I am slightly out of breath as I type this blog, but I am smiling, because I rode my bike for almost an hour this afternoon and I didn't have to walk up any hills. I blogged a few weeks ago about my disappointment that I had run out of energy and had to walk my bicycle up the last big hill before I got home.

I had lots of excuses. We were out of town a lot last fall and I hadn't had time to ride. Early winter was unusually cold, and I wimped out about riding in the chilly wind. Of course, it's always easy to blame my age. Women nearing 60 lose muscle every year because of hormones, and it's a struggle to exercise enough to maintain the muscle I have, much less to build more. Whatever the reason, I had obviously neglected certain muscles in my legs.

I've ridden several times since that blog. Every time I have ridden farther and faster and up more hills. But today was the first time since last summer that I have ridden straight up the last hill.

I am smiling because I achieved a goal. I am smiling because I feel physically good after that kind of strenuous exercise. Most of all I am smiling because I have proved to myself that I can still build muscle. Now - I need to concentrate on building more of it!

On an entirely different subject, I made Kasha last night. I asked myself as I ate it with chicken and steamed vegetables, why I don't make it more often. Buckwheat is a good neutral grain for Type Os. Despite its name, it isn't wheat at all, and it is gluten free.

If you just cook buckwheat, it turns out with a texture sort of like oatmeal. But if you follow the Kasha recipe on the package and brown it first with an egg, then add boiling water, it turns out fluffy like rice. It takes less time to buckwheat on the stove than to cook rice in the rice cooker.

This afternoon I had Kasha with black currant preserves. It was as good as dessert.

It has been a long time since I have had really sore muscles.

I think I'm in pretty good shape. In fact, I think I'm in above average shape for a woman my age. After spending the first 23 years of my life sitting on sofas reading books, I discovered that I liked to run and swim. When I found the Blood Type Diet in 2003 and read that Type Os need "intense physical exercise" I could identify.

I exercise between 45 minutes and an hour 5-6 days a week. I let my body rest one day a week. For me it is a good Biblical principal, but I find it interesting that every physical trainers agree. Women my age are prone to lose muscle mass and replace it with fat. I fight that tendency continuously.

For all of these reasons, it has been a long time since I have had really sore muscles.

Saturday I photographed 17 basketball teams. I had been hired by a children's basketball league. The players were aged 5-12. I shot pictures from 7:30 in the morning until 4:30 that afternoon.

If you want good pictures, you do not stand when you photograph children. You get down on their level. So I was up and down; up and down; up and down all day long. While I was working, I felt great. But, oh my! Sunday morning when I got out of bed, my quads were screaming. I hobbled into the bathroom. I had trouble getting dressed. I walked around all day like an old lady.

Monday was a little better. If I had been sitting for a while - at the computer or in a meeting - when I first stood up my quads were stiff and painful. However, once I started moving around, they loosened up. Today is a little better, but still noticeably painful.

I'm disappointed and dismayed. How could someone who exercises as much as I do have muscles this sore? I know the answer, while I exercise up to an hour a day, I don't work my leg muscles all day the way I did on Saturday.

What I have learned from this experience is that the exercise I'm doing is not pushing my muscles anywhere close to their limits. I may be in better shape than most women my age, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

The past week has been unusually warm, and I took advantage of it by going for a bicycle ride.

Oh my! I discovered muscles that have been neglected for nine months. I had so much fun doing water aerobics and tubing last summer that I didn't ride my bicycle much if at all. I usually ride a lot in the fall, but between two mini vacations and HH's Mom being in rehab, I don't think I ever got the bicycle out of the garage. So I haven't done any consistent bicycling since last spring.

I have not neglected exercise. I work out at the fitness center twice a week. I still do the line dancing class once a week. I hike with the hiking club and with my husband. I run when the weather is not too cold. Each form of exercise uses different skills and different muscles.

As soon as I got on the bicycle I knew I had neglected my biking muscles. The most embarrassing and frustrating moment was at the end of the ride. There is a hill right before you get to our house. You come to it at the end of a ride, when you are already tired. Five years ago when we moved here, I had to walk my bike up that hill. Gradually, as I got stronger, I could traverse the hill and ride all the way to the top. Then came an exciting day when I rode straight up the hill. What a great feeling, physically and emotionally!

