Friday, October 5, 2018

And on to Ittoqqortoormiit!


Have you ever surprised yourself with what you can do?
I've certainly surprised the heck out of me!

I retired on June 6, 2012, and I am 2,310 days into retirement.
I woke up exhausted that first day of retirement,
but I put one foot in front of the other and started walking
a few circles around the kitchen, dining room, and living room. 

By Day 3, I was rested enough to tackle a walk along Piney Creek,
and I decided that I was going to walk from my home
in Aurora, Colorado to St. Anthony, Newfoundland.
I began adding up the miles I walked on trails near my home
and plotting them on a map from my front doorstep,
to the highway, and on to I-70 and Kansas.

I wasn't sure I could do it,
but I doggedly kept putting one foot in front of the other.

  
Overflow from Piney Creek
Open Space, Aurora, Colorado
May 20, 2017
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Terry, my sisters Barb and Bertie, and I had visited St. Anthony
in mid-July the year before while chasing icebergs.

Located at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland,
St. Anthony's location and history had captured my imagination,
and I hoped its allure would inspire me when my feet dragged.

My Goal:  The Finish Line in St. Anthony
Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada
July 15, 2011
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




It took me 1933 days to walk the 3423 miles (5509 kilometers)
from Aurora to St. Anthony,
an average of 1.7 miles/day (2.7 kilometers/day).

Ironically, on the day I "arrived," I was about as far away 
as you can get from St. Anthony in Canada.
I was roaming around in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, British Columbia.


Beacon Hill Park
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
September 23, 2017
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Location of Victoria and St. Anthony  




Equally ironic, I was behind in adding up my "walks"
and didn't know I had "arrived."
When I figured it out several days later, I asked myself "Now what?"

I had a vague idea of walking to Reykjavik, Iceland,
so I turned around and started "walking back" to St. Barbe, Newfoundland
where I could catch the ferry to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec
and start hoofing it for Red Bay and Labrador City.

I love Reykjavik, but somehow it didn't compel me the way St. Anthony had.
I needed another spot on the map to aim for.

One of Pat Hatt's posts in It's Rhyme Time came to my rescue.
It was a zany travel post that included Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland,
and Ittoqqortoormiit, one of the most remote towns in Greenland, spoke to me.
I had my next "walking" goal.


Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland



So I've been walking, walking, walking
while traveling, traveling, traveling
and racking up the miles since September 23rd last year.

Last week, on September 25th, we flew over Greenland on a sunny morning.
I was beyond excited, to the point that Terry gave up
trying to shush me and pretended that he didn't know me
as I snapped the glaciers 40,000 feet below.


Glaciers Flowing to the Ocean
Norwegian Airlines
Southeastern Coast of Greenland
September 25, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



And then on the flight map I was following, up popped Ittoqqortoormiit!


Ittoqqortoormiit
Norwegian Airlines 
Over the Labrador Sea
September 25, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Of course it was too far away to see and on the other side of the plane,
but it became very, very real!

"Look, look, Terry! That's where I'm walking!"
I shook his arm as he tried to pretend he was asleep
and pumped my feet up and down on the floor:  
"I'm walking there right now,
and when I get there, I'm going there for real!"

"We'll see," he said with surprising and sudden patience.
I'm so glad he gets me.

Our flight path took us over Hudson Strait and Resolution and Edgell islands;
also exciting, because I've walked almost to the end
of the Torngat Mountains at the northernmost tip of Labrador
between Ungava Bay and the Labrador Sea.


Over Resolution and Edgell Islands
(the northernmost tip of Labrador is to the left of the flight path)
Norwegian Airlines 
Over the Western USA
September 25, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







In the Vicinity of Resolution and Edgell Islands  
Norwegian Airlines 
Nunavut, Canada
September 25, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




After some sleep, I totaled up my walking miles.
On September 27, 2018, I had walked 1375 miles (2214 kilometers) 
from St. Anthony in 369 days,
an average of 3.7 miles/day (5.9 kilometers/day).


Google Maps ~ 2018  (I hope!)


