Leave no trace

I think this will be the last post of the day...key word there is think.
So yesterday along with getting the coil put on ands thereby completing the tune up on my car and ending the car saga CP and I did a few other things as well. One of the most fun things was to go to this spot he had found hidden in the national forest by his place and do some trash clean up. It is an area that people go and have camp fires and hang out by the lake. People who evidently were not taught that you "leave no trace" and that you actually try to leave a place better than you found it for the next ones to come along. So we took the three pups and CPs jeep and drove down to this gathering spot in the woods by the lake. Sounds like a good setting for a movie ( horror or mystery). We also brought along 3 large trash bags which we proceeded to fill. I find very sad that people are that disrespectful of not just nature or the earth but of each other to leave that kind of legacy behind is very sad when all it would take is to use that bag or box you brought the food and canned drinks in with to pack it back out again. There was even evidence of someone "dumping" their household trash there so that means they packed in their trash and left it. What kind of sense does that make? I mean there are a million trash cans and dumpsters out there why put your trash in your car and dump it in the middle of a forest? The only thing I will do differently next time is be prepared with more trash bags and gloves. I also will wear my hiking boots so I can get to more areas and not worry about the briers and brambles. It was a fun day, very relaxing and de-stressing for me. PLUS on returning home and researching where we were I have discovered some day hikes I want to go on in my immediate area. Knew they were out there in the forest just never knew where the trail heads were. It is spring as I note in the post below so it is perfect weather for a hike or two.
A note about the music these are happy spring/summer/baseball songs.

Of Updates, muscles and more

My mom was released from the hospital on the 25th after fives days and four nights there. She seems to have turned a couple of corners and while she has appointments with just about every type of doctor out there to follow up or do more discovering she is not in the pain she was in. For a while there I was wondering if I was going to be able to move back to my own place or if I was going to have to settle down here. But things are looking like I will soon be able to leave my mom without worrying too much about her. Before that though we go south for my dad's graveside service and Christmas with one of my Uncles. In the midst of that trip I will be going to see my surgeon so will have some sort of update on my progress in the next few weeks. I am hoping that I will have lost all the weight I gained back when the fill was removed. the key to that is going to be keeping up with the walking while traveling.
Speaking of walking...I have taken to hiking a trail that is about a mile from my moms house each day I go little further on it. Being that it is in the mountains my thighs are getting quite the workout. there are muscles protesting that I didn't even know existed! But it is so much fun to walk or run the trail, to climb the inclines and over rock outcrops that the protests are falling on deaf ears. Yes I said RUN. Not a whole heck of a lot but probably at least 1/4 mile each day. I usually stop because I become unsure of my footing and falling down would not be good. What I find so amazing with all of this is that I can do it. I mean two years ago I could barely make it up a flight of stairs when I came here to visit my parents and that would having me huffing and puffing. the altitude change from Houston to here is about 6000 feet and when I first got here I was having a few issues do to it as noted in an earlier post but when it came to my breathing the only noticeable thing was coughing fits after walking 1 1/2 miles. Now I am walking and running with no problems! Amazing! I know it is mostly the weight loss itself but it is also my overall health increase of the past two years that has made me being able to hike 5 miles over all kinds of terrain possible. Where ever I end up I am going to make sure have hiking trails with in a few minutes of me. It is sooooo much fun to off road it and uses so many additional muscles including the brain. But I do really need to get a GPS for it to not only give me more safety but also to better track my miles.
Unfortunately because of being here an d the uncertain future I will not be walking in the half marathon this year but I am seriously looking into the Bataan Memorial death march in Alamogordo in March. That one is either 26.2 miles or 15.1 miles through the desert. Sounds fun! (shakes head...I am insane!)
One of my major problems with this area is that I am a fish! I am learning how bad a snake must feel when it sheds its skin! So to combat the dryness and the itchiness i am lotioning and drinking tons of water trying to stay clear of things with heavy sugar content ( not that that one was a big issue but some things I like and let myself have are a tad high in the sugars). Plus I got a massage and I am thinking I will get another one to help my newly discovered muscles to shut up! Especially since I am looking at lots of driving the next two weeks. Would NOT be good to hit the road with mad muscles.
Hopefully i will be able to get on here and post some more on a regular basis again. If I don't get on here before Christmas....have a Merry Christmas.