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Where did you walk ( locally ) in 2020?

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Ten days ago I posted pictures of beautiful snow. That snow lasted for two days, but after heavy rain it was all gone. Today it didn’t rain😀 so I went to try and catch a little sunshine before the sun leaves us for about six weeks. But I was too late, the sun hid behind clouds and hills.
 

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Ten days ago I posted pictures of beautiful snow. That snow lasted for two days, but after heavy rain it was all gone. Today it didn’t rain😀 so I went to try and catch a little sunshine before the sun leaves us for about six weeks. But I was too late, the sun hid behind clouds and hills.
Gorgeous, unique skies...delightful in their own way.
 
Hi, Annette,

I live in Illinois, about 150 miles south of Chicago. I always start and end in my town, Champaign, and the entire area around me is rural. I am trying to visit all the towns within riding distance, most of which were settled in the late 1800s. Slowly the distance I can bike is increasing, but I don’t think I’ll ever make it up to Chicago. 😁
Thanks for that
I've looked up this area on the map
It seems that your town is not far from St. Louis.......every time I hear mention of this city, I think of the "meet me in St Louis, Louis, meet me at the fair" film and song!!
 
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Seems it was not too crowded?
I love the area. Should visit it again soon.
I think we have met 3 cyclists and a handful of walkers. Very calm and peaceful ... Great walk
 
I absolutely loved that cafe in 2015 for it's incredible hot chocolate. I returned in 2017 and was disappointed to find it out of business.
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Thanks for letting us know that cafe is no longer there; it has been quite a few years since I was on camino. Still I hope that that heavenly to-die-for hot chocolate is not a thing of the past on the camino and that somewhere it can still be found.
 
Thanks for letting us know that cafe is no longer there; it has been quite a few years since I was on camino. Still I hope that that heavenly to-die-for hot chocolate is not a thing of the past on the camino and that somewhere it can still be found.
In 2017 when the cafe was out of business we found a "Valor" chocolate restaurant on one of the main tourist streets a couple if blocks from the catheral...still delicious and a very cute place, but unusually busy. I still preferred the other quirky little spot.
 
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A biting wind
Freezing cold
A perfect day for a walk!
A circular walk from Epping Green, a twenty minute drive from home
Four and a half hours took us on a 9 mile journey through fields and forests,past lakes, farms and villages, with the crossing of another golf course thrown in for good measure!
Little yellow arrows going in every direction but the map and compass kept us on track, never expecting to see a wartime bunker beside a track but not shown on the map
A fair bit of mud today before passing some funny signs on a farmers fence

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My day was much like Annette’s. About 7 weeks ago, I decided my husband and I would have a once-a-week walk out of town on dirt trails. Today it was below freezing, but bright clear skies. We drove about 25 miles to the former home of a wealthy industrialist who lived on a 1,000 acre site along a river. He donated it to my university on his death, and it is now a park-retreat/conference center. I have always walked there in the warmer seasons, but decided to take the plunge today

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We are still doing our limited selection of short daily walks. Yesterday we did see something unusual though. At the start someone hung up a homemade Christmas wreath for the trail bikers. Notice that it is even on a nailed up hook, not just a nail. The "ribbon" is a short piece of inner tube.

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The day before yesterday the unusual sight was a group from the town lowering a beaver dam. The high water was flooding septic systems but they needed permission from the state to do it anyway. They will be adding a structure to keep water from rising above a set level.
 
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Rick, would you be able to tell me if my picture of the river on my Tuesday post shows a beaver dam?
Looked like it to me when I first saw it. I just looked again. Yep.

When you were posting I was looking up what the longest beaver dam was for my own curiosity. 850 meters or a few sticks longer than a half mile. Our dam is about 4 or 5 meters where the stream is but it uses a causeway to be much bigger.
 