This week, I approached the hill with confidence. About half way up I thought, "I'm not going to make it." I peddled harder, countering my negative thoughts by saying aloud "Yes I am!" As HH often says - reality will prevail. I could tell that I was about to stall, and I did not want to risk a fall. I hopped off the bike and walked it the rest of the way.

If the weather stays mild, I'll give those unused muscles another chance next week.

Our neighbors tell us we got five inches of rain while we were gone. I believe them! The grass seized the opportunity and went to seed. We returned home to find thigh high grass. Our yard could have inspired the words "amber waves of grain".

Because we live in the country, we do not have a manicured suburban yard. We encourage native plants, and most of the year we let the yard, except for the area right around the house, go wild. But thigh high grass is too much. It invites snakes and rodents to take up residence; and that is not acceptable! So, I've been mowing an hour or two every afternoon. It's good exercise.

Yesterday I got double exercise. I met my exercise partner at the fitness room in the morning to lift weights. In the afternoon I mowed. This morning I feel fit and strong.

I’ve been doing a different kind of exercise for the past two months that has had unexpectedly good results.

Last spring, a friend in the neighborhood had guests from up north who wanted to experience life in Texas. They did tourist things like the Alamo and the LBJ Library. But they also did some activities that are ordinary in Texas, but not so common in other states. One of the things they did was attend a line dancing class at a local community center. My friend was so enthusiastic about it that three of us decided we wanted to give the class a try.

The class is taught as an exercise class, but the group also performs at local events – like fireman’s picnics, Lion’s Club barbeques, and retirement centers.

The first thing that surprised me was that this really was good physical exercise. I’m in pretty good shape, but after an hour of dancing my heart rate is up and I’m breathing faster than normal. It is also great for balance, something my Physical Therapist son encourages me to work on.

The second thing was the realization that this was going to be good mental exercise as well. In an hour we do eight to ten dances. Each one has a unique pattern of steps. The first month I felt lost most of the time. I began to wonder if it would ever make sense. Gradually the steps became easier, and I found that when the music started my feet remembered the pattern.

We don’t do the same dances every week. I have no idea how many are in the total repertoire. The teacher has a stack of CDs that she brings each week. Some dances we repeat often. Others are dances the group has done in the past and everyone knows the steps except the new members. We stumble along feeling clueless. The others tell us not to worry, that we will eventually get it.

I read comments on the Forum from time to time from people who have trouble disciplining themselves to exercise. Check with your local community center. Perhaps there is a dancing class that reflects your local culture. You can have fun and exercise at the same time.

I’m not ready to join the performance group yet, but I see the potential that one day I might buy a pair of boots and give it a whirl.

Before I reposted the millet cornbread recipe (shame on computer hackers) I had gone to the health food store that has the best price on the spelt bread my Honorable Husband likes. They told me that they stopped carrying millet, because it wasn’t selling. However, they said they would order it if I bought 3 bags. I agreed and had just picked up the millet. In my mind I could already taste the cornbread.

That afternoon HH and I were hauling gravel around the yard. We needed to get to a certain point in our project because rain was in the forecast. As I worked I was thinking about what to cook with the millet cornbread. Suddenly I had a brainstorm. One of the things I loved in my pre-BTD days was tamale pie. I could substitute the millet cornbread and have an old favorite.

Coming in from the yard at dusk, already hungry and tired, I didn’t take the time to make the full tamale pie. I did a quickie version. It was delicious. HH paid me compliments.

Brown 16 – 20 ounces of ground turkey. Add 2 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. In the full version I would also have added cooked onion and cooked red bell pepper – but like I said, I was in a hurry.

While the meat was cooking, I ground the millet in my food processor and made millet cornbread batter. I put the seasoned meat in the bottom of a flat casserole dish and poured the batter over it. I baked it as if it was just the millet cornbread alone.

Substituting in recipes is beneficial. I have also been substituting in exercise, and that has not been so beneficial. We’ve had lots of yard work this spring. When I work outside for a couple of hours, I don’t come in and do another 30 – 45 minutes of exercise. The yard work makes my back and arm muscles stronger. It often gets my heart rate pumping and I definitely work up a good sweat. I thought this substitution was working.

However, this morning I went for a run – probably the first time I’ve run in 3 weeks. I could tell that I was out of shape. I need to make sure that I allow time for running, bicycling and other Type O intense physical exercise, even in the weeks that I am physically active in my yard.

