This morning we woke up at our usual 7am. Andy came into my room to wake me up and said that I "looked lost" in my King size bed I slept in last night. I was sleeping diagonally. We all got ourselves dressed and got the joggers packed for the day. Thressa Harp prepared us, what we all agreed on, the best breakfast to date on our trip. This is quite the statement as we are 60 days into our journey and we have had 60 OTHER breakfasts to compete with...but this one was the best. She prepared us: waffles, cinnamon buns, scrambled eggs, biscuits, a fruit spread (oranges, strawberries, grapefruit, apples, bananas.) Needless to say, we were filled up and ready to go for the day. Thanks to the Harp family once again for giving us a wonderful breakfast. The dinner last night was also exceptional. The company was so incredible, it was nice talking to everyone. Hopefully we will be meeting up with you all sometime in the near or distant future.
So Thressa drove us to the downtown area. She took a picture of us in front of the scrolling marquee for their local newspaper and we were on our way. We walked out of town and were immediately presented with a very long and big uphill climb. We walked for a while longer than we usually do in the morning today. We usually walk for a good 20 minutes or so to get ourselves mentally and physically ready for the day. Today, the hill kept going and going, so we walked for about an hour before we reached the top and started our running for the day at around 9:40.
It seems as if I am the only one that ever talks about this, because I think it's only been the worst on the days that I write our blog...but the wind today was ATROCIOUS!! Andy said he had looked at the forecast for today, and it didn't have a "partly cloudy" symbol or a "sunny" symbol even...it just said "Windy" and it had a picture of a fierce gust of wind. That is exactly what we got today. I found myself, when it wasn't my turn to push the jogger, shielding myself from the wind by drafting behind Durkin or Andy. It was unbelievable how windy it was today. I remember thinking to myself: "This is the strongest wind I have ever run through" and right as I thought that to myself, the wind got another burst of energy and I was almost blown backwards! We joked about how we should just stop right where we were (as we have reached the halfway point) and run back to Savannah, GA! Don't worry though, we'll rough it out and keep going through anything that comes our way. Most people that have run across the country, as we have found out, run from West to East. We figure that this is because of the wind patterns going from West to East as well. the way we're doing it...we're running directly into the wind out here.
Halfway through the day, we stopped and walked for about 20 minutes as we ate some fantastic sandwiches that we're prepared by thressa! Once again, thank you for everything that you helped us out with. It was awesome!
So by the end of the day, we were pretty much spent from running 25 miles into the wind. I was very glad to see town...even though it seemed to take much longer to reach the water tower than I initially thought it would take us when I first saw it. I figured we would be into town in around 20 minutes when I first saw that tower...it ended up being more like an hour and 20 minutes.
We got into town and were interviewed by a Fox station in Lubbock, TX. As soon as we were done with that, we went into City Hall and they immediately hooked us up with some showers next door in the fire department. When we were all dressed and clean, we headed over to the community center and library. They have offered for us to stay inside for the night. As you can see, they have Internet. They also have a carpeted floor for us to lay down and sleep on tonight. Our streak of not camping out in Texas continues! A little later, Jerry Webster, who has helped us out since we came into town, is going to pick us up and drive us to a local eatery...I believe the name is Jollytown!! I am super excited about the name and also to fill my tummy with goods.
Tonight, we will probably relax a bit. There is a TV in the room where we are staying and the ONLY movie around is "The Sandlot." The Sandlot is about a kid named Scotty Smalls who moves to a new neighborhood with his mom and stepdad, and wants to learn to play baseball. The neighborhood baseball guru Rodriquez takes Smalls under his wing, and soon he's part of the local baseball buddies. They fall into adventures involving baseball, treehouse sleep-ins, the desirous lifeguard at the local pool, the snooty rival ball team, and the travelling fair. Beyond the fence at the back of the sandlot menaces a legendary ball-eating dog called The Beast, and the kids inevitably must deal with him.
The tag line for this movie is as follows: "They're more than a team. They're the best buddies in the entire history of the world... " I don't know about that. I think Andy, Durkin, and myself could give them a run for their money.
We're pretty excited to watch another children's movie. I don't know if you remember, but the last movie we saw was "Bushwhacked" starring Daniel Stern!
Well, I guess we have QUITE the evening in store. We will let you all know how The Sandlot turns out. Hopefully that dog doesn't kill them or eat all their baseballs!
Have a good one :)
-Ken
P.S. Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, so I plan on getting them somehow. Maybe i'll fill their running shoes with shaving cream or something!! THAT'LL GET 'EM!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Day 59
Only four more nights in Texas! Tonight will be spent enjoying the company of Thressa and Jacky Harp in the town of Post. Before I get to that I must talk about last night and our trip to the spa. A spa you might ask? I thought these guys were roughing it and living on the road. Well, you couldn't be more wrong. It's been nothing but semi-automatic weapons, jumping on trampolines, and shooting pool on a regular basis for these three guys.
We were treated to dinner by Mike and Terrie at an amazing little restaurant in Snyder. It used to be an old train station that was recently remodeled and turned into a place to eat. The theme of the restaurant surprisingly had a lot to do with trains. Instead of french fries we ordered railroad ties. The meal was delicious and the highlight had to be the fried bacon. You can't get much healthier than eating bacon unless you fry it. This was a first for all of us and I must admit we will be looking for it in the near future.
After dinner we headed over to Terrie's friends beauty shop. Ken and I were looking to get a trim and clean up around the edges but Matt was very much against us doing this. He thought we should remain true to our roots and let the growth continue. This was what the Nation was all about in his eyes. He argued if he had to keep growing his mustache (which looks amazing by the way) then we too should have to keep growing out our hair. However, we chose to ignore him and go through with it anyways. Tara Trevey was the first person to cut my hair besides myself in 10 years. It was a big deal to the three of us but she laughed when I told her this was the longest my hair has been since I can remember. She did a great job and I must say I am looking good.
Ken went with the Zac Efron look. For those of you that don't know who this is he plays Troy Bolton in the hit Disney movie - High School Musical. Troy is the team captain of the East High Wildcats, but once he shares a duet with pretty Gabriella, he finds there's more to life than basketball. What will his teammates do when they find out he might be singing in the school musical? Will he and Gabriella get together, even though they run in different crowds? And what about his dad, who just happens to be the basketball coach?
Even Matt buckled under the pressure of a free hair washing and quick clean up. After our haircuts we returned to the McWilliams where we met Mike's mother and chatted with her for the rest of the night. Ken and I played hide and seek with the girls before we called it a night. It was a great two days with the McWilliams and we were sad to say goodbye.
Now on to today...
We woke up to another delicious smell of breakfast in the air. Terrie made us cinnamon buns and breakfast burritos that we made short work of. They also packed us each sandwiches, chips and home made cookies for lunch. Our first bag lunch of the trip. Around 8 we said goodbye to Mike and the girls and packed up the car. We had another hour drive ahead of us and as usual we weren't very excited for it. Whenever we stay with a family for an extended period of time it is always hard to get back in the mind set of returning to the road. Adding an hour drive doesn't really help either.
By 9am we said our goodbyes to Terrie and had the joggers reassembled. We made our way down Route 380 for another 25 miles and 25 miles closer to our goal. The weather was already in the high 60's and we knew it was only going to get hotter. I know Matt and Ken have already talked about the scenery in a few previous blogs but I thought I would touch on this as well. What we are now experiencing is simply amazing! It is nothing like I have ever seen before in my life, let alone run in. We are able to see for miles and miles in any direction. Today we ran up and down (mostly up) a number of large hills and as we reached the tops of these the view was unreal.
The day went by really fast and without anything very interesting or exciting to write about. That is if you don't consider seeing two rattle snakes exciting! Durkin and Ken were running ahead of me both pushing joggers and ran right passed these two monsters. I yelled for them to come back and get a closer look. One snake was curled up in the middle of the road and shaking his rattle at us as Matt took pictures. The other one was half in the grass and half on the road. We think he just ate because he barely moved as we studied him closer. This was the first time we saw any snake on the road even though a lot of people were telling us they would be out soon. It was a wake up call to all of us and we now know we have to be more observant as we run.
About 6 or 7 miles outside of Post a car drove past us and immediately turned around to talk with us. The woman inside asked if we needed a ride or any help. We explained to her what we were doing and gave her our card. She wished us luck and drove off. A few minutes later her son drove up along side of us and told us his mother offered us to stay with them for the night. I could not believe this. This lady talked to us for maybe 30 seconds at most but was willing to open up her home to us. We thanked him for the offer but already had a contact lined up in Post thanks to Mike and Terrie. It really amazed me and as we continued to run down the road I said to the guys that America is great.
As I said earlier, the weather was extremely hot today and I think it almost got into the 90s. Despite the heat and the large number of hills we had to battle we still made great time arriving in down town Post just before 2pm. Thressa was waiting for us as we entered town and very excited to meet us. I can tell you that the feeling was mutual. We sat down on a bench for a few minutes to get out of the sun as we all introduced ourselves. As we talked Matt noticed a scrolling marquee a few blocks away. It read, "Welcome to Post - www.nationrun.com - Matt - Ken - Andy". This was our second sign in as many days. We couldn't believe it!
Thressa brought us to her home where we met her husband and got cleaned up. Tonight is going to be a great nights sleep as Ken and Matt each have king size beds and I have my own guest house with a queen. After we all showered Ken took a quick nap and Durkin and I drove around town with Thressa for the grand tour.
Post just celebrated its Centennial last year and Thressa, being the President of the Chamber of Commerce, had a huge hand in its celebration. The town had a parade that lasted an hour and ran through Main Street. This Main Street was by far the largest road we have ever seen in our lives. It easily was 50 feet wide. We were told it was built this wide so any team of horses could make a full turn back in the 1900's. A very smart idea. We also learned that the town was founded by C.W. Post the breakfast cereal manufacturer. We ended our tour on top of the cap rock which had an amazing view of the valley below. It was also a great preview of what we have to run up tomorrow morning.
Tonight we are having dinner with the Harp family and two family friends. It smells great and we are all starving so it might be a quick meal. Tomorrow we have another 25 miles to cover and the weather looks similar to today's. Hot and windy with a large climb in the morning. I think with today's shorter day and a great rest we should all be ready to go. We are currently working on finding a contact for tomorrow night and keeping our good luck rolling. If you know anyone in the next few towns feel free to let us know. Thanks for all the support.
See you on the road...
-Andy
We were treated to dinner by Mike and Terrie at an amazing little restaurant in Snyder. It used to be an old train station that was recently remodeled and turned into a place to eat. The theme of the restaurant surprisingly had a lot to do with trains. Instead of french fries we ordered railroad ties. The meal was delicious and the highlight had to be the fried bacon. You can't get much healthier than eating bacon unless you fry it. This was a first for all of us and I must admit we will be looking for it in the near future.
