[WaterRat]

Ah, Baff, I echo what Kaw said. There's lots of outdoors stuff on the Olympic Peninsula, but unless you stay around Port Townsend or at least at the very north (Sequim, Port Angeles) you'll find restuarants, etc. to be few and far between. You could, I think, stay in one of those places (PT for sure) and do day hikes, and PT has a nice park- Fort Worden - which is on the beach, and has lots of hiking and poking around in old military buildings to be done. You can even stay there in one of the officer's homes that they rent. It's a fun little touristy place, with lots of Victorian homes and B&B's. Depends on what kind of vaction you're after. We spent quite a bit of time over there when DH was in Seattle for his cancer treatment. He was in no shape to do anything physical though, so I'm a little weak in my knowledge. We did drive down the western side of the peninsula, and found civilization a little sparse until way far south.

It's a gorgeous day here, and warm (for us). DH has gone out to hike (on the roads, all the trails are too icy) with his boots and pack. Me, I'm supposed to be doing taxes, but had to take time to visit here!

[Depalma]

Nelie,

The pulleys on that unit are both high and low. However, it is not included in the base price of the unit ($599), it is the $319 upgrade.

I was going to recommend the Powertec unit that comes complete with the high/low pulleys AND also has pullup bars and dip bars included.

http://www.bigfitness.com/poporawla.html

However, it looks like it is out of stock right now. I actually looked at a few more sites and it is out of stock there as well. I know several people who have a powertec and they are very happy with. Judging by it being sold out in multiple places, it looks like a very popular unit.

[nelie]

Depalma,

I just posted about one I saw at Dick's for $799. You have any thoughts pros/cons on that?

[Mel]

nelie- i replied.

I have been MIA because I spend the day skiing. There was 5 inches of new snow and it was glorious! Very cold in the morning, but nice and toasty in the middle of the day. What wasn't glorious was my planning- I did a heavy leg workout yesterday. My leg partner and I have been doing more one legged and plyometric exercises for the last few months instead of old school "pile on the weight". We decided it was time to switch training modalities so my heavy set up squats was at 225. That's waaay of my PR, but a lot more than I've done in a long time. Skiing on already trashed legs was tough.

I know none of you ski or are particularly interested in my frosty sliding, but to me this is on HUGE payoff of having lost weight and gotten strong. It was something I'd given up completely and never thought I'd be able to do again. Today I was flying down the black diamond and double black diamond trails, and when I got the the bottom of the lift, was amazed that not only was I virtually the only female on that part of the mountain, but the only person over about 30 years old other than a few ski patrol geezers . Yay for muscles!!!!!

Time to drag my tired butt upstairs if I can....

Mel

[trailgroomer]

Baff - congratulations on the pull up as well - I like the videos too.
re Olympic Peninsula - it's for outdoor time - hiking, photography, hot springs were nice, but really no shopping. Seattle, on the other hand, may be the better choice with its great museums, walking tours, and shopping. Have you been to the San Juan Islands?

Hey, Mel - I ski and it sounds great to me! I got about 4 inches of snow as well and went snowshoeing locally. It was too icy for cross country skiing and I didn't plan ahead to drive to any slopes. Well, enjoy the March snow!

[baffled111]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The trouble with living in the boonies is that all trips to Seattle or Portland become insane shopping & ethnic food-eating binges. I don't mind to do that sort of thing, but it does rather make me feel a tad uncultured and materialistic. But, if we went to the OP, we could stop in Seattle first, binge on sushi and shopping, and then head out into nature. I didn't know there were hot springs in the OP though. That is excellent to know! I haven't been to the San Juan Islands. What are those exactly?

(Since bf will be leaving for NY in August, this spring and summer are our last opportunity to do stuff in WA together. I'll almost certainly be leaving WA the following August. There are only limited opportunities for holidays for us, so it's important to make the right choices, particularly with the end of our time in WA in view )

Thanks again for all the thoughts.