My Honorable Husband walked into the kitchen this morning and said, “I have a brilliant idea. On the weeks that you don’t have your Hiking Club, let’s go out into the Hill Country and do a hike ourselves.”

When we were younger, we loved hiking together. Most of our vacations have been to the mountains. The two of us enjoyed mountain trails before we had children. Our son was on the Cub Lake trail when he was 3-years-old and our daughter hiked to Nymph Lake when she was three as well. As the kids got older, we took longer trails. Even the years when we did historical vacations, we did a lot of walking – like the Freedom Trail in Boston.

In 2004 HH hurt his knee. He did physical therapy and fortunately avoided surgery. Under normal circumstances he has no pain. But he learned that his strenuous hiking days were over. His knee does not like steep inclines or large rocks. He exercises every day walking on the roads around our home. When we are on vacation, we take long walks on smooth paths. It is the mountain trails that bring back the pain. It was hard for me to accept that when his hiking days ended, mind did as well.

Two years ago God blessed me with a ladies hiking club. I am one of the younger women in the group. A few of these hikers are in their 70s. We are all in the club for the same reasons: we want to stay healthy, and our husbands for one reason or another, do not hike. I’ve had a wonderful time getting to know these ladies as friends as we hike together twice a month.

One day in early January it was sunny and warm. HH and I drove to a lake with the dog and took a long walk on a hike & bike trail. There were no inclines and because the path was for bicyclists, it was smooth enough for him to enjoy without having to watch his feet. Last week we had a coupon for a new restaurant out in the Hill Country. We decided to drive up for lunch and take an equestrian trail that was nearby. I enjoyed both of these outings. It was great exercise, of course, but it was more than that. I realized how much I had missed the camaraderie of being on the trail with HH. Conversation sprang up naturally about issues that we never seem to have time to talk about on an ordinary busy day.

He obviously felt the same way. So we now have a commitment to hike together on the weeks when I don’t have Hiking Club. We will look for more bicycle and equestrian trails. Some weeks we may invite couples from the city to come and join us. This is going to be fun!

Our final day in Colorado was a drive across Trail Ridge Road. The road had been closed earlier in the week. It was lovely to see snow before we returned to summer like temperatures in Texas. The trail at the Alpine Visitor’s Center was closed. It is a short climb to the top of a mountain. We always gauge who is in the best shape by how many times each of us has to stop, and how long it takes us to catch our breath. We found another trail where we could hike across the tundra. The elevation gain was minimal, so we weren’t nearly as short of breath. Nevertheless, we reached an aerobic effect much quicker at 11,796 feet than we do at 1,000 feet. If I lived in Colorado year round, I wonder how the altitude would impact my exercise routine.

We stopped to visit two friends on the way home. One lives in a Denver suburb. He took us to eat at the Castle Cafe. Barbecue chicken was special of day. In Texas it is ok to eat barbeque chicken with your fingers, but I wasn’t sure about Colorado. I ate my 1st piece with knife & fork, but I gave up and ate the 2nd piece with my fingers. On the way out of the cafe our friend stopped to introduce us to some other friends of his. They couldn't shake hands because they were eating BBQ with their fingers. Good, I didn’t commit an etiquette error.

Our friend wanted dessert, and I agreed to share a piece of pie with him. I don’t remember what the pie was called, but it had a graham cracker crust, a layer chocolate, a layer of bananas, a layer of pudding, and whipped topping. It was delicious. I could make this into a very BTD compliant dessert. Walnut crust, layer of chocolate, layer of bananas, layer of custard made with almond milk. I have already made a note to try it when I get home.

Our second friend lives in Lubbock. Her husband recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, complicated by liver cancer. We had a wonderful visit with her. She is very lonely, but her faith in God is keeping her strong. We are eager to be at home and sleep in our own beds tomorrow night.

I made my first trip to Rocky Mountain National Park when I was 9 months old. This is my 21st trip to what I think it is my favorite place on earth. And my favorite place in Rocky Mountain National Park is Bear Lake. Though Les has been to Colorado and to RMNP, he had never been to Bear Lake. So we spent the past two days exploring in the Bear Lake area.

One day we took two short trails. First we walked around Sprague Lake. From the road, Sprague Lake is ho hum. It is in a marshy area, and we have been told that a moose family lives there. If you walk around to the back side of the lake, you get a nice view of the mountains, but it has never seemed to me to be a spectacular view. This week my opinion of Sprague Lake changed. In the fall it is truly beautiful. The aspen groves on the sides of the mountains add touches of gold among the dark green spruce and fir forests.

