The Columbia River Gorge
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*** Weigh-in for WEEK 347 ***
01/05/2008
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| Week Completed: | ___347___ |
| Weigh-In Weight: | 197.5 |
| Body Mass Index: | 24.69 |
| Average Weight for week: | 198.5 |
| Miles Walked for week: | 2.7 |
| Miles Walked in 2007: | 264.23 |
| Week’s Average Points/Day: | 39.14 |
| Pounds +/- for this week: | +1.5 |
| Pounds lost total: | 42 |
| Made GOAL: 9/22/2001 † | |
* Made 10% at 215.5 pounds on 7/14/01
† Goal is 200 pounds.
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Week’s Data
|
Day |
Date |
Weight |
Points |
Water |
Miles
Walked |
| Saturday |
12/29/2007
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196.0
|
40.0
|
6 cups (48 oz)
|
0.00
|
| Sunday |
12/30/2007
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198.5
|
41.0
|
6 cups (48 oz)
|
0.00
|
| Monday |
12/31/2007
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200.5
|
32.0
|
6 cups (48 oz)
|
0.50
|
| Tuesday |
01/01/2008
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198.0
|
46.0
|
6 cups (48 oz)
|
0.00
|
| Wednesday |
01/02/2008
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197.5
|
45.5
|
6 cups (48 oz)
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0.00
|
| Thursday |
01/03/2008
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199.5
|
33.5
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7 cups (56 oz)
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0.00
|
| Friday |
01/04/2008
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198.0
|
36.0
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7 cups (56 oz)
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2.20
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Week 347 Update
It was 7:07 a.m. when I stepped up on Mr. Scale, and he said, "197.5 pounds!"
The bad news was that I was up 1.5 pounds. The good news was that the increase merely placed me right at my target weight. My average weight for the week was at 198.5 pounds. That means I was doing okay for most of the week; I didn't just drop weight on Saturday morning after being high on the scale all week long.
I actually ate 6 points fewer per day this week than I did last week. Sometimes it just seems to work that way.
The Weight Commander indicates a slight upwards trend the last couple of weeks on the black squares. However, the entire trend has remained safely within my target range. Only one of my daily weigh-ins moved outside of my target range things look fairly steady. 
Now the future graph on Weight Commander forecasts that I will be up to about 202 pounds in April. I will endeavor to make the necessary corrections to keep from making that trip out of my target range. One of the really nice things about the Weight Commander is that it lets you know ahead of time that you have problems ahead if you don't make corrections.
It is so much easier to make a small correction early, instead of a big correction later. Early in 2007 I was up to 211 pounds and I had to work much harder to turn things around than I would have if I adjusted my course when I was only a couple of pounds off track. Weight Commander gives me a reality check each day, and every week on my evaluation day, to say to me, "If you continue doing what you are doing, this is what you will get." That is invaluable help on my journey.
This week saw the end of our month-long visit with Mom. We tried our best to show her as many fun things as we could, while enjoying her company. I hope that we succeeded. I know that we enjoyed ourselves.
We visited the Columbia River Gorge this week before driving south to drop her off. We had some business to do in town on the way home and so we ended up saying goodbye to Mom at Roseburg after spending the night at her house on Tuesday, and then driving two cars to town. When we got home Mom called just moments later to say that she also just had gotten to her house. Our drive was 3 times as long as hers, but she had to do some shopping in town (after being gone for over a month) and stopped to visit a friend on the way home.
Once home we started settling into our routine again. We walked to Red Robin on Friday night and had a good meal.
It seems strange to walk past Mom's room and see the door standing open, and her things all gone.
Here are a few pictures from the week just gone by.
Columbia River Gorge With Mom
It was the last day of the year and time was running out. We would be taking Mom home soon and we still hadn't made it out Multnomah Falls. We got a break in the weather and sun came out. After running a few necessary errands we made a beeline out into the Columbia River Gorge. We wanted to show Mom Multnomah Falls and Vista House at Crown Point. We had made a quick stop at the falls before with her and even the Vista House, but that was some time ago, and we didn't get the chance to do any walking. The sun was setting close to the horizon and not wasting any time running towards his evening sleep. This time of year puts the sun at its maximum southern point in the sky, and so days are not only short, they don't get the full power of the sunlight that does make it through the often cloudy sky. We needed to hurry.
