16-96

Mile 252.  After finishing work in Mesquite, Lou looked for a different hill to climb and found it on Mesquite Heights Road.  This is also the road to the city landfill, and like several others in Mesquite, it has houses built up right to the Lincoln county line.  Mesquite is bordered by a county line to the north, a state line to the east, and the Virgin River to the south, and is filling up quite nicely in between.  Tortoise parked at the last intersection and went up the hill to see what views he could get on his first walk in Lincoln County.  Walking thought was provided by Linda Burton ...

Cheerio!

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!

15-351

Mile 1,066.  It's plenty cold in the mornings, and most of the time in the afternoons these days.  But for one December afternoon, Tortoise was comfortable walking in a long sleeved shirt.  No coat, no beanie, no scarf, no gloves.  He was in Mesquite for work appointments, and when they were done, he headed out on a loop of that city's trails, enjoying the sunshine, no wind, and temperatures in the low 50s.  Today's walking thought is by Linda Reeves ...

Cheerio!

15-269

Mile 783.  Tortoise is not sure what image comes to your mind when you think of Las Vegas, but he is fairly confident that this picture of the bridge joining the Cedar Drainage trail with the Vegas Wash trail is not it.  Lou is glad to be of service in expanding your horizons!  It was a hot afternoon, even for late September, and Tortoise struggled to complete this walk.  He suggests bringing a full liter of water, having rationed a half liter and feeling the effects of it.  Lou did take lots of pictures and is confident you will enjoy them, so here they are ...

Cheerio!

15-50

Mile 159.  Today featured a loop walk originating from Hafen Trailhead Park.  It included part of the Virgin River Trail, and was done in between work appointments in Mesquite.  For more pictures and details, along with a walking thought by Mack Lawrence, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

15-35

Mile 102.  Tortoise had work appointments along the way home from California today, and got a couple short walks done nestled between the work.  The first was 2.12 miles on city streets in Mesquite, Nevada; the second was 2.15 miles on the Chuckawalla Trail, just off busy highway 18 a very short distance north of St. George, Utah.  Amazing how such serenity can exist so near so much activity!

For more on these walks, including a generous sampling of pictures and today's walking thought by Ted E. Brewerton, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

15-10

Mile 30 for 2015 was reached on a day it took three walks to reach 2.08 miles. Pictured above is the first walk, from the rental car shuttle drop off at Terminal 1 at Los Angeles International Airport through security to his gate.  Second walk was through McCarran Airport in Las Vegas to the St. George Shuttle.  Third walk was in a circle in the Joann's fabric store parking lot in Washington, Utah so that the minimum two miles for today would be walked.   Tortoise was in travel mode home, he just did what he had to to get it done ...

For more on this walk, including today's walking thought by Gordon B. Hinckley, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

15-7

Mile 21.  Tortoise is in travel mode this evening, resulting in a two walk day with each walk in a different state.  Pictured above is the C concourse of McCarran airport in Las Vegas, significant in this instance primarily because Lou was travelling out of the B concourse.  Later on in this post the reader will find a link to his meandering 2.92 mile path through all corners of the C concourse, then all of B, followed by all of A, before returning to B to board his plane.  With a backpack of clothes and a rolling bag of work.  It helps the time pass by more quickly once the security search has been completed, and it's not like those plastic airport chairs are known for their great comfort ...

Prior to this walk, Tortoise also did an 0.92 mile quick trek from St. George Shuttle to Wendy's and back. For more on these walks and today's walking thought by W. Don Ladd, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

14-294

It was a two walk day for Tortoise today.  He drove his dear lady to the Las Vegas airport so she could visit our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren far, far away.  Too far.

A short distance from the airport is this fine trailhead pictured above, located just south of Sahara on Lamb.  Tortoise parked nearby and headed out.  First order of business was to cross Lamb on the bridge pictured above and head west to the US 95/I-515 freeway, which was where Tortoise left the Flamingo Arroyo trail on his last adventure on it back on July 25 (It's worth clicking on that link just to see the picture of the Mighty Turtles one more time!).  Once that was done, he retraced his steps and then continued east with a plan to go as far as Nellis and return.  Tortoise made it most of the way before construction forced a retreat.  When you click below to continue reading, you'll see a picture of that along with other pictures, a description of the day's second walk, plus maps of both walks.  And today's walking message by William Bradford.  It includes the thought "Nothing suits the devil better than to become a silent partner with us."

Cheerio!

14-289

Tortoise explored a new neighborhood on a minimum 2.15 mile walk this evening after finishing appointments in the Aliente area of North Las Vegas.  The streets are well lit, the sidewalks are wide, and the landscaping is nice.  Quite enjoyable.  Sorry my camera didn't capture it very well. This walk took 40:30 minutes, had a tortoise rating of 6.1, and burned 337 calories.  Please click below for a map and today's walking thought by Aileen Clyde, which includes "I only wanted to go on with reading,but I could tell Mother was pleased with his inquisitiveness"

Cheerio!

14-273

Where do you go to walk in Las Vegas that is well lit and reasonably secure at night, and isn't the Strip?  Tortoise's answer this evening was to walk 2.02 miles of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus.  Path was virtually flat with a few stairs climbed, totalling 18 feet, making the tortoise rating 6.2.  He burned 314 calories along the way.  For a map, more pictures, and today's walking thought from F. Burton Howard, please click below to continue reading ...