After dinner we headed over to Terrie's friends beauty shop. Ken and I were looking to get a trim and clean up around the edges but Matt was very much against us doing this. He thought we should remain true to our roots and let the growth continue. This was what the Nation was all about in his eyes. He argued if he had to keep growing his mustache (which looks amazing by the way) then we too should have to keep growing out our hair. However, we chose to ignore him and go through with it anyways. Tara Trevey was the first person to cut my hair besides myself in 10 years. It was a big deal to the three of us but she laughed when I told her this was the longest my hair has been since I can remember. She did a great job and I must say I am looking good.
Ken went with the Zac Efron look. For those of you that don't know who this is he plays Troy Bolton in the hit Disney movie - High School Musical. Troy is the team captain of the East High Wildcats, but once he shares a duet with pretty Gabriella, he finds there's more to life than basketball. What will his teammates do when they find out he might be singing in the school musical? Will he and Gabriella get together, even though they run in different crowds? And what about his dad, who just happens to be the basketball coach?
Even Matt buckled under the pressure of a free hair washing and quick clean up. After our haircuts we returned to the McWilliams where we met Mike's mother and chatted with her for the rest of the night. Ken and I played hide and seek with the girls before we called it a night. It was a great two days with the McWilliams and we were sad to say goodbye.
Now on to today...
We woke up to another delicious smell of breakfast in the air. Terrie made us cinnamon buns and breakfast burritos that we made short work of. They also packed us each sandwiches, chips and home made cookies for lunch. Our first bag lunch of the trip. Around 8 we said goodbye to Mike and the girls and packed up the car. We had another hour drive ahead of us and as usual we weren't very excited for it. Whenever we stay with a family for an extended period of time it is always hard to get back in the mind set of returning to the road. Adding an hour drive doesn't really help either.
By 9am we said our goodbyes to Terrie and had the joggers reassembled. We made our way down Route 380 for another 25 miles and 25 miles closer to our goal. The weather was already in the high 60's and we knew it was only going to get hotter. I know Matt and Ken have already talked about the scenery in a few previous blogs but I thought I would touch on this as well. What we are now experiencing is simply amazing! It is nothing like I have ever seen before in my life, let alone run in. We are able to see for miles and miles in any direction. Today we ran up and down (mostly up) a number of large hills and as we reached the tops of these the view was unreal.
The day went by really fast and without anything very interesting or exciting to write about. That is if you don't consider seeing two rattle snakes exciting! Durkin and Ken were running ahead of me both pushing joggers and ran right passed these two monsters. I yelled for them to come back and get a closer look. One snake was curled up in the middle of the road and shaking his rattle at us as Matt took pictures. The other one was half in the grass and half on the road. We think he just ate because he barely moved as we studied him closer. This was the first time we saw any snake on the road even though a lot of people were telling us they would be out soon. It was a wake up call to all of us and we now know we have to be more observant as we run.
About 6 or 7 miles outside of Post a car drove past us and immediately turned around to talk with us. The woman inside asked if we needed a ride or any help. We explained to her what we were doing and gave her our card. She wished us luck and drove off. A few minutes later her son drove up along side of us and told us his mother offered us to stay with them for the night. I could not believe this. This lady talked to us for maybe 30 seconds at most but was willing to open up her home to us. We thanked him for the offer but already had a contact lined up in Post thanks to Mike and Terrie. It really amazed me and as we continued to run down the road I said to the guys that America is great.
As I said earlier, the weather was extremely hot today and I think it almost got into the 90s. Despite the heat and the large number of hills we had to battle we still made great time arriving in down town Post just before 2pm. Thressa was waiting for us as we entered town and very excited to meet us. I can tell you that the feeling was mutual. We sat down on a bench for a few minutes to get out of the sun as we all introduced ourselves. As we talked Matt noticed a scrolling marquee a few blocks away. It read, "Welcome to Post - www.nationrun.com - Matt - Ken - Andy". This was our second sign in as many days. We couldn't believe it!
Thressa brought us to her home where we met her husband and got cleaned up. Tonight is going to be a great nights sleep as Ken and Matt each have king size beds and I have my own guest house with a queen. After we all showered Ken took a quick nap and Durkin and I drove around town with Thressa for the grand tour.
Post just celebrated its Centennial last year and Thressa, being the President of the Chamber of Commerce, had a huge hand in its celebration. The town had a parade that lasted an hour and ran through Main Street. This Main Street was by far the largest road we have ever seen in our lives. It easily was 50 feet wide. We were told it was built this wide so any team of horses could make a full turn back in the 1900's. A very smart idea. We also learned that the town was founded by C.W. Post the breakfast cereal manufacturer. We ended our tour on top of the cap rock which had an amazing view of the valley below. It was also a great preview of what we have to run up tomorrow morning.
Tonight we are having dinner with the Harp family and two family friends. It smells great and we are all starving so it might be a quick meal. Tomorrow we have another 25 miles to cover and the weather looks similar to today's. Hot and windy with a large climb in the morning. I think with today's shorter day and a great rest we should all be ready to go. We are currently working on finding a contact for tomorrow night and keeping our good luck rolling. If you know anyone in the next few towns feel free to let us know. Thanks for all the support.
See you on the road...
-Andy
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Day 58
Day 58! The halfway point! 58 down, 58 to go. We’re about 40 miles or so from being halfway done mileage wise, but today is the median day of the trip. I try not to think about this stuff too much, but the halfway point is a pretty big deal. I feel better right now than I did on day 1 so hopefully that’s a sign that everything will work out as we’ve planned.
It was a very delicious morning at The McWilliams’ residence. We woke up to the sweet sweet smell of breakfast burritos. All of us put down a couple burritos, and OJ. Andy and I also each had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC) while Ken for some reason or another went with Fruit Loops. Everyone knows CTC is the superior breakfast cereal, apparently Ken missed the memo.
After breakfast we loaded up Mike’s Suburban and made our way back to where we finished yesterday. We all had a pretty good idea where we finished, as well as the GPS to let us know exactly where we did. But better than our memory or technology could serve us was a Beanie Baby named Platti. Platti is an adorable purple platypus we found abandoned on the side of the road yesterday. We brought her along for the ride as Natie has been complaining about being lonely. When we finished up yesterday we figured we’d use Platti as a marker so we knew where to start today. Platti was still sitting strong right were we left her. Since she served us so well we decided we’d take her along with us to see some of the rest of the country.
We got moving down 380, west obviously, while doing our regular morning routine. We joked for a while about what’s to come the next couple days (we’re all pretty sure there’s a parade waiting for us in Post). Before we knew it Mike met up with us about 4 miles outside of Clairemont. Mike couldn’t find a partner to come out on the run with him today, so he had to drive us out, then go down the road, park, run to meet up with us, then run back to his car! That’s dedication. We made it into Clairemont by 11. We all joked about how sweet it would have been had we actually stopped there as we planned, instead we decided we’d get in another 14.5 so tomorrow’s monstrous 39 miler would be reduced to a pathetic 24.7. Jeff (our friend from Aspermont) has a hunting lodge in Clairemont, and told some of the hunters we were coming. We met up with Dan and Kevin and they showed us around the compound. Today was the opening day on turkeys, so they were out with their shotguns trying to take home a Thanksgiving dinner in March. I purposely said that they were out with their shotguns because as Dan and Kevin told us, hunting turkey with a rifle really isn’t any fun. Anyone can take down a turkey from 70 yards away, it’s when they’re real close to you and you get to hear the “foooof!” of the feathers exploding that’s the real fun according to Kevin. We talked for a while with the two about their hunting adventures around Texas. As we were talking, Jeff pulled up and joined in on the conversation. Jeff became the first re-occurring character of the trip for us. Usually we leave a town and never see the people who help us out again, but today we had the pleasure of meeting back up with him. After hanging around for a while, and discussing the beauty that is Eastern New Mexico, we got back on the road.
We kept moving until we got back to Mike’s truck where cookies, sandwiches, chips and Dr. Pepper awaited us. We stopped for a quick lunch, listened to some bumpin’ music, and got right back on the road. About 4 miles after our lunch stop there were two rows of gravel hills on the side of the road. The pictures and videos will do them better justice, just bare with me for now. Andy and I decided it’d be a good idea to race over the rolling mounds. We were neck and neck for a little while, until one moment where I found my rhythm and Andy lost his. I easily coasted to victory and capped it off with a celebratory roll. Andy and I were both pretty taxed, and needed a little extra rest before getting back at the day. As I said the other day about my race with Ken it probably wasn’t the best idea, but that’s part of what this trip is about. If we don’t take risks and don’t make mistakes we won’t get the full experience that is The Nation.
About 5 more miles down the road Mike met back up with us. For those of you keeping score at home this puts Mike in 6th place in The Official & Current All-Time NationRun Cameo Appearance List. This pushes The Columbus and Texarkana running clubs, as well as Scott down yet another rung on our prestigious list. Mike made it on to the list similar to Sunshine, the hard way. Every mile Mike ran he ran twice since he ran from his truck eastward to meet up with us before backtracking west for a grand total of 18, however according to OUR rules (not Columbus’) only the miles ran with us count, sorry Mike. We got a couple miles down the road until we found ourselves next to another row of gravel hills. We explained to Mike our race from before, and decided a re-match was in order. I knew Andy had some tricks up his sleeves but I was ready for anything. The race started with Andy jumping the gun and getting a couple second head start. I caught him going up the third mound and that’s when things got rowdy. We pushed and shoved and eventually wrestled before I broke away and really got moving over the obstacles. Had I stuck around and fought dirty I could have sacrificed both my character and the win, but I knew better. Again I was victorious going 2-0 on the day. The remainder of the day went by pretty quickly and we finished all finished strong. We decided to leave Platti where we finished, even though it was at an opening at a fence, a very easy to remember location. Tonight we’ll discuss Platti’s future with the team. Sure she’s done us good, but does she really have the right attitude to be a part of our Nation Run?
We loaded up and got comfortable for the long ride back to Snyder. We got our picture taken at Mike’s pharmacy below the “Welcome Nation Run Guys” sign. We were all pretty pumped, as this was our first welcome sign of its kind.
Right now we’re gearing up for another delicious meal with The McWilliams family. After that we’ll figure out our plan of attack for our last few days in Texas.
Keep dancin’
-Durkin
It was a very delicious morning at The McWilliams’ residence. We woke up to the sweet sweet smell of breakfast burritos. All of us put down a couple burritos, and OJ. Andy and I also each had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC) while Ken for some reason or another went with Fruit Loops. Everyone knows CTC is the superior breakfast cereal, apparently Ken missed the memo.
After breakfast we loaded up Mike’s Suburban and made our way back to where we finished yesterday. We all had a pretty good idea where we finished, as well as the GPS to let us know exactly where we did. But better than our memory or technology could serve us was a Beanie Baby named Platti. Platti is an adorable purple platypus we found abandoned on the side of the road yesterday. We brought her along for the ride as Natie has been complaining about being lonely. When we finished up yesterday we figured we’d use Platti as a marker so we knew where to start today. Platti was still sitting strong right were we left her. Since she served us so well we decided we’d take her along with us to see some of the rest of the country.
