had continued to roll across the field and had smashed into our tent during the night. A lot of people left after the hail, and there were a lot of empty tents that were picked up by the wind in the night.

Joel was really sick on Sunday morning, but after a bit felt better and headed to set up quick stop A (the second stop – the stops are numbered then lettered 1 – A – 2 – B – ect).

I packed up our gear and took it to the truck for transport. I packed up our tent, and went to breakfast. Everyone had storm stories from the night. I think most people rode out the storm in one of the large tents – not their little tent in the middle of a giant open field. I also found that a lot of people had left for the night and may or may not be finishing the walk. Near the end of the walk I found out that 750 people had actually started the walk on Saturday and around 550 returned on Sunday. I think maybe 100 people or so stayed at the camp over night.

The route opened at 7:30 and I was one of the first people to leave. We walked in a group for the first 2 miles and then things stretched out pretty far. I met Joel at quick stop A, I was feeling great. No real soreness from the 26 miles on Saturday and an unusual amount of energy. I found JM at one of the first cheering stations soon after A. Now that I was walking alone seeing JM was the one thing I was really looking forward to. She became my total mental support system as the day became a bit more difficult.

I should take a moment to explain about the rest stops. At the numbered stops there was lots of snack food, Gatorade, water, and 6-10 port-a-potties. The numbered stops also had a medic area where people can have their feet bandaged, or have someone help them with a health concern they might have developed. About every 2 miles there was either a numbered or alphabetical stop. These were really oasis in the walk – drink and great people cheering us on.

A full rest stop near the begining of the walk.

There were also people on bicycles all along the route on both days, making sure everyone was ok and had water. One guy biked 97 miles on Saturday, riding the route back and forth. The bikers were really stars, cheering us on, talking to us, negotiating foot and car traffic – always happy. Superheroes along the way!

Bike riders and motorcycle riders being honored at the end of the walk.

With the bike riders, the motorcycle traffic directors, the cheering stations, and the rest stops – we rarely ever felt alone (except for the walk between the last rest station and the Wellness Village).

I think I arrived at the lunch stop around 10:30am. I was really tired. I had been walking at a pretty fast pace to the lunch. At the lunch stop I was one of the first 80 people to arrive. I decided to take a long lunch break and I ate a lot hoping it would give me more energy.

When I finished eating I went over to a sidewalk to stretch. I looked up and there was Joel – talking on a phone under a tree! He was still feeling sick and his rest stop crew had sent him to the medical area. After sleeping for a while he was still not feeling well enough to work, so he was trying to figure out how to get back to Washington Park when I found him.

He called JM who was waiting at a cheering station. She came and picked him up and I continued walking.

After lunch the field of walkers was really spread thin. A lot of people were walking by themselves. We would catch up with each other at road crossings, but other than that there wasn’t a lot of talk.

I felt a lot better after lunch, but my pace slowed. I saw Joel and JM at two cheering stations.

On both days, there were a lot of people cheering. There were people who were driving to cheering stations (appointed places for family and friends to cheer). We were almost always walking through neighborhoods, and there were families, little kids, big dogs – all cheering us on. Even days later I can still hear,” GO WALKERS” echoing in my ears even today It was really touching. And people just walking on the paths and sidewalks in their neighborhoods would thank us for walking or would say “congratulations” as we got into the Washington Park neighborhood.

The last miles were through beautiful tree lined streets. As I was coming into the area right next to the park I could hear lots of cheering and yelling for walkers who were entering the park. As the cheering got louder I came to a woman who had a sign on her back that said “I am walking for My Grandma Edna.” I told her I was walking for my grandmother named Edna too. We talked for a while. She seemed really tired and concerned that we were going to have to walk a long distance around the park before finishing. I assured her we were very very close. Moments later we arrived at the cheerers. Volunteers and family and friends were all waiting at the place we started the walk the day before. We finished right about 12:30pm.

Here I am right at the finish!

We walked between two lines of people cheering for all of us, and at the end there was a tent with t-shirts for all of the walkers to wear at the closing ceremony.



JM, Joel, and Butch had staked out a great spot on the lawn under a tree where we sat for the next several hours, talking about our walk experiences and watching all of the walkers come through the finishing point.



CLOSING CEREMONY

Susan, Sean, and the kids and Jackie arrived for the closing ceremony, which was very touching. Breast cancer survivors wore light pink shirts and lead the group in to the ceremony area. All the other walkers and crew followed them into the grounds. A portion of the donations we raised were awarded. It was really thrilling to hear exactly how the money we made will be spent on early detection, research, (and my favorite) to a group called Angel Care – a group in Denver that provides food to families facing breast cancer (very similar to ANGELS in Georgia – that provided food to people with AIDS).

There were stories of survival and stories about why teams and families had walked – to honor someone they know who has survived. After the honors, the giant projection screen was filled with pictures of the faces of people we were walking in memory of. The faces started out big on the screen and as the image backed away there were thousands of tiny faces on the screen (we had the opportunity to send in pictures of people we were walking in memory of). It was heartbreaking and gave a powerful image to the “why” of our weekend and why raising funds and pushing research and finding a cure is so so important.

Closing Ceremonies

The ceremony ended and we all returned to our cars, a bit tired but filled with hope.

Made it!

I have a lot to share - many stories of an unforgetable weekend. We have a funky internet connection at the moment but wanted to get this up. I walked into Washington Park around 12:30 yesterday. We all finished the 26+ mile walk on Saturday, but as you can see Sean has a walking stick in this picture. I will write more about our journey in a few days.

Night Before

We got a bit of a late start into Denver today and we stopped for a lesierly lunch in Raton. This got us into Denver just in time for Friday rush hour. It took us quite a while to get from Castle Rock to downtown, but we made it.

The registration for the walk is this afternoon and tonight at the Adam's Mark hotel. We got in right at 4pm and the registration was super smooth. There were tons of volunteers everywhere and directional signs at every turn. The registration area was filled with computers, loud music, and happy people wearing blue shirts. Since Joel didn't send in his medical form, we had to go to the medical area which they kept telling us via email would be a long wait. There was no wait! From there we went to the regular registration area where we signed up for our tent, got tags for our baggage, and a wrist band with our participant number on it (Joel is upset that the band does not come off).

Joel went to his crew meeting at 5pm and I met JM in the lobby by chance. About 30 minutes later Sean and Susan came to the lobby to check in. It was like we had planned it all along!

After Joel's meeting we went down to the 16th Street Mall to Johnny Rockets where we met up with Jackie (who drove up from Santa Fe today too), her brother-in-law Adam, and her niece Ashley.

Now we are at the hotel at the Tech Center, rearranging our bags and preparing for our 3:45 alarm clock. Joel has to be at the park at 4:30am.

JM is planning to volunteer. It will be so nice to know she is around - and hopefully we will see her at some of the cheering stations. Jackie is coming to the opening ceremonies and hopes to see us at some of the cheering stations.

Joel is driving a van and helping with quick stop stations A and F.

We are going to share a tent, and this means I will be camping in the crew area - so I won't get as much sleep as the other walkers - with the crew getting up very early.

I am excited and nervous. The event itself has been a huge unknown, and now it is right here!

Off to bed to get a few hours of sleep.

Ready to Go

Joel and I are packing tonight. It is a kind of complicated packing job. We are packing for the walk and a trip to Chicago just following the walk. So we are packing for camping (during the walk). The night that we are "on the road" during the walk, all the participants and crew stay in a tent village. There are 2 people tents, showers, and dinner that night. Below is a picture I found of the village on a website. We don't have to take the tent, but we have to take everything else.



I have gotten so many great emails and gifts of good wishes and support over the past several weeks. The flowers in the post are from Joel's parents. They came on Monday, so I have been able to enjoy them all week during my mental preparation.

So we are ready to hit the road!

I was reading through my material. I thought I was not allowed to have a cell phone at the tent village, but I can use it there - so I will plan to call dad on Saturday night.

Denver Weather This Weekend

The weather in Denver could be quite interesting this weekend. Currently the forecast is for 87 as a high on Saturday and 79 as a high on Sunday. Both days have isolated thunderstorms. I hope they allow us to walk no matter what the weather is, or no matter how long it takes if we are delayed by weather.

