WILDLIFE

Among the reasons that walking about town, or taking a real hike in a park is far more interesting than mindlessly walking on a treadmill as I used to do, is that outdoors one can see real wildlife. During my hikes I have seen frogs, snakes, deer, herons, chipmunks, turtles and wild turkeys. Yesterday as I hiked through Goose Island I spotted something that appeared to be moving. At first I thought it might be a leaf, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be something that I would have never expected to see on a Chicago street. I think it was a scorpion. It was about 3 inches long, and when I got near it to take its photo, it curled up in a defensive position. I sent this picture to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to see if they would be kind enough to confirm my sighting. If I hear back from them, I will let you know... If it wasn't a scorpion, then perhaps it was a three inch lobster, and that seems highly unlikely. But seriously, a scorpion? In Chicago? Walking across the street? 

It took a lot of effort to squeeze in this 6 mile urban hike yesterday.... It rained practically the entire day. In fact, there were thunderstorms in the morning, afternoon and evening. When I set out on this hike, with my daughter, the rain had stopped briefly. This break in the precipitation was short-lived, so we got a bit wet. 

Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, October 14, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Grits	300	66	5	6	930	3
Trader Joes - Pumpkin O's	220	50	2	4	280	18
	520	116	7	10	1,210	21
L U N C H
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Mariano's - Spicy Salmon Maki	350	39	16	14	278	0
	650	104	16	19	1,778	40
D I N N E R
Rana - Roaster Tomato & Mozzarella Tortellini	600	89	16	22	1,244	2
	600	89	16	22	1,244	2
S N A C K S
Select Choice - Chewy Oat & Honey Granola	200	38	4	4	110	14
Snack Cheese	100	0	9	6	163	0
	300	38	13	10	273	14
Totals	2,070	347	52	61	4,505	77
Your Daily Goal	2,934	367	97	147	2,300	110
Remaining	864	20	45	86	-2,205	33
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,004 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 218.9 lbs in 5 weeks.

GOOSE ISLAND

Goose Island is the only island within Chicago. One will never see a sign welcoming you to the island or a sign thanking you for visiting and asking you to visit again. It seems to only be identified on Chicago maps. There are no residential units on this island. The theme of my urban hike today was to walk every street, every nook and cranny that was not private property on Goose Island. Once I finished that, which was about five miles, I circumnavigated the island as best I could. My hike ended up back on Lake Michigan. When I was done, I had logged fifteen miles. 

Fifteen Mile Urban Hike which focused on 'exploring' Goose Island.

This shows that I walked every street possible in Goose Island and that I took a hike around the island as well.

It was a 'grey' day in Chicago and this black and white photograph captured the mood better than a full color photo.

Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, September 8, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original	300	66	0	6	930	0
Bacon Slices	400	0	25	8	525	0
Quaker - Chewy Granola 90 Calories	270	57	6	3	240	21
	970	123	31	17	1,695	21
L U N C H
Campbell's Chunky Manhattan Clam Chowder	120	18	3	5	800	3
Earthbound Farm - Baby Spinach, Organic	40	6	0	4	130	0
Made Good - Choc chip granola minis	200	28	9	4	0	10
	360	52	12	13	930	13
D I N N E R
Couscous, cooked, 1 cup, cooked	176	36	0	6	8	0
Pork Chops, 4 oz	170	0	8	24	55	0
Home Made - Garden Salad, 1 bowl	100	6	0	4	400	4
	446	42	8	34	463	4
S N A C K S
FRENCH VANILLA ALMOND GRANOLA	500	92	16	10	120	28
	500	92	16	10	120	28
Totals	2,276	309	67	74	3,208	66
Your Daily Goal	4,640	580	154	233	2,300	174
Remaining	2,364	271	87	159	-908	108
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,710 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 179.1 lbs in 5 weeks     

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
15 MILE URBAN HIKE	208	2,779
Daily Total / Goal	209 / 30	2,710 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	660 / 210	8,264 / 4,130

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from wikipedia.com

Goose Island is the only island on the Chicago River in Illinois. It is an artificial island, formed by the North Branch of the Chicago River on the west and the North Branch Canal on the east. It covers 160 acres (0.65 km²), and is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) across at its widest point.

The land that was to become the present-day Goose Island lies on a bend in the Chicago River between North Avenue on the north and Chicago Avenue on the south. In 1853 William B. Ogden, who had been Chicago's first mayor, formed the Chicago Land Company, which purchased land on the east side of the river to excavate clay for brick-making. Starting from the south, workers excavated a channel northwards, and by 1857 the channel had rejoined the river forming a shortcut past the bend in the river. The channel was eventually dredged to 50 feet (15 m) wide and 10 feet (3.0 m) deep to make it navigable, and it became known as the North Branch Canal, or Ogden's Canal. The island thus created was also sometimes nicknamed Ogden's Island, a name that some Chicago aldermen proposed to make the official name of the island in 1891.

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