STUPIDITY RAINS

Lately I have been drowning in stupidity. A parade in cancelled in Portland, Oregon due to the threat of violence against the apparently unwelcome scheduled participation of some Republicans.  I blame the stupidity of the parade sponsors and the city who are folding to these anonymous threats. An appearance by the brilliant and wickedly funny Ann Coulter is cancelled at the University of California - Berkeley due to the threat of violence. I blame the cancellation on the stupidity of the college administrators who are too cowardly and too weak to protect an invited speaker and the students who would like to attend the speech. Berkeley is the birthplace of the free speech movement in the 1960's?  Maybe it was. Apparently it is the birthplace and the deathbed. Liberal lefty lunatics are attacking Trump's new tax cuts as it will mostly benefit 'the rich' including Donald Trump. Yes, it is true, tax cuts will benefit Donald Trump. You know why? Because he is part of an increasingly smaller and smaller subgroup of Americans who actually pay federal income taxes. Sure, if you pay no taxes, I understand why a tax cut may not be interesting. I blame the media who focus on how a tax cut would personally affect Trump. Why should anyone care about this? The media are counting on the stupidity of the American people to find this a problem worthy of debate. After nearly two  generations have been brainwashed in schools from Kindergarten through College and have been molded into perfect snowflakes - they buy into this stupidity without question.

When the Democrats in Congress spearheaded the partial government takeover of our healthcare system, aka, Obamacare, aka Affordable Care Act - did they do this simply to benefit themselves, in the same way that Trump's tax cuts will benefit him?  Uh, no....in fact, they exempted themselves! Our representatives in Congress wanted no part of this particular abomination. Stupidity may rule in Washington - but Congress was not that stupid to subject themselves to Obamacare. Ok, so that was a bad example.

We are in a civil war. We are only 100 days into this administration and liberals are absolutely going nuts, except how they are going nuts with the threat of violence thrown into the mix. Our country is in trouble. Stupidity Rains.  check that...Stupidity Reigns.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, April 27, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Safeway Kitchens - Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal	650	135	8	15	850	60
	650	135	8	15	850	60
L U N C H
Subway - Sun Chips- Harvest Cheddar	210	27	9	4	320	3
Subway - Turkey Sub Sandwich	560	92	7	36	1,620	14
	770	119	16	40	1,940	17
D I N N E R
Panda Express - Brown Rice	420	87	4	9	15	1
Panda Express - Mushroom Chicken	170	11	14	12	840	4
Panda  Express - Broccoli Beef	150	13	7	9	520	7
	740	111	25	30	1,375	12
S N A C K S
Met-rx - Big100 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, 1 bar	360	52	5	28	160	25
	360	52	5	28	160	25
Totals	2,520	417	54	113	4,325	114
Your Daily Goal	2,099	262	70	105	2,300	78
Remaining	-421	-155	16	-8	-2,025	-36
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

On the way to Bowling Green, Kentucky, I made a 30 minute detour just to go to the Visitors Center at Mammoth Caves National Park which was just 20 miles away from my destination. I know now that I definitely want to return to this place and actually see the caves. My 'hike' was a grand total of .39 miles, I expect to hike a bit more the next time I visit.

GENERAL BUTLER STATE PARK

After visiting customers in Cincinnati, it was time to head to Louisville, Kentucky. This time of year when sunset is so much later in the day, there is often time to squeeze in a hike somewhere interesting. Yesterday, I visited General Butler State Resort Park in Carrollton, Kentucky and hiked 8 miles before I continued my trip to Louisville.

from parks.ky.gov

Northern Kentucky’s first state park and one of the first 10 in the commonwealth is General Butler State Resort Park. On August 12, 1931, a 300-acre tract comprising part of the old William O. Butler family farm became Kentucky’s sixth state park. Not only is the park a historic site, it is also a place of great natural beauty. This is the only spot in Kentucky that has the unique view of the convergence of the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers.

