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I think I am mostly recovered from my 2 strenuous days and none too soon since we are going back to Yellowstone tomorrow. We will finish up Mammoth springs and a couple of falls in Lamar Valley. Once we have done that the only major area we have to see is Midway basin and Norris falls. Of course there are numerous trails we will never have time to take.
Breakfast - Oatnut toast with peanut butter
lunch - meatballs and salad
dinner - fajita meat with a little rice.
snack - grapes
exercise - 6,779 steps
cleaned house, did laundry, cooked and baked for tomorrow.
I was told early during my years in Montana that it would be much different than the Chicago area. Oh, how right that was! I was in for culture shock. The small town of 11,000 (county and city) was truly a place where just about everybody knows your name.
First, there were just about the same amount of bars as churches. Just in the block, the Anaconda Leader was in had two bars. One was right across the street; one on the corner. Then in the next block, there was another, plus the Elks Club, which had a bar. Anacondans loved to drink.
So they thought there was nothing wrong with letting their kids drink, too. The annual graduation party included the parents buying a couple kegs of beer, plus some other liquor. It was tradition. Hey, the kids were 18; it was time they were allowed to drink.
But the year before I arrived in Anaconda, a couple of kids in Helena were killed following a similar graduation party. The police had stopped the car, told the kids to go right home, didn't issue a ticket. After the accident, in which another car also was involved and had a fatality, there was a lawsuit charging the police with neglect.
So the Anaconda police were not going to allow the traditional graduation party this year. I was sent to do a story on this. I was floored that kids were allowed booze at their party, much less provided the drinks by their parents. And then I was really surprised parents were upset when they heard they weren't going to be allowed to provide similar refreshments for the Class of 1984.
Our ad manager, Mick, was one of those parents (although he didn't have a child in this class). He couldn't understand why the police were meddling in the parents' rights to throw a party and provide the booze.
The police chief, Jim Connors, was adamant. If booze was found at the party, it would be confiscated and the providers arrested.
Well, the parents came up with a solution. They decided to have a party for the graduates at the Elks Club. No booze would be provided and the teens would be locked in for the night. Anyone coming in intoxicated would be turned away.
There would be videos to watch, casino-type games with prizes, raffles, pizzas and other food and refreshments and at the end, a breakfast buffet. This party was added for after-prom , too. It turned out to be a big success. There were fewer kids driving under the influence and fewer accidents. In the end, the parents found this was a better solution than providing the booze.
Some still gave their kids a beer or two. I went to an after-graduation open house and saw the host giving out beer to his kid and their friends. I gave the host (and I won't name names) a look, but I knew I couldn't change his mind. He felt this was his right. I just hoped the kids got home all right.
I was also chided often by our ad manager for locking my car and house all the time. "This is a small town. You don't need to worry about anything," he said.
"People steal in small towns, too," I told him. "I don't want to encourage anyone.
Well, one day, his car was stolen, along with his wallet and camera. He always left his keys in the car along with everything else, left the doors unlocked. After that, he started locking his car.
I covered a civil court case in which the man claimed he had a bad back and was suing his employer for damages. That afternoon, I went over to the cop shop to get the cops report, and the same guy was on there for getting into a bar brawl and throwing someone over the pool table.
I went back to work chuckling over that one. I asked Wally about it, should we use it in the paper. He said yes, we should use it in the court case and the police report.
So the next day, the judge brings it up during court. I don't remember if there was a mistrial in this case or the case was dismissed or what. I can't remember the man's name. I do remember he was extremely upset with me and called the newspaper to threaten me. My editor and publisher called the cops to have them keep an eye on my house for a few days. In the end, nothing happened to me.
Despite that threat, the upside of living in a small town was being able to walk to many places and having people look out for you. When I left in 1989, I had a moving sale. The police came by not to buy anything, but to say goodbye. Other people did the same.
One woman even gave me a gift certificate to the best restaurant in town, the Copper Club. I used that before I left. The place had the biggest steaks you've ever seen.
Because of my job, I got to cover many interesting things. I got to go to a Super Bowl, for one. And there were numerous state tournaments in basketball, wrestling, volleyball, track ... you name it. I went to two national college basketball tournaments, too (NAIA). But one of the most memorable trips I took was to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
I wasn't covering the games. No, I was going as a spectator.
