Knights of Knee

Where are all of the Walking Blogs?

2005-07-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to find walking blogs to link to from Walking.about.com
But they are very hard to find. If you know of any, please add them in a comment or email me.

Walking for the Love of Ewan

2005-06-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Life intervened with blogging, but also our gang seems to do just find with email and not so much with the blog.

Fine, so I flew to London to see Ewan McGregor live in "Guys and Dolls."
And I went on several wonderful walks, including walking around Hampton Court Palace, walking in Soho, along the Thames, and a St. James walk, historic pub walk, and Dickens London walk.

Ewan is looking more gorgeous then ever before...well worth the trip!

Heartbreaker, Dreammaker, Love Taker....

2005-02-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

We had a fairly big gang to walk the Heartbreaker walk on Saturday, Feb. 12. Lana had to bow out due to some bad shrimp. Dave had to bow out due to a broken furnace.

But at REI we met up: Iyaz and wife Elaine, Krista, Wendy, Will, Nancy, Carolyn, Tom, and Rachel. We quickly broke into 3 groups of varying speed in rain and drizzle. By starting at REI, this walk had a longer warm-up time before we hit the stairs.

How many stairs? Will and Iyaz counted - 1024 steps! Tom also counted, but being a macho guy he was subtracting the down stairs from the up stairs!

I was in the middle group with Krista and Nancy. I knew Krista and I would be slower on the stairs than Will would be, and he took off with Iyaz and Elaine and we didn't see them till the finish. We paused for breath on stairs that were over 2 flights long. This is a great cardio workout. It was also great to catch up with Nancy on her doings.

We were discussing our nicknames, ala "Holes." Will is going to come up with some snazzy way of getting suggestions for those without nicknames yet. Here are ones we are sorta agreed upon:
Will: Rocky (always getting rocks in his shoes)
Wendy: Blowout (shoelaces coming untied)
Nancy: Stitch (all those surgeries)
Krista: Camel (never needs a restroom)
Rachel: Princess (of course!)

The final up stairs were totally cruel. Bad enough that at 8K you see these 3 steep flights of concrete steps going up. But when you get to the top, another 5 flights of steps are revealed! You just want to turn around and go back down and head to the finish from there. Instead, it started raining again but we kept moving, up, over, down, and back.

We all made it back. Awaiting Carolyn-Rachel-Tom, we schmoozed with teammates Burt and Romana as well as CRVC prez Joe Kelly. Then we piled into cars and all went to Swagat's Indian buffet at 21st and Lovejoy. This was a new experience for Krista and, I believe, Tom. Might be a bit too spicy for Krista. Rachel discovered that Elaine knows her husband, it's a small world after all!

It was a great time to recover from the Heartbreaker.

Our Photo Pages

2005-01-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

My photo pages for the Knights of Knee are still online:

Knights of Knee 2004 Portland to Coast

Links from there to many previous photo galleries.

MLK Weekend Plans Jan. 15-16-17

2005-01-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday: Hosted walks from Good Samaritan Hospital. Meet at 8 am at the hospital, follow the signs/etc. to the hosted walk tables.
Carpool: RSVP to the email group to form up carpools, or to let us know you will meet us there.
Optional movie: A couple of us plan to do the walk at 8 am, then keep walking down to the Fox Tower cinemas and watch "Finding Neverland" showing at 11:35. Then amble back afterwards to Good Samaritan. I'm in the movie-watching carpool, which would leave Tualatin around 7:20.

Sunday: I suggest a nice 10K walk from Butteville to Champoeg, departing Butteville around 8:30 am. RSVP.
Optional movie: I plan to go see "The Aviator" at either Tigard Cinemas at noon or Sherwood at 12:45. Happy to have company! Gotta be ready for the Golden Globes Awards Sunday evening.

Monday: Krista and I are interested in walking, so let's make some Monday walking plans.

Sellwood

2005-01-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

I walked, I iced, I gimped Sunday AM, but I survived! Loverly seeing the Knights who were present & accounted for. Sounds like Krista's got a partymobile, honey bucket included WOO HOO! Grand Canyon anyone?