I walked alone along a path by the stream feeding the lake, hoping to get a photograph of wild life, but it was a “wild moose chase.”

Then we took the trail around Bear Lake. It is a short trail, that can turn into a long walk when you stop to take pictures every few yards. The shear face of a cliff on Halletts Peak rises above a blue lake that looks like a gem. Trust me, it is so beautiful that there is something worthy of a photograph at every turn of the trail.

The next day we returned to Bear Lake, to take what my family has always called the trail to the three lakes. The trail to Nymph Lake is very easy. DD took this hike when she was 3 years old. The trail continues to Dream Lake, but it becomes a little steeper. To me Dream is the prettiest of the three lakes. The third part of the trail to Emerald Lake is more strenuous. HH was not sure that he would try to go all the way to Emerald. His knee does not like inclines and it doesn’t like stepping around rocks. The trail to Emerald has both. We took it slow, and I think it helped that I stopped often to take pictures. He made it all the way. Emerald is dramatic. It is right at timberline, so there aren’t many trees. The water color is stunning, and the rocks are sharp. The mountains rise straight above you.

We sat on the rocks, ate our lunch, and soaked in the view. I had trail mix, an apple, carrots, and beef jerky. HH had a turkey sandwich, carrots, and chips. The chipmunks were delighted to have my apple core.

Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite place. Bear Lake is my favorite part of Rocky Mountain. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 121:1-2. I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

At each of the lakes I looked at the mountains. I was reminded that whatever national or international crisis was on the news; whatever difficulty confronts my family; God who created this majesty cares for me.

The weather forecast has been a little questionable the past two days. Clouds and snow flurries were predicted for yesterday. This morning the website said that Trail Ridge Road was temporarily closed. We decided to stay at the lower elevations.

Yesterday morning we walked along the River Walk in Estes Park. Living in South Texas, we have been to the San Antonio River Walk several times. There the river is slow and peaceful. The River Walk in Estes Park is beside a rushing mountain stream. The water makes a delightful noise as it tumbles downhill over the rocks. We walked for nearly an hour and never came to the end of the paved path. But we were getting hungry, so we headed back the other direction.

We are sharing a condominium with a long time friend named Les. He and HH wanted to go to Subway for lunch. Subway is ok. I can always get a salad, but just around the corner from the Subway I had seen an India Buffet. While they got sandwiches, I went to the buffet. We met to eat at a table beside the river.

There were two vegetarian entrees on the buffet. One was mostly eggplant, so I didn’t taste it. The other was really good, after I picked out the cauliflower. There were three chicken entrees, and all three were outstanding. Chicken Curry, Chili Chicken (which is nothing at all like Mexican Chili), and Chicken Masala. They had green beans cooked with onions and seasoned perfectly. But the best dish of all was called Swag Mushroom. It was made with spinach and it was delicious.

The men had an ordinary lunch, but I had a feast. The irony was that I paid less for all I could eat Indian food than they each paid for sandwiches and chips.

When I got back to the condominium, I googled Swag Mushroom. I got a lot of random results from tents to urban slang, but no recipes. I’m so disappointed. I had wanted to make it when I got home.

After lunch we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park and went to the Alluvial Fan. Les and I climbed to the brink of the falls. There isn’t a trail. You just pick your way over the boulders until you are at the top. HH did not think his knees would like that kind of activity, so he sat in the shade and enjoyed the view.

Today we took the trail to Cub Lake. It is near Moraine Park, which is one of the places the elk are hanging out this year. Our trail passed 20 yards from a heard of elk resting under the trees. The unique thing about Cub Lake is that water lilies grow all around the edge. From the ridge above the lake the dark blue water and the light green lily pads are striking. The trail went through several aspen groves that were at their peak. I never put my camera away. I was taking pictures constantly. It was a feast for the eyes.

Lately my computer has become a black hole, and all too often exercise falls into it. I love my work as a photographer, writer & graphic designer. I also love corresponding with friends and family. I brought boxes of interesting family history documents home from my parents’ house that need to be scanned and preserved. All of this activity involves a great deal of computer time.

I start the day with a plan: take care of morning correspondence, spend a couple of hours on my business, exercise before lunch. After lunch spend another couple of hours on professional business, then spend an hour or two taking care of the house or working on family business. Then it would be time to fix dinner.