I don't know what surprised me more:
how far I'd come or how fast I'd walked.
I thought I'd be slowing down six years into retirement.
I'm walking faster!
Ittoqqortoormiit here I come!


Google Maps ~ 2018  (I hope!)





Taking a Cappuccino Break from Walking
Brighton, UK
September 24, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






26 comments:

  1. haha who knew the cat could inspire as he poked fun with a travel post. 6 years later and going even faster sure is a win. You'll have to let me know how your visit there goes, if you really end up there. That has to be a pain to get to. I snickered when you said Terry pretended he didn't know you. Must have really been snapping away haha

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    1. Words are powerful, Pat, and you never know where a word you write might take someone ~ LOL! I'm afraid Terry tries to shush me a lot, but I worry him when I'm out of his sight, because things happen to me ~ like hooking a sleeve on a door handle and slopping coffee over his sister's new carpet, getting locked in the bathroom stall of an expensive restaurant, or blowing out the electricity in our section of a hotel ~ some of the memorable "me" events of our recent trip. He's a good guy! Have a great weekend, my friend!

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    2. haha you got locked in the loo? Couldn't crawl under the stall door?

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    3. No, I couldn't! The walls went right to the floor and the ceiling. I pounded and pounded until someone rescued me! LOL

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  2. Loved reading this, Fundy! :)

    How cool! You can really "walk" there and then GO there! Isn't life amazing?


    "Ittoqqortoormiit"

    How do you say that?

    Beautiful bridge in Beacon Hill Park. What is that made of??


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    1. Hi, Sandi! Life is amazing, and we who live in countries like the U.S. and Canada are truly fortunate. I have no clue how to say, "Ittoqqortoormiit." Right now I'm concentrating on remembering how to spell it. It helps me to think of the Oort Cloud, Spanish Moors, and mittens ~ LOL. I vaguely remembered the rocks in the bridge as being roughly-shaped granitic rocks that were likely locally-sourced. It took a little digging, because the only description was "stone." On Garry Hayes "Geotripper" blog I found a geological description of the local rocks which are migmatites. They're metamorphic rocks derived from gabbros and granodiorite which have been altered deep in the crust by heat and pressure, typically igneous granitic rock in a metamorphic host rock. Those in the Victoria area formed 200 - 400 million years ago. Never ask a geologist about a rock ~ LOL! You'll often get more answer than you could want! Have a good one!

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  3. And you almost saw your destination!
    That is a great way to stay motivated to walk and stay in shape. I do it. I won't tell you how far I've gone though...

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    1. Hey, Alex! I'm glad to hear that you walk to stay in shape. I am a big believer in walking, but sometimes I have to kickstart myself. As for Ittoqqortoormiit, I'm planning on making it! Take care, my friend!

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  4. Fun post, Louise! They do say that walking is the best exercise of all!

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    1. Thanks, Debra! I'm a big fan of walking regularly. I think my increased mileage this past year has helped dropped my weight to the lowest level in three decades ~ Finally!!! 8.4 pounds to go. Have a great weekend with your Rare One!

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  5. What a fun idea. I count steps on my phone. I need to see how far I've gone since I started.

    I would've been snapping photos out the window, too. That's beautiful.

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    1. It is fun, Diane, and it keeps me at it! I have a Fitbit to keep track of my total steps, and a calculator and pencil to figure out how many steps count in my walks. Greenland is strikingly beautiful, especially to me. Seeing those glaciers was like seeing the photos in my Geology 100 course come alive. It was extra fun to see the flowing glaciers, because a couple of days before I had flown over the Alps imagining the glaciers that had formed their gross features. Enjoy your weekend!

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  6. Replies
    1. I long to go there, Adam. Here's hoping that you and Daisy have a great weekend!

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  7. "Walking" on a treadmill? Those pictures are beautiful, and I'm glad you got to go to Greenland for real. What a lot of fun. I will be glad to retire someday soon. Walking is in my plans too - maybe not quite so much as you, lol.

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    1. Hi, Dolorah! Yes, sometimes walking on a treadmill, pacing at a bus stop, climbing stairs, hiking in the mountains, racing through an airport, walking in circles inside my home during bad weather, and more than once dragging an IV up and down a hospital hall ~ anywhere I can.

