Day 57 – Jim’s Trek – 18.5 Miles – Inspiration In Tennessee

Good Day,

My Trek continues this morning and I complete my 18.5 miles. I am located somewhere in Tennessee headed northwest on TN-111/TN-8, toward Mountain View Road.

I was wondering of the Google employees who traverse this world with the cameras mounted on their vehicle. Might be a reasonable type occupation. This morning’s 2009 image is nice crisp one of the road and surroundings. The black patterns on the tar top reminds of quilt artist, Joe Cunningham.

My next Interlake address goal is about 270 miles north and I am headed that way. I’ve got 2,503.5 miles, of my original Tampa to Seattle goal to go.

A favorite Chinese delivery establishment closed down much to our chagrin. Luckily I learned a number of years ago, in about 1976, to throw a wok on the stove… thank you Mr. Rose… and have been able to turn out a relatively good substitute. The other night I decided I needed some chicken and bok choy. As stir-frying is such a quick process, the big deal is the mise-en-place, making sure that everything is prepped and ready to go. The cooking, takes a couple of minutes… and then supper is ready.

My Upstairs, Downstairs spin-off, Thomas & Sarah ended its 13th episode, and first season… with a proverbial cliffhanger. I just discovered that there had been planned a second season but due to an ITV strike in 1979 it was not released. Somewhere in the depths of video-land there are at least four more episodes. A Cannon buried in Flowers.

Now back to working on my new quilt wall hanging design, Cosmos’ Moon.

Be healthy, and enjoy,

Jim

Day 56 – Jim’s Trek – 18.5 Miles – I’m On The Road Again

Good Day,

My Trek is back on the road again… and I was able to get back to my daily mileage, 18.5 miles.

Canned Heat – On The Road Again , Montreaux 1973…

...and I was at the University of New Brunswick.

My location today is in Tennessee. I’ve cycled on my Schwinn 150 through Chattanooga and I’m now north on Taft Highway, just about Clear Brooks Drive. Guess I’m somewhere close in the Prentice Cooper State Forest and Wildlife Management Area.

I passed through Walden and I immediately thought of Thoreau. But that’s Walden Pond, 1,146 miles away at Concord, Massachusetts. Nice thought, nice ambiance. Must be the trees.

Willie Nelson – On The Road Again, Grand Ole Opry 2000

I’m now at 779.0 total miles of my goal, 23.6%. Only 2,522.0 more to go to accomplish my primary Tampa to Seattle target.

My stats –

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles Left to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	779.0	2,522.0	23.60%	5,220.3	165.0

Don’t wish the Norovirus on anyone. Make sure, if you get it to keep hydrated. I did lose a total of 4 pounds.

Thomas & Sarah speculate on the market in this next to last episode. Wonder if the writers were attempting to portray the divisions between the British classes? I’ve got to now find a new serial to accompany me on my Trek across this North American continent.

Be healthy, and enjoy,

Jim

Day 53 – Jim’s Trek – Had to Stop for a Short Spell

Good Day,

I have had to stop my Trek for a short spell due to a quick onslaught of something akin to the Noro Virus.

It is like the Timpani excerpt for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony 1st Movement playing in my gut.

I will be back on My Trek. Stay tuned.

I borrowed the appropriate image from Zorger.com.

Enjoy, and be healthly,

Jim

Day 52 – Jim’s Trek – 18.5 Miles and Tennessee – Chicken Scaloppini and Bread Pudding

Good Day,

This morning I crossed, on my Schwinn 150, the state line from Georgia into Tennessee. My 18.5 miles has me heading to the heart of Chattanooga. My current location is at the intersection of Rossville Boulevard and East 34th Street, East Lake in the southern part of Chattanooga. And Max is a wee bit bored with my Trek.

I have now totaled 760.5 miles in my Trek, and I’m still going. My next Interlake address goal is about 310 miles north.


The Trek is certainly helping me to keep my weight running at a close to even keel, but I seem to be eating a wee bit more. My 18.5 miles per day is burning approximately 470 calories, so I guess I got to make it up somehow.

Supper last night – A Green Salad, Chicken Scaloppini with Oyster Mushroom and Black Olive Tomato Sauce and new potatoes. Dessert – Homemade bread pudding. Invitation is always open. Just email me to catch me.

And today will go down in the annals of history as “those were the days”… Today is Handwriting Day. PCs, notebooks, iPads, and Smart Phones, we’ll soon have to change this to “Hunt and Peck Day”.

