15-66

Mile 215.  Special treat!  Tortoise got to walk with four of his favorite people through Confluence Park this morning.  For more pictures, a map, other details of the walk plus more special treats in the evening, and a brilliant walking thought by Gordon B. Hinckley, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

We parked a car at the main Confluence Park trailhead, signed the register,
then drove another car home, where we started our walk.

It only took a quarter mile to reach the south end of the Confluence Trail,
just off highway 9 a little north of the LaVerkin-Hurricane bridge.

with its views of the Virgin River

the sounds of the river and its trees quickly form
a peaceful oasis from city and highway noise

this short sandy stretch of trail adds to the exercise

Then in the evening more family joined us 

at Dixie State University's Eccles Fine Art Center

to watch Man of La Mancha

It is such a joy to watch Jacob enthusiastically perform!

Tortoise completed today's 2.29 mile walk in 51:20 minutes.  Tortoise rating was 5.4, based on 87 feet climbed in the 1.15 mile uphill portion (average elevation 3062).  356 calories were burned along the way.

Here is a map of today's route:

And here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

215.83 miles walked, which is 21.54% of Lou's 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 193.46 year-to-date miles.  

62:50:14 hours walked, which is 20.08% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year)

10,907 total feet climbed, compared with 10,126 feet on this day in 2014.  

32,514 calories burned

18.21% of the year has passed

Lou has walked 65 consecutive non-Sundays since his last missed day on December 22, and overall has walked on 355 of the 370 non-Sundays since the beginning of 2014, a 95.95% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells Tortoise that he is on track. Yes, this is more numbers than you are likely interested in, all Tortoise can say is he's really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because he doesn't do them every, every day.  (If you doubt this, compare Tortoise's 2013 walking record with 2014)

And now for that brilliant walking thought, initially presented in October 1996:

"I think President Young did not sleep that night. I think visions of those destitute, freezing, dying people paraded through his mind.

"The next morning he came to the old Tabernacle which stood on this square. He said to the people:

“I will now give this people the subject and the text for the Elders who may speak. … It is this. … Many of our brethren and sisters are on the plains with handcarts, and probably many are now seven hundred miles from this place, and they must be brought here, we must send assistance to them. The text will be, ‘to get them here.’

“That is my religion; that is the dictation of the Holy Ghost that I possess. It is to save the people.

“I shall call upon the Bishops this day. I shall not wait until tomorrow, nor until the next day, for 60 good mule teams and 12 or 15 wagons. I do not want to send oxen. I want good horses and mules. They are in this Territory, and we must have them. Also 12 tons of flour and 40 good teamsters, besides those that drive the teams.

“I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of religion, will never save one soul of you in the Celestial Kingdom of our God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now teaching you. Go and bring in those people now on the plains” (in LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcarts to Zion [1960], 120–21).

"Wonderful sermons have been preached from this pulpit, my brethren and sisters. But none has been more eloquent than that spoken by President Young in those circumstances."

To watch, listen to, or read this message in full, please visit

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/10/reach-with-a-rescuing-hand?lang=eng #ShareGoodness

The tortoise is smiling!