One day I saw an ad in the AAA magazine for a trip to the Olympics. I believe the cost was $800. It included transportation by bus, lodging, some meals, tickets to several events, side trips to the Edmonton Mall (which at the time was the world's largest mall) and the Edmonton Zoo (to see the pandas). One of the events was the opening ceremonies. I was excited. I really wanted to go. I talked about it to Dean, the publisher, and Wally, my editor, and both said it would be OK. So I put down a deposit.
Later, Wally suddenly got tickets for a trip to Hawaii for the same week. He said I couldn't get the week off. I had been paying off the trip for awhile. I got upset about it, but in the end it all worked out (and if I remember correctly, Wally and Margie didn't go to Hawaii; they went back to North Dakota on a family emergency).
The night before I was to leave, I had to write a bunch of stories so the paper could function without both editorial employees. I left feature stories, sports stories, photos, boilerplate (this is press releases sent to the paper; we used a lot of them to fill space since we had no wire). Anything else that was happening was going to be covered by our ad manager, Mick.
I was at wor****il nearly midnight and had to be ready to be picked up at 9 a.m. I do believe we left from Butte. It was a group called Senior Travel. I had decided I'd rather have a single room, so I paid extra for it. So I get on the bus and the tour leader introduces me to a young woman (well, younger than me; I was 32 at the time) who was to be my roommate.
"Roommate? I paid for a single," I said, and I produced my receipts as proof.
That flustered the tour leader. I found out why later.
We were not booked into normal lodgings. Instead of hotels, we were placed in homes of a Calgary senior citizens group. And my roomie and I were expected to share a double bed. Well, we were both, shall we say, quite hefty. I couldn't see that working out at all. When I saw those accommodations, I said I needed my own bed. In the end, it worked out pretty good.
I was sent with two men to stay with a woman named Virginia, who was a retired special education teacher. She lived in a big house atop a hill overlooking Calgary. She had only planned on housing two people but had plenty of room for one more.
She was a fascinating woman; she had been the director of special education for all of Calgary. She opened her home to us and was very gracious. She had a cute little white dog that was friendly, too.
In the morning, she was just supposed to provide us with a continental breakfast, but instead cooked us a hot breakfast to sustain us for our day. She also provided us with a box lunch (this was included). When we got home at night, she had snacks and drinks (alcoholic if we wanted).
The first day, of course, we went to the opening ceremony. It was chilly but not freezing. We got there early enough to walk around the tents and explore the area, of course looking for pins. Pins are a big thing at Olympics. I got hooked collecting pins at the Olympics (I now have a whole crate full of them).
Eventually, we got into stadium for the festivities. We had fairly good seats, well enough for me to take a decent photo of the young figure skater who lit the torch. It was just an amazing ceremony of athletics and pageantry. I remember Gordon Lightfoot sang "Alberta Bound," and there were representatives of the Native American tribes involved in the ceremony.
Later that day, we had tickets to the U.S. hockey game; our seats were in the top row. I was young then and didn't have bad knees but in not good shape to climb that high. The U.S. won, but it was a high-scoring game; not a defensive masterpiece. That team wouldn't go very far; just a few years ago was the "Miracle on Ice" but this team didn't have that same drive.
We went to ski jumping and luge the next day. We had tickets for the venue, but there really weren't any places to sit. There were bleachers for ski jumping, but unless you got there really early, you weren't going to get one of those spots. I stood at a couple of spots and tried to look over people; fortunately, there were giant screen TVs to allow everyone to see the action. That was the year of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, the British ski jumper with little experience who went to the Olympics. I don't remember if I saw him jump.
Half the fun at the Olympics was watching the fans. People painted their faces with the colors of the flag as they watched the luge races on the hillside. And, of course, there were pins to trade. Always pins.
That evening, we had dinner with the senior group before heading back to our homes. The next day, we had tickets for cross country skiing in Canmore. We also got to see a little of the athletes practicing for other competition, such as the biathlon.
Even though the events we saw weren't "marquee" events, it was still fun to take a look at Olympic action and discover new friends on the bus tour. I took many photos and got them develop at a one-hour place (no digital photos in 1988) and wound up taking orders from my tour buddies, making a little money on the side. We took a nice group photo with my camera and lots of people ordered copies of that photo, I recalled.