In order to get to the Vista House, I left the freeway at Colbert and headed up the hill to the Scenic Highway. The first place we stopped was at the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. This spot has the advantage of not only seeing most of the view that is available at the Vista House, it shows the Vista House as well.
The red of the low running sun puts a near sunset tinge on the scene, as Mom looks west and to the east the incredibly beautiful Columbia River Gorge runs out behind her. Crown Point, with its well placed Vista House is visible on the right side of this view. The blue of the sky is reflected in our mighty Columbia River, which brings water down from Canada, and even Spokane, Washington on its way to the largest ocean in the world: the Pacific. And yet all these wonders pale in my eyes in comparison with the beauty I see in this wonderful face.
 When we got to Vista House, it was unfortunately closed. This time of year, it is only open on certain days, and this wasn't one of them. I had gotten out to check to see if it was open, and the ladies stayed in the car. The air was cool and we had a strong wind blowing that day. So, it was a good day to be indoors at Crown Point.
Dotti didn't feel up to doing any hiking, so she went into the gift shop to see if she could find any goodies while Mom and I walked over to the base of the falls and up the trail a ways.
This is Mom in front of the lower falls, standing on the lower viewing station. The bridge is at the top of this photo, and that was our next destination.
Along the way we crossed over a small runoff stream. During the winter we have many more streams running, and the streams that run even in summer run a lot heavier this time of year.
When we got to the bridge, the spray from the falls was hitting my lens, and we didn't spend a lot of time there before moving on.
The sunlight was failing as we got up to the first viewpoint, but the Columbia River and the Gorge it runs through are still visible behind Mom in this picture. We are about halfway up the falls vertically, but there is a lot of trail to go before reaching the top. Mom was doing pretty well, and she might have gone all the way up given enough time, but time was running out with sun racing down.
When we got back down to a switchback just above the lower viewing area we came upon Dotti taking some pictures. Naturally I grabbed the chance to take a picture of the ladies with the falls behind them. Sadly the falls were completely lost in darkness in this picture, but the ladies still look great!
In this one I made a desperate effort to salvage a picture of the falls, even though it was dark. I set my camera down and put it in a mode that left the shutter open for an extended time. There was still some blurring and so this picture has been shrunk down to try and sharpen it a bit.
When we got down to the Multnomah Falls Lodge, Mom wanted to go to the gift shop also. So, I went around outside and took a few pictures. They had their Christmas lights out still and it was a very pleasant view. Unfortunately, as I moved more towards the road, the wind hit me much harder, and I soon was inside with the ladies getting warm.
Taking Mom Home
We drove Mom home on January 1, and about halfway down we stopped at Eugene, Oregon to eat. We had some sandwiches from Subway, and while we were eating I kept noticing something flickering in the light inside a store on the other side of the mall. When we got there, we discovered that it was a waterfall display, where water was running down a sheet of glass. I got Mom to pose in front of it and snapped this picture. This point is actually on the other side of the glass from the one I could see during lunch. It is a lot dimmer from this side, because what I was seeing before was sunlight from a large window that Mom is actually facing here. But the sign read backwards from the other side and we went with this for the picture.
Red Robin
Friday, Dotti and I took a walk to Red Robin for lunch/dinner. Dotti was wearing her white hat that I like so much. The walk was enjoyable, and the meal tasted excellent. With company so sweet, you don't even need food to make a meal perfect.
Dotti contemplating something deep, as I played with the camera angle.
Dotti wrested the camera from me and took this one.
It's a new year and I hope that I will do better on my journey, especially on my exercise.
6 years, 239 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.
-Al-
6 '3" 239.5/197.5/197.5±2.5/BMI:24.69/WK- 347
Starting weight: 239.5
Target Weight Range: 195 lbs to 200 lbs
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