From Oaks Bottom to Stayton - Where We Walked

2005-01-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

It was a great weekend for Knights of Knee walking. On Saturday, Jan. 8 we gathered in Sellwood and had a great Anarchy Walk led by Will and our whims. We had Lana (returned after a rotator cuff injury), Nancy (returned after plantar fasciitis surgery), Carolyn, Rachel, Will, and Wendy. Although the prediction was solid rain, we had clement weather as we first circled through the "Most Liberal Intersection in Portland," then down to the Oaks Bottom bike path. We enjoyed the path till the spur, newly paved, went off to the left and back up to Sellwood. We circled around Sellwood, arriving back at the cars at 9:30 so Carolyn could make it to her next endeavor. The rest of us walked another loop to the park and finished a very nice 10K.

On Sunday, Will and Wendy took up Krista's invite to do the Cascade Half-Marathon, and Rachel decided to take the plunge as well. We rode there in Krista's comfy mini-'Bago, picking up her dad en route. This is a friendly little half-marathon. Walkers and slower runners can start an hour early, so we took off at 8:30. We were caught by the pack at around the 5-6 mile mark. The route is flat and on quiet roads through farm areas - very pleasant. It's an out-and-back, so if bad weather strikes you COULD turn around at any point. We had a good walk - a challenge for Rachel, Wendy, and Krista but a stroll in the park for Will. The last 1/2 hour we started getting some cold rain, but finished before it really got to us.

Coming up Jan. 15-16-17: Hosted walks from Good Samaritan Hospital Sat-Sun.
We are working on plans for a movie-watching day at Carolyns, but would start off with a walk from Good Sam. I'd like to walk all 3 days....someplace!

The Fellowship of the Ring

2005-01-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice New Years Day gathering of the Knights of Knee. Hobbit-sized Wendy and Rachel were joined by the humans and/or wizards Will, Dave, and Rich. First we went out for an hour-long walk around the neighborhoods south of my house. It is always interesting to see how they are changing. And fun to see them through the eyes of friends - Rachel pointed out a decoration of Santa and reindeer and snowman climbing up a ladder to the roof, one I had passed by almost daily and never saw!

Rachel gave us reviews of all of the recent movies. Now we know what to see and what to rent or avoid.

Back at Hobbiton, Rich had been out riding his bike briefly. Rachel and Will attacked the candy jar full of chocolate while I whipped up a batch of anda bhurti (Indian eggs and potatoes) and we dragged out the leftover Chinese food from our takeout dinner with Nancy and Larry Baird on New Years Eve. Will provided excellent pickles - just the right amount of jalapeno for a little snap but no big burn. Rich popped the cork on a bottle of Asti Spumante and we made mimosas and toasted the New Year.

We settled into easy chairs and couches to watch the extended version of "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." We were interrupted after half an hour by the arrival of Anne Byrd to get the Discovery Walk financial statements signed by me. But we enjoyed seeing Anne and forced her to have some orange juice and regaled her with movie reviews. Then I got a phone call about another arrival - I'm a great-aunt! My nephew and his girlfriend greeted a New Years Day baby, Ally Rose Lazott, at 10:30 am, over 8 pounds with prehensile-ly long fingers and toes, according to my mom.

OK, Anne left and we went back to the movie. The extended version is very long, but great to see the additional footage, and still it moves well. We took a popcorn break when the disks needed changing. Will filled us all in on key plot points and trivia of interest, especially helpful to Rich.

Alas, by the time it was done it was dark outside and that sapped my will to walk, as well as Rachel. So, we broke the Fellowship of the Ring and went off to our own Hobbit holes.

Up Next:
We need to walk Jan. 8-9, so let me know your druthers.
Also - I got the full series of Babylon 5: Crusade on DVD and those who wish can watch a few episodes.

Walking New Years Weekend

2004-12-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 1: Let's walk in Tualatin from my house and then those who so desire can stay and watch the extended version of "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" as I got the DVD set for Christmas.

Time: Meet at Wendy Bumgardner's at 10 am. We can do 5-10K depending on who comes, and I plan to walk pretty slow as I am recovering from the sclerotherapy vein imploding treatment.
Then: cook a pizza, pop popcorn, watch the movie, maybe walk a bit more to discuss it.

