My Journal

AM:
We did a nice long walk after dropping off the Sequoia for service.

The time and distance was actually longer since I forgot to start the tracker for the first 20 minutes or so.

I got the truck back and it was all good news. It passed the Emissions test no problems there. I was able to get the rest of the planned work, bot the sooner and later stuff PLUS new spark plugs for total planned amount. I did 2890.00 but I did fix the oil leak so that is one less thing to worry about checking all the time so life is good! I had the radiator hoses replaced and the coolant system flushed. The Power steering hoses replaced and system flushed, both front struts replaced (1060 by itself) Valve cover gasket replaced (Oil leak), new spark plugs, 4 tires(supplied by previous owner) mounted and balanced, plus an alignment and the emissions inspection. All is good! Originally I was not going to do all of this on this trip, but I want to drive the truck to NJ next weekend so I felt better knowing if I do it now all will be good.

AM:
2 rounds of 5 reps dumbbell workout with 35lbs for a warm up

hack squat
90-12
180-12,12

Bench press
135-15
185-6,6

30 min elliptical machine

20 min bike to work

20 min bike home

Today was bike to work day in the DC area. There were multiple designated locations for folks to stop by and get a free shirt(if you registered online) and other freebies. The spot I stopped at even had a DJ playing music. It was cool to stop at one.

AM:
50 min elliptical machine

PM:
30 min elliptical machine

Tomorrow is bike to work day! Last year I did not participate since it was raining, and hard! Tomorrow is supposed to be nice so I can stop at a check-in near my work and get a free tee shirt. Well my wife will get a new tee shirt. This weekend I am putting my new truck in for the emissions test. If failed I will be spending some cash in that area as a priority to keep it road legal. I will also have the new tires put on and then the power steering hoses replaced and flushed. If I need Catalytic converts (my truck has 3 with 4 oxygen sensors) I could be spending all my budgeted repair money for the year already. That will push off the radiator hoses and flush for a while and will have me watching the oil level closely instead of paying 800.00 to fix the small leaking/seepage. With 248,000 I might skip the oil repair completely since it is not losing much and I can just add some as needed. I was debating on that repair from the start. 800.00 would be a good start towards a replacement engine anyway and some day that will be needed. My one Bro-in-Law mentioned to me it is possible to get 400,000 miles out of the engine as long as I maintain it. I have not seen any with that kind of mileage, but I have seen many for sale in the 260,000 to 290,000 range so this engine could be going strong for us for years.

AM:
3 mile jog

I felt like I was going slower than normal but my time was the same. I guess that was a good thing. I felt really sore today from the running and took it easy after work skipping my PM workout. I am a little under the weather while my wife is a lot under the weather. I know I will be getting worse as she is getting better. What could I do.

AM:
Dumbbell routine 30 lbs
5 rounds of 7 reps

15 min intervals on elliptical trainer

Work is going well. We are doing what we need to, to get done what we need to. Life is good.

AM:
48 min elliptical machine

My wife and I both are feeling tired and worn out for a busy but fun weekend. We went directly home after work and crashed for about an hour. I am feeling better than she is so I made dinner, fed the pets and then watched some TV with my honey.

I hope tomorrow I will be back in my groove and will conquer the day as usual.

AM:
2 hour bike ride on the C&O Canal.

Today was good. It was nice to sleep in the house on a bed, Lol. I decided on a bike ride instead of hiking since we missed out on riding on our camping trip. The Canal was busy in some places and quiet at others. We had the perfect day to enjoy. Many of the geese had goslings of different sizes and the fish were very active in the canal as well. We saw more turtles today than we have in quite some time. Today rocked.

Friday I was off work and was able to take care of a few things for our overnight camping trip. For starters I needed to get a new battery for the Sequoia. The one in it tested bad and needed to be charged when my shop evaluated it for me. I figured that was an easy thing that I could do myself and save the labor charge. I also needed to shop and fill the cooler with ice and food that we would bring. I also needed to load the entire truck minus my wife’s bag of clothes.

It all worked out. My wife got home a little after 3pm and I was on her from the time she made it through the door to get her stuff we need to get out of the house! A little after 3:30pm we were on the road, but doomed, DOOMED I SAY! It took us 2 hours to travel the 35 miles to the park. The truck did great in the bumper to bumper traffic with the A/C going. No issues at all. We made it set up and enjoyed a late dinner. There was more to the story that is best told in person by my wife. It involved a Park Ranger being called on us. In the end it worked out. Common sense prevailed.

It was a tough night of sleep. The sleeping bag I have is a winter bag so it was too hot to sleep in. I wore a light pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt and went to bed on top of my bag which was on top of a lounge chair pad. Unfortunately the pad is not wide enough for me to toss and turn on like I do in a regular bed. I did not sleep well. Getting up to pee in the night was not fun either since I needed to crawl on my knees to get out of the tent. I got cold in the night and was using a towel as a blanket over my arms until I got a long sleeve shirt out of the truck when I peed. In the morning we cooked breakfast and then went on a walk around the campgrounds. After we packed up camp we headed over to a trailhead and did a nice hike. It rained on us, but we were rewarded with seeing rain lizards! They only come out during or right after a rain. This made my wife’s day as it brought back many memories of when she was young and would find them in up state NY.

The first trip was a success. We are refining our packing and what we need for future trips. A bigger tent is on the list, a better mattress, like maybe from a futon, pre-made meals to re-heat on the fire, light weight sleeping bags etc. This looks like we will be having fun from these new adventures!

AM:
leg press
180-15
270-15
360-15
450-15
540-15

Bench press
135-15
185-10
205-6
225-3
245-1——I have not done that in a while!
185-10

20 min elliptical machine

My coworker did not make it in today. Yesterday he was complaining about his stomach hurting and thought he was constipated.I gave him an Ex-lax and turns out though he crapped alot last night that did not relieve the pain. He was worried this AM so he called in and went to the hospital for X-rays. Doc thinks he pulled a muscle in his stomach. He is not even sure he will be coming into work tomorrow so I needed to take care of a project he was slated to do during the day today. Tomorrow I am off so I will enjoy the day at a leisurely pace and then once the wife gets home we are heading out to go camping!

AM:
40 min elliptical machine

Today was offsite day and all went well. Traffic back to work was not OK. It took me a little over 1.5 hours to make the trip. It should be closer to a little under 60 minutes.

I was able to get my license plates for the truck today so now I only need my county sticker and emissions inspection. I am guessing it will fail emissions and require some work. No biggie.