Walk to Rivendell...and beyond!

Finding Frodo

Finding Frodo

Tol Eressea
Good morning, fellow travelers! I hope your walks are going well. I added about 23 miles this week, mostly biking, though I did get in some very nice walking up in Duluth by Lake Superior and by Gooseberry Falls. I had never been there before and found it quite beautiful, especially the forests of birch trees. I'm used to only seeing them one at a time on people's front lawns, not crowded together so close it looked like it would be hard to walk between them. The occasion was a get-together with some of my crazy aunts and female cousins, an annual event that started less than ten years ago when one of my crazy aunts decided we didn't have enough time to spend together at the family reunion. They've gone to Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Savannah, Omaha, Galena, and I forget where else, but there's always lots of story-telling, laughing and eating cookies. Hmm...when I sat down I didn't know what passage I would post today, but now I do. From The Hobbit "The Return Journey":

"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!"​
Have you gone walking somewhere new recently? Have you spent the weekend in a hotel suite with 14 of your relatives? Do you think of Tolkien even when the scenery is not particularly Middle-Earthy? Tell us about it, and have a great week!

Don’t forget to update your mileage on the Shields page. Be sure to keep a paper record of your miles, as there is always the potential for the Shields page to crash (again). And see you in Rivendell!!!!

Explanatory note: The Eowyn Challenge/ Walk to Rivendell (and beyond) is a LOTR-related fitness walk thingy that began in March 2003, and that has been going on with walkers around the world ever since. The idea is to keep track of your mileage as you walk, and soon you will find yourself traversing the 458 miles to Rivendell. The walk is open to all. Keeping a goal date in mind can be useful for some, others are happy taking the scenic route and getting to Rivendell eventually. The website for the Walk explains things far more coherently than I can; please check out the link below, especially the main page and the Walk page. Lots of useful links, including wonderful mileage charts compiled by the late Karen Wynn Fonstad, can be found on the Tools page.

The TORn Walk to Rivendell thread can usually be found right here on Main, on Thursday mornings.

Walk to Rivendell: http://www.eowynchallenge.net
 
I love crazy relatives! They are SO interesting and don't rest on protocol! COOKIES FOR EVERYBODY!

I love that passage. It makes me smile, sigh and tear all at the same time.

Our family used to do a reunion every year, but the gaffers and gammers cannot travel and have no strength for such gatherings. My immediate family does try to get together whenever we can. We ALL get along and have the most wonderful time! I've just found out today I get my Baltimore g'kiddies for 2 full weeks starting August 1 :D I'm so thrilled!


Back in my parallel universe, Bilbo, the Dwarves and I are approaching the Lonely Mountain. It's pretty desolate. Something scourched this place pretty thoroughly once upon a time.

Cheers Finding Frodo! Thanks for taking such good care of us... and cheers Fellow Travellers! Keep your feet on the road and your eye on the horizon!
 
is wonderful isn't it? The North Shore is one of my favorite places to be. I only live three hours from there, but still don't get there nearly enough.

Glad you were able to experience it!
 
My heart lives in Duluth - such rugged beauty! I went to school there for a few years, got engaged at the foot of Tettegouche Falls (and once years earlier in Chester Park in Duluth itself, but, er, whose counting... [crazy]) and hiked all over the North Shore before life took me out east. I'm so jealous!

Mrs. Notta and I are returning to the North Shore this summer for our first trip back in over a decade, and we are so excited! Hope you enjoyed your trip, and hope you had one of Betty's Pies.

Pip did something stupid this week - got all depressed and discarded his Lorien broach. It does look hopeless for us, however, and the backs of these orcs need a good luffa-ing.

Notta
 
Have you gone walking somewhere new recently?

Not somewhere new, still just hanging out around the home patch at the moment, but then I loves my neighbourhood and got lots of bushland real close to go trampsing in [cool].

Have you spent the weekend in a hotel suite with 14 of your relatives?

Nope but if you hum a few bars I might pick it up.