      I love being retired, and I can entertain myself endlessly, so I've never looked back. Do the maps tell you that ~ LOL! I hope you enjoy your retirement every bit as much. I didn't start out taking long walks, but now I push myself; because walking regularly makes it easier to do the physical things I like to do. Have a great weekend, and thanks for visiting!

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  8. So good to know that you can still walk after retirement! I just did a post about Emma Gatewood, look her up! You will be inspired!
    I adore that photo of the glaciers from the airplane, everyone on the plane would have have wanted to tie me down, I would have made so much noise! xx

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    1. Hi, Kay! I'm sorry to just be replying now. I'm so behind in everything as I try to catch up with home and medical tests. You were so much on my mind while we were in Brighton and Hove for over two weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't have my computer, so I was largely out of communication. I didn't have much luck with my iPhone and got locked out of Google for several days. I didn't make it to Eastbourne, but I got as far as Seaford and the Cuckmere River. Terry and I hiked up beyond the iconic Coastguard Cottages for the spectacular view of the Seven Sisters. I love the south coast of England, and I will forever associate it with you.

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    2. You are so sweet to think of me! And isn't that view from the Coastguard Cottages of the Seven Sisters AMAZINGLY beautiful? Did you ever see the film, "Atonement"? It was filmed there, you would recognize the view immediately! The walks at the Cuckmere River, those were the favorites of Richard's Mum who died just this year. You were so CLOSE to Eastbourne! So sorry you didn't make it there, maybe next time! And next time, take me with you! xx

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  9. Louise, this was so uplifting to read!!! :) How wonderful to be so active. I love walking as well. I have never been to Newfoundland, but long to go there one day! Happy Thanksgiving! :)

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    1. Hi, Rain! I hope that you had a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving! New Brunswick isn't that far from Newfoundland ~ I hope that you get to go there. It is a unique and welcoming place. I thought of you every time I sampled a fabulous cheese in England and in Italy. OMG ~ I love cheese!!! And the cheeses in both countries were fabulous! I'm coming by to visit right now!

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  10. Great post Louise! You are rocking it girl! You should be very proud of yourself! Love all the places you've been too! Big Hugs!

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    1. Big hugs back at you, Stacy! I hope that you had a happy Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving was off my radar this year, with so much going on. Thank you for your kind words. I am proud of my progress. I've been walking so much more this year that my weight is finally coming down. I weigh the same now as when I began teaching ~ my lowest weight in over thirty years! I have about 8.5 pounds to go; and then, of course, comes the challenge of keeping it off which I am determined to do.

      I have been reading an article in the "National Geographic" the last couple of days that made me think of you. The magazine declared 2018 as the Year of the Bird, and its February article was about bird intelligence. In recent years research has shown that birds are much more intelligent than formerly thought. They have discovered (2005) that birds' brains have neural structures that resemble mammalian structures associated with complex thinking, but they're arranged differently. Corvids (crows, ravens, jays, rooks, magpies, etc.) are among the most intelligent birds studied so far; in fact, corvids (and parrots) are nicknamed "feathered apes" because they have similar cognitive abilities even though they diverged over 300 million years ago.

      The article includes a darling story about a young girl in Seattle ~ This really made me think of you! ~ who loves crows. She began leaving them food to eat, like peanuts and dog food. Over time the crows became her friends and started bringing her gifts. They observed her and figured out that she liked toys and shiny things and started bringing her more of those, along with other articles and fish and bird remains. She says the crows love her, and I don't doubt it. Anyway, I thought you'd like that story. The fact that crows are smart and wonderful ~ magical ~ doesn't surprise you!

      Take care! I'll be catching up as I can!

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  11. I love this idea of "walking" to a destination. Makes me wonder what I'd pick. Maybe somewhere on the Northwest area. Great images.

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    1. Thanks, Tamara! It's a definite motivator for me! Have a great weekend!

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  12. Now that you have Iceland in your sights, you should take up swimming!

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Thank you for your comments! I appreciate them very much.