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal	780	162	9	18	1,020	72
	780	162	9	18	1,020	72
L U N C H
Waldorf Apple Salad	210	12	15	6	630	6
17.5oz C2o Pure Coconut Water	100	26	0	0	150	24
	310	38	15	6	780	30
D I N N E R
Panda Express - Brown Fried Rice	520	85	16	11	850	3
Panda Express - Mushroom Chicken	170	11	14	12	840	4
Panda Express - Broccoli Beef	150	13	7	9	520	7
	840	109	37	32	2,210	14
S N A C K S
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 3 medium apple	285	75	1	2	5	57
Lean muscle - Protein Bar	370	33	12	32	460	3
	655	108	13	34	465	60
Totals	2,585	417	74	90	4,475	176
Your Daily Goal	3,128	391	104	157	2,300	117
Remaining	543	-26	30	67	-2,175	-59
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,198 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Eight Mile Hike	147	1,198
Daily Total / Goal	147 / 30	1,198 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	301 / 210	3,002 / 4,130

WELCOME TO YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

My journey to Yosemite began nearly 6 months ago when I was asked by my brother to join him and a group of guys on a hike up to the top of Half Dome.  Yesterday, our group drove from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park.  We are here.  We are ready.  We are hiking today, Thursday October 1st.  At about 6:00AM PACIFIC TIME this morning I will be at the base of Half Dome making the first steps in this 16 mile round trip hike up (and down) this mountain.

We arrived at Yosemite National Park yesterday afternoon at approximately 2PM.  We had lunch. We checked into our hotel rooms. We met for dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel. We bought last minute provisions. We walked around a little bit. And we went to bed early.  The plan is to gather together at 5:30AM to get going. We all went to sleep last night knowing that the weather forecast was not looking so great. Somehow, we have managed to schedule a hike in a state that is experiencing a historic drought - but we have rain in the forecast.  Go figure.

Arrival at Yosemite.  Half Dome looms large in the background.

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast  cheese omelette, whole wheat toast     740 calories
lunch        PIZZA, RICE CAKES                       1085 calories
dinner      Ahwahnee Tuna, salad, rye bread         960 calories  

total calories consumed  2795 calories                                                              

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CALORIES BURNED
NO EXERCISE, not even much walking

WEDNESday net calories 2795 calories

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fitbit day 28

16138 steps

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I expect, that my blog entry tomorrow will have lots and lots of pictures.  The weather forecast for the hike is not the best... I will be happy if we all succeed in getting up and down this mountain.  If we get wet while doing it, so be it.  See you tomorrow!
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I found the following from the website of Mr. Half Dome (Rick Deutsch) author of the only Half Dome hiking guide, ONE BEST HIKE: YOSEMITE'S HALF DOME. This guy has climbed Half Dome more than 30 times.

How many calories does the Half Dome hike burn?
Posted on 10/08/2014 by Mr Half Dome - Rick DeutschI’m not a nutritionist, but I estimated 4,000 up. I looked up the tables for exercise and used the walking numbers. That is, for straight and level. I added a lot for the 2 mile uphill. Then multiplied for a 12-hour round trip.

Now we know. This device is on a client of Lasting Adventures on a 12-hour round trip recently. 9,800 calories burned by this man. We all differ, but I’d go with this number.
Sounds like we now have permission for that banana split at the Curry Village Ice Cream parlor. Or stick to the crackers and water if you want to shed pounds.
MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.comOne Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome

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For the hike, I have packed hard-boiled eggs, four oranges, two apples, almonds, date pieces, mango slices, granola, raw pumpkin seeds, Kale Crunch, toasted coconut, 3 CLIFF bars, Le Noir chocolate bar and a Firecracker Dark chocolate bar.  I have already entered all of this into the MyFitnessPal calorie counter application on my phone.  If I ate everything I brought - I am scheduled to consume 5442 calories today.  I guess if I am also scheduled to 'burn' 9800 calories - I would be apparently working on a calorie defecit.  I know myself very well...I am guessing that I will consume everything that I brought...
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There is one mildly amazing thing about me thinking about consuming nearly 6000 calories today.  That is that prior to my lifestyle change on December 24, 2014, I consumed 5000-6000 calories EVERY DAY.  (And on none of those days did I climb Half Dome!) 
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Hi Marc, here are your weekly stats. Sep 21, 2015 toSep 27, 2015 WEEK'S MOST ACTIVE DAY Mon, Sep 21 WEEK'S LEAST ACTIVE DAY Tue, Sep 22 TOTAL STEPS 180,754  DAILY AVERAGE 25,822 steps BEST DAY 50,013 steps TOTAL DISTANCE 86.81 miles DAILY AVERAGE 12.40 miles BEST DAY 23.95 miles TOTAL FLOORS CLIMBED 136  DAILY AVERAGE 19 floors BEST DAY 47 floors TOTAL CALS BURNED 38,660  DAILY AVERAGE 5,523 cals BEST DAY 8,330 cals CALORIES IN VS OUT -29340 WEEKLY TOTAL 38663 cals burned 9323 cals eaten WEIGHT CHANGE 0.0 lb LIGHTEST 226.6 lbHEAVIEST 226.6 lb AVG SLEEP DURATION 5 hrs 39 min  AVG TIMES AWAKENED 5 AVG TIME TO FALL ASLEEP 0hrs 7min Last week's step winners 1 Marc  180,754steps 2 Bobby 96,819steps 3 Andrew J. 87,990steps See current leaderboard Last week's badges See all of my badges

YOSEMITE LODGE AT THE FALLS

Today is Wednesday September 16th.  Two weeks from today I will ALREADY be in California and in a van with 6 other guys heading to Yosemite Park to climb Half-Dome.   With two weeks to go, it is way too late to train to get much better prepared... Now is the time to stay unhurt and and continue to train at a pace to maintain my strength and stamina.  It is unlikely that I will improve much between now and two weeks from now.   Last week I actually climbed 400 flights of stairs in one day and this raised my confidence level to new heights (no pun intended.)   The downside of that accomplishment was that on the very next day, I did not feel the energy to climb even one flight of stairs.   No matter... That is all a distant memory now.

I checked the weather in Yosemite this week (a full two weeks prior to our trip) and it seems that the low temperatures are already reaching down to 30 degrees fahrenheit.   During the course of the day, the temperatures climb back up in the mid seventies.   I am guessing that through most of the hike - being cold will not be the problem.

Two weeks from today I will be checking into the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls with my group.  I don't know if we will have the opportunity to eat at the Mountain Room Restaurant (depicted below)  or not.... It does appear that this is going to be a beautiful place to stay, although I am not anticipating any late night partying as our expedition will surely be underway by 6:00AM

Mountain Room Restaurant at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls

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 Tuesday MENU

breakfast oatmeal, center cut bacon, poached eggs, ginger, mango       740 calories

lunch       spinach salad, asparagus, tomato, clam chowder, crackers    551 calories
dinner      apples, granola, mango, beef jerky, date pieces                    1493 calories
SNACK  DANG TOASTED COCONUT, cocoa choice chips              705 calories

total calories consumed     3489 calories                                                              

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YMCA PRECOR EFX elliptical 120 minutes, manual setting

level 20 resistance, level 20 incline                      1683 calories

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 1806 CALORIES

TUESday net calories  calories

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fitbit weekly stats...
This is a nice email to receive when one is active... I can imagine that it would be real annoying after a highly inactive week...  My plan... Try to avoid inactive weeks.

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fitbit day 13
20303 steps

STARVED ROCK

STARVED ROCK STATE PARK is approximately 90 miles from Chicago.  The park is known for its many canyons within its 2600 acres.  The park is located near the small village of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois, along the south bank of the Illinois River.   The park attracts over two million visitors each year which is tops among the the state parks in Illinois.  This park is a hikers paradise offering over 12 miles of trails.  Yesterday, our family walked 5 miles on the trails (and steps) visiting some of the scenic overlooks which towered 125 feet above the river and we also ventured deeper into the woods to see some of the famous canyons.   We spent the most time at LaSalle Canyon which  is one of two canyons that has at least a trickle of water that flows year round.   It is not too difficult for me to wonder why it never occurred to me to visit this park before - in fact, I am sure that I know the reason.  Men who are 309 pounds don't look for recreational opportunities that involve strenuous hiking.  In fact, men who are 309 pounds don't look for recreational opportunities that involve moving too much at all.   One more reason that I am happy to no longer be a man who weighs 309 pounds.

We left Chicago, promptly at 6:00AM for the nearly two hour drive. Our visit to the park yesterday started at 8:00AM.  We ate breakfast at the Starved Rock Lodge which was built by the CCC in the 1930's. (Civilian Conservation Corps)   At 9:30AM we started our pre-arranged tour which was a 'land and sea' package of sorts.   We took a trolley which first went to the Visitor's Center where we saw a 15 minute film about Starved Rock and its history. We re-boarded the trolley and continued on a tour of Utica (all two blocks of it) and then we visited the visitors center of a lock and dam on the Illinois River before boarding The Belle of the Rock, an authentic Coast Guard licensed paddlewheel tour boat.   After an extremely relaxing 'boat trip' on the Illinois River we returned to the lodge for lunch.   After lunch we set out for the trails.

Father/Daughter standing behind the trickle of waterfall at LaSalle Canyon, Starved Rock State Park

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 Sunday MENU

breakfast   oatmeal, crispbread, granola, goji, figs, apples                 1397 calories
lunch         half pound Angus Burger (Starved Rock) two apples        616 calories
dinner       Fresh Thyme Salad, green peas, Kahuna, mango, wasabi 1001 calories

total calories consumed 3605 calories

calories burned

elliptical machine 92 minutes, manual, level 20              1812 calories

(I did not purposely cut back on my intensity of workout on Saturday, however after two 90 minutes sessions on Saturday, and an all-day long excursion to Starved Rock State Park - I clearly had run out of gas and was running on fumes by the time that I got back on the elliptical machine at 9PM last night)

CALORIES BURNED 1812 CALORIES

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Saturday net calories 1793 calories
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We arrived at the park entrance approximately 8:00AM

Mother/Daughter taking a break at LaSalle Canyon

Eagle Cliff Overlook

My daughter is hiding in plain sight in the middle of this photo

 BELLE OF THE ROCK 

Starved Rock Trolley parked outside the Starved Rock Lodge

There is an 'Indiana Jones' quality to wooden steps in the woods

My wife generally does not disobey 'Don't Walk' traffic signals even if there is no car within sight. Ironically, my wife had no problem leading our expedition of three across a portion of the trail that was closed as the bridge was 'out.'  As you can see, we survived.   My daughter posed for a picture just to insure that I didn't forget this small detail!  

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HOW DID STARVED ROCK GET ITS NAME?

This synopsis of the explanation for how Starved Rock got its name comes directly from starvedrockstatepark.org

The park derives its name from a Native American legend. In the 1760s, Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe, was attending a tribal council meeting. At this council of the Illinois and the Pottawatomie, Kinebo, the head chief of the Illinois tribe stabbed Chief Pontiac. Vengeance arose in Pontiac’s followers. A great battle started. The Illinois, fearing death, took refuge on the great rock. After many days, the remaining Illinois died of starvation giving this historic park its name – Starved Rock.

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HOW WAS STARVED ROCK FORMED?

This article is reproduced from mywebtimes.com

Geology is responsible for Starved Rock

by Derek Barichello, derekb@mywebtimes.com  (May 25, 2011)

Geology is pressure over time.  Starved Rock State Park took millions of years for its sandstone to form and thousands to be carved into the waterfalls and box canyons today.  While the legends of the park add lore to the scenery, the canyons, bluffs, overhangs and waterfalls are what continue to bring people to the state park, according to Pam Grivetti, president of the Starved Rock Foundation. There are 18 canyons in the six-mile park. "It's a beautiful park," she said. "Illinois is filled with prairie and farms and all of a sudden right here, you have Starved Rock."The sandstone at Starved Rock was formed during the Ordovician time period in geology when the land was actually south of the equator.The local uplift was brought about by the formation of the La Salle Anticlinorium. Due to the erosion of Devonian and Silurian ages, the time period for the formation of the La Salle Anticlinorium is estimated during the Mississippian period, according to a Northern Illinois University study.The area was then covered in a glacier during the Wisconian glaciation during the Ice Ages. This left most of Illinois flat but thanks to a flood called the Kankakee Torrent, Starved Rock land remained more similar to how it looked before the Ice Ages. This flood caused the Illinois River to swell and caused the park to collect bedrock and glacier deposits. Erosion continues at a much slower pace comparative to what the major floodwaters did. "Field observations indicate that ice and flooding may be the two most powerful erosive forces at work on the canyons," said Davina Wolfe, who has studied Starved Rock at the Department of Geology at Ball State University. "These observations suggest that seepage erosion may be the dominant erosional force in the late winter."You can see the effects water has had on the sandstone by looking at the rocks below you," Wolfe said. "The sandstone displays an uneven surface because some areas are cemented stronger than others."

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