Sunday, January 2: I'm available for more walking. It should be nippy.

Walking Christmas Weekend

2004-12-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

You can't sit around swilling eggnog all weekend. Well, I could actually, but I shall not.

Here are some opportunities to get out and move:
Saturday 25th: Meet at Tigard City Hall & we can do the Fanno Creek trail up towards Beaverton. It'll be a nice quiet walk. Start: 9 am. RSVP to Wendy.

Sunday 26th: Brockman Road fire station, Tigard. Some good choices from there. I'm thinking a 9 am start, RSVP to Wendy if you want a carpool, directions, etc.

Other thoughts:
We may want to try an evening walk of Peacock Lane in the next week - anybody up for it?

We Saw 3 Ship Come Sailing In (More, Actually!)

2004-12-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday Dec. 18 we had a nice bunch for walking. Sue, Rachel, Wendy, Will, Michael, Ariel!!!!, Carolyn and her new friend Tom. We all found Madison's and found each other. After requisite photos around the Christmas tree, we headed out down a bleak street into the night. But we soon hit the Hawthorne Bridge for a genuine treat. The Christmas Ships were sailing round and round and round and round and round in circles just south of the bridge, and we were all able to get a great gander of dozens of them at a time. And me without my camera!!!

It was great to walk with Ariel again, home for 3 weeks from Cornell. Proud papa Michael chatted away with her. Carolyn and Tom elected to turn back and just do a 5K. The rest continued to past Pioneer Square and the city Christmas tree. Then past the Meier and Frank window decorated for the 12 Days of Christmas. And into Pioneer Place II to the checkpoint at the New Balance store. At that point, Sue and Rachel said they would continue at a gentler pace. The other 4 of us enjoyed the views along both sides of the river, especially the gorgeous view from the East Bank Esplanade.

It was a glorious walking evening.

Driven

2004-12-15T23:33:00.000-08:00

I am bound and determined to post this fr*ggin' blog! I have written two wonderful lyrical blogs only you'll never read them because the dang things are deleted by me, Tremor, before I am able to get them saved. Trust me, they were awesome. I cried at the shear genious of each one.

The gist of each deleted blog is that I was born to drive and have a really cool motor home called The Travel Lodge. I have driven it and many wonderful people to Montana, Oklahoma and many states in between. On Saturday, I am leaving for another adventure to Disneyland. It will be magical!

I invite all of the Knights of Knee to begin dreaming of adventures we could go on together. We could train for marathons in other states. We could go for a day at the Beach or a weekend in Seattle. Bend? Pendleton? Crator Lake?

I love to have people in the back of the Lodge, talking, reading, playing games or staring out of the window. Where would you like to go? Consider this an invitation to all Knights of Knee. Let's hit the road! Also, I would love it if you would share some of you own travel adventures or dreams.

Okay, now I hope this fr*ggin' thing posts...

Walking: Christmas Ships Sat. Dec. 18

2004-12-15T10:36:00.000-08:00

We shall be walking the Christmas Ships Night Walk on Saturday, Dec. 18.
Meet at the start at 6 pm. (Rachel, Sue, Zims plan to meet us there)
Or - carpool from Tualatin Starbucks leaves 5:20 pm, picking up Will en route.
RSVP for the carpool.
Bring flashlights, flashing lights, and holiday merriment.

Directions to the start at Madisons Grill if you will meet us there (also RSVP so we know to look/wait for you):
Madison's Grill, 1109 SE Madison, Portland. Banquet Room
Directions Northbound: Take I-5 over Marquam Bridge use Water exit. Turn Right on Water. Go to Clay St.and turn Left. Go to either 10th or 12th St and turn Left to start. Madisons is on the corner of 11th and Madisons.
Directions Southbound: I-5 take exit 300B, turn Right onto Ramp towards OR-99E/US-26E/OMSI/Oregon City. Keep left to stay on Ramp towards Oregon City. Keep right to stay on ramp.Keep straight onto SE Belmont. Turn Right (South) onto SE Belmont. Turn Right (South) onto SE11th Ave. Madisons is on corner of 11th and Madison.