Thoughts and Prayers for Good Health

Janet(my Aunt Pat's friend who has been so supportive of the walk) has had two people close to her diagnosed with breast cancer very recently. Special thoughts and prayers of support go to Penny and Vicky.

Albuquerque Walk 12 Miles

Saturday morning around 7:15 I left my parents' house on a 12 mile walk. I left the house and walked the ditch banks over the the Nature Center. The ditch banks in the North Valley are one of Albuquerque's best secret beauties. They are shaded cool walking spots. Walking along them you get to peek into the back yards of beautiful and historic homes. The North Valley is also fairly rural - a lot of animals live along the ditch banks. Below are two miniature horses I saw. They are building a neighborhood around the horses' pen, so this was a green patch of a field at the end of a culdesac.

Walking the ditch banks reminds me of walks I use to take with my Grandma Nye and sister when we were small. We would sometimes collect tadpoles and take them home for observation. Then when my parents moved to the North Valley, Brenda introduced me to riding bikes along the ditches. They are nice paths for bikes - flat, wide, and dirt/sand.




You can access the Bosque Trail at the Nature Center, so that is where I got on to the trail. Mile marker 3. The Bosque Trail is paved. The Rio Grande is on the west side of the trail and sometime there are ditches diverting water on the east side of the trail. The section of the trail near the Nature Center reminded me of a walk I took with my mom before I went to library school. We took an early morning walk along the river and saw coyotes running. This was before the Montano Bridge was built. We walked in the area where the bridge now sits and I remember how sad we thought it was that such a beautiful area would soon be destroyed by rushing traffic.

The walk also reminded me of a great bike ride I took on a weekend morning in 1994. It was the balloon fiesta weekend and I rode the trail watching balloons. It was a really quiet trail in those days - hardly any people. It was such a peaceful morning.

This weekend, the trail was very busy. Hundreds of people walking, biking, roller blading. People with dogs, people with dogs riding on their bikes! It was actually a really great walk even with all of the people. Everyone was very polite - very courteous. The trail is so heavily used by bikers, it could be intimidating for walkers, but nearly every biker yelled "on your left" before passing.



I walked down to Paseo Del Norte - mile marker 7.25. The above picture was taken on my way back. In the distance you can see the Sleeping Sisters (old volcanoes). You can also see the river and the anti erosion structure along the river. The Bosque (off the paved trails) is closed right now because of fire danger. There was a fire along the river on Friday and another fire Sunday night. A dangerous time of year.

The pictures below are some images from the ditch bank between Candelaria and Matthew.




This was my last 10+ walk before the big walk next weekend. It was a great peaceful contemplative walk filled with a lot of memories and energy.

Saturday Walk in the Neighborhood

After a nice giant bowl of oatmeal at the Flying Tortilla I did a 7 mile walk through the neighborhood. It was a good walk. I did the outer loop of the neighborhood and one inner loop. I only passed 2 cars. I didn't see any wild animals - but the flowers are starting to bloom despite the dry conditions.

The picture above is a cactus that is flowering right next to our driveway. This year this type of cactus is flowering exuberantly. They are beautiful, and kind of shocking to see in the distant landscape - a globes of purple where it is usually so brown.



The above flowers are wildflowers I saw both in Santa Fe and Albuquerque this weekend. They are growing by the roadside where they get a little more water from the runoff.



These prehistoric plants grow even in the driest years. They produce gourds - and sometimes (like this year) they are the only real green coming up naturally.

Ticket in the Mail

I got my e-ticket for the Avon Walk via email today. It is a ticket that says how much money you have raised and that your medical forms have been approved. I guess it is suppose to speed up the check-in process on Friday afternoon. As of today I have raised $2485 and my medical and insurance checks have been completed. According to the walk organizers - I am ready to go!

I have a lot of nervous excitement about the walk today. We will be checking in at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Denver a week from today. Joel has to check in before 3:30pm, so we will probably leave for Denver around 8am next Friday. Hopefully we will have dinner with JM, Susan, and Sean on Friday night.

I am planning to do a couple of shorter walks this weekend. Tomorrow I will probably do a 2 hour walk downtown near the plaza. There are a lot of hills downtown. Then Sunday morning we will be in Albuquerque for Father's Day. I am going to do a 10 mile walk in the morning, probably along the Bosque bike path if the trail is open.