Ah, ha, ha, ha, Stayin' alive. Stayin' alive.

I was deciding between the Bee Gee's song or the lyrics to Disco Inferno (burn, baby burn) for the title.  Both songs are good summaries for the day.  Today is Friday and that means that I survived the first week - i.e. stayin' alive.  However, I am still sore in the legs and am still moving slow - burn, baby burn.  More on the disco references later in the post, but first the hike.

Today was the first day that I think the trial and error regarding my feet has come to a close.  I have changed the shoes twice, taped up the top half of my feet, except the toes.  Yesterday I noticed that the outside of my big toes were rubbing against the shoe causing some discomfort.  Today, I taped up the outside of my big toes and didn't have any problem during the hike.

Today for the hike we went to Ronald Reagan's ranch.  Oh yes, being a conservative, it was cool to be on Reagan's ranch.  For you liberal readers, don't get too upset because it really was just land.  I wouldn't know it was Reagan's ranch if I wasn't told that.  At least where we were, there wasn't anything Reagan related - it was just land.  I believe that Reagan donated his ranch to California upon his death.

For most of the hikes, we take a short ride in a van to the start of the hike.  On the way back, we drove past some interesting places including:
1.  A bar where Ronald Reagan and Clint Eastwood would drink together during Reagan's Hollywood days.
2.  A house that was owned by Charlie Sheen.
3.  The house where they film the "reality" shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.  Yes, apparently they film both shows in the same house.

I didn't get any pictures of these three items because we were in a moving van.  Also, the Bachelor/Bachelorette house is covered well from the road and I really don't care about Charlie Sheen.

To be honest, hiking through Reagan's ranch was cool, but it looked like the hikes from Monday and Tuesday, so I didn't take any pictures.  However, I did take a couple of pictures of my room from the inside.  Note that I have been sore all week and sometimes moving is a chore, so I haven't taken pictures yet of the property.

As you can see, the room is pretty basic.  There's a queen size bed, night stand, dresser, and a desk.  The bathroom is on the right in the second picture.

Now, back to the disco references.  On Fridays, one of the group exercise classes in the afternoon is called Cardio Disco Jam, which is exactly what it sounds like - exercising to disco music.  The instructor dressed out in full disco clothing, complete with disco shirt, bell bottom pants, sunglasses from that era, hair styling, and a disco ball necklace.  That's right, a disco ball.

The class was fun and it was great for a Friday afternoon to not be so serious and intense, but let the disco moves set the intensity level.  I don't know if the moves we learned in the class were actually from the 70's, but now that I think about it, I'll ask.  It was a fun class at the right moment in the week and I can't wait to do it again next week.  For sure, I'll take a picture of the instructor next week.

Closing thought for the day:  The lyrics to a couple of disco era songs summed up the day.  I stayed alive by surviving the first week.  I now know what to expect for next week, so I will pick up the intensity next week.  For me, the legs get worked out much harder than upper body, so my legs are sore and sometimes this week it has been difficult to walk.  This is the burn, baby burn reference.  However, the greatest and most fun class of the week was Cardio Disco Jam.  If my gym back home offered this class, I would attend every time.  Maybe I can learn enough during my time here so that I can ask my gym at home to let me start a Cardio Disco Jam class.