Planning ahead Christmas weekend:
Anybody want to walk on Christmas weekend? Rich is working both days and my family is celebrating Friday evening, so I'd love to go walking one or both days.
RSVP and let me know when and where you'd like to stroll.

Where We Walked

2004-12-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday: Dave had new doggies to take care of. Carolyn was off to the coast. Krista was busy. The Wizard of Oz watching was postponed. That left Wendy and Will to explore the 5 Parks Walk year-round event. Luckily, this starts at West Coast Racquet and Fitness Club. I say lucky because when signing in, I didn't notice that I left my wallet in or on the start box. It was an unexpectedly mild and nice day with no rain. We enjoyed the walk, and took a detour to Uwajimaya oriental grocery and superstore. I had never gone inside, and it was fun to browse past all the strange fruits and veggies and meats and fishies. We made another slight detour to the Bike Gallery bike shop where they have some bike maps that Rich had on his wish list. That's where I discovered that my wallet was gone, and it hadn't had a chance to leap out of my fanny pack. We were at 9K. I trusted in the Lord and sure enough, back at the health club they said they had the wallet and returned it intact. So, kids - we need to look out for each other's senior moments!

Sunday: Rachel, Will, and Wendy converged in Tualatin to carpool to the Albany historic homes and lights walk, hosted by my cousin Rozy Weatherby. I had Will take the wheel for the drive south. We discussed long distance motorcycle rides, with Will telling of his Portland to Cheyenne odyssey. I'm lending him my "Long Way Round" book by Ewan McGregor. The walk in Albany followed the path similar to their historic year-round walk. They have a great many old houses dating from early in the 1900's. Over a dozen of these were open for viewing, but we mostly walked along and enjoyed the decorations. It was a windy day up in Portland, but in Albany the air was calm and it wasn't cold. It was quite pleasant. Rachel took the wheel on the way back - oops, I think she likes my car a little too much!

Next weekend: the Christmas Boats Walk on Saturday evening.

Saturday Dec. 11 Walking Plans

2004-12-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

For Saturday, Dec. 11: Will suggests walking a year-round walk from West Hills Racquet & Fitness Center on 2200 Cedar Hills Blvd., Portland. There are two YRE's from there to choose from. The Five Parks walk is nice, and theWallhouse walk is being discontinued after this year. The Five Parks walk has better restroom opportunities.

Time: RSVP to carpool from Tualatin Starbucks or to meet us there. I think leave Tualatin around 8 am, get to the start a little before 8:30, otherwise openfor suggestions.

Elizabeth's Knee: We send our healing thoughts and best wishes to Elizabeth for her knee surgery done this week. May she soon be back among the walking!

Walking Plans - Sunday, Dec. 12

2004-12-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

The Albany club, led by my cousin Rozy, is hosting a Sunday afternoon "Stroll Through Christmas Past" on Dec. 12. Details

I propose we meet at 1:30 pm the Tualatin Starbucks to carpool there. That should get us walking by 3 pm and me back home in time to watch the Survivor finale. If anybody wants to join us in watching the finale, you're welcome to join me and Rich! Carolyn and Rachel are interested in going, and Will previously expressed interest. RSVP.

Fa-La-La

2004-12-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

Between me and Elizabeth, I got my house into presentable order. I love my artificial tree - it went up in minutes, and looked just fine undecorated as it has all the lights attached. Luckily, "The Princess Bride" was playing on TV, so I put it on while I decorated the tree. I try to limit any travel souvenirs to either an ornament or a coffee mug, so many of the ornaments hold special memories.

But through the day, more and more Knights of Knee reported, or were reported second hand, that they probably wouldn't make it. I began to have visions of just me and Rich and a bottle of Frizzante, like every night but with a cleaner house than usual.

And so 3 of us ended up at the walk - Krista and I met up with Carolyn. We were all agreeable to keep the walk short and so we strolled down to Old Town Sherwood to watch the tree lighting and to eat a free hotdog. Back to my house, Rachel joined us and the Larry and Nancy rolled in, with Nancy all dolled up in her mink jacket and lovely walking cast.