It’s a great plan…but. Sometimes I get bogged down in correspondence. Sometimes I get so involved restoring pictures that I lose track of time. It is as if I fall through a black hole when I am in front of the computer. I look at the clock, and it’s time for lunch. No exercise.

I adjust the afternoon plan. If I work really hard, I can exercise before dinner. That black hole opens up again, and suddenly it is dinner time. All too often I end up squeezing in an exercise video before bed time.

Of course this doesn’t happen every day, and I have some excellent exercise videos. Some are aerobic. Others build muscle. But the exercise I like best is to get outside and run or bicycle or haul rocks around the yard. I also feel intuitively that exercise does me more good when it comes earlier in the day.

I feel like I am sitting too much. I need to make some adjustments in my schedule, and I need to side step that black hole.

A lady in our neighborhood was told by her doctor that she needed to start an exercise program. But she has mobility and joint issues that keep her from participating in most normal forms of exercise. What to do? Last summer she bought a set of water aerobic CDs and asked a few friends to join her at the pool 5 mornings a week. The group has grown to 15 – 20 women. One of my friends goes 2-3 days a week and has been after me to give it a try.

I went yesterday, had a lot of fun, and did indeed get my heart rate up. When there are beads of sweat on my brow while the rest of me is cool in the water, I know I am working hard. The exercises aren’t particularly difficult to do, and the CD is easy to follow. The water adds resistance which makes the exercises more strenuous. The water also buoys you up so there is no stress on your joints.

The thing that impressed me the most is the initiative of the woman who started the group. She didn’t make excuses about why she couldn’t exercise. She is not a fitness expert, but she found a program that is effective and safe. She organized this herself, rather than waiting for a gym or the Y to start a class. Though she still has health issues, she is noticeably more mobile than she was last summer when I met her at a party. She has not only helped herself, but she is also helping her friends as well as a growing circle of other residents.

I like a lot of variety in my exercise schedule, so I won’t be at water aerobics 5 days a week; but I hope to be part of the group once a week for the rest of the summer.

I’m back from a morning bicycle ride and very thankful to ESS for making this ride such a pleasure.

If you are a long time reader of this blog, you may remember that ESS made his first appearance about a year ago. He and DD met last June and began dating. I called him ESS because he was an Exercise Sports Science major. By the time he and DD met, he felt God calling him to be a pastor. He was so close to graduation that he finished the ESS degree and is now going to seminary. I believe God will use his interest in sports as a connection point when he talks to young people about the Bible and their relationship to Christ.

ESS has participated in several sports, but his primary sport is bicycle racing. And on his last visit to our house, he did something to my bicycle that has me feeling young again.

Sometime last fall I punctured the tire on my bike. I didn’t ride for a few weeks until I could get the bike into a repair shop. The next time I rode, I felt like my balance was off. It wasn’t a big deal; it was just a little harder to control the bicycle on hills. I had this problem once before on a windy day, but this time the wind was calm. I thought it would go away as I got back into practice. But it didn’t. Then the weather got cold and I stopped riding for the winter.

I had forgotten about the balance issue when I took my first ride in the spring, but I noticed it immediately. It was not my imagination. I was working so hard to keep the bicycle steady that I would come home with sore arms. This was ridiculous; bicycling is supposed to work my leg muscles, not my arm muscles.

It was also discouraging. I know that to stay in shape as I get closer to 60 years old, I have to keep my core muscles strong. One of the early signs of loss of core strength is lack of balance. I wasn’t having trouble with any other exercise, just bicycling. But whenever I rode, I felt old.

One day I went for a ride and as I struggled to keep the bike going straight up a hill, I noticed that the center of the handle bars was not lined up with the front tire. I blinked and looked again. It was off by at almost an inch. I guess the repair shop didn’t check the alignment, or maybe it was bumped getting it out of the trunk. No wonder I was having to struggle to keep the bike upright, and no wonder my arms were tired.

DD and ESS came for a visit that weekend. He found the tools he needed and aligned the handlebars. Today’s ride was a pleasure. My legs are tired, as they should be, but my arms are normal.

Here are two things to consider from my experience. First, are you taking care of your core muscles? They are the key to balance and the key to being able to enjoy the strenuous exercise that is so beneficial for Type Os. Second, never jump to conclusions with anything regarding exercise and health. The solution may be as simple as finding the right size Allen wrench.