The trip to Edmonton was nice, too. The mall, at the time, was the largest in the world and had everything. Looking back, I can see it's nothing next to the Mall of America. But back in 1988, it was something else.
We got back to Montana in time to watch the second week of the Olympics, whi*****luded a lot of the figure skating and skiing.
A few years later, I had some photos for sale at a craft fair in Butte. Some of them included photos I took at the 1988 Olympics. I had stepped away for awhile, leaving a friend in charge. He said a young woman came by and admired the photos, especially the opening ceremony one of the lighting of the torch. He said the woman asked if I had any speedskating photos.
I didn't of course. But the woman: She was Bonnie Blair, who had won gold and bronze medals. She never returned to my booth after I returned.
The Olympics always will hold a special place in my heart because of my 1988 trip.
I cannot believe today is the first day of school for our little ones. I am spending the day packing books. I have way too many books but I really need them all. Since we are sure we are going to get the house (paying cash), and since we will need to put so much of this crap in storage for a while, I am starting that process of packing and labeling storage. LOL....really, it all could go in storage.
Breakfast: loaded oatmeal
Snack: raw veggies
Lunch: tomato sandwich. I have a ton of fresh tomatoes and cannot let them go to waste.
Dinner: Peas, okra, and potatoes.
Ladies, have a great day. Get your groove on and plan your meals and plan a little walk....
Hi Linda,
I got home earlier from my brother's, I've been there since Tuesday. We went to a 4 day Christian music festival. There was only one act we didn't like, too heavy metal rock. Guess I'm getting old. Lol.
Today I ate scrambled egg with grilled onions and peppers.
L half of a logans sirloin steak, sweet potato and grilled mushrooms and a roll
D ranch tuna pouch, honey bbq tuna pouch, and baby carrots
S Greek yogurt with chia seeds and apple
Have a good evening
Yvonne
I agree one expends more energy walking at high elevations on steep paths than when walking around town. Also I wasn't really bummed about not making the 10,000 steps Friday. I know I am being active this summer and what happens on the scale will happen. I fluctuate a lot due to edema and I just live with it. I don't like taking lassix too often because it wrecks havoc with my electrolytes. I have goals weight wise and I do my best, however, I am nearly 69 years old and I don't have any major health issues. My knees hurt but I do most anything I want. I compensate when climbing stairs and I know my limits. Anyone who doesn't like me because of my weight isn't worth having in my life. I aim for good health and take whatever weight loss that comes.
Today I am lazing around. My body is spent. I didn't sleep well last night I was so tired I forgot to use my C-Pap. I didn't realize it until 7:00 this morning. I woke up time and time again during the night and didn't understand why. Finally, I figured out what was wrong and put it on and slept until 9:00 and at that point I woke up hungry so I ate breakfast then went back to sleep. Slept a couple of hours then got up but I am not doing much so I can rest up for the rodeo tonight. It will be a professional one so it will be good and I want to get there early so I can find a seat right over the bucking shoots. Bulls if possible.
Breakfast - scrambled egg
lunch - fajita beef salad
dinner - don't know
exercise - not much
Hello Ladies,
Today, we are making our counter offer on the property down in the valley. I think she will take our offer because it is our final offer. The house is going to require being totally rebuilt and added on. We are essentially paying for the land. I need to get this deal done so I can get the fruit trees planted before the weather begins to change. I also have rose bushes and some other flowering bushes waiting at the nursery for me to pick up and plant....so damn, this process of going back and forth is killing me.
Breakfast for me: I got busy and didn't eat but I did eat some cheese.
Lunch: Tomato, Lettuce sandwich
Dinner: we are taking the kids out for Chinese so it will be fish or shrimp...who knows.
Hey Linda,
I think the distance in walking should be compared to the type of walking. When I hiked, I am certain I burned more calories because of the climbing...plus, you get a better over all workout. I don't think you should be so concerned with distance. Plus, you are in a place with a higher altitude and you are bound to burn calories much differently. I bet when you weigh, you are going to be surprised at the drop in pounds.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing .
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
