Walking plans

Okay, I USED to take morning walks (before school)...I'd get up, eat breakfast, pack my lunch, assemble my school stuff, and take a 15-20 minute walk at the city-owned golf resort.  Sometimes our daughter would call, and I'd be huffing and puffing while talking to her on my cell phone (yes, my SMART phone, my Samsung!)  But, it got to be such a hassle, I just quit.  Period.  I haven't done a morning walk now in over a year.  Oh, sure, I do short hiking walks with the camera, but nothing like I was doing a year ago.  And, it shows.  I NEED to start walking again.  I just feel better and my joints work better and I lose weight!  THAT's important for a near-62 year old woman!  (My birthday is next month...)

So, I was thinking this morning (yes, it hurt!)...maybe I'll do my walking AFTER school.  I could CERTAINLY use the time to destress!!!  Imagine being locked in a class room with 30 kids for 7 hours?  They are usually pretty good until lunch, but after lunch...FORGETABOUTIT!  They are extremely "rambunctious".  And, I mean, to the point that by 2:00, I just take them out for PE (school ends at 2:35) and anyway, we're mandated to give them 200 minutes of PE every 10 days, so that works out well for me anyway.  We have early release days every Wednesday (the kids go home an hour early), so that's like an hour of freedom, even though we have staff meetings or staff development.

I think I'll start... TODAY...!   If I leave school right at 3:00, I can make it to the Living Desert Reserve by their "last car in" at 4:00.  They close at 5:00, but they don't admit folks after 4.  It's always so NICE and QUIET up there, especially in the late afternoon.  People with kids and strollers are heading home, there are nice, long, deep afternoon shadows....ahhhhh!!!  PEACE and QUIET!   :-)

Or, I could just drive up to the Santa Rosa mountain visitors center.  They, too, close at 4:00, but their grounds are always open.  And, it is open desert up there.

Or, I could go down to the city-owned golf resort and walk along their outer dirt roads.  There are ponds there with ducks and I used to often see coyotes there (I used to walk there in the mornings...)...

So, I have lots of options.  I just need to get off my *** and DO IT!  :-)