[blush] Not a hotel room, but have been in a front yard with 17 kids, 8 adults and a whole bunch of cats, does that count? (Me, 3 of my brothers and our partners and all our kids, plus two ring-ins from the UK.)

Do you think of Tolkien even when the scenery is not particularly Middle-Earthy?

Yep helps to keep me sane whenever I have to go anywhere near a city [tongue]

Having a quiet weekend this week, just got the fortnightly shopping to do and then housework, and trying to keep hubby away from the Football on tv as we are SO gonna get thrashed this week and I really can't afford a new tv.

In Middle-earth we've just reached a brook. Pippin thinks it's the Stock-brook.

*hugs to all fellow travellers*

Kel x
 
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God bless you for enjoying your grandchildren so much! They and their parents are very thankful for the time you spend with them, I'm sure. My grandparents died just about two years ago now and I miss them even though I only ever saw them once a year at the reunion. Now some of my aunts and uncles are getting up there in age, particularly the oldest daughter who was huffing and puffing and shuffling slowly and taking lots of rests when we walked anywhere. Later I found out that this woman still plays on a volleyball team, so she gets the title of "Queen of the crazy aunts"!

Get ready to get comfortable sitting on the doorstep at the Lonely Mountain!
 
When I heard we were going to Duluth I was not excited at all, and only went because my sister-in-law was going. I didn't know anything about the city, but it sounded industrial and dull. Instead it was beautiful and interesting! And yes, we did stop at Betty's Pies, but I can make you a pie that's as good or better than that and it won't cost $16.00! I was more excited about the Scandanavian silversmith we visited who had several pendants featuring runes and dragons. I couldn't decide which one to get and couldn't afford to buy them all, so I took his information down and will call to order one or two after my next payday. I'll try to post a picture here when I get it.
 
trying to keep hubby away from the Football on tv as we are SO gonna get thrashed this week and I really can't afford a new tv.
Click to expand...

Hope the TV survives the weekend! And be sure to listen to Pippin -- he knows the territory.[:)]
 
[cool]
Since I'm recuperating, I'm still stuck on things like stationary bikes, etc, but they put me on the treadmill last week, too. So between the bike and the treadmill I'm "travelling" about, oh...9 miles a week so far.

LOL

Seriously, I'm going to start adding it up. I might have made it all the way down the hill toward Hobbiton by now!!

a.s.
 
But I AM getting togther with some relatives for the 4th of July at my grandparent's cottage on Rand Pond. It should be pretty awesome, and we're gonna buy an INSANE amount of fireworks so as to keep the entire lake up all night watching the spectacle.

In regards to nice walks, the Ayer's Gap trail in Franklin, CT is always a beautiful choice. First you climb for about a hundred yards straight up to this view of the CT countryside, and then the rest of the trail wanders through endless pine and decidous forests, with the occasional waterfall. The end of the trail goes right past a fairly large series of waterfalls, but unless it's been raining, there won't be too much water. Hiking rocks.
 
Gee, I rarely open up this thread and when I do, I find people are lurking in my backyard.

Well, there are a few miles between Minneapolis and Duluth. But in TORn terms it's backyard. :-)

The North Shore (as it's called here) was our first Minnesota getaway when we moved here in 1980 and we stayed at some cabins quite near Gooseberry Falls. Back then, there wasn't much past Duluth. Today, it's all built up and busy up to Two Harbors. It got too hard to find accommodations there and a few years back we went further up the lake to Tofte. My favorite thing about the North Shore is the rocks. Rocks to climb on. Rocks to put in my pocket (or lug).

My son went to school in Duluth for awhile. It's a pretty city but I don't know that I could do a winter there. Those hills would scare me when covered with snow or ice.
 
Yeah, my first impression of Duluth was industrial, dirty and yuck. But then I grew to absolutely love the city, and you can't beat the rugged beauty of the North Shore.

And I've actually never eaten at Betty's Pies - driven by it countless times, but never stopped - but I always hear about it. Sorry to hear it didn't wow you!

Notta
 
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