18,000 Steps Hurt My Feet

Thursday I walked over 18,700 steps for the second time this year. The first time was four weeks earlier, also a Thursday, and for the same reason: Jubilee Democrats meet in our community lodge on the third Thursday of each month, and I walked to the lodge and back, which adds 7,000 - 8,000 steps on top of my usual routine.

My feet felt a little ragged by the end of the day, and the next morning. I may resort to soaking them in the future.

Chess club is not meeting now, but if they start again, they also meet in the lodge on Thursdays, so I could end up taking 18,000 steps every Thursday. Almost certainly will have to take better care of my feet if that happens.

I have made it to White Sulphur Springs, Montana, the county seat of Meagher County, Montana and a town of 955 people. Elevation is over 5,000 feet; I am past the continental divide, but Montana seems to have plenty of mountainous country. There is museum of local history here that used to be a house and looks like a castle, built in the late 1800s. If I ever go in person to White Sulphur Springs, I will stop.

I believe that I wrote before that three towns I am most familiar with in Montana are Butte, Bozeman, and Billings, because they are all major towns along I-90. I passed north of Butte a few weeks ago and have now passed north of Bozeman, so I am ticking off the milestones. I will walk through Billings next month.

A few weeks ago, I laid out where I thought I would be at the end of each of the next few months as I crossed Montana, and I figured Checkerboard, Montana was my goal for March. Checkerboard is now four days away, with twelve days left in the month. After my slow start, I am surprised to find myself optimistic about getting to Miami much earlier than I had planned.

If my feet hold up, I will.