The "I'm Glad I'm Not at Walmart" Walk

Dear Phil,

Before we started our walk today, Candee and I made a trip to a sporting goods store to purchase some lightweight shirts to wear on our hikes. We had a great time trying on clothing and looking around the store.

While we were there, Candee mentioned a workout item that a friend of hers swears is the best thing since sliced bread. We decided to check it out but couldn't find it there and went to Walmart, which is where her friend had told her she bought it. (I still can't believe I'm actually admitting we went to Walmart, let alone that we went there on a Friday night!)

Candee's friend told her that the item was called The Bean. We looked and looked, but the closest thing we could find was something that was described as a peanut. It looks like a cross between a bean and a peanut, so at least I think we're on the right track.  I guess the next step is to see if it really works.

When we finally started our walk, it was later than we thought and we ended up walking 53 minutes. We still had a great time and it was beautiful seeing the fields and mountains in the dusky twilight.

Debbie

The Hoop Walk

Dear Phil,

Candee dubbed today's walk The Hoop Walk because we combined the buffalo loop and the hill walk. We walked for 2 hours and 20 minutes before calling it a day. It was still windy but the temperature was warmer than it has been for several days.

It was so pretty out and we were having such a good time that we just kept on walking. You'd think that Candee and I would run out of things to talk about since we're together so much, but I don't think that will happen any time soon!

Debbie

The Cold and Windy Walk

Dear Phil,


You'd almost never know it's the end of April. It was really cool and very windy today. Candee and I walked for 66 minutes and it felt like a lot more because of how strong the wind was. We hit a lot of resistance and it really felt like a good workout. Even so, a little less wind and some warmer temperatures would be nice for tomorrow.

Debbie

The Short Walk

Dear Phil,

This started out to be a short walk and in reality we walked for a full hour anyway. The sky was constantly changing in appearance, the fields were lush and green, and it was a beautiful day to be outside. The only thing was that the wind was blowing and the temperature was a bit on the cool side. It was a little difficult to decide on what to wear because one minute we were comfortable, then cool, then warm.

Candee wanted to walk for only 50 minutes because she had other things to do in preparation for watching American Idol. It was so nice and we were having so much fun talking and laughing, that we walked a little longer and even took a few minutes to stop and see the bison and cattle, (like usual)!

Tomorrow will probably bit a bit shorter again because I have a meeting to go to and Candee is being nice enough to rearrange her plans so she can walk after work with me. Thanks, Candee!

Debbie

The Alphabet Walk...OR....All We're Missing is the "P"!

Dear Phil,

We had a lot of rain off and on all day today, and we were pretty much resigned to the fact that we'd have to walk inside at the mall. We were very happy when it cleared up early in the evening and we took off for our walk. We walked for about an hour and 40 minutes and were happy that the rain held off for the most part until we were back at the car.

It was an interesting walk to say the least. First of all, the clouds were hanging low over the mountains and created a completely different type of scene than we normally view. All aspects of the walk are very pretty and picturesque, and the wisps of low-lying clouds added a bit of mystery to it.



As we walked along, Candee needed to go to the bathroom and said very loudly, "I have to pee!" Just as she started to speak, I thought heard a voice to the right in the woods and when I started to tell her, we heard a male voice say hello and a man showed himself and his dog to us. Needless to say, Candee was very embarrassed and decided to hold off until we got further down the road. We decided to come up with code in the future for this type of event. From now on, we'll just say, "mnoq" and we'll know that all we're missing is the "p"!

Well, as we started the return part of the walk, we heard a vehicle come up behind us and Candee said, "I bet that's my boyfriend." We looked over and the man we had just seen in the woods drove by and gave us a jaunty little wave and grin. We just burst out laughing and kept on walking.

All I can say is, "We're Team #1"!

Debbie

The Hill Walk

Dear Phil,

I almost wasn't a part of today's walk. Last night I told Candee that I wouldn't be available to walk again until Monday after work. My son, who recently graduated from college and is in the process of job hunting, was going to come home today and was leaving again on Monday. I wanted to spend the day cleaning and doing things that needed to be done around the house before he arrived. Okay, change that to I needed to because there was no desire on my part to do any cleaning. I'd much rather be outside walking, exercising and enjoying the day as well as Candee's company.

M=Motivation!

I called Candee last night after reconsidering and surprised her by saying that I would walk after all. She picked me up around 9:15 a.m. and we did a hike that we call the "hill walk". As you can probably tell, we like to name our walks to make them more interesting. I brought my camera to take some pictures and did something that I almost never do~I didn't check the batteries and I didn't bring any fresh batteries. Needless to say, I took a couple pictures of the beautiful scenery and then my batteries died. I was able to squeeze out several more pictures by rotating the batteries several times. Unfortunately, that didn't help for long before the batteries were completely dead. Oh well, like Candee said, we can always do that walk again!

We walked for 90 minutes and just made it to the car before the start of a brief rain shower. I'm really glad I ended up going today. I'm going to have to pass tomorrow but I definitely still have the motivation that makes me anxious to walk again on Monday. Candee and I spend so much time talking and laughing that the time just flies by.

Debbie

What She Really Meant...

Dear Phil~
What Debbie really meant is that Candee (that's me) is a crazy nut! Yes, my toe was in pain, in fact, my whole body was in pain. I have been very sore and tired this week. I would have loved to not walk yesterday, if I am being perfectly honest, but I just couldn't do that. I've made a commitment to myself, to walk 365 days in a row! For me it's a about setting a goal and sticking with it. Good health is the end result of my hard work. (Hopefully!) So....yesterday, my toe throbbed, but I did enjoy our walk, once I got into the grove. Debbie and I talked and talked the entire time...and that always makes it fun!

Candee

Working Through the Pain

Dear Phil,

We almost called off our walk today because poor Candee was having a problem with her toe and was in a good amount of pain. She is a very motivated person though, and decided to work through the pain. We walked a bit slower but still walked for a full hour. It was a beautiful day and we walked past many pretty orchards and admired the scenery while enjoying the day.

I admire Candee for her motivation and ability to work through pain on her journey toward our amazing race.

Debbie

Off the Beaten Path

Dear Phil,

Candee and I have been meeting at a local farmer's market that has a herd of bison and some longhorn cattle in fields on the property. Even though I was in a bit of a hurry today because I had a meeting to go to, we started off by going down to the area where the bison were.

We ended up spending about 15 minutes watching the bison and taking pictures. The bison were being very protective of a baby that was recently born so it was a little bit of a challenge to get good pictures of the newborn.

For our walk, we decided to go on a road we had never been on before because we're always ready for a new adventure. The road meandered for awhile before ending up at an area that looked like it might be a migrant camp. When we reached the end and couldn't go any further, we turned around and headed back to our cars.

By this time, the skies were getting dark with storm clouds in the distance. We just made it back to our cars in time to miss a brief rainstorm that blew over the area. All in all it was a nice walk on a new path.

It's always nice to walk with Candee because we always have something to talk about, and it makes the time go by so quickly that it almost doesn't feel like work.

Debbie

Our Amazing Race

Dear Phil,

When we met you last year, you were almost at the end of your cross country bike ride. We were very excited to be the first in line to meet you and be told, "You are Team #1"!

In the year since that time, we have developed two goals that we'd like to achieve in the next year. In order to achieve those goals, we would both like to lose some weight. (Okay, make that three goals!)

We plan to keep you up to date on our progress, because of the fact that meeting you and following your story has been a motivating factor for us. Who knows, one of these days, we may hear those words again, "Debbie and Candee, you are Team #1"!