Cycling, biking, walking, dancing, swimming, and more in 2022

 

 

For several years I have kept track of Vicky's and my cycling miles.  Starting in 2012, when we started our road trips, I also kept a record of our hiking miles and our traveling-around-the-country miles.

In 2016, I upped that, and started keeping track of all of our exercise minutes.  

So we have a very detailed record.

2022's totals:

Cycling:  196 rides totaling 3806 miles,  the most miles we have cycled in a year

Walking:  535 miles  

Hiking:  55 hikes totaling 208 miles.  Our average hike distance has declined significantly with the decline in our joints...(my feet, Vicky's back).  Hiking is defined as being in the wilderness with a backpack--about 20 pounds for me and about 15 pounds for Vicky. 

Swimming:  Vicky  67 miles    Dan 39 miles (Vicky swims;  Dan does the dog paddle; please don't come and watch---it's embarrassing).

Dancing Hours:  29

Strength building exercises: 23 hours (Dan with an upper body machine,  Vicky Pushups)

+ Miscellaneous:  Core exercises from Physical Therapy; ping pong 

Time:  Average of 2 hours and 8 minutes per day of exercise.  That may seem excessive, but we don't believe so.  We both have serious medical conditions that our doctors practically pray for us to exercise a lot.  Research I have found is supportive of this idea, although not enough studies have tested it directly.  

 

Our 11-year totals (i.e., since January 2012):

Hiking: 881 hikes totaling 4498 miles

Cycling: 1385 rides totaling 27,448 miles

Kind of as an aside.....last night we started watching Dances with Wolves.  We will finish it tonight.  We had not watched it in years.  

Within the first 30 minutes of the film, as John Dunbar is heading west to his fort in Sioux and Pawnee country, there are vast expanses of grasslands and dirt/rock formations.  We turned to each other and both said at the same time:  "We know that place!"  We knew exactly where it was filmed...the Black Hills and the Buffalo Gap Grasslands that surround it.  We had camped for weeks in that area, and hiked for miles and miles.  It has been one of our very favorite places in the country.  We're really enjoying the film, so don't tell us how it ends.  Does he get the girl?

On our twelfth year of Christmas

my true love gave to me….LOVE.  

It’s a gift that we never get tired of, and never gets old….the gift that lasts a lifetime.

Christmas morning we were treated to a very special sunrise as we completed our 50K bike ride on the paths at our home in Leisure World.

Our Christmas Day breakfast….

We got to “see” and talk to many of our loving children and grandchildren, who are living from the east to the west coast and on the other side of the world in Russia.

Special gifts from our dear grandchildren and children….

Gifts to each other….

Dancing to the most beautiful Christmas songs in each other’s arms…..it was truly magical.

 

 

 

Each year we remember Christmases past and celebrate lifelong traditions. And each year we create lovely new family traditions….and our life and love grows richer.

Twas the night before Christmas

 A special Christmas gift at dawn…

Christmas Eve dinner together in our cozy little home….we are carrying on the Graybill holiday traditions.   

We had Grandma Jeanne’s homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and green beans, all smothered in rich gravy.  And Grandma Vicky’s family Christmas cookies for dessert!

Our stockings are hung by the window with care.

Santa Claus delivered presents to us in Leisure World—of course without his eight tiny reindeer, but in a golf cart.

Santa has been good to us this year…..

And life has been good to us….we are so blessed to have have all of you, who we love so dearly!

To all of our family and friends on this Christmas Eve—come visit us and share in our Christmas joy, plenty of sunshine, a plate delicious Christmas treats, and lots of love!

‘Tis the season to be jolly……

This afternoon we stood in front of our home (dressed in bright red shirts and Santa hats) and watched the annual Leisure World Christmas parade.  

We clapped, waved, wished everyone a Merry Christmas, and collected tons of candy thrown to us by the families and oldsters in their decorated golf carts.

Only here in Leisure World.  And that’s one of the reasons that we love Leisure World!

Record Breaking Day!!!

This morning, before daybreak, we broke our yearly record for cycling.  

This year we have cycled 3549 miles.  

We did a lot of those miles since the middle of November, to support Candice.  She has set a new Guinness World Book of Records by running a 50K on 47 consecutive days....and she's still going.   (She actually broke the old record at 23 consecutive days.)

So we are cycling 50K per day to let her know we are pulling for her.  

Here we are starting off today.  Temperatures for Candice are below zero this morning. 

You may wonder why we are so bundled up.  Both of us wearing 5 layers.  Well, this is why:  (the top number is the temperature in our refrigerator---the bottom number is the temperature when we finished this morning). 

 Not as cold here as it will be for Candice, but 35 is awfully cold when there is no sun and when you are creating your own winds of 15-20 mph on a bike.

To celebrate, we are going to get take-out from our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Plus (and this was a fun surprise for me), Vicky made me a treat for breakfast;  REAL bacon and scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese.  Makes me want to go out and do another 3549 miles tomorrow!

Not only did we break our record, but we did it together!  Every mile.  (of course, how else could we set a joint record unless we did the miles together, but...)

We're awfully proud, actually.  Vicky's back is horrible--she had a "so-so" night sleeping last night.  And the medicine I had to take for two years has completely changed my body and created fat where there used to be muscle.  Plus, we're in our mid-70s.

And we are so very proud of each other.  We now have a memory of something that nothing can ever take from us.  

Today is going to be a good day.  Go Candice!

FINALLY! Back to cycling in the dark

For the past several days we have had to....gasp...cycle when the sun's up.  

It's OK, but it misses something important.

