Tag Archives: walk

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Let’s talk trees part two

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After my nephew died in 2000 my sister in laws friends got together and had a tree planted in Andrew’s memory at Jefferson Barrack’s park. She actually drew me a map so I could find it. Except I had been banned from reading maps by Brian in 1991 for sending us in the wrong direction.

The first time I went, it was by myself. I followed Teresa’s map and could not find the tree. Brian’s parents had been there so I called them. Larry asked me where I was at and said turn around, go here, go there and I found the tree which I took this picture for his page in my family scrapbook.

I visited it a couple more times until my van was stolen and they took the map. After Pokémon Go was released I went to play over there and found the tree no problem. I actually thought it would be cool to make his tree a Pokémon stop but by the time I reached level forty I had stopped going to the park to play.

Fast forward to last year. I put Charlie in the car and say we are going to go to Jefferson Barracks and see Andrew’s tree. I walk the entire path and up, down, all the cross paths (it had changed a lot with little climbing stuff for kids added) but I swear I knew where it was. Four and a half miles later and I cannot find it. I’m convinced they either moved it, or it died. I didn’t like either option.

I saw my father in law a couple days later and asked him if it was still there. Why yes he and Judy had been not too long ago. He said you just get out of the car and walk a little bit and it’s right there. So my next day off I put Charlie in the car and we set off. Four miles later and I still haven’t found it. Just as I am about to get in the car and give up, I think I went left maybe I should go right. Sure enough just a little ways up and it was there. So I dropped a pin on Apple Maps so I wouldn’t have this issue again.

It’s amazing how much this tree has grown in twenty-four years. I didn’t realize it until I looked at the first picture.

A couple weeks ago I decide it’s time to go visit the tree. So I load Charlie up in the car. Somehow I end up in Sylvan Springs Park and cannot find my way over to the walking trail. So I’m like I’ll pull up the pin marking the tree. No pin. So I drive around and remembered the year the Washington Lutheran School picnic was at Sylvan Springs and I rode a spin ride with Kyle and Emily and then promptly threw up.

After driving for twenty minutes and getting nowhere I finally gave up and went to the sculpture park. That evening I remembered I have the all trails app so looked up Jefferson Barracks and got the name of the trail. I put that into the GPS and the next time Chuckie and I went we found it no problem. I also dropped another pin on the map.

If you know someone with no sense of direction be kind to them. It is a terrible way to live. I can manage to get lost even with gps. I think I need to visit the park every six months so I don’t lose the tree location.

Mole Moral ~ No matter how lost you are, eventually you will find your way.

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Pokemon Go 10K Walk

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I downloaded Pokemon Go probably a week after it came out but I only was interested in catching one of each Pokemon because I didn’t really know anything about the game. Around the time I got the major headache, Emily’s boyfriend at the time finally talked her into downloading it. I then learned all kinds of stuff, like how to evolve one Pokemon into another. I always had it up and running on my daily walk to U-Gas for coffee and one day one of the young kids told me they had Facebook groups for Pokemon Go . So I found the one for St. Louis and learned even more stuff, like where the nests were, what events were happening and who caught what. The group has a lot of really nice people in it. Emily joined too and we played a lot together until she moved away.

A few months ago, I noticed a kid with the screen name Tony Bologna had never caught a Porygon and he would make jokes about it.

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It then became the standing joke that anytime anyone caught one or hatched one he would get tagged in the post. He would always make the angry face in response. Some people even started naming them the Tonygon. He was a great sport who then asked the question would anyone want to walk with him while he attempted to hatch one. I thought this was a great idea and Porygon can be found in 10K eggs which meant a 6.2 mile walk. So after a bunch of talking in the group it was decided to do a walk to benefit Stray Rescue. I got the best dog ever from them so I was all in.

The walk was this afternoon and I skipped the Halloween 10K this morning because I was up half the night with stomach issues. I attempted to talk myself out of going to this as well but I had bought t-shirts which I needed to pick up. I didn’t know anyone that was going so I put myself way out of my comfort zone and showed up. Tony is a nice kid who never STOPPED talking. I felt like I was back out hunting with Emily who also never stops talking. He made me realize how much I miss her but since he kept on talking I got over that rather quickly. He started off by leading us down the wrong path so we all had to turn around. I love this guy as I would have done the exact same thing.

It was like eight loops around the lake or maybe it was seven. We started out with twenty-five people and ended up with five or six that did all of the laps together. Some of the others left early and some walked a little slower. It didn’t help that it started misting and continued on for a couple of miles. It didn’t bother me at all after the half marathon Emily and I ran with the first nine miles being pretty much a downpour requiring our phones to be in plastic bags. I was thinking I cannot believe we are doing this many loops until I reminded my crazy self my 50K consisted of a .8 mile loop and I ran 26 miles on a cruise ship and 336 laps (28 miles) at the rec center this summer. The kids walking with me had no idea what a total nut job they were with. They were probably thinking this old hag is in pretty good shape.

To hatch eggs in the game you have to put them in incubators. Tony had been saving his 10k eggs so that he had nine of them and could walk and hatch them all at once. The game gives you one unlimited incubator but if you want more you have to buy them with coins. You either get coins by buying them with real money or earning coins by leaving your Pokemon in gyms. (Ok I admit this sounds almost as crazy as trying to explain soap operas.) So we came to the end of the 10K and his eggs started hatching but prior to this he shared a really cool story with us and this is why he has made my blog.

This past week he was at Des Pair park and he came across a Porygon in the wild but he did not attempt to catch it. He walked on right past it as it would have ruined the walk since the whole point was help Tony hatch one. Here this kid has been trying to get one for a year and a half and he has the opportunity right in front of him and he bypasses it to make the walk legitimate. As soon as he told the story I texted Emily and said he’s making the blog. It’s a real good thing he’s already married because after spending two hours with him, I think he’d make a fantastic son-in-law. His wife’s parents are very lucky.

So his eggs started hatching and I was nervous for him. The first thing hatched was Dratini and then something else. However number three was a Porygon and so was number four, so he could evolve one into Porygon2. His wife’s reaction yay he can finally shut up about not having one. He then said no reason to play the game anymore except he doesn’t have an unknown or a shiny and neither do I. So I am pretty sure we will both keep on playing. He would like to have another event next year but is cutting it down to a 5K. I thought about suggesting a fifty mile and who ever finishes it gets all the prizes. Hahahaha, just kidding, I am not doing that again.

 

Mole Moral~ People can be whoever they want on the internet, some people are even cooler in real life than Facebook. Tony Bologna is one of them and even though I don’t believe that is his last name it was awesome meeting him today!