Rich allowed us to have a bottle of Frizzante, which all truly liked. You can buy it at Willamette Valley Vineyards. We enjoyed Krista's husband's secret-recipe deviled eggs, pasta salad from Rachel, edamame salad from Carolyn, artichoke parmesan dip and salmon spread from Nancy, and I provided chicken flautas, homemade guacamole, a pumpkin pie, and chocolate-covered fruit.

We had a lovely evening of talking and laughing.

Plans for Saturday Dec. 4

2004-12-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

Team Housekeeping: I still have 3 Portland to Coastfinish photos that belong to some of you, I know notwho, please claim them this weekend. I also plan to force you all to sign the forms for the Willamette Valley Relay so I can send in the registration next week. I have Krista's and Chris's. This might be a good time to "repatriate" anything you have belonging to another team mate (except Chris) as most of us will be here.

Saturday: Meet at my house at 3:45 pm to carpool to Sherwood, or at the Sherwood YMCA at 4 pm. (meeting at my house ensures you get a parking space on our streetwhen you return).Or, you can just come for the potluck, anytime after 6pm. Directions sent via email (not to be publicly posted, please!)

Bring:
1. A finger food. (But don't bring deviled eggs unless you are Rachel or Krista - they have those covered. Or else we could turn the whole thing into a deviled egg judging contest, which sounds like fun!)
2. BYOB unless you email me about what you prefer to drink. I will be providing:
a. Chilled spring water.
b. Oregon Nog festive red fruit wine
c. Oregon Chai tea (with non-fat milk)
d. Hot water for tea steepers, but I have only a tiny variety of tea bags.
e. I can brew Starbucks coffee (Verona or decafHouse Blend) as requested.

3. For Our Soldiers:
Larry Brown at the VA is collecting items to send to our soldiers in Iraq, through a project at his church. See the list below. If you want to participate, you can hand these over to me on Saturday and I'll get them to Larry by Tuesday. I plan to make a trip to Costco to pick up items to donate.
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
hard candy/gum (chocolate not recommended)
lip balm
presweetened kool-aid or tea
international calling cards
beef jerky
handi-wipes
sanitizing lotion or gel
flea collars (they put them on their ankles as sandfleas are a big problem)
DVD's/CDs
small toys to give to the Iraqi children (coloringbooks, stickers, colored pencils

Weekend in Review - Nov. 25-28

2004-11-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving morning, three bold Knights of Knee braved the rainstorm to meet up. When they did, the showers stopped, the winds becalmed, and the sun even came peaking out to make them regret forgetting their sunglasses.

Well met were Sir William, Sir David, and Lady Wendy. We traipsed through the Summer Lake YRE in Tigard - a very pleasant autumn morning walk. Both Dave and Will found a dime each, while Wendy was poked by a wet dog nose to count as "petting a critter." We finished happily and went off to our various celebrations.

We Want a....Shrubbery!!!!
Saturday morning a similar crew convened in Tualatin, but as we arrived in Woodburn we met up with Lady Carolyn and Lady Rachel. As both were still moderately indisposed from various vapors, they walked with us the first 5 kilometers. The Woodburn start point had been moved considerably closer to I-5, and thereby included a few more busy road stretches that made conversation less achievable. But the checkpoint at the garden center remained the same, and Will and Wendy and Dave browsed a bit to soak up holiday cheer. I am certain we debated bringing back a shrubbery. But I was most impressed that the men's room was a single stall, whereas the women's room had 5 stalls. The day stayed pleasant - foggy but calm and no rain on us.

Oh, Gee, I LIVE in a Wine Region!
Rich and I finally woke up to the fact that we don't really need to fly someplace to go wine tasting, as we live just 10 miles from Dundee, Oregon and the heart of the Oregon wine country. People actually fly here for wine-tasting vacations. So, we endeavored to take advantage of the fruits of the valley. Our first stop on Saturday was the Ponzi Vineyards Dundee Tasting Room, located on Hwy 99 in the middle of Dundee. For $10 each and a souvenir wine glass, we tasted a flight of Abacela wines from Roseburg, then a flight of Ponzi wines. Rich liked a couple of the whites, including the Abacela Viognier, and we got a mixed case. I was disappointed that this tasting room didn't even have crackers to clear your palate between tastings. But they have a great gift shop.

