Day 23

We have officially made it across two states! It's hard to believe but we are currently typing this up in Mississippi. We are staying with a lovely couple that was introduced to us by Lawrence and Tricia Lavender, whom we ate dinner with last night. Let me start with that.

Yesterday afternoon we left the library and returned to our motel room for the rest of the night...at least we thought. However, around 5:30 Lawrence and Tricia called our room and wanted to treat us to dinner. They had heard about us from their friends Rip and Ellen in Eutaw. It still amazes me that people are going out of their way in order to spend a few hours with us and listen to our story. This one was especially special considering they hunted us down in a motel room. Lawrence picked us up and we took a quick tour of his shop. He runs a steel business with his brother (Lavender, Inc.) right in downtown Aliceville. We drove around town before eventually heading over to his house, where we meet his wife and two other couples.

Lawrence had not known about our trip prior to that afternoon and his story of first spotting us was funny-at best. On Thursday we ran from Eutaw to Aliceville in a pretty hard rain storm. It didn't let up the entire day and we were soaked from head to toe by the time we finished. A few miles outside of town Lawrence told us he saw three "crazy women" pushing their babies in the rain. He didn't know what to think as he drove by us and headed home for the day. It was only later that he discovered it was us. Everyone had a good laugh at dinner and it was nice to break the ice.

Joining us for dinner were Irvin and Virginia Eatman and Tom and Connie Kay. For dinner we had steaks the size of our plates with beans, salad and garlic bread. The meal was delicious as we got to eat our first steaks of the trip. For dessert we sang an early happy birthday to Tom and enjoyed a double chocolate cake. After the meal we sat around the living room and talked for about an hour. It was truly enjoyable to casually chat about sports, our futures, as well as hearing personal stories from our new friends. Tom was a true character. Although he lives in the South, and has for his entire life, he is a New York Giant and New York Mets fan (my kind of guy).

Quick side note: I don't know if we have already mentioned this but we have two main goals for this trip. We brought it up to Tom last night as he seemed to know a great deal of people all across the country. First, we of course would like to finish the run and all be standing when we reach San Diego. Second, and perhaps most important, we would like to throw out the first pitch at a major league baseball game in the San Diego area. If anyone reading this has any connections and thinks they might be able to make this happen feel free to email us. Also, Ken wants a BMW.

We returned to the motel for some sleep ready to tackle another state in the morning. We were on the road by 8 and once again the weather was less than ideal. Much like the first days in GA and AL, today was cloudy, windy and cold. Matt and I were joking during the first part of the run that it's almost as if each state is testing us and trying to keep us out. The morning was fairly uneventful. We stopped for a few minutes to film a large group of cows and our second crop dusting plane of the trip.

Around 11pm we approached the MS state line and started to get excited. Unlike crossing into AL, the road we were traveling on was very light with traffic and we were all looking forward to stopping and taking pictures with the Welcome to Mississippi sign. As we continued to run, we could see in the distance that no such sign existed. We entered MS with nothing more than a change in the pavement and a small Noxubee County MS. sign greeting us. We were disappointed but made the best of it as I did push ups in the middle of the road, half my body in AL and half in MS as Matt took a quick nap in both states.

As soon as we crossed into MS the scenery changed from a sea of trees to flat open fields. We could see half a mile down the road and it was a nice preview for what to expect as we continue to get further west. We pushed on the next 14 miles with little excitement or surprises. With about 8 miles to go we ran into Paul, a professional road biker. We chatted with him for a bit before continuing on.

Like most days on the road we started to get strung out a bit with about 5 miles left in the day. Matt usually pushes the pace and takes the lead, I jog along the best I can in the middle and Ken is slightly behind. I wasn't feeling that great with the weather being gloomy and my shin bothering me a bit and I decided to put on my Ipod for the first time all trip. I had not listened to music since we flew into Savannah over three weeks ago and really wanted to hear something familiar. As soon as the first song came on it was like a breath of fresh air. My mood had changed dramatically and I suddenly realized why I was out here. It was just the thing I needed to regroup and continue on with our journey.

We finally made it into Macon around 3 and found our first drive-in restaurant of our trip. We ordered enough food for 6 people at Bumpers before being picked up by Debra and Greg Duncan. This great couple will be our host for the night, as they had only heard about our trip a few hours before. We were taken to their home where we showered before being taken out to dinner. Their house sits right on the river and has that outdoor-cabin feeling to it. It’s truly a beautiful house with a spectacular view. Once again the kindness of strangers stepped up when we least expected it to.

Tomorrow we are heading to Louisville, a good 30 miles away. We might have a family to stay with once again but if not its back to the tent for us. Whatever happens, I am looking forward to it and remain open-minded. Thanks for reading and for everyone’s continuous support.

-Andy