Friday, September 30, 2016

PORTAGE CREEK BICENTENNIAL PARK

I woke up in my Grand Rapids Hotel and drove to Portage for my appointment to sell buttons at a particularly good customer. Before I left the Kalamazoo area and headed back to Chicago, I found a park with paved trails and took a ten mile hike. Today, Friday, after a dentist appointment I will head to the airport for a trip to New York to visit my Mom and youngest brother and his family in New York. So, today, may be a true day off from hiking. If the weather cooperates, I am planning on a hike with my brother and his wife in Connecticut on Saturday.

The trail goes right under I-94. One thing I learned yesterday was that this spot under the highway was just about at the midpoint between Chicago and Detroit as you will see in the next photo.

I always get a kick out of spotting some genuine wildlife. On the trail yesterday I spotted four wild turkeys.

Most of the trail was between Portage Creek and these railroad tracks.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Super 8 Cinnamon Roll - Cinnamon Roll	500	77	24	6	887	40
Cereal - Raisin Bran Crunch	500	118	3	11	526	50
	1,000	195	27	17	1,413	90
L U N C H
Gatorade Recover - Whey Protein Bar	360	42	13	20	160	29
Subway - Footlong Turkey Breast on Wheat	560	92	17	36	1,890	11
	920	134	30	56	2,050	40
D I N N E R
Homemade Stuffed Shells	615	86	17	30	818	18
	615	86	17	30	818	18
S N A C K S
Garden Veggie Sticks Zesty Ranch	130	15	7	1	280	1
Reese's - Peanut Butter Cups	330	36	18	6	225	33
	460	51	25	7	505	34

Totals	2,995	466	99	110	4,786	182
Your Daily Goal	3,683	460	122	185	2,300	138
Remaining	688	-6	23	75	-2,486	-44
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,753 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 202.4 lbs in 5 weeks.

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
10 Mile Hike	137	1,875


Daily Total / Goal	137 / 30	1,875 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	725 / 210	11,193 / 4,130

just me having some fun with various photo effects.

from www.portagemi.gov...

The “backbone” of the Portage park system, Portage Creek Bicentennial Park (PCBP) was the official city project to honor the nation’s 200th birthday. Spanning over 200 acres, PCBP is a linear facility that runs between the City Centre Area and the northern city limits at Kilgore Road, connected by a 3.5 mile multi-use trail. In total, PCBP has over 8 miles of hiking and biking trails with several opportunities to view scenic Portage Creek.

Part of my hike yesterday had me cross through CELERY FLATS (which is also described on the www.portagemi.gov website)

Celery Flats

Celery Flats is really a “park within a park." A key element of the Portage Creek Bicentennial Park, Celery Flats has two distinct settings. On the north side of Garden Lane, the Celery Flats Interpretive Center highlights the importance of the celery industry to Kalamazoo County. The Celery Flats Historical Area, with several relocated and restored buildings, is located south of Garden Lane. The Historical Area is the site of many community events and several of the buildings can be reserved for private group use.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

TRAVERSE CITY

I had a very aggressive travel schedule on Wednesday. I left Chicago at 5:30AM Central Time in order to be at an appointment in Holland (Michigan) at 10:00AM Eastern Time. Once I finished my first appointment, I scooted up to Traverse City in order to see a manufacturing customer that was considering some of my buttons for bracelet kits to be introduced at a major international tradeshow in January. My appointment on Thursday morning is much closer to home in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I drove back to Grand Rapids in order to be close to my Thursday morning appointment. Before I made that drive, I squeezed in a two hour hike in Traverse City right before sundown. When something is a priority, one can (often) manage to find the time.

My hike was mostly along the southern rim of the western arm of Grand Traverse Bay (which is part of Lake Michigan) The hike also had me 'traverse' (no pun intended) the main street of the town as well. This town is busting out at the seams during the summer months. I suppose if one wants to have a Traverse City beach to themselves as I did yesterday, the best time to accomplish that is the early days of fall, close to dusk.

This tree was on its own 'island' about 5 feet in diameter, about 5 feet from the shore.

The weather was a cool 67°F and I wore a long sleeve shirt and shorts. In the midwest, the shorts and short sleeve shirt season may soon be winding down.

The water was very choppy in Grand Traverse Bay

It is usually not easy to have a whole beach to oneself in Traverse City.

A small portion of my Traverse City urban hike was on the TART. (Traverse Area Recreational Trail) Had I had more time I would have more carefully planned a hike that would have mostly stayed on the trail - instead, I found myself walking through downtown Traverse City as well as the shoreline. I have no complaints, I was very glad to be able to squeeze in a ten mile hike on Wednesday.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Roundy's - Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal	480	96	8	16	1,040	16
Quaker - Chewy Granola 90 Calories, 1 bar	90	19	2	1	80	7
Ritz - Cheese Crackers, 1 pack	190	23	9	3	320	4
Regular Raw - Gala Apple	74	20	0	0	0	3
	834	158	19	20	1,440	30
L U N C H
Subway - Turkey Sub Sandwich, 12 inch	560	92	7	36	1,620	14
Special K - Protien Meal Bar- Double Chocolate	170	23	5	12	180	13
	730	115	12	48	1,800	27
D I N N E R
Subway - Roast Beef Sub, 12 in	640	90	10	48	1,320	14
Kelloggs Pop Tarts - Brown Sugar Cinnamon	420	69	14	5	350	30
	1,060	159	24	53	1,670	44
S N A C K S
Nature Valley - Oats & Dark Chocolate Granola	190	29	7	4	140	12
GIN GINS ORIGINAL CHEWY GINGER	120	30	0	0	0	30
UNSWEETENED BANANA CHIPS	200	19	12	2	6	1
Nestle - Dark Chocolate Chips	210	24	15	0	0	18
	720	102	34	6	146	61