On Sunday, after I had walked and Rich and biked and we waved at each other as we passed in Ibach Park, we headed down to Willamette Valley Vineyards, home of Dave's favorite walk, the Wine and Groan. Dave - we need to just go and walk this ourselves sometime! Their weekend special was a barrell tasting with a Reidel wine glass for just $5 a person - a real deal. We were shocked that the parking lot was fairly empty at 1 pm. Our first swill from the vat (actually the large stainless steel tank) was a Frizzante, a fizzy sweet white that was so good that Rich and I another gal who was tasting said we just wanted to fill our huge glasses with it and forget the rest of the tour. We bought a case of it, but we aren't sharing... We sampled some other casks and then ended in the tasting room. We went through another six wines and by the end I was kind of tipsy. I bought a case of the Oregon Nog (a multi-fruit wine great for the holidays) to give as gifts to my siblings and to serve at my holiday parties.
From the freeway, we called in an order to It's A Beautiful Pizza on Belmont - they make darn good pizza for a bunch of hippies, although we should have checked the box before we got home, as they gave us Canadian Bacon and Pineapple instead of Canadian Bacon and Olives. But it was still very good.

2004-11-26T14:36:00.000-08:00

Welcome, fair Knights of Knee!

This Saturday, 11/27: Meet at 8 am at Starbucks Coffee, Tualatin to go to the Post-Turkey Walk, Woodburn, OR. Directions and details to the walk.

Monday, 11/29: PIR Walk of Lights, Portland. Wendy will be ready to start at 5 pm, but can await anybody who RSVPs. This walk circles the track 2-3 times, so those arriving at 6 pm - give my cell phone a call when you are due to arrive and we'll discuss meeting and walking as I pass by the start again. Directions and details to the walk

Saturday, 12/4: Old Town Christmas Walk, Sherwood, followed by party at Wendy's in Tualatin. I suggest parking at my house and that we then carpool from there. Directions and details to the walk. Meet to carpool at 3:45 pm. Party to start around 6 pm, bring an appetizer of some sort. Wendy will provide a major protein source. RSVP about what you would prefer to drink, or BYOB.

Blog Away!

2004-11-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

Knights of Knee: We often save good conversation for the trail, but sometimes we don't see you for awhile. Feel free to chime in here in reply on:
- Movie Reviews
- TV show commentaries
- Whatcha been reading?
- Philosphic musings
- Cute comments on pets, kids, grandkids

As for me: Rich and I went to see the movie Sideways at the new Century 16 cinema in Beaverton. I highly recommend this film - I think Paul Giamatti deserves Best Actor for it. It is very entertaining while being utterly realistic in every emotional detail. It's the story of 2 forty-something guys off for a week of winetasting in California, each with a different agenda. It made me go out and buy some pinot noir. It earns it's R rating for sex and language, but it's a refreshing slice of life low on violence and high on real human emotions and experiences.

TV: Now that I have my VCRs both working and figured out Comcast Digital's "record" feature, I'm being sure not to miss Long Way Round, Mythbusters, The Amazing Race, Survivor, and The Apprentice. Ewan reaches the end of the road next Thursday.

On Tape: I watched my DVD of Moulin Rouge again on Wednesday. It had been many months. Ah, the best movie of all time (unless you hate Nicole Kidman...as for me, I really don't notice anybody in it but Mr. McGregor).

Reading: I'm reading the Long Way Round book as well as watching the TV show. On my MP3 Player I'm listening to the fourth book of the "Master and Commander" series of seagoing tales.

Pets: I enjoyed meeting my sister's new kitten at Thanksgiving, an utterly adorable little black and gray tabby, almost as sweet, cute and playful as Carolyn's cat was as a kitten. Meanwhile, the neighbor cat Nipper has usurped our garage cat heating pad and our cat Hershey can't seem to dislodge him.