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My day was much like Annette’s. About 7 weeks ago, I decided my husband and I would have a once-a-week walk out of town on dirt trails. Today it was below freezing, but bright clear skies. We drove about 25 miles to the former home of a wealthy industrialist who lived on a 1,000 acre site along a river. He donated it to my university on his death, and it is now a park-retreat/conference center. I have always walked there in the warmer seasons, but decided to take the plunge today

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I have visited here, too, Laurie. It "almost" feels like a little bit of Europe tucked into a rather flat midwest landscape.
 
daily walks. Yesterday we did see something unusual though. At the start someone hung up a homemade Christmas wreath for the trail bikers. Notice that it is even on a nailed up hook, not just a nail. The "ribbon" is a short piece of inner tube.

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This wreath represents many a guy's dream, and re"cycling" at its best...Love it!
 
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The other day on a short 5 mile "wake up" hike we ran into a family of 3 Bobcats. Here is a photo of 1 who was kind enough to remain still while we shot a photo from about 40 yards away. Enjoy!
 

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Today as I walked around my garden checking things out I looked up and spotted a Kereru (NZ native pigeon) about half a metre away from my head. 😁 Sometimes it pays to look up. She/he was eating the buds on my Hibiscus as there is a break before berries ripen (it's food).
IMG_20201206_182324.jpg IMG_20201206_182402.jpg It is a Hibiscus that I planted in memory of my Dad and while I enjoy the flowers that remind me of him and Fiji, I am sure he would not begrudge food for a hungry Kereru.

I then decided to take a few photos of the rest of my garden. The strawberries are just passed their peak but are still fruiting.
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My courgettes are just starting to come ready
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This lot of cucumbers are planted late so that I spread out my harvest, even so, most of my produce goes to neighbours and the Salvation Army food bank.
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I have heaps of tomatoes.
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I am also trying some potatoes this year.
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I don't use chemical sprays and so the flowers are there to help keep the bugs away while attracting the pollenators.

There are lots more including 29 fruit trees (Feijoas, Blueberries, Lemons, Grapefruit, Lime, Loquats, Tamarillo, Chilean Guava and Mandarins). The Kereru and I share the Loquats and Guavas.

I also have a heap of vines including 5 Passion fruit, a Grape and 3 Blackberries with one lonesome Red Currant bush. I don't share my grapes or berries with the Kereru.

Doug
 
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Different location, similar weather conditions: one new subject, the community Christmas tree. It is usually lit very ceremoniously with all the locals, and hot chocolate and mulled wine and various bits to eat, provided by the corner cafe. Politicians are always very visible...
Not sure how it happened this time as it surprised me this morning. The yellow ribbons are in commemoration of locals who have died during the year.
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Long bike ride yesterday. I left at 6 and got home at 3:30, so I was pretty zonked. I spent about a half hour with an older guy in Farmer City who explained the entire history of the town, including a few scandals involving a local lawyer who represents “Arab sheikhs” and how a fire destroyed half of Main Street in the late 1800s.

Within about 5 minutes on my way to Clinton Lake (home of a controversial nuclear power plant) I passed signs that show the wide range of political attitudes in the area, though one is clearly predominant over the other. (And yes, going organic is a political statement here).


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Its been so wet locally that I thought of suggesting the thread be named "where did you wade locally".

Lots of water to go through and plenty of pictures of mud if anyone is interested but just at the end of the walk I came across so local countryside art. This is an oak "henge" like Stonehenge which has been installed by a local artist. Within each monolith is an oak sapling, and in a 100 years or so the monolith will be destroyed to reveal a new oak which can be used for another.
 

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I didn’t want to derail this thread, so I just started another thread with the suggestion that you might want to record your walks and upload them on wikiloc, so that others might be introduced to some of these fabulous walks you have taken. It also is a good way to learn how to use the wikiloc app when that marvelous day arrives and we are back walking the Camino.

That thread is here.

