16-60

Mile 149.  Tortoise took a welcome detour on his 6;15 walk this evening.  At the top of the hill near Valley Academy, he turned left instead of his usual right, heading up the West Cinder Knoll trail until he had gone a mile and two-thirds.   This put him near the spot pictured above.  After enjoying the view and taking a few pictures, he retraced his steps to complete his walk.   Tonight's walking thought was by Russell Nelson ...

Cheerio!

16-58

Mile 146.  Here's a 6 pm view of Tortoise's favorite hill these days.  Nice clouds in the background!  This was a near repeat of yesterday's walk, with a little addition through the Dairy Queen parking lot at the very end.  (That's the bottom loop on the map that comes a little later in this post, along with some more pictures, and some tweaking of this year's goals.  The changes in goals and goal reporting is what gave today's post the label #2016Commentary along with the more usual ones for 5 tortoise walk, the county, etc.  Lou is interested in your comments on this).  The walking thought was by Terence Vinson ...

Cheerio!

16-57

Mile 142.  Tortoise celebrated his 250th consecutive walk by doing something very ordinary.  He walked up the hill from his office about 8 pm.  The Boredom Committee is smiling, no doubt.

Shown above is the view coming back down the hill with about a half mile to go.  It was another excellent night for a walk, clear, calm, and 66 degrees at walk time, down from the high 70s this afternoon.  The walking thought was by Adrián Ochoa ...

Cheerio!

16-56

Mile 139.  The tale of two walks ...

Bright and early this morning, Tortoise walked in the neighborhood near Roadrunner Auto Repair (Yes We Can!) while they changed his oil.  It was a pleasant mile in eighteen minutes.  Fourteen hours later, Lou headed out a second time to walk the extra mile ... or in this case two extra miles.  The walking thought was provided by Kevin Hamilton ...

Cheerio!

16-55

Mile 135.  It got a little warmer today, allowing Tortoise to resume walking in shirtsleeves at 60 degree, beginning with this beautiful sunset about 6:40 pm.  Lou did the loop using 460 North and Main Street to turnaround from this otherwise standard walk up the hill.  Walking thought was by David McConkie ...

Cheerio!

16-54

Mile 132.  Another walk by the light of the full moon after work, church service, and listening to beautiful piano music.  Tortoise found himself in LaVerkin at this point in his day, and did his walk winding up and down the east hill of town.  You might enjoy today's map ... and the walking thought by Neil Andersen ...

Cheerio!

16-53

Mile 129.  By the light of the silvery moon ... OK, Tortoise just showed his age, but he did enjoy walking in the bright moon light tonight.  Even if he did bundle up because of the wind.  This evening's walking thought is by Quentin Cook ...

Cheerio!

16-51

Mile 126.  Tortoise paid his respects at a friend's small private funeral in St. George this morning, after which he did a quick up, down, and back up Foremaster Ridge before heading back to you know where.  He got some nice pictures while listening to Thomas Monson's walking thought ...

Cheerio!

16-50

Mile 123.  Pictured above is the view just past this evening's turnaround point, looking back up the 200 West hill in Hurricane.  It was very close to the same walk as yesterday, but was made a wee bit shorter so as to keep a pi walk a very special occurrence.  Lou did today's version in two and a half minutes less time than yesterday's, making for a very nice, though unknown, heart rate.  He was accompanied by a walking thought by Richard Scott ...

Cheerio!

16-49

Mile 120.  Tortoise took his walk at dusk up the hill, then down 200 West just enough further than Monday's walk to make it a "pi walk" ... 3.14 miles.  Yet another way that Lou keeps things just barely fun enough to keep the Boredom Committee at bay.  But sorry, Becca, he wasn't wearing his pi shirt for the occasion, joyous as that would have been!  This evening's walking thought was by Richard Maynes ...

Cheerio!

P. S.   Happy birthday, Floryne!

16-48

Mile 117.  Perhaps Tortoise got a little carried away on his walk today, reverting to a 4 mile magical mystery walk up the hills of Mesquite after his appointments.  The original objective was to park at the bottom of Kitty Hawk Drive (how's that for a great name for a street that takes you to the airport?) and walk up the hill to its end.  Lou got part way and started thinking he wouldn't be walking far enough with that plan, so he took a detour down Marilyn Parkway (named for the widow of the inventor of the video poker machine who donated a park to the city).  Great idea, but Tortoise underestimated how much hill was left to reach the airport.  Oh well, it was a beautiful day to make a "mistake" like that!  Lots of pictures today, and Bonnie Oscarson's walking thought reminded Tortoise a lot of his own youth, and the lessons learned in those days.   The results of which have been observed over the years since ...

Cheerio!

16-47

Mile 112.  The walk was later today, here's the night view at about the same spot as yesterday's brilliantly sunny view.  The weather was just as delightful, though.  Tortoise did this walk in his shirtsleeves again, and although it was just a wee bit cool when he started, he soon became quite comfortable and thoroughly enjoyed this walk.  Walking thought this evening was by Dallin Oaks ...

Cheerio!

16-46

Mile 109.  O, to be able to bottle this weather and have it to enjoy over and over all through the year, as much when it is hot as when it is not.  Tortoise went for his daily energy boost (aka walk) up the hill in pristine 65 degree conditions, in his shirt sleeves, with just a touch of breeze ... finishing with another spectacular sunset.  All of this made Lou quite happy, as did the walking thought by Henry Eyring ...

Cheerio!

