Last Days

Well I know it wasn't you who held me down

Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains

And we never even know we have the key

But me, I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

The Eagles

I finished up my 7 week run at the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge on Friday and I will give a full wrap-up on my next entry. Today I wanted to tie up my last week at the Ridge. I feel like I didn't do as good a job posting food pictures on this trip, but wanted to show the french toast with peaches that was a breakfast. I will say this about the food, no one is going to like it all but most everyone is going to like most of it. And everyone likes that 1200 calories is delivered right to the place mat in front of them. The food is delicious and the rotation has changed dramatically since I began. You will get no complaints from me, except the onions`which are prolific.








Here's my group from my last hike on Thursday. We did Hidden Pinyon which includes scaling Piano Rock. I had been up to Piano rock before but not up the much steeper front path we took this time. Here we are in the pond from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I spoke of it in an earlier entry but damn I love hanging where the stars of my 2 favorite movies of all time spent some time.












Well here is why it is called Piano Rock. And Elton has nothing on me. Thankfully I thought better of the original plan that was going to be Michelle Pfeifer in the Fabulous Baker Boys.











You cant really get the true perspective here, but I was literally on the top of the mountain. I knew I had survived my final climb of this trip. I had conquered fears, not of heights, not of falling, but of being unable to do these hikes and my biggest fear which was holding back the others on the hike. I know other people have these fears, especially the last one but they always send enough guides, the group can not be more supportive, and you can go at your pace with no shame. Never skip a hike because you are afraid you will be too slow, you are only lying to yourself.

I'm not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of falling from those heights. This was way up. And the look on our guide Kami's face when she tried to brace me coming down off this rock was similar to the look of terror that you would see if the current President were allowed to dictate policy in Utah.

Dragged the Ridge General Manager Eric out on my last hike with me, and, of course, made him stand proudly next to the Biggest Loser sign.

My last lunch outing was at Applebee's. Paige tried a new approach in that she wanted us to choose healthy without the aid of a calorie list. It made picking easier, but I think I ended up slightly higher than the 400 calorie goal. And I didn't reach over to the next table and grab the leftover onion rings and ribs, even though the thought entered my mind.

Thanks to Sharon and her father-in-law I got my initiation into a fun game called pickleball. It's played on a shrunken tennis court with paddles and whiffle balls. It was real fun, although the lack of actual pickles was slightly disappointing. And as usual I was the sweatiest person around. I am about 3/4 done with my trip, spending the night in Des Moines with 5 hours left of driving in the morning. Beside the joy of getting home I get the added bonus of a 4pm sand volleyball game. I have a feeling that the sand in Madison is going to be way colder than the dunes in Utah. But I don't care it's certainly where I belong. Peace, Love, and Home, Jim