And since one of my camino tech angels also participates on this thread and is very generous with his advice, I am sure all questions can be answered, though maybe not by me.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Local to me is this strange looking houses on local routes. The term is "Oast House" which are agricultural buildings used to store and dry the hops used for the many breweries that used to exist. Some of the local land was owned by Guinness but a long, long time ago. They are similar in concept to the Asturian Hórreo.

When converted, these Oast houses are particularly useless when it comes to finding furniture to fit into their corners but people seem to love them and pay top dollar for them.

But if you fancy a stay, there will be some on AirBnB. Or if you are in Asturia you can always stay in a converted Hórreo like this one

 

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Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

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oak "henge"

This may be imperfect, but: ...

I understand there were many "wood henge" created. Easier and far less costly. But, sadly, all that remains is what was in the ground and only those alive to the possibility will find them and subject to no ground disturbance over the millennia.

Regretably a "Bing" search will not confirm my prejudice of a woodhenge in Caithness.
 
My walk was a familiar one, with a good friend who appeared at the door, planned, with a vast pile of jigsaws to keep us going till this time next year! First, I will post the sky when we were walking into the city so she could get her bus home, then a photo of the 2000 piece one we have just finished!
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Yesterday was sunny and mild (50s F, 12-14 C), not likely to be many more of those days for a while! I headed south this time, into a slight wind, and was lucky that on the way home, the wind had picked up and was still coming from the south!

Highlights of the day — Bert’s Classics in Hindsboro, a “classic car” lot that looks more like a junkyard, a site of an old Chataqua on the Embarras River, and a gorgeous brick home built in 1876 by one of the founding fathers of the town of Camargo. This is another town named after a battle in the War of Mexico. You’d think the town of Hugo could do better with their spelling.

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You’d think the town of Hugo could do better with their spelling.
I only learned how to spell cemetery last year. On the other hand I think I learned how to use a dictionary in elementary school.

I got an email from Wikiloc saying that my favorite users uploaded a track. Since I only have one designated right now I thought I would check out Laurie's track. The email brought up the Wikiloc app with the track showing but no underlying map. I thought Laurie was having massive GPS problems because of the number of straight lines. When I got the map to appear I realized there was no problem. She lives in a flat area where all the roads are straight and either go north/south or east/west.
Love the brick house! Wonder what the wonderful tall windowed room at the top was used for?
Ever read Jane Eyre?
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Love the brick house! Wonder what the wonderful tall windowed room at the top was used for?
You know, that’s a good question. In style, it kind of resembles the “widow’s walk” lookout feature of the seaside houses of fishermen, but of course the ocean is thousands of miles from this house. I have seen this feature on other houses of the Victorian era, but usually the house is much more ornate. The bottom part of the house in this picture strikes me as somber and solid, with more fanciful features on the second floor and this cupola on top.

I will send a PM to our resident architect and see if he can clarify.
 
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Here’s what I heard:

I suppose cupola is an apt description. A typical feature of Italianate architecture. This house is a mishmash of several styles of architecture, it is interesting the change in brick colors from the first to second floor. It was likely a folly on the part of the owner/builder and accessible via a pull down stairway. Probably not the best answer but the best I can do.
 
Frosty morning with fresh snow on the mountains. Walking along the north arm of the Fraser River. Watched two men (boom-tenders) crossing the log boom - sometimes running (!) on their spiked boots, re-attaching cabling to separate logs into rafts for the tug boats. Highly skilled and dangerous work!

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A selection of Camino Jewellery
Frosty morning with fresh snow on the mountains. Walking along the north arm of the Fraser River. Watched two men (boom-tenders) crossing the log boom - sometimes running (!) on their spiked boots, re-attaching cabling to separate logs into rafts for the tug boats. Highly skilled and dangerous work!

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Your final photo speaks volumes! There is a lot of talk of the beauty of Scotland (rightly so! she says without a blush!) but your own part of the world is breathtakingly beautiful, hepled enormously by your photographic artistry. It helps a lot on a wet morning!
 
