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Mile 513.  The trees of the Hurricane Cemetery and the soft light in the sky make a nice contrast as Tortoise walked by this morning, accompanied by the day's thought by Marcus Nash ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 510.   Tortoise enjoyed the early light on this flowering bush as he passed by this morning.  It is a nice time to walk at this warm time of year!  Walking thought was by Russell Osguthorpe ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 506, June 28.  Tortoise enjoyed the coming sunrise as he crossed the bridge back in to La Verkin at 5:47 this morning after repeating yesterday's walk.  The day's thought was by Richard Scott ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 503, June 27.  Tortoise started his walk about 5 am, sticking to well-lit major roads away from homes as much as possible so as try to avoid waking up dogs along the way before their families wanted to be awake.  The sky was just beginning to change color.  The thought of the day was by Robert Hales ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 500, for the fifth time since January 2014, on June 25.  As mentioned last week, Tortoise purposely picked up his pace about a mile a day to reach this today when he thought he was going with his grandchildren on the riverwalk at the end of the Zion Canyon road today.  As it turned out, his newest granddaughter, Leah, had a tough night, which meant Leah's mother Sarah had a tough night, which meant Grandpa Tortoise was taking four of his grandchildren with him without Sarah's help.  So, it was decided to take them to Tortoise's version of Grandpa's Pond -- playing in the rocks and shallow water of La Verkin Creek about a quarter mile down from the creek trailhead in Confluence Park.

This time, the children were in an exploration mode.  And the water was extra calm, which helped a lot.  They wound up going down the creek to the Virgin River, which they liked even better that day, making sandcastles in an "island" (a sand bar).  A wonderful time was had by all!  The thought of the day was by Thomas Monson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 498.  A late night loop around La Verkin for Tortoise, accompanied by the inspiring words of Jeffrey Holland ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 494.  Tortoise set out on a "watch the sky illuminate" walk this morning.  This picture was taken at the halfway point near the north entrance to Confluence Park at 5:35 am.  The moon is still providing most of the light but the sky is now turning purple.  Lou loved it!

The day's walking thought was by Walter Gonzalez ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 489, June 22.  Tortoise thanks his children for this fine Father's Day present ... his old boots had 2,500 miles on them since November 2013, so these are most appreciated.  Picture was taken across the street from the 600 North trailhead into Confluence Park so as to record them as they were before walking through the rocks and dirt.  The day's walking thought was by Linda Burton ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 485, June 21.  Tortoise started his morning by virtually duplicating his walk of the previous evening.  Amazing how much different things can look at sunrise compared with sunset!  The picture above was taken near the rim of the canyon on La Verkin's 560 West Street, looking down at the Virgin River near its confluence with La Verkin Creek and Ash Creek.  Walking thought was provided by Boyd Packer ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 481.  Tortoise walked in a large loop of La Verkin as the sunset waned and the moon rose.  He was accompanied by a walking thought by Henry Eyring ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 477.  Tortoise is happy today.  He has family gathered to spend Father's Day weekend with him, always a fine treat!  Wounded Duck wanted to walk with Tortoise, and he loves trails that go uphill, so they headed up to the Overlook for some fine views and good company.  But ... how wounded does Mr. Duck look up there in that picture?  Sounds like he should be named the "formerly wounded Duck", but, he insists the wounded description is still valid. 

