Van Walks in the Rain With Friends!

September 8, 2018

I had the final “Walk with Van” of the season Friday. For the first time this year it rained on the first Friday of the month, which is when I always do them.  Anyone and everyone is always invited for the sake of having fun, meeting new people and exercising in the form of a 2 mile walk. So I was driving over to East 6th and Locust in Des Moines where we always start, and with the windshield wipers going I kept thinking, “Nobody’s gonna come to this today in this kind of weather.” But I determined I’d do it even if it was just me. When I got there, I couldn’t believe my eyes!  All sorts of people showed up to walk, some with umbrellas, some without. So we did! Including Dr. Amy Wilcockson of the “Live Heathy Iowa” group, and Jami Haberl of the “Iowa Healthiest State” Initiative.

 

Amy said she was talking with one of the other walkers who told her she had missed the other walks and wanted to make sure she got to this last one of the year “in case Van retires.” Not sure where that came from since I don’t have plans for that, but I’ll take it as a compliment!

 

I made fun of Jami, who is always perfectly dressed, because she had on what looked to me like fabulous dress shoes.  I said, “Jami, are those walking shoes?” She laughed and said, “They are today!”  And she tromped through the rain like the rest of us.  

 Thanks to the downtown YMCA who welcomed us with open arms as our halfway point and let us walk their track and around their fabulous new Olympic swimming pool!