Frosty morning with fresh snow on the mountains. Walking along the north arm of the Fraser River. Watched two men (boom-tenders) crossing the log boom - sometimes running (!) on their spiked boots, re-attaching cabling to separate logs into rafts for the tug boats. Highly skilled and dangerous work!

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I am surprised to see an eagle sharing its space with another bird that seems to be of a different feather.
 
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I am surprised to see an eagle sharing its space with another bird that seems to be of a different feather.
Juvenile eagles look different from the adults. And, not that anyone asked, last week I saw a bald eagle fly past from my living room window. They are more common in winter here.
 
And, not that anyone asked, last week I saw a bald eagle fly past from my living room window. They are more common in winter here.

Me too! A few weeks ago I saw one standing out in the middle of a harvested corn field. It just stood there. I waited for a while to see if it would take off and fly for me, but no, it just stood and stood and stood. Maybe it was waiting for some prey.

@Theatregal, those are just gorgeous pictures, I know I’ve said it before, but you are one talented photographer!!!!
 
Your final photo speaks volumes! There is a lot of talk of the beauty of Scotland (rightly so! she says without a blush!) but your own part of the world is breathtakingly beautiful, hepled enormously by your photographic artistry. It helps a lot on a wet morning!
Thank you @kirkie Yesterday was a surprise spectacular day after a long stretch of grey rainy days. Today...back to the dark cold rain. Nice to stay in by the fire with my book and maybe watch one of the programmes I'm drawn to these days...hill farming in Scotland and Wales :)
 
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€60,-
Me too! A few weeks ago I saw one standing out in the middle of a harvested corn field. It just stood there. I waited for a while to see if it would take off and fly for me, but no, it just stood and stood and stood. Maybe it was waiting for some prey.

@Theatregal, those are just gorgeous pictures, I know I’ve said it before, but you are one talented photographer!!!!
Thank you @peregrina2000 ! I see eagles quite often, standing for long periods of time in the field across from my house, preening and drinking from puddles. I wonder if they're taking the time for a rest. I haven't been able to find anything about this behaviour.
 
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I headed out walking on the trail just a few blocks from my front door this afternoon. I don't post photos of it often, but I bundled up and went out at 3:15pm in 28°F, a bit of sun and no wind. A lovely walk on this "rails to trails". Here's my little subdivision and the trail...I'm basically a flatlander.

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Last Sunday walked a 12 mile section of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) just north of San Diego, California. A beautiful sunny day with a light constant breeze and very few people. (The mountains pictured in the distance are in Mexico).
 

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Last Sunday walked a 12 mile section of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) just north of San Diego, California. A beautiful sunny day with a light constant breeze and very few people.
Hi Bob
How difficult was that stretch?. I might recommend it to my sons’ in-laws who like to walk and live near you.
X happy Christmas
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
Yesterday, about 09.30, and later from the other side of the park, at around 15.00. The interloper of some weeks back was surveying his options, not a bit put out by my proximity. In the second photo, I was standing near a young woman who had just sat down with her back against a tree, watching the display as the sun was disappearing for the day.
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Yesterday, about 09.30, and later from the other side of the park, at around 15.00. The interloper of some weeks back was surveying his options, not a bit put out by my proximity. In the second photo, I was standing near a young woman who had just sat down with her back against a tree, watching the display as the sun was disappearing for the day.
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I love the grey heron Kirkie. They are so fine looking & stand so proudly . The 2nd pic comes up a little too dark on my iPhone to see detail though.
 
I love the grey heron Kirkie. They are so fine looking & stand so proudly . The 2nd pic comes up a little too dark on my iPhone to see detail though.
Thanks for feedback. I decided not to adjust it, even though I know it is dark... now, stuck to a zoom for the next couple of hours... so no grey heron this morning!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Last few days...
 