Today’s episode of Thomas & Sarah had flim-flam actors against poppycock all intertwined in a scheme of tomfoolery… And interesting chapter of the adventures of Thomas and Sarah.

I continue to health and to my next Interlake address destination.

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 51 – Jim’s Trek – 18.5 Miles – Moroccan Chicken Soup Stew

Good Day,

This morning I journeyed on my Schwinn 150 from my yesterday’s stopping point in the John’s Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Georgia. I headed north and then west on Highway 136. The road eventually joined the Sourth Old Alabama Highway, Hwy 151, where I continued north until the junction of GA-95 N. Today’s location is just shy of Pinewood Drive on my right hand side, the other right. (Only if I'm going south.)  I’m headed toward Chickamauga, Georgia, and I am about 22 miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The miles are flying past, and this morning I clocked 18.5, for a total to-date of 742.0 miles. I have 138.3 days remaining to my original Tampa to Seattle goal. All-things-being-equal I will be completing my first goal of 3,301 miles Sunday, June 9, 2013. With my incidental Interlake Drive goals, I need to recalculate my second major mileage goal.

My stats this morning –

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles Left to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	741.0	2,559.0	22.48%	5,257.3	169.4

Supper last night was a Moroccan Chicken Soup. Obviously chicken, skinned and boned; chickpeas; artichokes; onion; ginger; garlic; tomatoes; Kalmata olives; couscous; white wine; chicken broth; lemon juice; honey; and spices – red pepper, salt, turmeric, nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom; paprika; coriander; and olive oil. And a bowl was filling and extremely satisfying.

President Obama's Inaugural speech was a nice and short beginning acceptance yesterday.  Has he committed to accomplish a lot of projects and promises in the first year of his second Presidency?  According to PolitiFact.com he kept 45% of his promises during his first term of office.

Thomas & Sarah traveled back to his hometown in Wales. Sarah noses around, as usual, and discovers a truth to a 10 year black mystery. And as there are not that many episodes left, I am now looking for another series to keep my visual acuity intact while I pedal on my Schwinn 150.

And I continue... Enjoy,

Jim

Day 50 – Jim’s Trek – 18.1 Miles – Another Inch on My Schwinn 150

Good Day,

I woke up this morning with a number of thoughts. “Do I really have to do this?” “Am I really this committed?” “I think my body needs a rest.” Say what?

This is Day 50. It is Martin Luther King Jr., Day and the day of President Barack Obama’s public Inauguration Day.

My total miles of 723.5 miles have reduced another belly inch… I’m now measuring 38 inches, down 6 from when I started my Trek on my Schwinn 150.

And today is National Hugging Day… It was created in 1986 and it marks a midpoint between Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Makes sense, sort of… Check your Emotional Biorhythm.

And I completed my 18.1 miles. Today I am on GA-136 W and climbing into the Chestnut Mountain Range, just shy of the John’s Mountain Wildlife Management Area.

I’ve just passed the Casey & Son Horseshoeing School. Okay, I know I’m sticking to back roads and highways, but am I also going back in time. I traveled through Calhoun, Georgia and Sugar Valley.

Thomas & Sarah tend a fabric and notion store. How apropos?

Next miles, and enjoy,

Jim

Day 49 – Jim’s Trek – 18.1 Miles – New Gastronomic Experiments

Good Day,

This morning I increased my mileage by 1/10th of a mile. Not much of a difference but it brings me closer to my daily goal of 20 miles. And I now have reached another small goal. I topped the 700 mark -705.4 miles.

Today I am headed north on GA-3 N/U.S. 41 N toward Taylor Bridge Road SW. A quiet road; just enjoying the Georgia countryside.

My stats, to date –

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles Left to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	705.4	2,595.6	21.37%	5,293.9	168.4

Supper last night was a complete new experience. First of all a slice of homemade Artesian bread and then Veinchanna Royyaalu – Curried Shrimp, and Muttakose Kilangu – Stir-fried Cabbage and Carrots. The dishes were somewhat easy to put together but the kitchen was as if a tornado had trucked through. We were quite impressed and enjoyed something very tasty and different. There’s always an invite to supper at the front door… if you want to be a culinary guinea pig.

Thomas & Sarah episode “In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and arrivederci”… and they keep going through thick and thin.

59 miles to Chattanooga.

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 48 – Jim’s Trek – Another 18.0 Miles – Preparation For 2032 Olympics

Good Day,

This morning I completed my 18.0 miles. I’m on my way to my next Interlake address location. I’m headed North West on the Joe Frank Harris Parkway SE. My location is at the intersection of Collins Drive in north Cartersville, Georgia. Google Maps does not to have the teeny little photo man working this afternoon, and therefore the satellite view from 100 feet. The “B” is my location.