16-44

Mile 106.  Today's variation on the hill up from the office was to cross 600 North and climb the hill to just above Stout Park to get the best look at a particularly nice view of West Temple in Zion Park that appeared this evening.  Tortoise was accompanied by Becca on the phone, we were having a lovely conversation about Macs, Windows, external hard drives, school districts, and the like.  So perhaps she will be surprised that the picture above is instead of a sunset that presented itself later in the walk.  You'll just have to click the link below to continue reading, in order to see the picture of West Temple and read the day's walking thought by Thomas Monson ...

Cheerio!

16-43

Mile 103.  Lou had an early dinner date with his Valentine, so he snuck in a mid-afternoon walk in crystal clear conditions and temperatures in the low 70s.  He worked up a sweat in his short sleeve shirt, a nice change of pace!  Tortoise chose to climb West Cinder Knoll on this fine day, the picture above is looking back from whence he came upon reaching the top.  Walking thought is by Henry Eyring, and you know there are more pictures where that one came from ...

Cheerio!

16-42

Mile 100.  It was a different kind of day, in a good way.  Lou left work early, by his standards, at 6:20 pm, to walk to the community auditorium and watch his church's special needs activity program put on a performance featuring Book of Mormon heroes.  Shown above are Nephites unsuccessfully shooting arrows at Samuel the Lamanite.  It was heartwarming to watch these special people share their hearts with us!  There's more pictures, a walking thought by Dieter Uchtdorf, and information about Tortoise's walk to and from this event.  Of course he took the long way back to the office and included a hill, and tonight he slowed down somewhat and enjoyed the journey ...

Cheerio!

16-41

Mile 96.  This evening was warmer at 61 degrees, blessing Tortoise with the opportunity to take his walk up the hill in his long sleeved shirt.  It was nice enough that Lou picked up the pace slightly, enabling him to add a loop as far as Hurricane's Main Street before turning back.  His office neighbor Paparazzi has recently returned its night lights to its traditional pink from the holiday red used the past two months, so that is your picture for this evening.  Walking thought was by Randy Funk ...

Cheerio!

16-40

Mile 93.  Another fine walk up the hill in the wind, this time a little quicker, so Tortoise was able to go down the hill as far as the middle school before climbing back up on his return trip.  Lou was accompanied by a Gérald Caussé walking thought ...

Cheerio!

16-39

Mile 90.  Lou is back at work at the Hurricane office, here's a view as he started his evening walk up the hill.  It was quite windy, which made for sparkling skies!  Today's walking thought is by Tom Perry ...

Cheerio!

16-37

Mile 87.  Tortoise's last appointment of the day before returning home was in Rialto.  This town added another 1.25 miles to the Pacific Electric Trail in 2015, from its western border with Fontana, on Maple Avenue, east to Cactus Avenue.  Lou previously walked this trail in both directions in segments from the Los Angeles county line in Claremont east through Montclair, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, and Fontana.  This was a great opportunity to walk the new section and once again be able to say he had walked the whole trail, now 21 miles long.

The mountain in the distance is San Gorgonio, known to locals as Old Greyback, highest in southern California at 11,500 feet.  There's more pictures of it and the PE trail, along with the day's walking thought by Russell Ballard ...

Cheerio!

16-36

Mile 85.  Tortoise returned to the North Etiwanda Preserve this clear, warm, windy morning before beginning his appointments.  Almost a year ago to the day, Lou discovered this fine place.  The wind blew away most of the smog in the valley, so Lou was treated to especially nice views.  The snow dusted mountain at the top of the picture is Cucamonga Peak, which is a little over 8,800 feet and a couple peaks over from Mt. Baldy, where, sadly, a hiker fell to his death a few days ago on the Devil's Backbone portion of that trail.  One can't be too careful when treading one icy, slippery ground.  Thankfully, today's path, though nearby, is more than 6,000 feet lower and dry.  Just in case you, dear reader, was worried about our friend Lou venturing nearby.

There's the day's walking thought by Jeffrey Holland and some more pictures waiting for you when you click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

16-35

Mile 82.  Tortoise worked in the morning in Hurricane, midday in St. George, and then traveled to California for the evening.  He will be there through Saturday.  About 6 pm he took a 35 minute walking break, part of which is pictured above.  Walking thought was by Timothy J. Dyches ...

Cheerio!

16-34

Mile 80.  Tortoise enjoyed a nice view from the top of Skyline Drive (200 East) in St. George this evening on his way back down the steep hill.  Tonight's walking thought is by Arnulfo Valenzuela ...

Cheerio!

16-33

Mile 78.  Lou managed to get in his walk while it was still sunny, around 4 pm.  He then returned with new energy to the files waiting for him at his desk.  While the views and the air was sparkling, it was still cold.  43 degrees, but with wind it didn't feel that warm.  Bundled up, Tortoise felt quite toasty, thank you!  Today's walking thought is by Gifford Nielsen ...

Cheerio!

16-32

Mile 75.  The difference a couple days makes.  On this deadline day, Tortoise was not done working at sundown, but used that time to rejuvenate to keep working into the evening.  In this case, rejuvenating meant walking with a distinct bite in the air touching the cheeks while all other parts of the body were wrapped with scarves, gloves, wool caps, and the like.  32 degrees and breezy compared with 61 degrees Saturday.

Lou was pretty stressed from his day, his stomach churning in displeasure, so rejuvenation was just what the doctor ordered.  No speed records tonight, he cut off the final loop, amounting to seven-tenths of a mile, from his last two walks while taking pretty much the same time to get it done.  It felt mighty fine.  This evening's walking thought was by Todd Christofferson ...

Cheerio!