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The interloper of some weeks back was surveying his options, not a bit put out by my proximity.
Today no herons for me on my walk, of course, although I was very surprised to startle one the other morning when I went to the pond to sweep.
Today I have been enjoying the Heliconias right next to where I'm walking. It's impossible to photograph how they light up when they have the sun behind them.

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My 2020 hikes have been mostly in my home province of Nova Scotia, Canada. Chasing waterfalls, exploring coastal beauty, challenging the' highest tides in the world' by walking on the ocean floor and enjoying natures beauty.
 

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On Sunday afternoon I took a walk to the near Deister, a small mountains range neighbouring my hometown. Typical weather for December, a bit cold, wet and windy.

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fresh harvested lumber, stacked up to 3m.

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the harvesting grounds
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view to the other side, you can see this scar in the woods from the next mainstreet crossing the Deister.

But they will replant trees in spring '21.

5.5km / 1:10h, very muddy walk near the harvesting grounds.

BC
Roland
 
If you like wine, heritage (steam) railways and castles, this one may be of interest. Short 16k walk to Bodium Castle which is just one of a number of castles in the area. Apparently built to protect ourselves from the French as we are always worried they will come over here and take our jobs, women and fish. (It's really about the fish)

And since the only item we actually need from them is their excellent wine, we are now doing our own. This route usually has 2 vineyards but I now see there are another two opened up.

The heritage rail has a station close by and links to the main line going from the coast to London.
 

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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
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A great 10k family walk on the PoCo Trail along the Coquitlam River. Randomly, along a 1km section of the trail, someone has strung battery operated lights and hung Christmas decorations on trees. Probably a pretty walk after dark. I would say to the writer of the sentiment on the rock "Agreed. Nor is this rock your personal canvas" 🙂

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Tuesday afternoon I took a walk by myself in one of our usual places but I made it longer. It was a solo walk because we were taking another one in the evening with friends and Peg figured that was going to be enough for her. It was at a zoo that was all lit up with lights. The animals that wanted to be out were not flood lighted though. They were hard to see though fogged glasses due to the cold and masks directing breaths upwards.
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Wednesday we walked in the state park due to an upcoming storm likely closing it for a while for walking. That is because they have had a cross country skiing concession taking over the trails. Snow fall has been so erratic for years though I have doubts that anyone is going to bid on it this year.

Thursday morning I took another solo hike where I didn't even bother to take a mask. Social distancing isn't a problem when you are taking a walk in the woods at 3:30 am with a temperature of 24 F, nearly a foot of snow already on the ground and the storm still dropping more snow (and the temperature too). There was enough light because what the town was giving off was bouncing between the clouds and the snow. It was very quiet. Peg skipped her walk as it kept snowing into the afternoon.
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Friday we took a short walk in a local park. It looked like maybe there were a half dozen walkers before us.
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but I find a lot of beauty here.
It’s often in the appreciation of how nature gives us a completely different picture when we experience ‘the seasons’.

Me too. Winter gives us a chance to see the stripped down contours of the land and the "bones" and strength of the trees silhouetted against the light. There's a lovely variation in winter colour in your photos.
 
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A later start, and a slight deviation in route.
I saw an old boat, and wondered..
I saw my shadow, looks like heading for Santiago...
Now, apron on, to make pastry for mince pies...’tis the season, after all!
 

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Thursday morning I took another solo hike where I didn't even bother to take a mask. Social distancing isn't a problem when you are taking a walk in the woods at 3:30 am with a temperature of 24 F, nearly a foot of snow already on the ground and the storm still dropping more snow (and the temperature too). There was enough light because what the town was giving off was bouncing between the clouds and the snow. It was very quiet. Peg skipped her walk as it kept snowing into the afternoon.
Rick, I am curious as to what motivated you to walk on a snowy winter day at 3:30am EST?😳 Was it the quiet beauty you knew you would be immersed in, or insomnia?
 
