Thursday June 9, 2016

So much to catch up on...

My son Turner graduated high school and to celebrate a tremendous amount of hard work, I took he and his brother, Hayden, to Christmas Island in the S Pacific.  It is easy to get there...just fly to Hawaii, spend the night and then fly 3 more hours toward Fiji to the middle of the ocean and land. 

This place is bonefish central.  It is the single best destination in the world for sight fishing bonefish on the fly.  Simply incredible.  We walked 6 miles of ankle deep water one day catching bonefish the whole way.  Every day was a walking day.  Lots of walking. 

It was a great trip and one that none of us will ever forget.

I managed to stay in reasonably good shape with my trusty deck of cards, 6 mile runs and tons of walking. 

In Hawaii, we climbed 2 volcanos, Diamond Head which was nice, but touristy and a far more intense Koko Head Crater, which was a series of 1654 railroad ties laid straight up a mountain roughly 1 mile long.  No switchbacks here, just straight up. 

I loved Hawaii and will spend more time there eventually.  Lots more hiking and exploring to do there!

Upon returning, I spent Friday in the garage and enjoyed every second with my friends. 

Saturday, we jumped in the car and drove from Chattanooga, TN to Badlands National Park which is about 22 hours.  After touring the park in the morning we hit it hard for the 9 hour drive to Bozeman, MT.  A little walking and some pushups were all I could muster along with extended sessions of the couch stretch to fix the incredibly long sitting spells we have had since leaving for Christmas Island. 

The following day we moved to Gardiner, MT and got my son set up with his summer job in Yellowstone National Park.  I did this when I was 20, he is doing it at 18.  It is an incredible opportunity for any young person to experience our National Parks by working in them for the summer...highly encouraged.

In Gardiner, I found a stairway that went down to the Yellowstone river.  There was an 8 foot platform that was just a few feet from the river.  Snaow melt had the river swollen and running hard.  It was the perfect place to do the Wim Hof Breathing and then hit 2:00 max efforts for Pushups, Situps, Flutter Kicks and Squats x 2 each and then sending my results to Wade in Afghanistan.  

We drove through the park and saw some of our favorite things, including my niece who is also working in the Park this summer. 

Another workout with squats, Lunges and pushups took place on the little river platform and then it was time to go home.  My son is all settled in, and it is time to get back.

2 am, we made it back to Chattanooga and I was up at 5 am in the garage with my friends. 

This morning:

Shoulder Press

3-3-3-3-3

Run 400 m

15 GHD situps

AMRAP 15 minutes

Ruck 1 mile

45 pounds

AFAP

Glad to be back!  Glad I went!