We got moving down 380, west obviously, while doing our regular morning routine. We joked for a while about what’s to come the next couple days (we’re all pretty sure there’s a parade waiting for us in Post). Before we knew it Mike met up with us about 4 miles outside of Clairemont. Mike couldn’t find a partner to come out on the run with him today, so he had to drive us out, then go down the road, park, run to meet up with us, then run back to his car! That’s dedication. We made it into Clairemont by 11. We all joked about how sweet it would have been had we actually stopped there as we planned, instead we decided we’d get in another 14.5 so tomorrow’s monstrous 39 miler would be reduced to a pathetic 24.7. Jeff (our friend from Aspermont) has a hunting lodge in Clairemont, and told some of the hunters we were coming. We met up with Dan and Kevin and they showed us around the compound. Today was the opening day on turkeys, so they were out with their shotguns trying to take home a Thanksgiving dinner in March. I purposely said that they were out with their shotguns because as Dan and Kevin told us, hunting turkey with a rifle really isn’t any fun. Anyone can take down a turkey from 70 yards away, it’s when they’re real close to you and you get to hear the “foooof!” of the feathers exploding that’s the real fun according to Kevin. We talked for a while with the two about their hunting adventures around Texas. As we were talking, Jeff pulled up and joined in on the conversation. Jeff became the first re-occurring character of the trip for us. Usually we leave a town and never see the people who help us out again, but today we had the pleasure of meeting back up with him. After hanging around for a while, and discussing the beauty that is Eastern New Mexico, we got back on the road.
We kept moving until we got back to Mike’s truck where cookies, sandwiches, chips and Dr. Pepper awaited us. We stopped for a quick lunch, listened to some bumpin’ music, and got right back on the road. About 4 miles after our lunch stop there were two rows of gravel hills on the side of the road. The pictures and videos will do them better justice, just bare with me for now. Andy and I decided it’d be a good idea to race over the rolling mounds. We were neck and neck for a little while, until one moment where I found my rhythm and Andy lost his. I easily coasted to victory and capped it off with a celebratory roll. Andy and I were both pretty taxed, and needed a little extra rest before getting back at the day. As I said the other day about my race with Ken it probably wasn’t the best idea, but that’s part of what this trip is about. If we don’t take risks and don’t make mistakes we won’t get the full experience that is The Nation.
About 5 more miles down the road Mike met back up with us. For those of you keeping score at home this puts Mike in 6th place in The Official & Current All-Time NationRun Cameo Appearance List. This pushes The Columbus and Texarkana running clubs, as well as Scott down yet another rung on our prestigious list. Mike made it on to the list similar to Sunshine, the hard way. Every mile Mike ran he ran twice since he ran from his truck eastward to meet up with us before backtracking west for a grand total of 18, however according to OUR rules (not Columbus’) only the miles ran with us count, sorry Mike. We got a couple miles down the road until we found ourselves next to another row of gravel hills. We explained to Mike our race from before, and decided a re-match was in order. I knew Andy had some tricks up his sleeves but I was ready for anything. The race started with Andy jumping the gun and getting a couple second head start. I caught him going up the third mound and that’s when things got rowdy. We pushed and shoved and eventually wrestled before I broke away and really got moving over the obstacles. Had I stuck around and fought dirty I could have sacrificed both my character and the win, but I knew better. Again I was victorious going 2-0 on the day. The remainder of the day went by pretty quickly and we finished all finished strong. We decided to leave Platti where we finished, even though it was at an opening at a fence, a very easy to remember location. Tonight we’ll discuss Platti’s future with the team. Sure she’s done us good, but does she really have the right attitude to be a part of our Nation Run?
We loaded up and got comfortable for the long ride back to Snyder. We got our picture taken at Mike’s pharmacy below the “Welcome Nation Run Guys” sign. We were all pretty pumped, as this was our first welcome sign of its kind.
Right now we’re gearing up for another delicious meal with The McWilliams family. After that we’ll figure out our plan of attack for our last few days in Texas.
Keep dancin’
-Durkin
Friday, March 28, 2008
Day 57
I just want to start off today's update with a "shout out." This is to Claire's best friend Abby Schuck. She checks the update everyday apparently and is really into the blog and our trip and everything that goes along with it. I love you Abby. I will be seeing you this summer in Albany...trust me on this one. Keep checking up on us!!! So onto the update for today!!
We woke up at 7:00 bright and early and we had to get ready by 7:30 because Alex Long was picking us up for breakfast. I have never woken up and moved so fast in my life! I had my pull away couch put away, stuff packed up and in the joggers, and I was dressed and ready to go at 7:20, when Alex arrived! He took us to a breakfast diner for a great meal. We all ordered the french toast on homemade bread...and it was delicious. Thanks again for breakfast Alex!
When we left the diner and got dropped off at the Shell gas station where we left off yesterday...one thing was very different than yesterday...and that was the weather. It was in the low 40 degrees early this morning. I had most of my warm weather gear on along with my raincoat (as it was raining.) It was a far cry from yesterday's weather...which was probably into the 90's. Yet, today we were shivering when we started the run.
We only had about 24 miles to go today and we started running around 9 o clock. All of us felt pretty good today as we moved at a nice 5-6 miles per hour all day. We didn't even really stop to rest all day either. The one time we did rest, we just stopped running for a while and walked for 20 minutes or so. The cloud coverage was pretty heavy all day, and the temperature didn't really get much warmer than what it was in the morning. We finished our day at around 1:30 in Jayton, TX. From then until the time Terrie picked us up (our host for the night) we walked past Jayton..about 2 miles to take off mileage for tomorrow.
Terrie picked us up in the middle of nowhere, but she was pumped to meet us. Terrie and her husband Mike have been following our trip the entire way so far, and have been very excited to help us out for quite some time now. She brought us Subway sandwiches and Gatorade. We were all really excited to meet her and to dig into those subs as well! We had about a 40 minute drive back to their house. We met Mike at his pharmacy and then got back to the house.
We showered up and we all took a rest for a couple hours until dinner time. They made us a fantastic Lasagna dinner with garlic bread. We filled up on seconds and thirds!
Since the end of dinner, I have been working diligently on trying to fix my computer. My hard drive I think is failing and it's basically one of our main tools of keeping you all informed and updated on us while were out on the road. I have been reading Internet forums for about 2 hours now trying to figure this out. I bought this laptop for about 400 bucks a couple years ago...so I might have had this coming to me. Hopefully this works out, because I have many priceless pictures, videos, music files, papers, documents, etc on this computer that would be forever lost if this thing ends up being useless. I'm kind of hoping that I can stay optimistic through all of this. My girlfriend and I always kid about PC's versus Macs on many issues...I really have no bias for either...I just like to kid around. For instance, if she has to plug in her computer because the battery is getting low, I always tell her that "oh, it's because it's a mac!" or whenever she can't find something on her computer I tell her "well if macs weren't designed so hard-to-use, maybe you'd find it!" Well...I'm guessing she'll have a field day when I tell her about this one tonight. I guess my next computer will be a mac if she has anything to do with it. But for now, I want my stuff back!
Tomorrow we'll be heading past Clairemont, TX...as it is a ghost town. We have 50 miles to cover over the next 2 days to Post. I am really looking forward to Post, TX because apparently it is on the top of a ridge/mountain type land form, so I think it has a pretty cool view. Tomorrow night, we will be staying again with Mike and his family. I think Andy and I will be getting our hair trimmed up a little bit. We are not getting it cut...I still want my hair to be long and wavy, I'm just going to get my edges trimmed a bit so I look a tad more presentable in public...Andy as well.
Check back tomorrow to see if this computer debacle has fixed itself. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and it'll miraculously turn on! One can only hope...but if not...I guess I'll just have to "rough it" without it out here.
-Ken
We woke up at 7:00 bright and early and we had to get ready by 7:30 because Alex Long was picking us up for breakfast. I have never woken up and moved so fast in my life! I had my pull away couch put away, stuff packed up and in the joggers, and I was dressed and ready to go at 7:20, when Alex arrived! He took us to a breakfast diner for a great meal. We all ordered the french toast on homemade bread...and it was delicious. Thanks again for breakfast Alex!
When we left the diner and got dropped off at the Shell gas station where we left off yesterday...one thing was very different than yesterday...and that was the weather. It was in the low 40 degrees early this morning. I had most of my warm weather gear on along with my raincoat (as it was raining.) It was a far cry from yesterday's weather...which was probably into the 90's. Yet, today we were shivering when we started the run.
We only had about 24 miles to go today and we started running around 9 o clock. All of us felt pretty good today as we moved at a nice 5-6 miles per hour all day. We didn't even really stop to rest all day either. The one time we did rest, we just stopped running for a while and walked for 20 minutes or so. The cloud coverage was pretty heavy all day, and the temperature didn't really get much warmer than what it was in the morning. We finished our day at around 1:30 in Jayton, TX. From then until the time Terrie picked us up (our host for the night) we walked past Jayton..about 2 miles to take off mileage for tomorrow.
Terrie picked us up in the middle of nowhere, but she was pumped to meet us. Terrie and her husband Mike have been following our trip the entire way so far, and have been very excited to help us out for quite some time now. She brought us Subway sandwiches and Gatorade. We were all really excited to meet her and to dig into those subs as well! We had about a 40 minute drive back to their house. We met Mike at his pharmacy and then got back to the house.
We showered up and we all took a rest for a couple hours until dinner time. They made us a fantastic Lasagna dinner with garlic bread. We filled up on seconds and thirds!
Since the end of dinner, I have been working diligently on trying to fix my computer. My hard drive I think is failing and it's basically one of our main tools of keeping you all informed and updated on us while were out on the road. I have been reading Internet forums for about 2 hours now trying to figure this out. I bought this laptop for about 400 bucks a couple years ago...so I might have had this coming to me. Hopefully this works out, because I have many priceless pictures, videos, music files, papers, documents, etc on this computer that would be forever lost if this thing ends up being useless. I'm kind of hoping that I can stay optimistic through all of this. My girlfriend and I always kid about PC's versus Macs on many issues...I really have no bias for either...I just like to kid around. For instance, if she has to plug in her computer because the battery is getting low, I always tell her that "oh, it's because it's a mac!" or whenever she can't find something on her computer I tell her "well if macs weren't designed so hard-to-use, maybe you'd find it!" Well...I'm guessing she'll have a field day when I tell her about this one tonight. I guess my next computer will be a mac if she has anything to do with it. But for now, I want my stuff back!
Tomorrow we'll be heading past Clairemont, TX...as it is a ghost town. We have 50 miles to cover over the next 2 days to Post. I am really looking forward to Post, TX because apparently it is on the top of a ridge/mountain type land form, so I think it has a pretty cool view. Tomorrow night, we will be staying again with Mike and his family. I think Andy and I will be getting our hair trimmed up a little bit. We are not getting it cut...I still want my hair to be long and wavy, I'm just going to get my edges trimmed a bit so I look a tad more presentable in public...Andy as well.