It has nothing to do with this blog, but you might be interested to know that when DD graduated, she applied for jobs in the city where ESS goes to seminary. She was blessed with a position in advertising and social media. Now they get to spend more time together than weekend visits between classes. I am very happy for the two of them and for DD’s wonderful job, but I sure do miss my kitchen helper and exercise partner.

I’ve been working on some very detailed graphic projects. Spending that much time on the computer makes my shoulders stiff. I’ve also some tough decisions to make. That also makes my muscles tight. I am usually very faithful to exercise, but I let a few days slip by without any intense Type O exercise.

Last night I resolved that no matter what I would get some exercise. It is so dry in South Texas that most of our grass is dormant – at least I hope it is dormant and not completely dead. Usually mowing gives me a good workout once a week, but not this summer. However there was one patch of grass along the driveway that decided to try and go to seed before giving up and turning brown. I cranked up the lawn mower and knocked down the tall seed stalks. Then I put on my swimsuit and headed to the neighborhood pool. I swam laps for 35 minutes.

It was the first time I had been in the lap pool since last year. The water felt good and the exercise felt great. My muscles responded by loosening and relaxing.

The pool is on a hill with views to the south and west. As I swam the sun was setting. Each time I made the turn I could see the colors of the clouds change. It was aesthetically soothing. I got out of the water physically and emotionally refreshed.

Now that the weather is hot, the hiking club is tubing. Today was my first time to go. We are in a serious drought in my part of Texas. While other parts of the country are seeing storms of unprecedented strength, we are already under water restrictions. This does not usually happen until late July or August.

Because of the drought, there is no current in the rivers. Today, the wind was pushing us upstream about as fast as the current was taking us downstream. You probably think that is hyperbole, but it is not. We gradually drifted upstream with the wind, and had to paddle back to our starting point.

God is so good. When I thought I wanted a job, all of the doors were tightly shut. God knew that I would have as much as I could handle with family matters. Now that my parents’ house has sold, my work load is picking up. I am doing a 12 page annual report for a client. I’ve been up until 2 a.m. two nights in a row to meet my deadlines. (If your graphic designer doesn’t treat you as well, perhaps you need a new graphic designer. I just happen to know someone in Texas…)

Because of the late nights, I arrived at the river ready to relax. There were six of us tubing today. We floated around rather lazy like for an hour. Then I was ready for action. My muscles had been sitting in a computer chair for long enough. I told my friends I was going up river. No one volunteered to join me. They were having too much fun drifting and talking, but I had to get moving. I paddled upstream for a half mile or so. I saw a mother mallard with seven ducklings following her to the other side of the river. I saw fluorescent blue dragon flies. The sun was hot, and the water was cool.

By the time I paddled back to where we got in, everyone else was eating lunch. I had the same thing for lunch that I would have had today if I had stayed home. English peas with chicken and hummus. Parsnips with flax oil and cinnamon. If I had eaten at home, I would have said, “That was a good lunch.” But somehow when you eat outdoors after enjoying both total relaxation and a strenuous work out, the food just takes on incredible flavor.

Wow, I wanted to shout. This is a really great lunch!

The last two days of the trip, we didn’t have wifi, so I couldn’t blog. We spent one night with my husband’s cousin in New Orleans and one night with a good friend in Houston. We got back home today, and I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

All of the people we visited are more aware of healthy eating and exercise than average. Though they don’t follow the BTD, they all had plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. No one served a lot of dessert, which suited us just fine. We did a lot of walking on this trip. When I walk on a vacation, I always have my cameras with me, which means I have 6-8 pounds on my back. However, I missed the intense exercise I get when I am at home.

We had several long days of driving. My husband and I take turns behind the wheel. When it’s his turn to drive, I read or sleep. When it’s my turn to drive, I do isometric exercises. It makes the time go faster, and keeps me from getting stiff in the car. I start by squeezing my quads for five minutes. Then I do shoulder shrugs for five minutes. I alternate lower body, upper body isolating one muscle group at a time.

I read a book one time about a lady who had been very ill. She was confined to her bed for a long period of time, and worried about whether she would ever regain her strength. She began to observe her cat, and realized that cats never do aerobic exercise. In fact, cats appear to be downright lazy, yet they have excellent muscle tone. The lady noticed that her cat slept for a while, then did a series of stretches, then curled up for another nap. She began to stretch with her cat. You’ve already guessed the happy ending. The more she stretched, the stronger she became. One day she could get out of bed, and before long, she was walking and resuming normal activity.

