Just Showin' Up - Sunday, May 16, 2010

WARNING...Lots of Photos today!!

A few years ago, Nancy and I began serious retirement planning.  We realized that it doesn't matter how much money you save; what RV you choose; where you decide to travel or any of the other retirement planning issues you have....if you aren't healthy enough to enjoy it.  So a big part of our planning is STAYING FIT.  One of the best books we have read on the subject of staying fit as you get older is "Younger Next Year."  There is the man's (yellow) and woman's (pink) version of the book.  They are very similar, so either one will work.

This is a great book and we highly recommend anyone over 40 take a look!  It is a fun read and loaded with great information. 

Why am I telling you this......because that's where the title of our blog came from.  One of Harry's (Henry Lodge's) Rules (from the book) is "exercise 6 days a week for the rest of your life."  While we get that.....making it happen is not always easy.  Most nights, before heading to bed, we ask each, "are you  SHOWING UP in the morning?"  Making the commitment to each other to "Just Show Up" gets us going!  Somedays we walk and somedays we cycle.  Sunday mornings is our favorite cycling day...there are virtually no cars on the roads. However, this Sunday, we both were whipped from a long, difficult work week.  Almost didn't "Show Up" and that would have been ashame........it was a great ride!!

We got an early 6am start and loaded the bikes in the car and headed to Huntington Beach State Park to begin our ride. 

Sunrise Over Salt Marsh Entering Huntington Beach

Crossing Salt Marsh

Alligator in Salt Marsh

Wading Birds in Salt Marsh

This is one of South Carolina's most beautiful parks.  It has camping facilities, bike paths, hiking trails and the best part -- it's on the Atlantic Ocean -- salt water fishing, swimming or just relaxing are king here.  Oh, did I mention they have quite a few alligators.....more to come on that bit of information.

We started our ride at Atlaya, a former summer home for the residents of Brookgreen Rice Plantation.

We rode the bike path in Huntington, crossed Hwy 17 to Sandy Island Road, made a left on to Reunion Rd, right onto the bike path on Willbrook Rd, then left onto Old River Road to Hwy 17 again in Pawleys Island. We turned around and backed tracked the same route for a total of 22 miles. 

Our ride took us by some of the nicest golf courses that the Grand Strand has to offer: Willbrook, Heritage Plantation, The Tradition, True Blue and my personal favorite, Caledonia.  I already know I'm going to play golf this afternoon!!

The Weather was perfect - 75 degrees, sunny and no wind.  Nancy brought her camera and snapped quite a few pictures along the route.  We gave our legs a good workout and knew we had to finish the trip in a couple hours as Nancy had to go to work at Home Depot by 11 am.

Huntington Beach Bike Path

Sandy Island Road

Reunion Road

Willbrook Road Bike Path

Old River Road

Old River Road

Entrance to Caldonia Golf Club on Old River Road

Riding by All Saints Church on Old River Road

Normally when we ride back into Huntington Beach State park, we take the right you see in the picture below, but for some reason Nancy suggested we go straight today and ride over the Salt Marsh.

Entering Huntington Beach State Park

As we crossed the marsh, Nancy was snapping pictures when we notice a large alligator crossing the road ahead of us.  We stopped and got the best photos we could. 

But once the alligator had passed, we moved on and were stopped by a gentlemen photographing the alligator from the other end of the road.  He gave us his business card and said to email him as he would send us a picture of the gator with us in the background....tooooo cool!!

This is the photograph by Phil Lanoue....Thanks Phil!!

See what can happen when you "JUST SHOW UP!!"

After an enjoyable round of golf, (played well - shot 78) I washed the car and cleaned up our bicycles readying them for the next ride.

Tomorrow is Monday and it's another work day for both of us.  We will, however, get up early and show up for a 4 mile power walk before going to our jobs.  So, if you hear either one of us say "Just Show Up" you know what we mean. 

Sometimes that's that all it takes ... Just Showin' Up!