Going to North Carolina

Kimberly and I spent the weekend by the Youghiogheny River. Friday night we went for a long walk from Van Meter down past the railroad trestle. We took Angel and she had a wonderful time. On Saturday evening, when it was very hot, we went swimming at Smithton Beach. It was great! The Yough is shallow the entire way across, so you're never in over your head. The only problem is that you have to wear something on your feet, because it is too rocky. One thing people like to do at that beach is get a raft of some sort and just let the current take them for a ride. I want to get something specifically to put on my feet and get a raft.

Tomorrow night, we are leaving for Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina to see the highest point east of the Mississippi. We will drive there with Angel, spend a few hours, then come back. It is between 6600 and 6700 feet. I have determined that the highest up I've been is 8,640 feet on I-80 in Wyoming. I also walked around Mexico City at 7,400 feet. I didn't feel very good, so I imagine I will be a bit woozy at 6700 feet. I was a little queasy at 3,213 the first time I visited Mt. Davis, PA. I am used to hiking at a section of the Laurel Mountains whose highest point is 2,930 feet. Well, this will be nothing compared to the Tour de France today. They had to bike up to 9,193 feet on the highest road in Europe. It is no surprise the youngest guy in the Tour got up first, but he crashed on the way down! There was no vegetation at the top and apparently that road was closed by snow until the end of June! I'm still very excited about seeing Mt. Mitchell.

The only other news is that my psych class is almost over. I got 76 out of 80 on the last test I took and have one more exam on Saturday. Then I have about a month and a half off before I start my fall classes in phys ed. I am trying to get some math tutoring and will also be working toward getting my ACE certification as a personal trainer and eventually as a lifestyle and weight maintenance consultant. I continue to work on my own diet and exercise program. I am doing lots of heavy yard work in order to get used to the 90 minutes per day of moderate-level physical activity which is required to keep weight off long-term, as I learned in my phys ed classes. The diet companies conveniently don't tell you that fact when they sign you up because they wouldn't make any money. No one would ever diet if they knew the truth. TOPS is more likely to tell you the truth. But the real honest truth--I only got it in my exercise phys courses!

I'm still heavily leaning toward applying to Pitt to get a masters in Health and Physical Activity Chronic Disease Prevention Clinical Practitioner, but I am exploring alternate options if I'm unable to do that.