This morning I attended the swimming tryouts for the 2032 Summer Olympics. The instructor is Elmo and he has certainly developed a dynamic new technique for the future of the backstroke… Head in water, legs up at a 90° angle… Hey maybe that’s three gold medals.

Last night supper pan-fried Grouper and roasted eggplant – two types, broccoli, and red onion. Freshly baked rustic bread. Definitely keeping my calories down… but I had to have a fudge chocolate milkshake for dessert.

And the Russian Brides are baaaaack. More spam email in my junk mail folder. I truly wonder how dense the spammers really are, and to top it all there is NO description in one of the emails only a hyperlink. Do recipients actually open these emails? Do the spammers really have a number of patsies who are that naïve… or desperate?

A new spammer has started – Asian Beauties… obviously the spammers do not understand that the majority of their junk email is wasted. Or is it? I wonder if there is a way to re-target the spammers as we once did the junk mail senders. I used to, and still do, cross off my address and then write in block letters DECEASED – RETURN TO SENDER.

This morning’s episode of Thomas & Sarah, it was for speed at low-tide. The quirkiness of this series is that the writers and the produces are scripting scenarios of characters shonking each other… Everyone appears to be a con merchant.

687.3 miles, and I'm still not bored.

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 47 – Jim’s Trek – National Winnie the Pooh Day

Good Day,

Cobb Parkway and Hickory Knoll Trail NW, in Kennesaw, Georgia, my current location. My 18.0 miles today completes 20% of my original Tampa to Seattle Trek… I’m not ready to depart as yet, even though I have stopped at the Pine Ridge Memorial Cemetery.

Ninety-five more miles to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and this morning the day after Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day, I certainly was of the mind to ditch this Trek… And then I checked my Physical Biorhythm graphing for today. Today I am crossing the x and y axes at 0%. In general, a rhythm at 0% is thought to have no real impact on one’s life. All I can say this rhythm is moving in an upward direction. In seven days my Physical Biorhythm will be at 100%.

My stats, to date –

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles Left to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	669.3	2,631.7	20.28%	5,330.0	170.0

And today is National Winnie the Pooh Day… I feel a new quilt design in the make.

This illustration from the Winnie the Pooh book called "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood," by David Benedictus, shows Christopher Robin cycling to meet Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood.

In Thomas & Sarah this morning the scene is a boy’s boarding school. Thomas and Sarah pull off a reverse flim-flam. Are the audience expected to like them now?

Two loaves of no-knead bread going in the oven.

Stay tuned, and enjoy,

Jim

Day 46 – Jim’s Trek – Another 18.0 Miles – Egg Yolks

Good Day,

I have gone over the hump. Today’s mileage, 18 miles and I’m still going. January 17 is Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day… Accordingly if one has held out and continued to follow a New Year’s resolution, at this point in the new year, it means that you may be successful in carrying on to one’s goal. I think I can count my Trek… And I think my secret is to start the resolution some time before January 1.

I have now pedaled my Schwinn 150 through Atlanta, Georgia. I am on the Northside Parkway at the Atlanta Girls School, at about Pine Meadow Road NW. I’m headed northward in the direction of Chattanooga, Tennessee. My total mileage now is 651.3 miles.

Okay, I do believe in freedom of speech, and I’m not really a fan of Florida Governor Rick Scott, and I have a bit of a time getting my mind around this. “Satanists planning rally for Florida Gov. Rick Scott.” On January 25 a group of “Satanists” plan on holding a rally in favor of Governor Scott signing of a bill that allows students to pray at school events. Don’t know which side of the aisle I’ll sit?

Phosphatidylcholine; egg yolk or soy beans – brain food? I know what I asking for Christmas… or at least the end of my Trek. And then again one can get an egg memory stick...

Supper; Garlic roasted mushrooms with pasta and fresh rustic bread. Mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, basil, oregano, and pasta. Easy, quick, and tremendous.

Thomas & Sarah episode – matchmaking scam… It will be a wonder what human scams the writers and producers can fit into the complete series. And talking about scam/spam, do not the Russian Brides spammers get a hint???

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 45 – Jim’s Trek – Where is the Next Interlake Address?

Good Day,

Another 18.0 miles in my Trek; total 633.3. This ramble has, on the 45th day, now become a habit… I think. I have got to the point that I now feel the need to stay true to myself and continue with this hair-brain Trek.