Check back tomorrow to see if this computer debacle has fixed itself. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and it'll miraculously turn on! One can only hope...but if not...I guess I'll just have to "rough it" without it out here.
-Ken
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Day 56
Today was another good day for the team, but a hot one. Even though they got an early start, it was already 71 degrees! Andy and Durkin began the day with the pants on, but they quickly moved to join Ken with shorts. It was also considerably windy, as it has been for the past couple days. The guys traveled 10 miles to Rule, TX where they stopped for breakfast. The town was very small, but luckily there was a diner for them to get some grub. Durkin said the breakfast was excellent, but the place did not have orange juice. He really was looking forward to some OJ, and was sad when he could not have some. After breakfast, they got back on the road.
Ten miles later, the trio wandered into Old Glory, TX. Durkin said it was nice to have towns every 10 miles, since there was really nothing between those towns. They attempted to get some Gatorade and water at a gas station, but after a little confusion found out it was not open for 2 more weeks. They drank some of the very warm Gatorade they had on them, took a break on some picnic tables in the shade for about a half hour, then moved on.
Moving toward Aspermont, TX (the ending point for the day), the guys saw a sign that said 11 miles to Aspermont. Only a minute or two later there was a sign that said 9 miles to Aspermont. Durkin said it was quite the time travel, and they must have set a world record! The day continued to get hotter, and the wind seemed to be relentless. A little while later, they came across a Moe's Liquor and Beer store. Luckily for the team, the store had ice cold water, that Durkin said tasted incredible! After slamming some water to quench their thirst, they wished they had savored it a bit more, but it was still well worth it. They also found a pair of sunglasses that Durkin said were "pimp!" and Andy wore them for the rest of the run.
Speaking of Andy, back on Day 20 they had heard of a pond where one could get a shark tooth. Ever since then, he has wanted a shark or animal tooth. Today he came very close to getting one from a coyote, but could not finish the deed. We wish you all luck in obtaining a tooth in the future! The day was hot and windy, and Durkin said it was tough in the hottest day they had yet on the road, but the three guys made it through another 30 plus mileage day.
When they rolled into Aspermont, they could hear some cheering and a PA system being used in a small stadium not too far away. Andy said he figured it was a track meet. They called Jeff, who was their contact for the night. Greg and Angie had helped them out finding them a place for tonight, and it would be with Jeff. When Jeff picked them up, he asked if it would be okay with them if he went over to the high school track meet to meet up with his wife and get the key to the house they would be staying in tonight. The guys agreed, and loaded up Jeff's vehicle. When they got to the meet, they were instant celebrities. They met so many people, including Lisa Meador who generously donated to the travel fund. Thanks Lisa! They also met Superintendent Cliff Gilmore, who graciously offered to buy the team lunch at the meet. Thank you! The guys took some pictures for the paper, and met a few more people. A few minutes later, the PA system announcer told everyone about the guys and their journey. They were welcomed on to the track surface with applause! What a great welcoming to Aspermont! One more thing about the high school that is very interesting is that it used to be a fallout shelter. It is an underground high school that is also used for a tornado shelter. Andy said they got a chance to go in and check it out, and it was pretty neat. About a 100m in length, and only one hallway. He had never seen such a thing, and thought it was definitely blog worthy.
After the meet, the guys went with Jeff to the house they would be staying in for the night. It was a house owned by the church that was being renovated. The church does not have a full time minister at this time, but once they do he will live in this house. For now, the Nation Run guys live in the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. It also has a laundry room, which they are taking full advantage of. Jeff then took them on a tour of Aspermont and to dinner. Andy and Durkin both said it was very cool because they were traveling around a lot of the backcountry they would not have seen on the road they are traveling. At dinner, Durkin said he had his first chicken fried steak. He really enjoyed it, and was glad he had a chance to experience it. He also said that it was easily twice the size of Andy and Ken's meal. I said to him that it seems as if there is a Food War brewing on this trip as to who can eat the most. Durkin laughed and then told me that I was right, and that he had really been going big the past couple of weeks.
After dinner Jeff took them on a little tour of Aspermont. One thing that Andy and Durkin both told me was that it was amazing how much land people own out in that area. One person could own miles of land in either direction! At one point, the group saw a herd of about 40 wild boar in the fields! Jeff admitted that this was one of the largest he had ever seen. They also went to see the only mountain in sight. Andy said that the traveling has been extremely flat, and that this mountain seemed to come out of nowhere. During the day's travel, the guys could see this mountain in the distance and guessed it was about 50 miles away. After running 30 miles to Aspermont, Jeff said the mountain was about 10-20 miles away. Ken and Durkin's guess was right on the money! They went to the mountain, and then headed back to the house.
Tomorrow should be another great day. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and its a shorter 24 mile day. Along with that, they have another great contact to put them up for the night. Check back to see how it all goes! And as always...
Keep movin'!
- Rick
Ten miles later, the trio wandered into Old Glory, TX. Durkin said it was nice to have towns every 10 miles, since there was really nothing between those towns. They attempted to get some Gatorade and water at a gas station, but after a little confusion found out it was not open for 2 more weeks. They drank some of the very warm Gatorade they had on them, took a break on some picnic tables in the shade for about a half hour, then moved on.
Moving toward Aspermont, TX (the ending point for the day), the guys saw a sign that said 11 miles to Aspermont. Only a minute or two later there was a sign that said 9 miles to Aspermont. Durkin said it was quite the time travel, and they must have set a world record! The day continued to get hotter, and the wind seemed to be relentless. A little while later, they came across a Moe's Liquor and Beer store. Luckily for the team, the store had ice cold water, that Durkin said tasted incredible! After slamming some water to quench their thirst, they wished they had savored it a bit more, but it was still well worth it. They also found a pair of sunglasses that Durkin said were "pimp!" and Andy wore them for the rest of the run.
Speaking of Andy, back on Day 20 they had heard of a pond where one could get a shark tooth. Ever since then, he has wanted a shark or animal tooth. Today he came very close to getting one from a coyote, but could not finish the deed. We wish you all luck in obtaining a tooth in the future! The day was hot and windy, and Durkin said it was tough in the hottest day they had yet on the road, but the three guys made it through another 30 plus mileage day.
When they rolled into Aspermont, they could hear some cheering and a PA system being used in a small stadium not too far away. Andy said he figured it was a track meet. They called Jeff, who was their contact for the night. Greg and Angie had helped them out finding them a place for tonight, and it would be with Jeff. When Jeff picked them up, he asked if it would be okay with them if he went over to the high school track meet to meet up with his wife and get the key to the house they would be staying in tonight. The guys agreed, and loaded up Jeff's vehicle. When they got to the meet, they were instant celebrities. They met so many people, including Lisa Meador who generously donated to the travel fund. Thanks Lisa! They also met Superintendent Cliff Gilmore, who graciously offered to buy the team lunch at the meet. Thank you! The guys took some pictures for the paper, and met a few more people. A few minutes later, the PA system announcer told everyone about the guys and their journey. They were welcomed on to the track surface with applause! What a great welcoming to Aspermont! One more thing about the high school that is very interesting is that it used to be a fallout shelter. It is an underground high school that is also used for a tornado shelter. Andy said they got a chance to go in and check it out, and it was pretty neat. About a 100m in length, and only one hallway. He had never seen such a thing, and thought it was definitely blog worthy.
After the meet, the guys went with Jeff to the house they would be staying in for the night. It was a house owned by the church that was being renovated. The church does not have a full time minister at this time, but once they do he will live in this house. For now, the Nation Run guys live in the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. It also has a laundry room, which they are taking full advantage of. Jeff then took them on a tour of Aspermont and to dinner. Andy and Durkin both said it was very cool because they were traveling around a lot of the backcountry they would not have seen on the road they are traveling. At dinner, Durkin said he had his first chicken fried steak. He really enjoyed it, and was glad he had a chance to experience it. He also said that it was easily twice the size of Andy and Ken's meal. I said to him that it seems as if there is a Food War brewing on this trip as to who can eat the most. Durkin laughed and then told me that I was right, and that he had really been going big the past couple of weeks.
After dinner Jeff took them on a little tour of Aspermont. One thing that Andy and Durkin both told me was that it was amazing how much land people own out in that area. One person could own miles of land in either direction! At one point, the group saw a herd of about 40 wild boar in the fields! Jeff admitted that this was one of the largest he had ever seen. They also went to see the only mountain in sight. Andy said that the traveling has been extremely flat, and that this mountain seemed to come out of nowhere. During the day's travel, the guys could see this mountain in the distance and guessed it was about 50 miles away. After running 30 miles to Aspermont, Jeff said the mountain was about 10-20 miles away. Ken and Durkin's guess was right on the money! They went to the mountain, and then headed back to the house.
Tomorrow should be another great day. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and its a shorter 24 mile day. Along with that, they have another great contact to put them up for the night. Check back to see how it all goes! And as always...
Keep movin'!
- Rick
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Day 55
Day 55 and our sixth off day of the run. It got started later than usual for us but I don't think anyone really cared. We all woke up around 9:30 and drove around town looking for a local diner and breakfast. Just on the outside of town we found Double A's, a small lunch and breakfast place that looked appetizing. Kathie was the only one to order an actual breakfast with eggs and toast while the rest of us all went with burgers and a basket. Durkin commented that this was probably his 200th burger of the trip but still wasn't getting sick of them. Each place a bit different and unique.
While we were eating, the owner came over to talk with us and show us some pictures of his recent trip to New Mexico. He was interested in hearing about our journey and his grandson Nathan also came out to chat. He was only 5 years old and talked a hundred miles an hour. I gave him a high five, kind of, before we took off looking for something to do with our day. The owner suggested driving an hour south to Abilene because they had a lot more going on.
Before we left we headed over to the post office to pick up a package that our friend Troy from Columbus, GA had sent us. Not only was the package addressed to Ken but it was addressed 'Ken Stannard (The Dancing Machine)'. Durkin and I were disappointed that the package was sent to Ken as we are keeping an unofficial package count. We are trying to see who can get the most packages sent to them while living on the road. I think its a close race between Ken and I at this point but recently Durkin has thrown his hat in the ring.
Troy sent us a few power bars and gels, more shoe insoles for Ken's flat feet and three Marathon and Beyond books. More on them in a minute. He also included a written document that the Columbus Running Club typed up discussing the cameo running appearances of various people along the trip. Apparently the Club does not think it is fair that relatives or girlfriends of ours that have or will come out to visit us should count for the official total. I guess flying 2,000 miles to run with us for a day just doesn't equal out to them. That's typical Columbus for you. Anyway, here is the official written statement Troy mailed with his package. You decide what should count.
We, your running buddies from Columbus, in Order to form a more perfect NATION, establish Justice, insure domestic equality, provide for more reliable mileage, promote the general fairness of you record keeping, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this following amendment of "THE NATION". We do hereby propose that all family members (both immediate and distant to 3rd generation), in-laws, friends having known for great than 5 years, girlfriends (both current and prior), and pets (both alive and deceased) NOT be allowed to participate in the total mileage of "THE NATION". We feel that prior or present relationships, either physical or psychological, allows for unfair bias, and therefore should not be allowed. Allowing such injustice takes away from the true spontaneity of "THE NATION".