Totals	3,344	534	89	127	5,056	162
Your Daily Goal	3,704	463	123	186	2,300	139
Remaining	360	-71	34	59	-2,756	-23
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,774 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 205.7 lbs in 5 weeks.

.

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	132	1,953


Daily Total / Goal	132 / 30	1,953 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	588 / 210	9,318 / 4,130

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

COLUMBUS PARK

My travels took me to the west side of Chicago in the afternoon, which allowed time for ten mile hike mostly through Columbus Park.

After hiking 25 miles on Monday, a ten mile hike just felt like a 'walk in the park.' (which is precisely what it was)

I tried to hike every road and path that I could find in the park. The nine hole golf course was off limits. I had walked nearly seven miles before I accidentally 'discovered' the manmade waterfalls.

from wikipedia...

Columbus Park is a 135-acre (55 ha) park on the far West Side of Chicago, Illinois in the Austin neighborhood. It is considered the finest work by landscape architect Jens Jensen and was consequently named a National Historic Landmark in 2003.

The concept of Columbus Park was first pitched in 1912 by the West Park Commission as a way to develop recreational facilities for densely populated neighborhoods. At the time, the West Side of Chicago had a population of nearly 900,000, but only two small playgrounds. The commission had acquired the property a year earlier from the Catholic church for $560,000; the church had recently abandoned plans to build a seminary on the site. It was the first large park conceived by the commission since 1869. Jens Jensen was a Danish immigrant who joined the commission in the 1880s as a laborer and rose to the rank of chief landscape artist and general superintendent of the system by 1905. Columbus Park was Jensen's first large park, and he began designing it in 1915.

The 135-acre (55 ha) park reflected Jensen's Prairie School approach to landscape design. This method emphasized the natural beauty of the area and was inspired by the horizontality of the prairie landscape. Jensen preferred to use native plants in his designs, a technique that was rare at the time. Jensen's stonework, inspired by natural rock outcroppings in the Midwest, is exemplified by his waterfalls, council ring, and stone paths. Buildings in the part constructed prior to 1920 also reflect Jensen's Prairie approach.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Roundy's - Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal	600	120	10	20	1,300	20
	600	120	10	20	1,300	20
L U N C H
Barbacoa- Beef	400	5	17	58	1,285	0
Chef Salad	200	4	3	7	182	0
Pulp-free Coconut Water, 16 ounces	100	28	0	0	120	22
Apple - Apple Gala, Med (2)	160	44	0	0	0	34
Dark Chocolate Almonds	200	16	13	3	0	11
	1,060	97	33	68	1,587	67
D I N N E R
Spaghetti - Spaghetti Noodles	400	78	2	14	2	1
Eggplant Parmigian	600	51	38	16	1,359	21
	1,000	129	40	30	1,361	22
S N A C K S
Oreo Cookies	320	50	14	2	280	28
	320	50	14	2	280	28

Totals	2,980	396	97	120	4,528	137
Your Daily Goal	3,779	472	126	189	2,300	141
Remaining	799	76	29	69	-2,228	4
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,849 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today... You'd weigh 201.3 lbs in 5 weeks

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
10 MILE HIKE	139	1,856


Daily Total / Goal	139 / 30	1,856 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	455 / 210	7,372 / 4,130

I used the 10 second timer to take the photos at on of the Columbus Park waterfalls. My camera caught me moving to the spot where I was to stand for the picture. That photo looked like this...

When the I magnified myself in the photo, it looked like this...

That photo reminded me of a very famous photo of 'BIGFOOT'...

and finally, I put the two photos together...

BIGFOOT & Marc Jacobs (separated at birth?)

a final note...

On the last two days, I visited two 'landmarks' On Monday, I visited CHESS RECORDS at 2120 South Michigan Avenue which is a Chicago Landmark (apparently it is not significant enough to be on the list of National Historic Landmarks. On Tuesday, I visited COLUMBUS PARK which is a National Historic Landmark... This made me wonder.... Just how many historic landmarks are there?

from www.nps.gov (National Park Service)

National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Today, just over 2,500 historic places bear this national distinction. Working with citizens throughout the nation, the National Historic Landmarks Program draws upon the expertise of National Park Service staff who guide the nomination process for new Landmarks and provide assistance to existing Landmarks.

After learning that the United States had 2500+ National Historic Landmarks, I wondered how many were in Chicago...

from wikipedia...

There are more than 350 places listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in Chicago, Illinois, including 83 historic districts that may include numerous historic buildings, structures, objects and sites.