While I drive I think about that cat. I squeeze and stretch my muscles. I’m serious about this. I work hard enough to get warm, and I turn all the air conditioner vents my direction. Still, I miss intense exercise.

I got everything unpacked as quickly as I could and went to the fitness center this afternoon. Hurrah, the elliptical trainer was repaired while we were gone. I did 25 minutes on the elliptical and 25 minutes of weights. Walking is good; stretching is good; but this was real exercise. Running is definitely on the agenda for tomorrow.

I had a great blog for April Fool’s Day, but life has been so busy and distracting. Here it is April 5 and I haven’t posted it yet.

I’ve mentioned that I’m in a hiking club. Our leaders came up with the idea of a “mystery hike" for April Fools. They sent out an e-mail telling us where and what time to meet. We were told to wear hiking boots and long pants because there were snakes and spiders. We were also told that we would be eating afterward at a restaurant which was not friendly to vegetarians.

You can imagine the conversation I had with my husband.
“I’m hiking with the club on Friday”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“When are you coming back?”
“After lunch.”
“Where are you having lunch?”
“I don’t know.”

There were 17 of us on this hike. Only the four drivers were given directions to our first stop - an ice house with lots of bathrooms. After our rest stop, we learned that we were hiking at Palmetto State Park. I had never been there before. It is a park along the San Marcos River. All of the nearby country is rolling ranch land with an occasional mesquite or oak tree. But along the river it is a tropical paradise with lush foliage and dwarf palmettos.

The trails were well maintained. We walked for a little more than two hours getting glimpses of the river through the trees. We have one birder in our group, and she pointed out many birds and imitated bird calls. The wildflowers were just starting to come out. It was a lovely hike – and we didn’t see a single snake.

After the hike we drove into Luling and ate at the famous City Market. Its barbeque is legendary and the line was long. The brisket was very good, but the side orders were limited: white bread, crackers, pinto beans and potato salad. I was happy with brisket and beans, but I probably wouldn't go back again. There are too many other barbeque restaurants with equally good beef that offer cole slaw, sweet potatoes, green beans and other sides.

All in all it was an April Fool’s Day I will never forget.

Yesterday 13 lucky ladies in the hiking club loaded up our cars and drove to Austin. There is a green belt in Austin called Lower Barton Creek with a hike and bike trail. We hiked 8 miles in delightful springtime weather. The skies were cloudy so it was not too warm. Little violets and big red bud trees were blooming beside the trail. The trees all had delicate green buds. It was enchanting. Spring has not yet arrived in the higher elevations of the Hill Country where I live.

We had all packed lunches and at the 4-mile post we began to look for a place to eat. Around the bend were some large boulders under a cliff. It was the perfect picnic area. I took two sushi nori rolls for lunch. Both were made with turkey and feta cheese. They caused quite a bit of comment from the other ladies. I also took a sweet potato, an apple, and a bag of carrots and celery. I anticipated being hungry during a long hike.

As we got close to the end of the trail the ladies began to talk about a famous little food stand called The Mighty Cone. The consensus of the hikers was to stop at The Mighty Cone before returning home.

I had guessed correctly about the amount of food I needed, so I was not particularly hungry. It’s never a good idea to eat just because everyone else is eating, so I went along for the fun, but did not order anything. The menu at The Mighty Cone is limited. You can get a cone with shrimp, chicken, avocado or a combination.

As my friends picked up their orders, I have to admit, I have never seen anything remotely like the fare served at The Mighty Cone. They started with a paper cone. In it they put a flour tortilla, so that the tortilla also took on a cone shape. In the cone they put a scoop of Cole slaw. On top of that they put the toppings. All three were deep fried. Now, fried chicken and fried shrimp are common, but I never imagined deep fried avocado. On top of that was drizzled Thousand Island dressing.

I was so glad I had not ordered. It was a nightmare from a BTD or any other kind of nutritional perspective. But the ladies all seemed to enjoy it.