TWO WORDS: THE RAMBLER!!
Sincerely,
Your running buddies from Columbus!
We have talked about this matter over the past few days and have come to one conclusion. If you want to be on the top of the leader boards come May 26th, you better get your running legs ready and man up. With close to two months and 1,600 miles left before we reach the Pacific it is still any ones ball game. We do not discriminate towards anyone regardless of their current or past relationship with us. If they are running next to us heading west, we will be counting their miles for sole possession and bragging rights of quote, BEING THE GREATEST! As our website states, we welcome anyone and everyone. No hard feelings. We hope to see you guys sometime in the near future...
Back to today. Matt, Ken and myself packed into the back of Jim and Kathie's rental car and headed south on 277 toward Abilene for a round of putt putt golf and whatever else they might have to offer. As we drove the three of us read the books that Troy had sent with his care package. Ken found a great article on John Wallace. John keeps the website www.seejohnrun.com up-to-date and has compiled a list of everyone that has run across the country since 1900. He also completed his own run across the country a few years back and while reading the article we discovered that the same two guys from Bucknell that influenced our own run was the reason he started his journey, several years ago. Thanks again Scott and Dave. His run ended in Tybee Island, the starting point of our own trip and the article was amazing to read. We were able to see pictures of places we have already been and what we are in store for over the next few weeks. He even had a section dedicated to a small town in New Mexico simply named Pie Town. This has been the topic of conversation for Durkin since before we even started our quest. He saw this town was one of our stopping points and has been fascinated ever since. He refuses to look it up on the Internet or view it from a map. He wants to be complete surprised one way or another. From what Ken and I read, it is going to be a day none of us ever forgets!
While reading one of the books we also discovered the San Diego Rock-and-Roll Marathon that will be taking place on June 1st. We have already agreed that we will be running on that day and welcome everyone to come out and run with us. It is going to be one last journey before returning to New York and the real world. However, anyone that does decide to run with us on that day will not have their miles count towards the nation total. Just want to make that clear from the start.
We arrived in Abliene only to find that the putt putt golf course did not open until 3, something we did not want to wait around for. We drove to the heart of down town and stumbled upon the visitors center. They had an hour virtual tour of the town's history that we reluctantly passed up. Instead, we drove another few minutes to 2070 Zoo Lane. One can only guess what came next. For only $4 we decided this was something we could not pass up.
The zoo itself was somewhat small but very beautiful. We saw pink flamingos, exotic birds, zebra, giraffe, lions, and the highlight of the place - the monkeys. There was a cage of 5 or so monkeys with all sorts of ropes and ladders for them to play on. We spent probably half an hour watching them climb and jump all over the place. You could tell they were showing off as some did back flips, climbed up walls and chased one another. We scored them on a scale of 1-10 who did the best tricks or moved the fastest.
After the zoo we grabbed something to eat again, surprise surprise. Whataburger was on the way so we decided to get our second burger of the day. We told Jim that a few days before we all got the triple beef triple cheese burger and forced him to do the same. He was hesitant to order it, not because he couldn't finish it but because he simply did not want to eat it. However, once in front of him he made short work of it. It was truly an impressive site as both Durkin and Kathie were filming such a milestone.
We are currently resting comfortably back in the hotel room trying to do as little as possible before we are back on the road tomorrow morning. Ken is on the phone and the rest of us are watching Maury - another classic episode. We are going to get something to eat in an hour or so (probably more burgers) before Jim and Kathie say goodbye. They have about a four hour drive ahead of them back to Dallas and are going to try and get some of it out of the way tonight. It was great seeing Jim and meeting his girlfriend and know that they are cheering us on, but I can't believe they are already leaving us. Having him come out really lifted my spirits yesterday while on the road as it was the worst I have felt the entire trip. I know he had a good time as well even if he couldn't stay that long. He got to see Texas and spend his spring break going wild in Haskell, Texas - population 3,000. Maybe next year he can hit Cancun.
Tomorrow we start our sixth week of the trip and I think today's off day has everyone ready to get back at it. I say it is our sixth week because we no longer follow regular weeks out here. We go from day off to day off and call that "a nation week". Some days we don't even know what day it is and I think we all kind of like that feeling. It is a great feeling to just let everything else go and enjoy the moment we are in. It is not going to last much longer so we better enjoy every second of it.
Finally, we would like to congratulate our friend Dan and his wife Abby for getting new jobs in Colorado and making the big move. They will be heading out west in less than a month and I know we will all miss them but wish them the best of luck. Make sure your apartment has a spare bedroom so we can visit often. We love you guys.
Keep moving...
-Andy
While we were eating, the owner came over to talk with us and show us some pictures of his recent trip to New Mexico. He was interested in hearing about our journey and his grandson Nathan also came out to chat. He was only 5 years old and talked a hundred miles an hour. I gave him a high five, kind of, before we took off looking for something to do with our day. The owner suggested driving an hour south to Abilene because they had a lot more going on.
Before we left we headed over to the post office to pick up a package that our friend Troy from Columbus, GA had sent us. Not only was the package addressed to Ken but it was addressed 'Ken Stannard (The Dancing Machine)'. Durkin and I were disappointed that the package was sent to Ken as we are keeping an unofficial package count. We are trying to see who can get the most packages sent to them while living on the road. I think its a close race between Ken and I at this point but recently Durkin has thrown his hat in the ring.
Troy sent us a few power bars and gels, more shoe insoles for Ken's flat feet and three Marathon and Beyond books. More on them in a minute. He also included a written document that the Columbus Running Club typed up discussing the cameo running appearances of various people along the trip. Apparently the Club does not think it is fair that relatives or girlfriends of ours that have or will come out to visit us should count for the official total. I guess flying 2,000 miles to run with us for a day just doesn't equal out to them. That's typical Columbus for you. Anyway, here is the official written statement Troy mailed with his package. You decide what should count.
We, your running buddies from Columbus, in Order to form a more perfect NATION, establish Justice, insure domestic equality, provide for more reliable mileage, promote the general fairness of you record keeping, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this following amendment of "THE NATION". We do hereby propose that all family members (both immediate and distant to 3rd generation), in-laws, friends having known for great than 5 years, girlfriends (both current and prior), and pets (both alive and deceased) NOT be allowed to participate in the total mileage of "THE NATION". We feel that prior or present relationships, either physical or psychological, allows for unfair bias, and therefore should not be allowed. Allowing such injustice takes away from the true spontaneity of "THE NATION".
TWO WORDS: THE RAMBLER!!
Sincerely,
Your running buddies from Columbus!
We have talked about this matter over the past few days and have come to one conclusion. If you want to be on the top of the leader boards come May 26th, you better get your running legs ready and man up. With close to two months and 1,600 miles left before we reach the Pacific it is still any ones ball game. We do not discriminate towards anyone regardless of their current or past relationship with us. If they are running next to us heading west, we will be counting their miles for sole possession and bragging rights of quote, BEING THE GREATEST! As our website states, we welcome anyone and everyone. No hard feelings. We hope to see you guys sometime in the near future...
Back to today. Matt, Ken and myself packed into the back of Jim and Kathie's rental car and headed south on 277 toward Abilene for a round of putt putt golf and whatever else they might have to offer. As we drove the three of us read the books that Troy had sent with his care package. Ken found a great article on John Wallace. John keeps the website www.seejohnrun.com up-to-date and has compiled a list of everyone that has run across the country since 1900. He also completed his own run across the country a few years back and while reading the article we discovered that the same two guys from Bucknell that influenced our own run was the reason he started his journey, several years ago. Thanks again Scott and Dave. His run ended in Tybee Island, the starting point of our own trip and the article was amazing to read. We were able to see pictures of places we have already been and what we are in store for over the next few weeks. He even had a section dedicated to a small town in New Mexico simply named Pie Town. This has been the topic of conversation for Durkin since before we even started our quest. He saw this town was one of our stopping points and has been fascinated ever since. He refuses to look it up on the Internet or view it from a map. He wants to be complete surprised one way or another. From what Ken and I read, it is going to be a day none of us ever forgets!
While reading one of the books we also discovered the San Diego Rock-and-Roll Marathon that will be taking place on June 1st. We have already agreed that we will be running on that day and welcome everyone to come out and run with us. It is going to be one last journey before returning to New York and the real world. However, anyone that does decide to run with us on that day will not have their miles count towards the nation total. Just want to make that clear from the start.
We arrived in Abliene only to find that the putt putt golf course did not open until 3, something we did not want to wait around for. We drove to the heart of down town and stumbled upon the visitors center. They had an hour virtual tour of the town's history that we reluctantly passed up. Instead, we drove another few minutes to 2070 Zoo Lane. One can only guess what came next. For only $4 we decided this was something we could not pass up.
The zoo itself was somewhat small but very beautiful. We saw pink flamingos, exotic birds, zebra, giraffe, lions, and the highlight of the place - the monkeys. There was a cage of 5 or so monkeys with all sorts of ropes and ladders for them to play on. We spent probably half an hour watching them climb and jump all over the place. You could tell they were showing off as some did back flips, climbed up walls and chased one another. We scored them on a scale of 1-10 who did the best tricks or moved the fastest.
After the zoo we grabbed something to eat again, surprise surprise. Whataburger was on the way so we decided to get our second burger of the day. We told Jim that a few days before we all got the triple beef triple cheese burger and forced him to do the same. He was hesitant to order it, not because he couldn't finish it but because he simply did not want to eat it. However, once in front of him he made short work of it. It was truly an impressive site as both Durkin and Kathie were filming such a milestone.
We are currently resting comfortably back in the hotel room trying to do as little as possible before we are back on the road tomorrow morning. Ken is on the phone and the rest of us are watching Maury - another classic episode. We are going to get something to eat in an hour or so (probably more burgers) before Jim and Kathie say goodbye. They have about a four hour drive ahead of them back to Dallas and are going to try and get some of it out of the way tonight. It was great seeing Jim and meeting his girlfriend and know that they are cheering us on, but I can't believe they are already leaving us. Having him come out really lifted my spirits yesterday while on the road as it was the worst I have felt the entire trip. I know he had a good time as well even if he couldn't stay that long. He got to see Texas and spend his spring break going wild in Haskell, Texas - population 3,000. Maybe next year he can hit Cancun.
Tomorrow we start our sixth week of the trip and I think today's off day has everyone ready to get back at it. I say it is our sixth week because we no longer follow regular weeks out here. We go from day off to day off and call that "a nation week". Some days we don't even know what day it is and I think we all kind of like that feeling. It is a great feeling to just let everything else go and enjoy the moment we are in. It is not going to last much longer so we better enjoy every second of it.
Finally, we would like to congratulate our friend Dan and his wife Abby for getting new jobs in Colorado and making the big move. They will be heading out west in less than a month and I know we will all miss them but wish them the best of luck. Make sure your apartment has a spare bedroom so we can visit often. We love you guys.