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Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

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Around the block. Six k. Tried out Wikiloc. Quite fun!
Want some more fun? Tomorrow turn on Wikiloc and pick a short trail you recorded. Note the distance. Follow the track but just before reaching the halfway point kill the app. Keep on walking until you are definitely past the halfway point. Start the app again, pick out the same track and say you want to follow it. Note the strange behavior. It isn't a bug exactly but it is an oddity. The app expects that you want to cover the longest distance on the track.
 
Rick, I am curious as to what motivated you to walk on a snowy winter day at 3:30am EST?😳 Was it the quiet beauty you knew you would be immersed in, or insomnia?
I don't get the greatest sleep but it isn't really insomnia. My sleep hours have shifted so midnight is in the middle.

A nice part of walking in a snow fall at night over doing it in the snow after a storm is that no one wants to drive in the storm. It is quieter.
 
Love the brick house! Wonder what the wonderful tall windowed room at the top was used for?
Ever read Jane Eyre?
Pardon me for back tracking/side tracking here, but those who are interested may like to read Wide Sargasso Sea. The author Jean Rhys gives a life to the mad woman in the attic.
 
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Another 15K walk, starting from (and arriving 🙈) my place. That was yesterday, today it's rainy...
We forgot to start the Wikiloc app..., again 😼 (connected my Garmin Oregon 700 to wikiloc and guess what ... it works too)
 

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Looks like this may be my last long ride for a while. I can tolerate starting out in the high 20s (F) if by afternoon it will be at least in the low 40s. Yesterday’s ride went through some places I had already been, but true to Saramago’s word, seeing them decorated for the holidays or in another season made it a new experience.

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Torn Achilles
(Actually it happened a month ago - I know exactly when but at the time I thought it couldn’t be that because the pain disappeared and I could walk fine - I kept doing my 12km each day but it got sore going up hills so I got a diagnosis)
 
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Looks like this may be my last long ride for a while. I can tolerate starting out in the high 20s (F) if by afternoon it will be at least in the low 40s. Yesterday’s ride went through some places I had already been, but true to Saramago’s word, seeing them decorated for the holidays or in another season made it a new experience.

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My hubby is a bike rider, too, but mostly lately E-bikes. He purchased a battery powered heated vest on Amazon and it has made a difference in this colder weather as he has been able to head out more often and stay "relatively" warm.
We head down to the Gulf of Mexico for January/February...he always bikes the Gulf State Park trails while I always walk them for training to prepare for my spring Caminos...if I cannot go this the spring I will take any month available that I will be able to GO!
 
There was a little more snow last night. It was a bit wet, and with little wind, it makes caps for what it lands on.
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Edit: I used the insert multiple method to submit these three pictures chosing thumbnail. As you can see it didn't work right. Back to inserting them one at a time.
 

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There was a little more snow last night. It was a bit wet, and with little wind, it makes caps for what it lands on.
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Edit: I used the insert multiple method to submit these three pictures chosing thumbnail. As you can see it didn't work right. Back to inserting them one at a time.
I find that "insert multiple" uploads multiple files but only "inserts" one at a time. It does mean though that I can do a second insert without another upload.
 
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WOW, I’ve never heard of that. I wonder if there are battery powdered toe warmers or mittens, those are the two parts of my body that suffer the most!
He purchases inexpensive disposable hand warmers and says they work well in the mittens he's been using in cold weather. Amazon has a big variety to choose from. His toes do not seem to bother him.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
I didn't walk anywhere yesterday - just admired the snow from my "office" window. We get little enough snow, that it is always a novelty. It rarely lasts more than a couple of days, and will be gone before Christmas day.

The day before, we had a lovely walk to a beach nearby. There were lots of people out, but I managed a photo with no one in it except for one kite boarder in the sky.
 

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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Rained all day so decided to attend a guided tour, Covidproof, in our main church that is fully restored after many years.
The Cross and the wooden Madonna are 14th century. The stone coffin is 10th century.
Gorgeous contrast with the modern halo construction.
The wooden shrine is 12th century and the oldest wooden version in the Lowlands.

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