[WaterRat]

Baff, San Juan Islands are off the northwest coast of Washington. You drive to Anacortes and take a ferry. They're lovely, and quiet. We have friends who live in the Gulf Islands, which are actually a continuation of the San Juans only over the Canadian border. I'd say a little research is in order for the kinds of things you want to do. There's lots of large parks with undeveloped areas in the Seattle area. I don't know if you want actual hiking trails, or just walking, but there's a trail that goes for miles, which is the something-Gilman trail. I think parts of it are "rails to trails" but its very nice.

[Mel]

I looked into bicycling in the San Juans a few years ago. There are a couple of companies that organize trips from Relatively luxurious to spartan. The luxury end has a sag wagon carrying all your gear and dropping it at lovely hotels (or you if you can't bike that day. The spartan ones are camping trips.

A couple of years ago my son did a sea kyaking trip there and still raves about it.

Sore today- skipped cardio this morning but will lift at lunch!

Have a good one,
Mel

[kaw]

Baff -- My parents live on the Gulf Islands. It's absolutely beautiful there: great opportunities for sea kayaking, hiking, bicycling, etc, from the comfort of a B&B if that's your thing, or from a tent. The Gulf Islands tend to have drier weather than the San Juans and especially than the Olympic Peninsula, because the GI are in the rain shadow of Vancouver Island. (This is not to say it doesn't rain in the Gulf Islands, but it doesn't rain as much.)

One of the other pluses of the Gulf Islands is that you can get to Vancouver via a commercial float plane service -- Harbour Air or Salt Spring Air spring to mind. The flight is itself is gorgeous and the pilot will drop you off on the harbor in downtown Vancouver, if you want to do the city thing. Of course, not many US residents go to Canada to shop, given the exchange rate & taxes.

Mel -- I ski! Or at least, I used to, pre-kid. Was pretty good, if I may say so myself ... until I started on the volunteer ski patrol. My desire to push the limits pretty much fled the first time I saw someone's bone sticking out of his pant leg after a jump went awry.

Boy, I seem to be off-topic chatty today. Could it be that I'm not looking forward to my morning's work?

Kim

[mjoste]

HI LADIES!!!!

I'm not sure if you remember me or not (don't worry, I'm not back to interrupt your group), but I just wanted to stop through and say "HI" and to thank you all for the support I got here about 6 months ago.

I think I remember that Lydia and Elisa were both fellow hypothyroids? Maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Regardless, I especially wanted to tell you two that you definitely made a difference to me as you happened to reach out during a time I really needed your motivation!

It's great to see Mel, Pat and Rabbit here still too! Ya'all were a lot of fun and very welcoming too.

Ok, well that's all. I had pmd Lydia awhile back but wanted to let you all know I appreciate you very much.

Happy days, MO

[sportsfreak]

hey everyone

I have been having a very serious problem latley. Starting a month ago my hair staring falling out-more than normal from the roots. It got to the point where is dread washing my hair. Even if i run my fingers through it, many will come out. I have a feeling this is due to the 20 lbs weight loss i has a month before. Took me 3-4 months to loose that and i did it through proper diet and exercice. I ate about 1300-1400 calories a day (i am 5 foot 2 and i now weigh 105) I'm getting worried what it may be.

Will my hair ever come back. Have any of you guys experienced the same thing. I'm going to the doc this thursday to see. Hope i dont have to start picking out wigs at the age of 16

[nelie]

How has your fat intake been doing? I've heard that hair loss can happen when you don't eat much fat.

[sportsfreak]

i eat a hand full of nuts each day, have some avacado and cook everything with olive oil if needed. But im not going overboad of fats. I eat enough. I have been making sure that i am eating everything in balance, heck i have even put on 5 pounds to see if that would help.

[WaterRat]

Just a thought, because I have a stepsister with alopecia... Do you have a lot of allergies? That's what the docs put hers down to. Don't mean to frighten you though. Her hair fell out 3 times in her teens and early 20's, and didn't grow back after the 3rd time. Hopefully, it's something treatable for you.

[sportsfreak]

no i have no allergies of any sort