ToddlingAroundTheWorld

This is why I walk. I walk to let my son know I will always be with him and always be thinking of him while he is serving as a missionary in Argentina. I walk to show him that we can accomplish great things when we set incredible goals and are determined to meet them. This is something that I need to dedicate myself to do every. single. day. If I miss a day, that is a huge amount of miles that will need to be made up to get back on track. I told my daughter Autumn this when she was in the Czech Republic and I was walking there, and I have told Austin the same thing: I see this virtual mission as having many similarities to the missions they have and are serving on - you have to strive each day to do your best and never give up. You have to work hard even when you might not want to. You will have many obstacles to overcome and need to persevere and endure to the end. When you do this, how great will be your joy. Austin, I will meet you there in person, after walking there virtually, wh...

Walked the 6 mile loop down the Jovita Trail, over to the BBC (Bjorn, Blackner, Conger neighborhood), pastTrout Lake and finishing up in our neighborhood, Enchanted Meadows. Later in the day, LeAnn and I went over to Triangle Park in Milton, where they have just erected a monument to 9-11, which is two huge beams from the wreckage of the Twin Towers. It was solemn to see and it will be impressive once they finish landscaping around it. They will do a full dedication next year on 9-11. Then we walked the perimeter of the park and drove around some of the neighborhoods nearby. Finished my ten mile goal for the day with a few more in-the-dark laps around the neighborhood before going to bed.  Current virtual location: somewhere south of Eli, Nevada Seattle to Bahia total miles: 7020 Completed Miles: 872.2 Remaining Miles: 6147.8

Have walked the distance into three states from Seattle. Now virtually walking through Nevada!

One of my favorite places to walk in South Seattle. The beautiful gardens and Japanese architecture bring peace to the soul. Brings back strong memories of the time I spent in Japan.  Seattle to Bahia Total miles: 7020 Completed 552.8 Remaining 6467.2

Went with LeAnn and the girls to hike Swan Creek for LeAnns 45th birthday. Love all my girls. They sure are fun to hang with!

I just saw a couple of these old gentleman walking by on the trail right as I was about to do some of my push-ups. (That’s them in the picture walking further down the trail) One of the guys saw me and said ‘give me 100!’ I responded that actually this is where I am doing my 100th. I already did 75 on the three stations prior to this! He was like 'whoa!' and they shuffled back on down the trail. I think I shocked him a little bit - where he was trying to be funny I actually ended up fulfilling his request!

Last October I decided to add a little more weight resistance training to my walking schedule. The trail nearby our house has multiple exercise stations, so I decided rather than walk by them multiple times each day, that I would start doing push-ups when I hit one of these stations. I started with just a few because at that time that’s all I could do, but after a couple months I worked my way up to 10 per station and now up to 25 per station. So I hit four of the stations each way and end up doing 200 push-ups each time I walk this trail. So over the last nine months that has added up to 23,874 push-ups. I’m sure this is many times over the total number of push-ups I have ever done throughout my whole lifetime up to this point. It has definitely helped my upper body to feel stronger so I continue to do it whenever I walk the Jovita trail. 

Funny Farm on the corner of Jovita Blvd. Bunch of goats, pigs and chickens running around. It has been nice walking around more of these rural streets down inEdgewood. Never saw anything like this back walkingaround in Kent the past couple of years. 

It has now been 38 days since Austin has left on his mission. He has really been enjoying his experience in Mexico MTC and is picking up the Spanish language very well. He is so excited to be leaving for Argentina on Monday morning. He will fly into Panama City, have a four hour layover, and then continue on to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there he will take a bus to Bahia Blanca, which takes around 8 hours, arriving Tuesday morning. I am thrilled for the things he has learned so far and ecstatic for what is to come for him in Argentina. It has made me reflect of the time when I was a new missionary in Japan and all of those similar feelings I was having as I journeyed to a new country while realizing I would be living there for the next two years and hoping to be able to share and impact the lives of the people I would meet during that time. This period of time, as I have been working on walking my way down to Argentina on the #walktobahia has now brought me 380.2 miles from ...

One of the joys of walking my way around the world is all of the wonderful canine friends that I encounter. You never know who’s going to start barking and go ballistic when you walk around the corner. Many of these dogs I am familiar with now and know when they’re coming as I walk on certain routes, that’s not to mention all of the Kujos that freak out behind the windows of certain houses when I walk by. Some streets I even avoid on purpose because I know there are some snarly beasts waiting just around the corner. Today I decided I would start getting pictures and videos of the little terrorists when I passed by. I ran into about 8 to 10 of the friendly fellows on my 7 mile walk this morning. I will call these doggies #DogsThatWantToEatMe

Love this house I often walk by in a four mile loop I dofrom our house. It has a beautiful wrap around deck.  I had to force myself to get up off the couch and finish getting my walking in today. I had her about 5 miles complete but needed to get to 10 to reach my daily goal. I did get a few miles in before going to the aquarium today, but I have found that when I am on my feet for three hours straight that often wears me down more than walking for three hours. For my responsibilities at the aquarium as a volunteer I am washing windows and preparing the food for the sharks bringing up items from the freezer. I don’t think I realize that when I’m standing up consistently back it’s very challenging have my knees start hurting. So after returning from the zoo I was actually pretty wiped out. I ended up taking a nap but then realized I needed to get back out and continue my journey. That is a great thing about having a goal that is visible the mini outside of yourself. I feel bigger ur...

My Apple Watch has now logged over 8,960 miles since Autumn left on her mission in 2016. I logged my biggest day yet on the Walk to Bahia Blanca yesterday. 18.2 miles. If you can dream it, you can do it. 

Twenty-six days down and since Austin started his mission, have completed 254 miles and walked the distance from Seattle to Condon, Oregon. Only 6,766.2 miles to go!  Yesterday, I was planning on walking home from church. The weather was perfect and I was looking forward to it. I had packed up some shoes and clothes to change into after church. Unfortunately, the mind was willing, but the body was weak. Some of my internal IBS symptoms came back to haunt me and I was feeling very nauseous. I had to have LeAnn drive me home. I took a nap and some medicine and felt better after waking up. I then did an afternoon walk on the Jovita trail, where I was able to help a couple of nice ladies take a photo after seeing them attempt a selfie. They were grateful. Always good to ask if you can lend a hand. Later that evening, I left around 8:30 and had a nice 'dusk walk'. Went up by Trout Lake and through some of the remote neighborhoods over in Jovita. They are nice as there is little...