Thank you for your
interest in the OLLI Tallwood Walking Group. Here are
the details and logistics for the group. During OLLI Fall/Winter/Spring class
sessions, our group meets before class, generally at
8:30 AM in the swimming pool parking lot next to OLLI.
There are about 50 - 60 of us, although rarely, if
ever, do we all walk each morning - usually between 6
- 12 people show up at a time. Some people show up
almost every week; others join us only once in six
months. We walk for approximately 45 minutes in the
vicinity of OLLI and return to OLLI by 9:15 AM in
order to have a few minutes for coffee, etc., before
the start of 9:30 classes. We walk at a comfortable
pace and we all talk about classes, theater, politics,
travel, sports,
Tallwood walkers Doris, Dave,
Sherry and Ute. Photo by Julia Rachiele
current
events, or whatever - in other words, it is at least
as social as physical and we try to set our speed to
match our overall abilities and comfort level. When OLLI is not in
session, then we usually meet at different times
(often later in the day) and/or days and often go
further - that is, not just in the neighborhood of
Roberts Road - and sometimes we walk longer than 45
minutes. Our longest walk so far has been around Burke
Lake Park (5 miles). But we do continue to meet and
walk weekly. (Sometimes we go out for coffee or lunch,
too.) We have "done" Royal Lake, Accotink Park,
Meadowlark Gardens, Occoquan Regional Park, "beautiful
downtown" OldTown Fairfax, the W&OD trail, Sky
Meadow State Park, and quite a few other locations. Our OLLI Summer
session schedule is a little different. We will often
walk on a day when classes are not in session - in the
summer we prefer to walk in the cooler morning hours. Our only 'rule' is that we
wait five minutes for latecomers and then we leave the
pool parking lot. It is encouraged, although not
required, to let Doris Bloch or Sherry Hart know (via e-mail is
fine) if you plan to join us - then we look for you.
Sherry and Doris do decide if the weather is just too
dreadful to walk - so far that hasn't happened very
often at all. If so, then they send an e-mail to
cancel. They also give out their cell phone numbers,
by the way, for last minute cancellations from others.
Sherry Hart ([email protected]) handles the weekly
e-mail notifications for the group. If you have any
questions, please contact Sherry or Doris.
