Month: February 2026

2026 Travels

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I am often asked how I choose which state to visit next. Until recently, there has been no simple answer to this question.

But now, I can say, “I don’t! I let a spreadsheet tell me where to go!”

Y’see, I have built a spreadsheet that pulls (not literally) from other spreadsheets I had previously built, developing a point-based system to determine which states to prioritize. Geeky, no?

The initial output from this new spreadsheet gives the highest ranking to Kentucky, New Jersey, and West Virginia. I can’t say I anticipated any of those! But the spreadsheet has spoken! Here, then, is my highly tentative list of trips for 2026:

April: Kentucky

June: West Virginia

August: Annual Colorado Trip (hoping to reach ghost town of Alta this time)

October: New Jersey

I may combine Kentucky and West Virginia into a single road trip, since they’re right next to each other, and not terribly far from home. Also, I have very ambitious ideas for this year’s Colorado trip. I may and/or may not be able to make those happen.

Up ENDing Parkinsons

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The number of exercise programs / options targeting Parkinson’s continues to grow. Recently, “Up ENDing Parkinsons” made its Charlotte debut. This is rock climbing for people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). You read that right! Well, I assume you read it right. I really have no way of actually knowing what you thought you read.

But, yes! Rock climbing for Parkies! This seemed like the perfect fit for me. I spent a lot of time during my twenties and very late teen years wandering northern Colorado, looking for rock formations to scale. So, about three months ago, I decided to try Up ENDing Parkinson’s.

Charlotte is not exactly known for cliffs, so this is actually an indoor, human-made climbing wall. Several such walls, even. And this is REAL climbing. With ropes and harnesses. I never bothered with such equipment when scrambling up remote rock formations in my foolhardy days of yore. On some of the climbing ‘routes’ they connect your rope to a machine that prevents you from plummeting if/when you lose your grip. On the rest, they connect your rope to a human “belayer” who stays on the ground while you climb. I imagine that if you fall, the belayer would be catapulted into the ceiling, though I haven’t seen that happen (yet).

I was amazed at my lack of energy and my overall weakness. However, I was assured by several people that it’s normal for folks to feel that way in the first session, and that most folks get past that quite quickly. I went back a week later, but actually felt weaker during that second session. I had planned to go again the following week, but decided I needed to use that time to finish plotting my Maryland trip. Then I was in Maryland for about two weeks ago. Then I started having, ummm, issues with the Vyalev pump. I’ll address that in my next post. For now, I continue to believe in Up ENDing Parkinsons, and intend to go back soon.