Have Media Will Travel

A blog about outdoor adventure, family travel, national parks, media, technology, marketing, fitness and me.

Family

The “Gilbert Johnson 1-Mile-a-Day Challenge”

by

My husband’s uncle Gilbert is 82 years old. He has knee problems, glaucoma, and other aches and pains that commonly wreak havoc on people as they age.

Uncle Gilbert, 82, ready for a day of walking at the Henry Doorly Zoo.

But he is no ordinary 82-year-old.

Every summer we travel to Omaha, my husband’s home town, to visit his family. Omaha is home to the ever-expanding and awesome Henry Doorly Zoo.

Gilbert is a big fan and supporter of the zoo, and it’s tradition for Uncle Gilbert to take us to there while we visit. It’s a highlight of our trip, as the zoo provides hours of awe-inspiring sights, particularly for our three young sons.

We can hardly keep up with Uncle Gilbert, who with his trekking poles, despite the heat and humidity and hills, leads us all on our trek to explore the animals.

Seven days a week, Gilbert walks one mile, sometimes two. He does this at the zoo, or at Fontenelle Forest, or around one of Omaha’s many lakes.

I’m calling this post the Gilbert Johnson challenge. I am challenging you to walk one mile every day.

Come on, you can do it. Extend your life and improve your quality of life by incorporating some exercise into every one of your days. One mile is only 10-30 minutes out of your day. Walk to the office or the grocery store.

Are you living or dying? Gilbert is living. We should too.

(Thanks, Uncle Gilbert, for your continued inspiration!)

Here are my many other fitness-related posts.

Blue Ridge Lookout: A Perfect Family Hike

by

Blue Ridge Lookout is a short, but exciting hike for families, especially those who have small children. These are our boys.

I live in Lander, Wyoming, which is an awesome town with about 7,000 people in it, located in the foothills of the spectacular Wind River Range. Those of you who follow me and this blog are well aware of my love of this area and for hiking.

Recently, my husband, Jerry, and I took our three young sons on a favorite local day hike. The hike is only one mile round trip, making it an “easy adventure” for young children with small legs. (The hike starts at 9,600 feet elevation so there could be some effort and huffing and puffing even from the adults in the group.)

Family timer photo on top of the historic Blue Ridge Lookout.

The Blue Ridge Lookout was constructed in 1938. The views from the top are magnificent. Among other sights, you’ll see Wind River Peak and Atlantic Peak, Fiddler Lake and lots of forest. I have fond memories of making this hike with my siblings and parents when I was a kid. It is truly one of the best short hikes and picnic spots for families here in my back yard.

The trailhead is located about 23 miles southwest of Lander, along the Sinks Canyon-Louis Lake Road. The trail, which starts at about 9,600′ elevation gains about 365 feet by the time you reach the top of the lookout.

Note: Keep your young children on a short leash. This could be a dangerous destination for kids left unattended due to the heights of the lookout.

Here’s a short “video journal” of the day’s outing. It will provide visuals for the actual hike, as well as the lookout. Enjoy!

How I Wake Up at 4 a.m. to Work Out

by

(Many of my friends and family already know I am a bit of a dork. For those of you who didn’t already think this, this video should erase any doubt.)

Three times a week during most of the year, I wake up at 4 a.m. to go to the gym to work out. Many of you have asked me how I’m able to get up so early. This video demonstrates how I do it.

Special thanks to my wonderful and supportive husband, Jerry, who not only endures the early alarm, but has coffee ready for me. (I can’t do anything in the morning without coffee, especially at 4 a.m.) Also, thanks to my wonderful mom for loaning me her cool pajamas and slippers.
———————————–
This is POST 29 of my “fitness journey.” For backstory, see Post 1,
Post 2, Post 3, Post 4, Post 5, Post 6, Post 7,Post 8, Post 9, Post 10, Post 11, Post 12Post 13,Post 14, Post 15, Post 16, and Post 17,Post 18, Post 19,Post 20,Post 21, Post 22,Post 23, and Post 24, Post 25, Post 26,Post 27 and Post 28.

Elemental Gym has a fantastic gym, some terrific programs and classes that will help you achieve better fitness. And, I might add, some great personal trainers: Steve Bechtel, Ellen Bechtel, Jagoe Reid, Sophie Mosemann and Lee Brown.

Why I Love Lander, Wyoming

by

Someone once told me, “Happiness is a time, not a place.” I thought that it was a pretty neat way of looking at things. Still, the people in a community also help facilitate happiness. This is true for my community.

And, I certainly find happiness due to the place in which I live. A place called Lander, Wyoming.  I’m not a great photographer, but here are many reasons I live in, and love, Lander:

Balsamroot and Table Mountain.
Relatively quick and uncrowded access to areas like this, the Cirque of Towers.
Frye Lake and Wind River Peak.
Limestone cliffs in Sinks Canyon. (Rock climber on route at left)
The Popo Agie River. Pictured here is the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie, from Bruce's Bridge.
Pretty easy access to places like Stough Creek Basin.
Hiking access to beautiful mountain lakes like this one, in the Deep Creek-Ice Lakes region.

Why I Love Facebook

by

I just finished reading The Facebook Effect, by David Kirkpatrick. It is a phenomenal book. In fact, it was a page turner for me.

Kirkpatrick provides readers an up-close and personal look into the mind and life of Facebook CEO/Founder Mark Zuckerberg, and provides a history of the most popular social network in the world and the second-most visited site on the internet.

Facebook enables a person like me, who lives out on the lonely frontier of Wyoming, to still have a pretty social life.

I’m working on a pretty in-depth review of the book, which I will post here before week’s end. Please check back here for it or subscribe to my blog feed so you get it in an email. This book was great, and I will share many excerpts and highlights from it in my upcoming review.

But for now, the many reasons I love Facebook:

  • It is a platform that enables me to communicate and keep abreast of my friends’ and family’s lives.
  • It is an easy-to-use “life streaming” tool that enables me to document and “journal” with words, photos and videos important and special moments in my life, and to share these moments.
  • It allows me to manage and correspond with more people than I could ever maintain relationships with offline. (In short, it makes it more manageable and practical to have, and enjoy, many different friendships.)
  • Its technology (the “like button”, link-adding features, etc.) makes it super easy for me to share information, both that which is generated by me, but also, and more importantly, the many articles or photos or other types of content I stumble upon, on Facebook, or off Facebook (via the “Like” or Facebook share buttons) and wish to share with my Facebook friends.
  • It makes it easy to discover common interests among my friends, family and acquaintances that would be otherwise difficult, impossible, or impractical for me to discover.
  • It tells me when a friend or family member has a birthday. I love this feature. I can share Happy Birthday wishes with my friends and family, including relatives and colleagues. Without Facebook’s Birthday reminders, many of these birthdays would be oblivious to me.
  • By the same token, Facebook provides a platform that enables me to become aware when a friend or relative or colleague is going through a hard time, be it a death in the family, a lost job, an illness. And, I get to learn when exciting things happen, such as the birth of a child, or a successful adoption, or a job promotion or new home.
  • And, I have really enjoyed reconnecting with old classmates, colleagues and friends.
  • I live in Wyoming. Much of my beloved state is still considered “frontier” and not even rural. It’s lonely. There are only a half a million people here — fewer people than animals. And, the country is big and expansive. Facebook allows me to lead a pretty social life despite the fact I live in a pretty remote place.