Keep moving...
-Andy
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Day 54
We woke up at about 7:00am this morning. I had the most wonderful night sleep EVER last night. I can't even describe the comfort radiating from that room I slept in. It was really nice. I actually have never felt so at home yet on this trip :)
Greg and Angie made us a really great breakfast that consisted of eggs, breakfast burritos, waffles, and orange juice! We ate as much as we could and finished packing up the joggers for the day. I strapped up my brand new Saucony shoes for the first time to see how they ran for the day. Their first test would be a 33 mile run from Throckmorton, TX to Haskell, TX! Durkin also put on his new shoes...Andy's shoes arrived today in Haskell, so he would have to wait one more day to put on those new Saucony sweets!
We got moving around 8:30 after a stop at the gas station to get some Gatorade. The sky was crystal clear...but as soon as we got out of town into the open expanse...the winds came and they did not let up all day.
We moved at a pretty good pace for the first hour or so, and at this point the wind was really starting to break us down. It was right in our face the entire time, and it felt like at times I wasn't even moving at all! We decided to run until 11 o'clock and take a rest. We all actually passed out for a good half an hour. I literally fell asleep!
At 11:30, we hopped back on the road. Today's run was very flat with some rolling hills every now and again. It was broken up, in my mind, by some very large segments of land. We would reach the top of a hill, and we could see for MILES!! Durkin and I at one point guessed how long it would be until we reached the top of the tallest hill on the horizon. Durkin guessed 25 minutes, and I guessed around 35 minutes. It ended up being a solid hour! That wasn't even the longest segment we ran today. The landscape is really unfolding and our horizons are becoming farther and farther out there. At one point, I thought there was no end to the land I was looking at.
Back to the wind, in case you forgot....we were dealing with like 30 mph winds at least! We were feeling pretty beat at one point in the day...and I was kind of feeling defeated...when I looked up into the sky and saw a bird flying into the wind. This thing was flapping its wings with all its heart yet was making ABSOLUTELY no ground...or air I should say. For a good 10 seconds the three of us ran and watched this bird try so hard and could not defeat the wind...it eventually gave up and flew with the wind the other direction. I laughed and laughed because it was QUITE a funny sight to see. Unlike the bird, though, we kept marching westward. No wind, no obstacle is going to keep us or block us from reaching that Pacific Ocean. In my opinion if an obstacle is presented to us that tries to stop us...we will make sure that we defeat it...most likely in humorous fashion...in fact...we may destroy it. AT no point will we ever turn our backs on our goal and head back east. For some reason...this funny little bird got me going real good and I felt pretty good for the rest of the day.
Each of us had our ups and downs today. Andy especially, was feeling warn down for most of the day. He attributed his exhaustion to our races yesterday (maybe not the best idea on our parts...all out racing while we try and run across the country!!) By the way, do not be alarmed by the fact that Durkin won yesterday...I was pushing a 60 pound jogger and I could not open up into sprint mechanics like Durkin. I will challenge him to any sprint race and I will beat him in an embarrassing fashion....aight?! And I will make sure that my peoples are there to witness such an event of this magnitude!!
BACK TO TODAY..Andy is warn down....So we had about 10 miles left on the day. All of a sudden, a white car pulled up beside us and started yelling at us with a huge grin on his face! Andy turned to him and said "hello" and didn't think anything of it. After a double...or even a triple take, Andy realized that it was none other than his brother Jim and Jim's girlfriend Kathy!! Andy was completely caught off guard and loved the surprise! They took one of our joggers so we would only have to push one for the last 10 miles of the day. We did the last segment of the day without any complaints or setbacks. We arrived in Haskell at around 3pm.
We were starving, so we headed over to DQ for some lunch. all three of us were starving...so we had a pretty large order between us. We sat down and got our food...and Kathy had ordered a blizzard. DQ has a company policy that they must flip the blizzard upside down before they give it to you or it's free. Up until now, every blizzard that we have ordered has been flipped upside down in this way...I believe it is to show us that its made correctly and at the right viscosity so it doesn't come out. Well, when the waitress delivered Kathy her blizzard, she did not flip it upside down. Kathy was not aware of this loophole, but I was. When the waitress left, Andy, Matt and I all got to "a-talkin" and we decided that we would try and get some free bizzards. We placed our order, and sure enough when they were delivered, they did not flip them over. We thought we were home free, and Andy went to present our case. When we asked if they were free, the waitress responded with "Oh, we don't do that anymore..." So were were very disappointed. As a side note to this little tale...Durkin, just for kicks, flipped it upside down over my head as he posed for a picture. The ice cream started to slide out of the cup onto my head...but Durkin BARELY flipped it right side up in time to escape the ice cream from hitting my head. We thought it was funny, because that proved to us that the ice cream was made INCORRECTLY!!! We exited the DQ quite dissatisfied and made our way back to the hotel.
Jim's brother is with us and we are about to head out to grab some dinner and perhaps find out if there's anything to do in this town! We have a scheduled day off tomorrow, so we will be spending it with him and Kathy. We are all pretty excited to have them around. They will be here tonight and tomorrow!
All in all, today was an okay day. It was good to get it behind us, but everyday gets us a couple centimeters on a map closer to that little dot that is San Diego. But...as we have discovered on this trip...It really isn't about going from Savannah, GA to San Diego, CA anymore...it's all of this in between stuff that has changed our lives. It's all the people that make up the excitement in our day that has made this four month sacrifice worthwhile. I am very glad to be out here, enjoying this trip. Keep following us on our journey, because I know something memorable is always just a couple miles ahead...I just never know what its going to be.
Ken
Greg and Angie made us a really great breakfast that consisted of eggs, breakfast burritos, waffles, and orange juice! We ate as much as we could and finished packing up the joggers for the day. I strapped up my brand new Saucony shoes for the first time to see how they ran for the day. Their first test would be a 33 mile run from Throckmorton, TX to Haskell, TX! Durkin also put on his new shoes...Andy's shoes arrived today in Haskell, so he would have to wait one more day to put on those new Saucony sweets!
We got moving around 8:30 after a stop at the gas station to get some Gatorade. The sky was crystal clear...but as soon as we got out of town into the open expanse...the winds came and they did not let up all day.
We moved at a pretty good pace for the first hour or so, and at this point the wind was really starting to break us down. It was right in our face the entire time, and it felt like at times I wasn't even moving at all! We decided to run until 11 o'clock and take a rest. We all actually passed out for a good half an hour. I literally fell asleep!
At 11:30, we hopped back on the road. Today's run was very flat with some rolling hills every now and again. It was broken up, in my mind, by some very large segments of land. We would reach the top of a hill, and we could see for MILES!! Durkin and I at one point guessed how long it would be until we reached the top of the tallest hill on the horizon. Durkin guessed 25 minutes, and I guessed around 35 minutes. It ended up being a solid hour! That wasn't even the longest segment we ran today. The landscape is really unfolding and our horizons are becoming farther and farther out there. At one point, I thought there was no end to the land I was looking at.
Back to the wind, in case you forgot....we were dealing with like 30 mph winds at least! We were feeling pretty beat at one point in the day...and I was kind of feeling defeated...when I looked up into the sky and saw a bird flying into the wind. This thing was flapping its wings with all its heart yet was making ABSOLUTELY no ground...or air I should say. For a good 10 seconds the three of us ran and watched this bird try so hard and could not defeat the wind...it eventually gave up and flew with the wind the other direction. I laughed and laughed because it was QUITE a funny sight to see. Unlike the bird, though, we kept marching westward. No wind, no obstacle is going to keep us or block us from reaching that Pacific Ocean. In my opinion if an obstacle is presented to us that tries to stop us...we will make sure that we defeat it...most likely in humorous fashion...in fact...we may destroy it. AT no point will we ever turn our backs on our goal and head back east. For some reason...this funny little bird got me going real good and I felt pretty good for the rest of the day.
Each of us had our ups and downs today. Andy especially, was feeling warn down for most of the day. He attributed his exhaustion to our races yesterday (maybe not the best idea on our parts...all out racing while we try and run across the country!!) By the way, do not be alarmed by the fact that Durkin won yesterday...I was pushing a 60 pound jogger and I could not open up into sprint mechanics like Durkin. I will challenge him to any sprint race and I will beat him in an embarrassing fashion....aight?! And I will make sure that my peoples are there to witness such an event of this magnitude!!
BACK TO TODAY..Andy is warn down....So we had about 10 miles left on the day. All of a sudden, a white car pulled up beside us and started yelling at us with a huge grin on his face! Andy turned to him and said "hello" and didn't think anything of it. After a double...or even a triple take, Andy realized that it was none other than his brother Jim and Jim's girlfriend Kathy!! Andy was completely caught off guard and loved the surprise! They took one of our joggers so we would only have to push one for the last 10 miles of the day. We did the last segment of the day without any complaints or setbacks. We arrived in Haskell at around 3pm.
We were starving, so we headed over to DQ for some lunch. all three of us were starving...so we had a pretty large order between us. We sat down and got our food...and Kathy had ordered a blizzard. DQ has a company policy that they must flip the blizzard upside down before they give it to you or it's free. Up until now, every blizzard that we have ordered has been flipped upside down in this way...I believe it is to show us that its made correctly and at the right viscosity so it doesn't come out. Well, when the waitress delivered Kathy her blizzard, she did not flip it upside down. Kathy was not aware of this loophole, but I was. When the waitress left, Andy, Matt and I all got to "a-talkin" and we decided that we would try and get some free bizzards. We placed our order, and sure enough when they were delivered, they did not flip them over. We thought we were home free, and Andy went to present our case. When we asked if they were free, the waitress responded with "Oh, we don't do that anymore..." So were were very disappointed. As a side note to this little tale...Durkin, just for kicks, flipped it upside down over my head as he posed for a picture. The ice cream started to slide out of the cup onto my head...but Durkin BARELY flipped it right side up in time to escape the ice cream from hitting my head. We thought it was funny, because that proved to us that the ice cream was made INCORRECTLY!!! We exited the DQ quite dissatisfied and made our way back to the hotel.
Jim's brother is with us and we are about to head out to grab some dinner and perhaps find out if there's anything to do in this town! We have a scheduled day off tomorrow, so we will be spending it with him and Kathy. We are all pretty excited to have them around. They will be here tonight and tomorrow!
All in all, today was an okay day. It was good to get it behind us, but everyday gets us a couple centimeters on a map closer to that little dot that is San Diego. But...as we have discovered on this trip...It really isn't about going from Savannah, GA to San Diego, CA anymore...it's all of this in between stuff that has changed our lives. It's all the people that make up the excitement in our day that has made this four month sacrifice worthwhile. I am very glad to be out here, enjoying this trip. Keep following us on our journey, because I know something memorable is always just a couple miles ahead...I just never know what its going to be.