No experience should ever be wasted. As I was preparing my lunch today, I had a bowl with leftover ground beef, mustard greens, and black eyed peas. I sprinkled on some curry powder and turmeric before I warmed it up. I fixed my husband a turkey sandwich with some Cole slaw. Suddenly I thought of The Mighty Cone. Into my bowl I put two handfuls of chopped cabbage. It added a lot of crunch and I liked it.

So hurrah for The Mighty Cone with its nest of Cole Slaw and meat on top. But spare me from deep fried anything, particularly deep fried avocado.

I got an e-mail Tuesday from a friend in El Paso who had been without water and electricity for a week. It has been so long since my last post that perhaps you thought I was one of those casualties of the extraordinarily cold weather. No. We have power, we have water, we have food. We’ve just been staying close to home and wearing lots of extra clothes, trying to do our part to avoid more rolling blackouts and stay warm at the same time.

Texans are smart, independent, and tough. We have the best economy of any state during this recession. We brag a little, but we have a lot to brag about. However, I will admit that we are wimps about winter.

A half inch of snow paralyzes a city. Below freezing temperatures lead to school closures. We tell horror stories about walking our dogs in 16 degree weather. My daughter said that she braved the icy streets to go to Wal-Mart to get bottled water and fresh fruit. People were stocking up on frozen dinners to eat in case there was another power outage. Laughter is good for you, so I’m glad the rest of the country is getting a good laugh at the expense of us Texans.

Even our wildlife is soft and weak. My husband has been refilling the bird feeders every day, and the deer are hanging around waiting for me to put out leftover scraps. We look out the windows of our warm living room and remind them of their cousins in Colorado.

I’m just as wimpy as the rest. I have zero desire to go outside and walk or run. Taking the dog to the top of the hill and back makes my hands hurt. I don’t want to go to the fitness center either. There is an air conditioner for hot summer days, but no heat. Yikes, those metal weights are cold in a freezing room. I get to feeling all comfortable in my sweater and jeans, and I dread changing into workout clothes and exposing my skin to the 68 degree air in the house.

To my shame, I have taken several days off from exercise. But I have enjoyed something new in the way of exercise. When DD was home at Christmas we went to a couple of used DVD stores looking for movies. What we found was an amazing collection of discarded exercise DVDs. They must not sell well, because we bought several for next to nothing.

I have two kick boxing workouts that I really like. I actually got warm enough doing one of those DVDs to get down to a T-shirt! I have an aerobic walking DVD that gets my heart pumping. There is a fat burning DVD from the 80s that I can hardly do because I’m laughing so hard at the clothes they are wearing.

I’m a Texan. I’d rather be outside running or swimming or hauling rocks. But when the temperature doesn’t get above freezing for two days, an exercise DVD is a good alternative. One more thing. If you come to Texas, I wouldn’t say the words “global warming.”

Yesterday was a good day for exercise and beneficial eating. The ladies hiking club took excursion at Bastrop State Park. Bastrop is also called Lost Pines because it is an isolated Pine forest in the middle of the Texas Prairie. The temperature was 23 degrees when we got in our cars. That may not seem cold to you, but 23 is extreme for South Texas where some winters the temperature doesn’t get below freezing. Two ladies dropped out of the hike because of the weather, but nine of us bundled up and began the long drive to Bastrop.

We enjoyed a 2-hour hike. The sun came out and warmed the air. The bright green pine trees were a beautiful contrast to winter brown. The trail was a blend of strenuous and relaxing. The smell of pine needles was refreshing.

After the hike we drove into the charming town of Bastrop. The historical buildings of the old downtown area have been preserved and converted to cute shops and cafes. Our group chose a café called Gracie’s. Though the specialty of the day was chicken fried chicken, but I was confident I could find something BTD friendly on the menu. Two of the other hikers also follow the BTD. One is Type AB, and she quickly settled on soup and salad. The other is Type B and she chose a tuna melt.

I found a chopped steak dinner with potatoes and a vegetable of the day. I asked if I could substitute a salad for the potatoes. I was told “no substitutions” in a rather emphatic way. I must have looked disappointed, because the server said, “We have two vegetables today, corn and green beans. You can substitute one of the vegetables for the potatoes.” Now I was happy. I ordered a chopped steak dinner, with the onions, but without gravy and two portions of green beans.

The server gave me a long look and said, “No gravy at all; not even on the side.” I said, “No gravy at all.” She shook her head, but followed my instructions. The meal was delicious and well cooked. After lunch we wandered through the shops before we started for home. On every level it was a beneficial day.