Back on the Mountain

You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
The Beatles

Let's wrap up the weekend,'cause it was a really fun weekend. A couple words I never thought I would say started the weekend for me. "Paige and I are heading to Vegas on Friday" We did, and It was my shortest trip to Vegas ever. 6 minutes in the Palms casino betting that day's Breeders Cup races. 3 minutes at the rental car return and then back heading north. Friday afternoons at the Ridge are my favorite day of the week. Everyone is happy that the week has come to an end, and many spend the afternoon in the pool, which this week featured 3 hours of pool volleyball. Saturday was spent watching football and betting the Breeders Cup. Zenyatta was extremely noble in defeat. I'm almost sorry I bet against her, but I'll get over that when I cash my tickets on Blame. Really fun race to watch and I'm glad that for a moment the country cared about the sport of kings again. Saturday night was Karaoke which we all know makes Jim happy. Sunday as always saying Goodbye to some campers and Hello to others.

The third and final week at the ridge, had me spending Monday morning on the bike and in the pool doing laps. Hey if it was a biathlon on Saturday I would be set :) The temperatures dropped a good 20 degrees from last week, the wind increased and the summer weather came to a screeching halt. What changed about the program? Nothing, except there were fewer people in each pool class. Monday also brought the return of one of my greatest friends. College basketball...Let me love thee!!! And my Terps kicked off the season with a nice win.


Tuesday at the ridge is Cardio Intervals day. My favorite class of the week. 30 second increases and decreases on a cardio machine. I started on the nustep which is a machine that has some rehab qualities but then moved over to the treadmill. My knees survived it and I thought to myself It's been a few weeks with no hikes time to change that.







My hiking group which was probably tired of hearing my name called each morning on the van only to not have me climb on. we did a hike that was called Hidden Pinyon. It culminates with a trip up the mountain to Piano Rock. There's pictures of me at that rock if you go back far enough in the blog. You can see the rock in the top picture. It's the tiny dot in the middle of the top picture, just under the whisp of clouds.







I'm almost done with this year's fall trip. It has been trying at times. This week has reminded me why I come here. It's been a really good week. I feel reinvigorated. I feel happy and young. I feel like I can do things I couldn't do two weeks ago.
I have been going to bed earlier and getting up earlier and doing both with a smile on my face. Did I mention there was a race Saturday? I guess the only way to know is to keep reading. May your week be filled with hope and hearts and laughter and stars. Peace and Love, Jim