Ken
Monday, March 24, 2008
Day 53
This morning we left our plush room at the Best Western of Graham, and made our way back into the unknown. Whenever we have a set place for more than a day its tough getting back on the road, but we got up, got ready and got on our way. Danny, a co-worker of Ben and Amy picked us up and brought us back to outside of New Caste where we finished yesterday.
We got running at 8:40, and got a solid 17 miles in by noon. Today was a very interesting run in terms of scenery. The vegetation and landscape has been slowly changing the last few weeks but today it made a drastic change. Cacti were everywhere, and we saw trees and bushes the likes of which we've never seen. We're all captivated by what we've seen so far, and we know its only going to get better through New Mexico and Arizona.
We took a quick sit down break with 8 miles to go and relaxed on the side of the road. We had a make-shift lunch of peanut butter crackers, trail mix and Gatorade. Andy whipped out the GPS and looked ahead to Throckmorton to see what it had to offer in terms of food. There were 4 restaurants according to the GPS so Andy called ahead to see when they'd be open until. A lot of small towns we've been through close up shop at 2pm, so we wanted to see if that trend would continue in Throckmorton. Out of the 4 places we called 1 answered, and told us they close up after lunch at 2pm. We had about an hour and a half to cover 8 more miles, I know that might not sound like much to avid runners, but at the pace we move we had to pick it up a little bit.
Being out on the road we figure out interesting ways to make the time go by. Some times we name characters from early 90's TV shows, some of the highlights including Waldo of Family Matters and J.T. of Step By Step. Another thing we like to is race for the last minute of our 4 minute running segments. As anyone who knows us could tell you, its obvious who the fastest is, me, Durkin. Ken and Andy have been getting sneaky, creeping up on me when I don't know how much time is left, or racing me when I don't know we're racing. Today there was a segment I knew we were racing, but I really didn't care. Ken and Andy were battling, Ken pushing a jogger, Andy not. Ken pushed on ahead and Andy let him go, Ken was celebrating but at the same time letting Andy know there was still a minute left. I laughed and kept going at a normal pace, until something about the way Ken was dancing got to me. He had about 50 meters on me and I had about 40 seconds to decide if I wanted to catch him, I did. I started moving the fastest I have on the trip, and yelled to Andy to take the jogger from me. I passed it off to him and got into some mean sprint mechanics! Arms at 90 degrees, knees up, never landing on my heels. I was in hot pursuit of Ken, and got within about 10 meters of him before he realized I was coming. He started moving and I wasn't sure I'd be able to catch him in the time allotted. I kept pushing and kept pushing and eventually got right up next to him. We battled for a few seconds and eventually I surged past him. It feels so good to have that come from behind victory under my belt. Sure I could have pulled a muscle, or we could have injured each other in the hustle and bustle of the race, but it was worth it.
After the great race we had about 2 miles to go on the day. We got closer and closer to town and noticed a very large cross on the hillside. It was a very impressive sight, and the picture definitely won't do it justice. The cross was 20 feet tall and about 14 feet wide and was made completely out of beer cans. We really couldn't see that it was made out of beer cans, we learned that from our friend Greg who we met later in the day, we'll get to him later.
We made it into town and found our way to The Country Cow Cafe. Our strollers and running clothes acted as an immediate conversation starter with the folks at the cafe. People had all sorts of questions as well as advice about the rest of our route. We talked a lot with Dave and Mary Harris, the owners of the cafe. They spent a lot of their days in Arizona and New Mexico. They told us all about the scenery and wildlife we'll see in the upcoming months. As if we weren't excited enough to get into these far west states, this conversation got us even more psyched! Dave and Mary were very supportive of our trip, and right before we asked for the check, told us the meal was on the house. You can really tell when people understand why we're running across the country, and these folks definitely did.
After lunch we made our way around town, trying to find a place to stay, and looking for the post office as Throckmorton was one of our pre-planned care package stops. We've called ahead to post offices, one every two weeks. This is where we replenish our supply of running shoes and candy bars. We made it to the post office and picked up our packages. Ken got a care package from Claire, Andy got a care package with a sweet bracelet from Kaitlyn, and I got my new Saucony Tangent 3s, a weather radio and some Easter goodies from my parents. As well as the packages Andy and Ken got a postcard I sent out back in Arkansas. It simply said "NATION! 3/5/08". We were making a pretty big scene, emptying out the jogger to make room for our new gear, while sending back some old gear. Everyone that walked through the door asked us what we were doing, and they were all very supportive of our dream. One woman in particular, Angie, was very interested in what we were doing. She asked us where we planned on staying for the night, and as soon as she found out we had nothing she offered for us to stay at her house. We immediately accepted her offer, finished our business at the post office, packed up and made our way to her house. She told us she had to go back to work, but we could make ourselves at home. We took some quick showers and watched some classic episodes of Seinfeld. A little bit before Angie got back home, her husband Greg came in. Ken and I were a little worried at first, as we didn't know that he knew we were here. Fortunately for us he did and he introduced himself to us.
Around 5 Angie got back from work and made us a delicious spaghetti and meat sauce dinner with corn on the cob, salad and garlic bread. We all had heaping helpings, followed by some outstanding banana pudding. Throughout dinner Greg and Angie discussed our route with us, and brainstormed about who they knew down the road who could help us out. They were able to get us connections for the next two nights! Did I mention I love Texas? On the topic of places I love, Greg and Angie told us they drove to South Carolina to bring their son to college in December and took a very similar route to the one we've been running. Along the way they stopped and spent the night in Columbus, Georgia, great choice!
After dinner Greg took us on a tour of Throckmorton. We first went to The Lazy T Lodge. An old hotel that was built in the 1910's that was recently remodeled and put back in business. The place was amazing. Basically, it was a self served bed and breakfast. Guest would check in and be left alone for the rest of the night. There were 8-10 different bedrooms and baths, a kitchen, dining room, living room and game room that guest could fully use while staying. It had a classic log cabin type of feel to it with different animal heads on the walls.
Next we saw the high school complete with there football field. This might not sound very interesting but this high school plays 6 man football instead of 11. They only put 6 guys on the field at one time and everyone is eligible to catch a pass or run the ball, even the center. They play 4 - 10 minute quarters on a 80 yard field. It is also 15 yards to a first down instead of 10. Field goals are worth 4 points and if you score and kick the extra point it is worth 2 points because its so much harder to block the defenders. If you run or pass the ball and score the extra point it is only worth 1. The high school won the state title in 2005 and Greg showed us the statue outside of the stadium. It was really neat.
After we checked out the high school Greg brought us out to the Lake and gave us a closer look at the cross. It was then that we learned it was made out of cans, you never know what you're gonna see out here.
We came back home and have been relaxing ever since. We saw a girl on Deal or No Deal take $341,000 when she had a cool million sitting in her case, what a dumby. After that Greg showed us some DVDs of his son playing 6-Man football. You really have to see it to get the full effect.
We're going to get to bed pretty soon. We have a pretty big day ahead of us tomorrow, its looking to be about 33 miles. Luckily Angie is getting up early to make us a breakfast which I'm sure will be delicious. Also Greg got in touch with his friend Billy who lives out near Haskell and he is going to help us get a place to stay for the night.
I still love this trip, and I still love you all!
love,
Durkin
We got running at 8:40, and got a solid 17 miles in by noon. Today was a very interesting run in terms of scenery. The vegetation and landscape has been slowly changing the last few weeks but today it made a drastic change. Cacti were everywhere, and we saw trees and bushes the likes of which we've never seen. We're all captivated by what we've seen so far, and we know its only going to get better through New Mexico and Arizona.
We took a quick sit down break with 8 miles to go and relaxed on the side of the road. We had a make-shift lunch of peanut butter crackers, trail mix and Gatorade. Andy whipped out the GPS and looked ahead to Throckmorton to see what it had to offer in terms of food. There were 4 restaurants according to the GPS so Andy called ahead to see when they'd be open until. A lot of small towns we've been through close up shop at 2pm, so we wanted to see if that trend would continue in Throckmorton. Out of the 4 places we called 1 answered, and told us they close up after lunch at 2pm. We had about an hour and a half to cover 8 more miles, I know that might not sound like much to avid runners, but at the pace we move we had to pick it up a little bit.
Being out on the road we figure out interesting ways to make the time go by. Some times we name characters from early 90's TV shows, some of the highlights including Waldo of Family Matters and J.T. of Step By Step. Another thing we like to is race for the last minute of our 4 minute running segments. As anyone who knows us could tell you, its obvious who the fastest is, me, Durkin. Ken and Andy have been getting sneaky, creeping up on me when I don't know how much time is left, or racing me when I don't know we're racing. Today there was a segment I knew we were racing, but I really didn't care. Ken and Andy were battling, Ken pushing a jogger, Andy not. Ken pushed on ahead and Andy let him go, Ken was celebrating but at the same time letting Andy know there was still a minute left. I laughed and kept going at a normal pace, until something about the way Ken was dancing got to me. He had about 50 meters on me and I had about 40 seconds to decide if I wanted to catch him, I did. I started moving the fastest I have on the trip, and yelled to Andy to take the jogger from me. I passed it off to him and got into some mean sprint mechanics! Arms at 90 degrees, knees up, never landing on my heels. I was in hot pursuit of Ken, and got within about 10 meters of him before he realized I was coming. He started moving and I wasn't sure I'd be able to catch him in the time allotted. I kept pushing and kept pushing and eventually got right up next to him. We battled for a few seconds and eventually I surged past him. It feels so good to have that come from behind victory under my belt. Sure I could have pulled a muscle, or we could have injured each other in the hustle and bustle of the race, but it was worth it.
After the great race we had about 2 miles to go on the day. We got closer and closer to town and noticed a very large cross on the hillside. It was a very impressive sight, and the picture definitely won't do it justice. The cross was 20 feet tall and about 14 feet wide and was made completely out of beer cans. We really couldn't see that it was made out of beer cans, we learned that from our friend Greg who we met later in the day, we'll get to him later.
We made it into town and found our way to The Country Cow Cafe. Our strollers and running clothes acted as an immediate conversation starter with the folks at the cafe. People had all sorts of questions as well as advice about the rest of our route. We talked a lot with Dave and Mary Harris, the owners of the cafe. They spent a lot of their days in Arizona and New Mexico. They told us all about the scenery and wildlife we'll see in the upcoming months. As if we weren't excited enough to get into these far west states, this conversation got us even more psyched! Dave and Mary were very supportive of our trip, and right before we asked for the check, told us the meal was on the house. You can really tell when people understand why we're running across the country, and these folks definitely did.