Smiles were had all around, and what else matters, really?  The day's walking thought was provided by Thomas Monson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 471.  The morning dawned beautiful and inviting.  Tortoise set off on the large loop through Confluence Park by walking up Main Street to the highway, then through Spanish Gardens and Riverwoods to the north park entrance.  The location pictured above is near the beginning of the Confluence Trail as it follows La Verkin Creek.  From there he followed his usual path to the south trailhead on State Street.  Accompanying Lou was the day's walking thought by Henry Eyring ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 466, June 16.  This morning, Tortoise went northbound through a mile or so of Confluence Park before climbing out and looping back by way of the store to bring home some cream cheese.  Multitasking at its best!  Lou also had ulterior motives to lengthening his walk a bit ... he was reminded last night that his Ragozzine grandchildren would like him to take them on the two mile round trip walk up the Virgin River from the end of the Zion National Park shuttle to where the trail becomes the river and a fun, scenic place to play in the water.  Well ... that being the plan, Tortoise decided to pick up his daily pace so that he could complete his fifth time walking 500 miles since January 2014.  Not so bad at an average of about an hour a day.  So stay tuned to see if he pulls this off -- there are still 32 miles to be walked in 7 days in order to be ready to do that.  

Today's thought heard while walking was by Dieter Uchtdorf, and yes, it involves flying ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 462, June 15.  Temperatures are climbing to around 110 daily at the moment, so Lou is doing more early walks.  This one started about 6:40 and went up and down the La Verkin east hills.  The day's thought listened to while walking was by Anthony Perkins ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 459.  You're looking at the view to the east down to the Virgin River through the protective rails along the walkway across the LaVerkin - Hurricane bridge.  Nice!  It's another of the views Tortoise gets when he walks to work.  Today's walking thought was by Gary Stevenson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 456, June 13.  Lou took the direct path on his walk home from work to get to family home evening quicker.   He always loves to take an extra moment to look at the pretty desert flowers along the way.  The thought of the day was by Todd Christofferson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 453.  Being Saturday, Lou took a little bit more scenic path to work.  He dipped into the south corner of Confluence Park and enjoyed the beautiful skies and panoramas along the way.  The day's walking thought was by Dallin Oaks ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 449.  Tortoise took the most direct route home from work this Friday night ... at least he got it done!  Thought of the day was by Neil Andersen ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 446, June 9.  Such a beautiful morning to walk to work!  And yes, taking a minute to smell the fragrant flowers along the way adds to the joy, as does listening to the day's thought by 

Cheerio!

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Mile 442, June 8.  Yes, this peaceful pasture scene was part of Lou's walk home from work this evening!  The walking thought was by Robert Gay ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 438, June 7.  It had cooled down just a touch by 9 pm when Tortoise climbed the hill from his office before driving home.  Walking thought was by Larry Echo Hawk ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 435.  Water the garden. (Thanks, Sharon!)  Check.  Walk up and down various La Verkin hills. Check.  OK!  Tortoise is ready to go this fine Monday morning!  Walking thought was provided by Russell Ballard ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 432.  Tortoise enjoyed a pleasant Saturday stroll through Confluence Park, entering off of 600 North and exiting on State Street in La Verkin.  The thought of the day was by Tom Perry ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 428.  Tortoise enjoyed movie night at home with his family.  His sweet lady had been telling him for months how much he would enjoy this movie, and she was right, of course.  Many memories came back of growing up in the height of the Cold War (that didn't feel all that cold, actually).  Yes, we really had those discussions, watched those films of nuclear destruction, and did those drills in school.  Perhaps you have heard Lou not so jokingly imitate the once frequently heard broadcast:  "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.  This is only a test.  If this were a real nuclear emergency, you would be vaporized instantly."  Those days weren't all bad, of course, and tonight was most enjoyable!

Following the show, Tortoise walked round trip to the Red Box at Maverik to return the movie.  Walking thought was provided by Dieter Uchtdorf, appropriately tonight, he told of a nurse who asked a simple question of the terminally ill patients she cared for ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 425.  Lou took the long way up the hill to go to the local family history center for his monthly class this evening.  Afterwards, he needed to be done quickly, so he took the direct route to complete his loop back to his waiting car.  Tonight's thought was by Russell Nelson ...

Cheerio!

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Mile 422.  Tortoise did a short late evening walk up and down the hills of LaVerkin, accompanied by Shayne Bowen's thought ...

Cheerio!