This morning I reached a short distance south of Atlanta, Georgia. I’m on Moreland Avenue just about Rock Cut Place. I’ve found my next, the 9th Interlake address on my route to Seattle… and it is not in Alabama or Tennessee.

My stats, to date –

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles Left to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	633.3	2,667.7	19.19%	5,366.0	170.4

Today I received a number of spam emails. I would like to understand, not that I would like to experience the session, but how does one “Flirt live with sexy Girls on Russian Brides…?” I’m sure the two-dimensional experience can be somewhat “shocking”.

 And the next spam is “Wish Betty White a Happy 91st Birthday”. I didn’t open the spam, but I understand that anyone can send gifts to her charity of choice the Morris Animal Foundation.

No-knead bread turned out great. I figured out that making a full loaf costs about $1.00. Comparative pricing for half-a-loaf from a local grocery store, $3.90. Could be quite a savings. Nice thing about the no-knead bread; mix it the night before and leave for 12 to 18 hours… Shape it and into a hot oven.

Thomas & Sarah were both embroiled in a speculative scheme to make money… I am not sure that I am as entrenched in this serial as I was with Upstairs, Downstairs.

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 44 – Jim’s Trek – Two Goals: 8th Interlake Address and 600 Miles

Good Day,

I’m running, or should I say cycling a wee bit on the late side today… but I did do my 18.0 miles on my Schwinn 150. Today I finished two of my intermediary goals. I have reached, to date, 615.3 miles. I, also have reached my 8th Interlake address goal; Interlake Pass in McDonough, Georgia.

My location is at the intersection of Atlanta and Woodruff Streets. I am headed north towards Atlanta. I have now found my next Interlake address, and you will have to stay tuned to hear.

Last night’s supper was a combination of Asian dishes; Montreal dry, garlic, spareribs and Kongnamulbap. From the recollections and tastes of my years in Montreal, Chinese dry garlic spareribs are always a fond craving. These are chopped and small bite-sized pork spareribs that are prepared to die for. And none of the Asian restaurants, deliveries, or take-outs in Tampa makes them this way.

The Kongnamulbap is something I’ve never attempted before, let alone try to pronounce the name. Rice, bean sprouts, Cremini and a sauce. Sauce – Soya sauce, Garlic, Green Onion, Onion, Honey, Hot pepper flakes, Green Chili pepper, Sesame Oil, and toasted sesame seeds.

And dessert, Cranberry Lemon Cheese Cake Bars… and yes, homemade. Light and really, really good.

Today I'm making loaves of no-knead bread...

Today’s episode of Thomas & Sarah… “I didn’t know that he had a neck until he broke it.”

Stay tuned, and enjoy,

Jim

Day 43 – Jim’s Trek – 18 More Miles – Kabocha Squash

Good Day,

This morning my Trek mileage completed; 18 miles. A total of 597.3 miles… and two more goals are just around the corner, so-to-speak. At my current rate I should finish my original 3,301 Tampa to Seattle miles by Thursday, June 13, 2013. My Interlake address goal, which is a moving target of about 6,000 miles, will be wrapped up by about November 10, 2014. And of course we’ll see what will happen when I finish.

My location this morning is at the Classic Cuts Barber & Beauty shop on GA-42 N/US-23 N. It does look like it is time for a haircut.

My stats -

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles Left to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	597.3	2,703.7	18.09%	5,402.0	169.2

Today is National Dress Up Your Pet Day. Why? And, emphatically, NO!

I have fallen for a winter squash, pumpkin – Kabocha or Danhobak. It tastes sort of like a cross between a pumpkin and a sweet potato. It looks like a squished, sort of squashed, (pun intended) pumpkin. I have eaten it roasted, in stews, and in congee. The great thing is that you don’t have to peel or remove the outer skin that is unless one wants to… The outer skin is edible, once cooked. Roasted slices with coconut oil, salt and pepper, is a good treat. This morning I chopped up the leftover Kabocha and combined with leftover Basmati rice, added chicken broth and breakfasted on a filling congee.

And the spam returns; “Beautiful Russian Women Are Waiting to Meet You…” NOT!

Supper tonight is a combination of Asian dishes; Montreal dry, garlic, spareribs and Kongnamulbap. I’ll let you know how this one works out.

Today’s episode of Thomas & Sarah reintroduced a character from Upstairs, Downstairs; the Bellamy’s Silver Cloud. Evil is afoot… well maybe some shenanigans...

Enjoy,

Jim