14-206

Now there is a high quality school mascot!

I drove to McCarran Airport in Las Vegas this morning to take Sarah, Chloe, Abigail, and Nathan to their flight home to Florida and Willyne to hers to Boston to begin her odyssey west with Becca to Roosevelt.  When each of them got boarded on their flights I watched and waved until their planes were tiny dots in the sky and then reluctantly headed to the car.  I think it took me all of 3.2 seconds to miss them.

Tortoise especially appreciates his walks at times like these, so he headed over to the Pecos-McLeod Trailhead where the Flamingo Arroyo Trail begins an 8.6 mile path along the path of a wash that has been turned into a storm control ditch.  I followed it until I reached the US 95 trail (which literally goes along the side of this busy freeway for around 3 miles.  When I reached Twain, I switched to city sidewalks to return to my starting point.  I passed the school pictured above when I had about a mile left to drive to the trailhead from the airport, and of course, had to stop!

The walk totalled 5.03 miles with 141 feet climbed in 1:42:33 hours.  Tortoise rating was 5.9, but the distance qualifies us for our sixth Benjamin Category Override to an even 5.0 rating.  It was 97 degrees and humid (just rain already!) so I will agree with the override.  :-)  Please click below for a map and more pictures ...

Cheerio!

14-114

Knowing that my appointments would keep me up very late when I got to Los Angeles this evening after earlier appointments in Hurricane, I took the opportunity to walk the McCarran Airport in the time between the St. George Shuttle dropping me off/passing through security, and the takeoff of my plane from gate C9.  Gate C9 is significant when you notice that the picture is taken near gate B2.  I went up and down all of the A, B, and C concourses, pulling my carry-on bags, dressed in suit and tie.  It is perfect, I just looked like someone taking a long walk from one gate to another ... they just wouldn't know about the "keep going" part.

GPS reception is spotty inside a building of course, so I made frequent trips to windows to get better connections.  The result is 2.36 miles with 46 feet climbed in 57:46 minutes.  I'm confident I went at least a half mile farther than that, but it's all good, I will go with what it initially recorded  (you may have noticed more than once that HumanaFit changes my elevation gains over time, usually to make it bigger, so I'm not going to stress that this time it made it lower as I'm sure I climbed more than 16 feet on the connectors between the terminals!)  Please click below for a map of my adventures, and more ...

Cheerio!

14-78

Lunchtime walk between appointments in Mesquite, NV today.  2.39 miles with 49 feet climbed in 43:42 minutes.  Tortoise rating:  6.2  Calories burned:  373.  Was on the phone the whole time, so no pictures.  Instead you get the Google overhead camera.  It's like someone was flying overhead taking a picture of you while you are walking ... a little shaky on the camera but pretty amazing all the same.  Please click below to continue the goodness!

Cheerio!

14-71

Did the full loop walk after finishing appointments in Mesquite today.  Felt good after not walking yesterday.  I went 4.56 miles with 84 feet climbed in 1:29:42 hours.  Tortoise rating:  6.2  Calories burned:  714.  Please click below for a map (that shows the loop) and more ...

Cheerio!

14-43

Let's play a little game today.  Before you read on and see where this is, please type a comment and guess the location based solely on this picture.  It's near the turnaround point of a 3.56 mile walk with 56 feet climbed in 1:03:01 hours.  Tortoise rating on the slightly uphill portion:  6.3.  Calories burned:  552.

After you give your guess, please click below to continue reading and be rewarded with more pictures, a map that reveals the location, and other fun tidbits ...

Cheerio!

13-296

This was one of the tougher 7 tortoise walks I've done ... on my way to pick up Willyne at the Vegas airport I did a round trip of the 2.47 mile length of the new Bunkerville Trail, plus a little extra.  5.21 miles total with no pack and 108 feet climbed in 1:25:35 hours.  Basically I tried to maintain a 17 minute mile pace throughout, and did, by pushing myself pretty hard.  Clear, calm, 80 degrees.  Tortoise rating:  6.4.

Please click below for a map, more pictures, and info on calories consumed and burned today ...

Cheerio!

3-122

Walking at sunrise near Stephanie and Paseo Verde in Henderson, NV

When I'm in an unfamiliar but inviting neighborhood, in a hurry, and ready for a walk, I go with my old standby.  Find a main road with a good sidewalk, hopefully with a hill to climb.  (Please click on the line below to see another picture and read more about where I found to walk today, August 30) ...

3-117

Today's walk was hard to measure.  Look at the map, then realize I walked to the end of each wing of Concourses A, B, and C before going to the shuttle stop to get my ride the rest of the way home.  I know I walked 40 minutes at more than 2.5 miles per hour shown here, so I will count 1.67 miles with 91 feet climbed.  Tortoise rating:  5.9.  This bring my chapter 3 totals to 128.57 miles walked in 50 hours 24 minutes, with 8,556 feet climbed, and 14 swims totalling 4,640 meters in 4 hour 57 minutes.  Please click on the line below for a map and more: