MATTHIESSEN STATE PARK

I needed to be in Bloomington, Illinois early Sunday morning. This meant that I left on Saturday. My first stop was Matthiessen State Park in Oglesby. The hiking and waterfalls are said to be spectacular. I was enjoying myself up until the time that I slipped in the water and destroyed my phone. I tried to continue hiking, but then I realized that I had no idea where I was going, and that I was wet and cold. I simply lost my desire to hike anymore on this day. I did not lose my desire to return to the park in the future as it was absolutely beautiful.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, September 10, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 4 packet (28 g)	400	88	0	8	1,240	0
Quaker - Chewy Granola 90 Calories, 3 bar	270	57	6	3	240	21
	670	145	6	11	1,480	21
L U N C H
Read - 3 Bean Salad, 1.67 Cup (85g)	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Pepperidge Farm - Sourdough Bread, 4 slice	480	88	6	16	880	8
Kraft - Deli Deluxe American Cheese Slices, 4 slice (19g)	280	0	24	16	1,200	0
	1,060	153	30	37	3,580	48
D I N N E R
HYVEE - HUGE SPINACH SALAD	1,000	0	0	0	0	0
	1,000	0	0	0	0	0
S N A C K S
Nestle's - White Chocolate Chips	490	63	28	0	70	63
	490	63	28	0	70	63
Totals	3,220	361	64	48	5,130	132
Your Daily Goal	2,430	304	81	122	2,300	91
Remaining	-790	-57	17	74	-2,830	-41
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 500 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 217 lbs in 5 weeks .

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
WALKING	60	500
Daily Total / Goal	60 / 30	500 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	835 / 210	10,368 / 4,130

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WATERFALL GLEN TRAIL

My appointment today brought me to LaGrange, Illinois. After I was finished with my customer, I headed to nearby Darien, Illinois to Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve for a loop hike which included a little side trip to a small yet beautiful waterfall.  Once again, I was dazzled by the ancient glacial hills that I never knew existed in this part of my state. The trail had a total elevation of 393 feet. I am aware that that is not very much, but for Illinois it qualifies at mountainous.

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Considering how flat Illinois is - This small waterfall was exciting to see for the first time.

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I hiked a total of 12 miles (189 minutes) allegedly burning 1959 calories.

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Right before the hike ended, and just sixteen days prior to 'fitbit anniversary.' I was received notification that I had earned the 'Russian Railway' badge for the accomplishment of achieving a distance of 5772 lifetime miles (since September 3, 2015)

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After a relatively high calorie yet delicious dinner of homemade enchilladas, I took a long evening walk with my daughter. While we were out I decided to check out Lou Mitchell's Restaurant which I had 'discovered' just two days ago. Apparently I forgot to discover that their hours of operation are from 5:30AM until 4:00PM.  Lou Mitchell's will have to wait until another day. Sara and I walked all over town and by the time we returned home, we had logged 10 miles.

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, August 18, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Grits	300	66	0	6	930	0
Fiber One - Fiber One, Oats & Chocolate	140	29	4	2	95	7
	440	95	4	8	1,025	7
L U N C H
Chick Fill A - Chicken Sandwich	440	42	16	30	1,400	6
	440	42	16	30	1,400	6
D I N N E R
Homemade - Beef and Cheese Enchilladas	900	56	45	61	1,547	0
	900	56	45	61	1,547	0
S N A C K S
Luna Bar - White Chocolate Macadamia	200	25	7	9	190	8
C2o - Coconut Water, 16 fl oz	100	26	0	0	150	24
GIN GINS ORIGINAL CHEWY GINGER	80	20	0	0	0	20
CHOCOLATE COCONUT CHEWS	134	13	9	1	17	9
MILK CHOCOLATE CHERRIES	180	25	10	2	10	21
	694	109	26	12	367	82
Totals	2,474	302	91	111	4,339	95
Your Daily Goal	5,273	659	175	264	2,300	197
Remaining	2,799	357	84	153	-2,039	102
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 3,343 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 182.4 lbs in 5 weeks

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	189	1,959
Walking	146	1,771
Daily Total / Goal	335 / 30	3,730 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1402 / 210	15,465 / 4,130

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a brief description of Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve from wikipedia

The 2,492-acre Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in Darien is one of the most ecologically impressive parcels of open space within the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, if not northern Illinois.

The ridges and scattered potholes that make up the topography of Waterfall Glen — and most of the county — are the result of one geological event, the Wisconsin Glacier. In fact, the entire Des Plaines River Valley was formed by glacial meltwaters and drainage from a postglacial lake that covered most of the Chicagoland area.

Today, Waterfall Glen’s prairies, savannas, and oak-maple woodlands contain 740 native plant species, 75 percent of all the plants known to grow naturally in DuPage County. As a result of this rich variety, over 300 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles and another 300 of invertebrates use the forest preserve either year-round or during their migrations.

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HONEY RUN WATERFALL PARK

The agenda was simple today. One appointment in Columbus, Ohio. Lunch at Fresh Thyme in Gahanna, Ohio.  Then drive about 3 hours to Holmes County (Amish country) to set up for my two day wholesale fabric show. The day started early with breakfast at Starbucks. The Starbucks was less than a half mile away - but I walked there and expanded that trip into a two mile walk. While on the way to Holmes County, I passed what looked like an interesting park. Honey Run Waterfall Park. Complete with a surprising waterfall - although the middle of a hot dry summer is not the best to view cascading waters flowing over the rocks - it was still quite beautiful. The trails were really confusing to me and not well marked. Although the waterfall was about one mile from my car, if I could have found the correct trail, I had walked five miles and returned to the parking lot, and still had not found the falls.  Determined to find the falls, I just continued my hike and after walking  another two miles I reached the falls. I returned to my car at around eight miles into the hike. I just tacked on two more miles to make my hike an even ten miles.

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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Starbucks - Bacon Egg and Gouda, 1 sandwich	350	30	18	17	820	0
Oats 'n' Honey Granola Bars	380	58	14	6	270	22
Kelloggs - Raisin Bran Cereal	300	73	2	8	332	28
	1,030	161	34	31	1,422	50
L U N C H
Fresh Thyme - Sushi: Dynamite Roll	700	114	17	28	1,665	19
	700	114	17	28	1,665	19
D I N N E R
Subway - Footlong Turkey Breast on Wheat., 1 sandwich	560	92	17	36	1,890	11
Doritos - Cheese Nacho Chips	140	16	8	2	210	1
	700	108	25	38	2,100	12
S N A C K S
Fresh Them - Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers	400	44	24	5	82	38
Fresh Thyme - Cinnamon Almonds	400	0	27	7	55	31
Starbucks  Chocolate Chip Cookie	310	42	15	4	260	27
	1,110	86	66	16	397	96
Totals	3,540	469	142	113	5,584	177
Your Daily Goal	3,810	476	127	191	2,300	143
Remaining	270	7	-15	78	-3,284	-34
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,880 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 213.3 lbs in 5 weeks     

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking   2 miles	38	299
Walking 10 miles	169	1,517
Daily Total / Goal	207 / 30	1,816 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	737 / 210	8,401 / 4,130

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This description of Honey Run Falls was lifted from gowaterfalling.com

Honey Run Falls is located in Knox County in Millwood Ohio. It is the centerpiece of the Honey Run Waterfall Park. The falls is just a few hundred feet from where Honey Run empties into the Kokosing River. The falls become public in 2007, and in 2009 the park was expanded to include the gorge downstream of the falls. Trails lead to the falls and through the gorge down to the river. Honey Run is a very short creek. This waterfall can get very thin in drier weather. Like many waterfalls, it is best seen in the Spring. The falls is listed as being 25 feet high, but it appeared considerably shorter to me. The main drop was at most 15 feet high, with some additional cascades above and below adding a few more feet. Reaching the falls is easy. The park is located on the north side of Hazel Dell Road about a mile east of US 62. Hazel Dell Road meets US 62 just south of the Kokosing River. The park has a sign and a small parking area. The falls are just a few hundred feet from the parking area, and can be easily heard when the water is flowing. The amount of water here varies a lot throughout the year. When the water is high the gorge trail is impassable. The USGS data lists this as "Grove Falls".

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I was begining to get a bit frustrated trying to follow the poorly marked trail to get to the waterfall. Just before I was about to give up and simply drive there, following my GARMIN GPS directions - I finally figured it out.

The hike from the trailhead to the falls was only about one mile. It would have been a 2.2 mile drive. Thankfully, I was finally able to decipher the trail and I found the way to the waterfalls. Very worth it. I was very pleased that I was successful.

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I tried to cap

SURVIVED MY VISIT TO THE MALL OF AMERICA

There is nothing inherently dangerous about walking about in the Mall of America. My concern was that I would physically hold up as I am gingerly walking these days as I get used to my inguinal hernia. Since I did not push myself, just walking, I was fine. My fitbit recorded more than 16000 steps for the day, which was nearly 4 times the amount of walking I have been recently accomplishing. After the visit to the Mall of America, my daughter and I visited the Minnehaha Waterfalls and after that we jumped back in the car one last time to visit the sculpture garden at Walker Gardens. Aside from the fact that we had a great time today, my day was greatly enhanced simply by avoiding pain. Three more days until I have my initial visit with my surgeon.

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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, April 18, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Hyvee - Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal	520	108	6	12	640	36
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 1 medium apple	95	25	0	1	2	19
	615	133	6	13	642	55
L U N C H
Panda Express - Mixed Vegetable	80	16	1	4	540	5
Panda Express - Mushrooms Chicken, 1 entree	170	11	9	12	750	4
Panda Express - Broccoli Beef Entree	150	13	7	9	520	7
	400	40	17	25	1,810	16
D I N N E R
Generic - Whitefish, Lightly Blackened, 20 z filet	610	0	6	133	5,780	0
Generic - Grilled Brussel Sprouts, 2 cup	130	26	5	11	46	0
Whole Foods - Chicken Breast, Baked	500	0	11	94	1,208	0
	1,240	26	21	237	7,034	0
S N A C K S
Whole Foods - Banana Chips, 0.33 cup	200	23	13	1	0	13
WHOLE FOODS - NATURAL WASABI GREEN PEAS, 2/3 cup (30 grams)	240	38	6	8	480	4
	440	61	19	9	480	17
Totals	2,695	260	64	284	9,965	88
Your Daily Goal	2,716	339	90	136	2,300	101
Remaining	21	79	26	-148	-7,665	12
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 786 extra calories from exercise today

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Our day started at 10:15AM and we practically had the Mall of America to ourselves
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After our visit at Mall of America we ventured outside and drove to Minnehaha Park to see the  falls.

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Our last stop of the day was the Walker Sculpture Garden

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from the walkerart.org website....

SPOON BRIDGE AND CHERRY

Artist

Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen

Date

1985-1988

Dimensions

overall 354 × 618 × 162 inches

Materials

aluminum, stainless steel, paint

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Claes Oldenburg is best known for his ingenious, oversized renditions of ordinary objects, like the giant “soft” three-way plug and overturned bag of french fries in the Walker’s own collection. He and Coosje van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, had already created a number of large-scale public sculptures, including the Batcolumn in Chicago, when they were asked to design a fountain-sculpture for the planned Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The spoon had appeared as a motif in a number of Oldenburg’s drawings and plans over the years, inspired by a novelty item (a spoon resting on a glob of fake chocolate) he had acquired in 1962. Eventually the utensil emerged—in humorously gigantic scale—as the theme of the Minneapolis project. Van Bruggen contributed the cherry as a playful reference to the Garden’s formal geometry, which reminded her of Versailles and the exaggerated dining etiquette Louis XIV imposed there. She also conceived the pond’s shape in the form of linden seed. (Linden trees are planted along the allées that stretch before the fountain.) The complex fabrication of the 5,800 pound spoon and 1,200 pound cherry was carried out at two shipbuilding yards in New England. The sculpture has become a beloved icon in the Garden, whether glaceed with snow in the Minnesota winters or gleaming in the warmer months, with water flowing over the surface of the cherry and a fine mist rising from its stem.

SUCCESS!

The roundtrip hike up to the summit of Half Dome began at 6:15AM.
The summit was reached at 11:30AM.
The hiking group returned to the origin point approximately 6:30PM.
The length of the hike was approximately 20+ miles.
The fitbit recorded that we climbed the equivalent of 563 flights of stairs.
It was cold.
It was hot.
There was sunshine.
There was rain.
There (apparently) was (a thin layer of) ice on the final ascent which we managed to avoid.
There were a number of wardrobe changes.
There was anxiety about a bad weather report promising 100% chance of rain.
There was great joy as the rain held off almost completely until we reached the summit.
There was a carefree attitude walking in rain after making summit.
There was exuberance when the sun came out and blue skies appeared for a while.
This was an epic day.

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Today is a day to post pictures....lots of pictures.... I will have lots to say about this hike in the coming days.... Right now it is sleepy time!

It has been months and months since I have stuffed this many calories into my system.  On the other hand, it has likely been never since I have burned so many calories in a single day.  The body does need fuel.

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 THURSday MENU

breakfast   two hard-boiled eggs, two large Gala apples                    416 calories
lunch        almonds, mango slices, four oranges, date pieces,
                 raw pumpkin seeds, Kale Crunch                                    2656 calories
(This was not really lunch - it was more of a non-stop eating (fueling) situation.
dinner      FISH TACOS (MEXICAN RESTAURANT)                     629 calories
SNACK   Le Noir Chocolate Bar, Firecracker Dark Chocolate,
                 three CLIFF BARS                                                          1260 calories

total calories consumed 4961 calories                                                              

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CALORIES BURNED

20 mile hike, nearly 5000 feet increase in elevation... 7240 calories
(This is what the fitbit suggested... who am I to argue?)

THURSday net calories 2279 calorie DEFECIT!

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fitbit day 29

54101 steps
563 floors

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