So, why have we been cycling during the day for the past few days instead of at night?

A cold spell.  By the time we were to leave at 4:30 a.m., the temperatures were often hovering in the low 30s.  To be able to deal with those temperatures we would have had to bundle up so much that we couldn't steer the bikes safely.

But this morning?  Temperatures in the low 40s.  Good enough to be comfortable and safe.

We love riding around Leisure World in the dark.  We rarely see any vehicles for the first hour, and when we do see them they are far enough away for us to get to safe spots.  And since we have our bikes lit up to a ridiculous degree, they can see us.  It is like it is a different world at night.....just the two of us.  We have been doing this since we moved to Leisure World in 2019. 

We have something like 12 headlamps on each bike, and lights all over the frame and tires.  Four tail lights that blink.  It's actually an amazing sight.

We love riding out on the golf cart paths at night and around the ponds.  It is quiet, serene, and comfortable.

It's spiritual.  And since we do it together, it's the greatest.   It almost feels like a "high." Neither of us knows what a marijuana "high" feels like.  If it feels like this, though, we can certainly understand the appeal.

Temperatures will be a bit colder tomorrow, but not too cold for us. 

These photos show you how lit up we are and how bundled up we are:

Treatment for Vicky's back

We enter this day with great hope.  

After years of suffering pain, we hope we are on a path to get some relief for Vicky.

In 1993, while waiting to make a left turn on a state highway, her car was rear-ended by a truck traveling 60 mph.

She had surgery on her spine, which helped a lot.  But over time, arthritis has developed in two places along her spine.

You wouldn't know it by seeing her.  One weirdness of her back problem is that she feels the best when she is exercising.  She can hike, cycle, dance, etc., with virtually no problems.

It's is when she's sitting or lying down that the pain becomes almost unbearable.  Sleep is a real challenge.  She can sit for only short periods of time before sitting becomes painful.

I have tried to help by acknowledging this reality that she feels better when she's up and moving around.  So, for example, I let her do all of the housework and yard work, which she enjoys doing.  I know, I know.....whatta guy.  But, I love her!  

Actually, a few years ago, my gift to her was that we now have a housekeeper and a gardener.   Now she can do the fun parts but not the hard parts that affect her back. 

Of course she lifts as little as possible, so I do all of the lifting.  And move pillows and a footstool to the back patio when we are sitting out there...that kind of thing. 

Today she will go to a surgery center for a "procedure."  It will be a lumbar block.  We don't completely understand it, but it will be to deaden the pain in one part of her back through an injection.  

It's not a permanent solution.  It's diagnostic.  If it helps temporarily, then the doctor will know that a (more) permanent solution should be tried in that area--an ablation.

She truly amazes me.  For someone whose life consists of daily pain, she is always in good spirits.  She approaches every day with the idea of milking all of the joy from it that is possible.  All of you, and especially her children, understand this well because that's how she approached being a mother despite having to work full time and manage a farm, and, for most years, while experiencing pain.  She puts her all into everything she does, and now our grandchildren get the benefit of this enthusiasm for life.

In fact, I remember the first time I laid eyes on her.  She was out on a dance floor.  There was something about her....as I have told her many times...in that she "sparkled" with life.  So, with some trepidation...and excitement, I threw on my dance shoes, waiting for the song to get over, and quickly walked up to her.  My first words to my wife of over 11 years now: "Can I have a dance?" 

Pray, hope, say chants, burn incense, sacrifice your children to the gods, cross your fingers, do whatever you do in this regard to enhance the chances that by tonight she feels better and that we are on the way to a solution.  Nobody should be in this much pain.

Thanks for your good thoughts today for my wife, my Vicky.

Dan gave me this card as they were rolling me into surgery…..it was so sweet that I started to cry.

I felt so very safe, surrounded by his love.  Thank you, my love.

Our brother and sister visited us

It was wonderful! 

Our parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles have all died.  Hopefully they are all watching over us.  We certainly think of them with love and tenderness every day.  So now Kathy and Bill are the only two people who share our history, and remember the sweet world that we grew up in as children and young adults.  

We treasure both of them and the wonderful relationship that the four of us share.

They drove all of the way from Colorado to see us.  We spent our days together just hanging out at home, taking walks, watching movies, eating lots of Christmas cookies and pies, and talking and laughing together.  Every day was perfect!

We walked by Mom and Dad’s home, said hello to our very special parents.  We all felt their love.

Kathy and Bill opened the Christmas gifts that we had made for them….a knitted spring/summer blanket for the bed at their cabin.

And a book with Mom’s recipes and special memories that she had handwritten.  We included pictures of Mom and Dad and much of our family in the book.

Kathy got her big wish…..she wanted to soak up LOTS of warm sunshine.

Last time Kathy and Bill stayed at our home, Kathy fell backwards into the corner of our secretary desk, split her head open, and ended up in the hospital emergency room.  

This years we fully prepared our guest bedroom for Kathy, so she could have a safe and injury free vacation.

 

It worked…..Kathy followed the rules and made it home without another emergency room visit!

I made the Graybill family favorite dinner—Mom’s noodles with roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans.  Kathy and Bill helped, Dan was the taster, and we had lots of fun. 

We ate way to much, so the cook was fully complimented!

All too soon, it was time for our dear brother and sister to leave.  We all agreed that is easier to be the ones leaving, than the ones staying behind.  Dan and I were in a such a funk that we sent them this text:

We have decided that you should turn around and come back here….or if that isn’t going to happen….come visit us in February!💕

Since they didn’t turn around, we fully expect to have them visit us in February.