Medicare & Miles - Featured Writer Mary Fran Jeppesen

Do you ever really think about what life might be like thirty years from now? Will you be able to get out of bed in the morning? Will your bones and muscles scream in agony? Will your hair be thinned, and wrinkles deep? Will your butt have grown in immense proportions? These are things that cross my mind on a daily basis. I don't want to grow old. After reading Mary Frans article - I think that thirty years from now sounds pretty dang good. I will be turning 66 years old and loving every minute of it. Sweet! I wish my birthday was tomorrow so I could celebrate.

Medicare & Miles - Featured Writer Mary Fran Jeppesen

On Thursday, June 17 I signed up for Medicare. Now what could make you feel older than that? What do you think of when you think of Medicare? It makes me think of shuffling around with a walker, sitting in a doctor’s office, or a nursing home. It’s kind of amazing how fast it happens. It was a little depressing to think that in three months I would be 65 and truly be a senior citizen. Do I feel like a senior citizen? Heck no!!

Well to prove that I was not all the way old, as my little grandson puts it, I decided to go on a bike ride with some friends the next Saturday. We started in Pocatello and biked up Mink Creek and through Arbon Valley. The Choke Cherries and spring flowers were in bloom. They truly smelled like spring. There’s a hard up hill at the beginning of the ride and I am always glad to get to the top. From there it’s an easy down and flat through some beautiful farm country. There were cattle ranches and horse ranches and no traffic at all. And it’s a nice paved road. Just before Malad there was another long up hill. By the time we had reached Malad we had ridden 74 miles and 77 miles was the furthest I had ridden this year and I had another 58 to ride. I was a little nervous!

We had a good lunch in Malad . I was hoping I would feel better after lunch and a little rest but I was still pretty tired. My friends kept telling me there was only one more hill and I was not looking forward to it. Coming up out of Devil’s Creek Reservoir I thought I was done and they would have to come back and get me…but I couldn’t give up. I stopped and took a Gu Roctane. In a few minutes I felt like new. It was amazing!! The 58 miles back to Pocatello on the east side of the freeway was even more impressive than the west side. There were beautiful farms and ranches, lots of fun downhill and some up. And I made all of it feeling good. It took us just under nine hours.

This weekend my sister and I did our yearly trip from Little Elk through Water Fall Canyon , to Upper Palisades Lake and out Palisades Creek. It’s a beautiful run after you get down and across the snow fields. We made it in record time this year.

I signed up for Medicare on Thursday and rode my bike 133 miles on Saturday and ran Water Fall Canyon 20 miles in 7 ½ hours so I guess I’m not all the way old yet…..Thanks goodness!

Grandma (Mary Fran ) Jeppesen