Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 8:44 AM

9.18 miles

What a hot walk! By the time we finished our 9+ miles, the "feels like" temperature was 106°.

We had only planned to do about eight miles. We stayed down Florida Street and went through Ashland Place. Then we came back to Dauphin and headed East.

At Ann Street we crossed Government Street and headed to Cream & Sugar. We were over 5 miles when we made it there. When we left, I hit the wrong button on my walking app and closed out the workout. That's why there are two pictures of our map. . . one is to C&S and one is home from there.

At about 7 miles I was really feeling the heat. I was so glad when Glen suggested we stop for a few minutes at Memorial Park. We sat under the shade of the blooming Magnolia trees and ate a snack. We joked about how it was going to feel when we got to "our hot spot," the last leg home where there is no shade at all. Fortunately, there was some cloud cover during that time.

Friday, June 6, 2014 at 7:22 AM

7.19 miles

What a hot walk! 

We walked down Government Street until we reached our halfway point, which was across the street from the home of some friends of our. Then we sat on someone's sidewalk steps and ate a snack of walnuts and granola and drank sweet tea and water. 

Sweat was pouring off of me. I was surprised we ended up with over seven miles because our "halfway" point was only 3.10 miles. Somewhere along the way back we added more mileage.

I don't think the walk might have seemed so hot and long if I hadn't worked the night before or if I hadn't had a headache when we walked, but then again, it is June.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014 at 7:34 AM

4.62 miles
Blakely Park

Start: 73°/ FL 73° 90% Humidity
Finish:83°/ FL 90° 71% Humidity

This was really an adventure! We walked at Blakely Park again, but this time we searched out the Jackson Spring trail.  This eventually led us to the Old Blakely Town and down to the river boardwalk. We took advantage of the picnic table at the boardwalk to sit and sip some water and nuts, knowing that there aren't many sitting places on these trails.

From the boardwalk, we went in directions we had never been before and were surprised to find a slight elevation change. The map only showed it to be 150 feet, but it seemed like much more. The trail wound up and around Jackson Springs (I suppose that's what it was) and the recent rains made it a flowing little spring. At one point we lost the trail (these trails are poorly marked when they are marked) and had to trace our way back.

We tried a different approach to mosquito management this walk. Our son, Noah, gave us some Skin-So-Soft that they use in the Marine Corps, and I was amazed at how well it worked. I was also amazed at how oily it was, but it did make my skin feel very soft. I still had the problem of being bitten (bombed is probably a better description considering how these mosquitoes attacked me) where my clothes were. I tried spraying insect spray on my clothes, but it didn't seem to help. So once again I have huge red whelps on my thighs and find myself uncontrollably scratching the horrendous itch they cause.

I was very glad I had brought the Frogg Togg because I had to wrap it around my head, covering my ears to keep the insects (it seemed they were the size of hummingbirds) from flying into my ears.

This walk was quite intense with its ups and downs. Even though it was early in the morning it was already hot, which only added to the workout.

After our walk we went to the Rouse's in Spanish Fort to eat lunch at their hot bar and had the nicest surprise. Their bakery was giving a "sample". . . it was a whole, huge, petite four and it was absolutely delicious. I guess that was sort of our "Trail Magic" for that walk.

When we got home we realized our adventure was not over. While I was drying off, I found a tick on my ankle, just where my sock had been. He wasn't really attached, but immediately I had Glen look at the parts of my legs I couldn't see. Then I looked at his.

There on the back of his thigh was a big tick! It was really attached, I had to pluck him off, but he came off alive and in one piece. Thankfully Glen hasn't even shown the slightest redness there.

Monday, June 2, 2014 at 11:24 AM

New Personal Record: 14.02 miles

79° Feels Like 80°
81% humidity

When we started off today, I had no idea how long we would be walking. We didn't get a chance to walk yesterday, so Glen decided we would make up some distance today, and we really did.

It was a perfect day for it because it was relatively cool when we started out, probably in the mid 70's. Flowers were blooming everywhere and it was just a nice day. There was a nice breeze and the skies were overcast. It basically stayed that way for about 10 miles.

We walked through the neighborhoods, then down Dauphin Street to Water Street. At one point we were walking between the buildings were Marie and Sheldon work, so Glen sent them a text that we were outside their windows. 

Fort Conde

We made a short bathroom break at the RSA tower and then headed to Fort Conde.  We walked around the historic sites there and then headed west on Church Street. When Church Street ended (at the library) we followed Government to Broad, Broad to Augusta and Augusta to George and the Cream & Sugar. We looped around the parking lot to give us exactly 10 miles.  It was so nice to sit down for a few minutes, enjoy the air conditioning and share a 

grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee.  It wasn't long, though, before we had to pull our legs off those comfy chairs to walk home.

By 12 miles I was feeling like we had walked a long time. Fortunately, I took the opportunity to do some good stretches when we stopped for lunch and that helped a lot.

The weather forecast was for rain to start at noon, but we never felt a single drop. I would have loved to, though. I saw plenty of water hoses and sprinklers out in lawns, but none were turned on or I would have taken advantage of them!

Our route for this walk.

It's nice to have a new record and to start the month of June out with a nice block of miles. May was a relatively low mileage month -- mostly due to the weather-- and I'd like June to be higher.