After lunch we made our way around town, trying to find a place to stay, and looking for the post office as Throckmorton was one of our pre-planned care package stops. We've called ahead to post offices, one every two weeks. This is where we replenish our supply of running shoes and candy bars. We made it to the post office and picked up our packages. Ken got a care package from Claire, Andy got a care package with a sweet bracelet from Kaitlyn, and I got my new Saucony Tangent 3s, a weather radio and some Easter goodies from my parents. As well as the packages Andy and Ken got a postcard I sent out back in Arkansas. It simply said "NATION! 3/5/08". We were making a pretty big scene, emptying out the jogger to make room for our new gear, while sending back some old gear. Everyone that walked through the door asked us what we were doing, and they were all very supportive of our dream. One woman in particular, Angie, was very interested in what we were doing. She asked us where we planned on staying for the night, and as soon as she found out we had nothing she offered for us to stay at her house. We immediately accepted her offer, finished our business at the post office, packed up and made our way to her house. She told us she had to go back to work, but we could make ourselves at home. We took some quick showers and watched some classic episodes of Seinfeld. A little bit before Angie got back home, her husband Greg came in. Ken and I were a little worried at first, as we didn't know that he knew we were here. Fortunately for us he did and he introduced himself to us.
Around 5 Angie got back from work and made us a delicious spaghetti and meat sauce dinner with corn on the cob, salad and garlic bread. We all had heaping helpings, followed by some outstanding banana pudding. Throughout dinner Greg and Angie discussed our route with us, and brainstormed about who they knew down the road who could help us out. They were able to get us connections for the next two nights! Did I mention I love Texas? On the topic of places I love, Greg and Angie told us they drove to South Carolina to bring their son to college in December and took a very similar route to the one we've been running. Along the way they stopped and spent the night in Columbus, Georgia, great choice!
After dinner Greg took us on a tour of Throckmorton. We first went to The Lazy T Lodge. An old hotel that was built in the 1910's that was recently remodeled and put back in business. The place was amazing. Basically, it was a self served bed and breakfast. Guest would check in and be left alone for the rest of the night. There were 8-10 different bedrooms and baths, a kitchen, dining room, living room and game room that guest could fully use while staying. It had a classic log cabin type of feel to it with different animal heads on the walls.
Next we saw the high school complete with there football field. This might not sound very interesting but this high school plays 6 man football instead of 11. They only put 6 guys on the field at one time and everyone is eligible to catch a pass or run the ball, even the center. They play 4 - 10 minute quarters on a 80 yard field. It is also 15 yards to a first down instead of 10. Field goals are worth 4 points and if you score and kick the extra point it is worth 2 points because its so much harder to block the defenders. If you run or pass the ball and score the extra point it is only worth 1. The high school won the state title in 2005 and Greg showed us the statue outside of the stadium. It was really neat.
After we checked out the high school Greg brought us out to the Lake and gave us a closer look at the cross. It was then that we learned it was made out of cans, you never know what you're gonna see out here.
We came back home and have been relaxing ever since. We saw a girl on Deal or No Deal take $341,000 when she had a cool million sitting in her case, what a dumby. After that Greg showed us some DVDs of his son playing 6-Man football. You really have to see it to get the full effect.
We're going to get to bed pretty soon. We have a pretty big day ahead of us tomorrow, its looking to be about 33 miles. Luckily Angie is getting up early to make us a breakfast which I'm sure will be delicious. Also Greg got in touch with his friend Billy who lives out near Haskell and he is going to help us get a place to stay for the night.
I still love this trip, and I still love you all!
love,
Durkin
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Day 52
Happy Easter!! Today has been an excellent day so far.
We got picked up by Amy, a women we were put in touch with by our old friend Tommy Lewis from Paris. Amy brought us back to the spot where we finished up yesterday and we got on our way. We really appreciated Amy going through the trouble of picking us up on a holiday but she assured us it was her pleasure.
We got moving real early on in the day at a real good pace. The forecast called for rain so we wanted to get in as much as we could before it came. We flew through the first 12 miles in about 2 hours and stopped for a quick bite at a Dairy Queen. I'm pretty sure I got the best burger out of the three of us, The Hunger Buster w/cheese. We talked with the employees of The DQ for a while about our run and the town and eventually got back on the road. One of them graciously donated a few dollars to our fund to help along the way.
After being on the road for a little bit we came up with the idea to call everyone who has helped us out along the way. We broke out our book of names and started going to work. It was a pretty great experience, each name brought back amazing memories. We talked about how each time we talked to someone it felt like we had JUST left them, even though a lot of them were from Georgia and Alabama, which is surprisingly over a month ago! We hadn't talked to many friends since we'd left some, so it was really nice getting back in touch with them. A lot of people told us they had been keeping up with our updates every day and still have us in their prayers. Getting back in touch with our friends from the south really helped the run go by quickly.
Andy and I always say the days where we don't have anything to write about in terms of running are the best. No one was hurting, no one was hot, no cars almost hit us, and there wasn't anything shiny or interesting on the side of the road to distract us. We ended the day around 2pm and got picked back up by Amy on the western side of New Castle (our planned stop for the night). She brought us back to Graham and to a delicious Easter dinner at What-A-Burger. We all went with the Triple Burger
meal, this thing was massive! I looked it up online and it was somewhere around 1100 calories, add bacon, fries and a large Dr. Pepper and we're talking some serious re-fueling! These were probably some of the largest burgers any of us had ever handled, but we all put them away no problem. I told my brother Mike about this Easter meal and it reminded us both about the Easter our car broke down on the way to our grandparents. We didn't have anything planned for dinner at our house, so we ended up going with a hearty meal from Burger King. It was unfortunate that we didn't get to see our family, but fortunately for us it was the year the Easter Bunny brought us Mario Bros. 3, or as Mike and I simultaneously put it "The Best Easter Ever". Also, on the subject of putting away food I have to call Andy out for what he said yesterday. He commented on Ken and I not finishing our meals and him being a champ and dominating his. What he didn't tell you was our plates were unusually large and his was of regular (if not small) size.
For the rest of the day we'll work on getting up more pictures and updates, watching Richie Rich and College Hoops, and probably eating some more before getting to bed early.
Happy Easter,
-Durkin!!
We got picked up by Amy, a women we were put in touch with by our old friend Tommy Lewis from Paris. Amy brought us back to the spot where we finished up yesterday and we got on our way. We really appreciated Amy going through the trouble of picking us up on a holiday but she assured us it was her pleasure.
We got moving real early on in the day at a real good pace. The forecast called for rain so we wanted to get in as much as we could before it came. We flew through the first 12 miles in about 2 hours and stopped for a quick bite at a Dairy Queen. I'm pretty sure I got the best burger out of the three of us, The Hunger Buster w/cheese. We talked with the employees of The DQ for a while about our run and the town and eventually got back on the road. One of them graciously donated a few dollars to our fund to help along the way.
After being on the road for a little bit we came up with the idea to call everyone who has helped us out along the way. We broke out our book of names and started going to work. It was a pretty great experience, each name brought back amazing memories. We talked about how each time we talked to someone it felt like we had JUST left them, even though a lot of them were from Georgia and Alabama, which is surprisingly over a month ago! We hadn't talked to many friends since we'd left some, so it was really nice getting back in touch with them. A lot of people told us they had been keeping up with our updates every day and still have us in their prayers. Getting back in touch with our friends from the south really helped the run go by quickly.
Andy and I always say the days where we don't have anything to write about in terms of running are the best. No one was hurting, no one was hot, no cars almost hit us, and there wasn't anything shiny or interesting on the side of the road to distract us. We ended the day around 2pm and got picked back up by Amy on the western side of New Castle (our planned stop for the night). She brought us back to Graham and to a delicious Easter dinner at What-A-Burger. We all went with the Triple Burger
meal, this thing was massive! I looked it up online and it was somewhere around 1100 calories, add bacon, fries and a large Dr. Pepper and we're talking some serious re-fueling! These were probably some of the largest burgers any of us had ever handled, but we all put them away no problem. I told my brother Mike about this Easter meal and it reminded us both about the Easter our car broke down on the way to our grandparents. We didn't have anything planned for dinner at our house, so we ended up going with a hearty meal from Burger King. It was unfortunate that we didn't get to see our family, but fortunately for us it was the year the Easter Bunny brought us Mario Bros. 3, or as Mike and I simultaneously put it "The Best Easter Ever". Also, on the subject of putting away food I have to call Andy out for what he said yesterday. He commented on Ken and I not finishing our meals and him being a champ and dominating his. What he didn't tell you was our plates were unusually large and his was of regular (if not small) size.
For the rest of the day we'll work on getting up more pictures and updates, watching Richie Rich and College Hoops, and probably eating some more before getting to bed early.
Happy Easter,
-Durkin!!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Day 51
Can I just start off by saying DUKE! Sorry Rick but they had it coming. Today was emotionally, physically and mentally the best we have all had in a long time. It did not start off that way but we finished strong and on a high note. Before I get into the day, let me talk a little bit about last nights festivities.
First, for all of you concerned about our safety and the dangerousness of the road we are traveling on let me assure you I have not felt safer all trip. The section of road that Rick was referring to as being "the most dangerous road in America" is long behind us. It was the 30-40 mile section between the town of Denton and Decator because of all the rock trucks that travel it. However, we are currently well past that and in a much more desolate area with a solid 8 foot shoulder. Practically our own lane.
Secondly, I am back to my normal self after mentally being out of it yesterday. It was really difficult for me to get my mind back on the road after spending an amazing four nights with Kaitlyn's family as well as having her around. I was totally surprised to see her and I just mentally checked out for a bit. It was so nice to think about something else besides how many miles we have to do tomorrow or where we would be sleeping/eating the next night. But please don't get me wrong. I am having the time of my life and would not want to be anywhere besides here. Today I am back and ready to knock on New Mexico's door.
So as Rick told you all yesterday we stopped at the triangle house that was situated directly on the shores of Lake Bridgeport. We explained to "the gentleman and his wife" (Maclain and Heather Jobe) about our journey and asked if it would be alright to camp out in their yard. At first I could tell they were a bit skeptical as Maclain kept calling us crazy idiots all night, but by the end of the night we were invited to sleep inside. That's right, Texas has yet to see our camping gear (well John's tent) and we hope to keep it that way. The largest state of our travel and perhaps the most luxurious as well.
Maclain and Heather were heading out to a local bar and wanted us to come along and enjoy a true southern pub. We were pretty exhausted from the early morning, especially me, and a tough day but decided this was the whole reason for doing this run, to experience life outside of New York. Around 8 we headed into town.
The place was nice with a few pool tables, a live band and a huge dance floor which excited Ken. However, he quickly found out the only dancing happening there was the 2 step and on rare occasions the worm thanks to Maclain. The five of us immediately hit it off as we told them stories about our trip and they told us about their lives. It was so great to just relax and enjoy ourselves for a few hours. At times it seems we are always doing something. 24 hours in the day just doesn't seem like enough time for everything we do, but we get it done and are still having a great time.
Maclain paid for everything all night and as we were leaving the owner of the bar gave us our $30 membership fee back after finding out what we were doing. It was definitely a great time regardless of the sleep we might have missed. One last thing before I get going on today. Maclain has two things about him that I will never forget. One, he is an amazing pool player as I witnessed this first hand. Not only does he win but he wins with style. He played 3 or 4 games before I bravely challenged him and as he was cleaning up the table he was dancing and shaking to the music. He was really enjoying himself and Durkin and I both agreed he reminded us of Ken. Both free spirits who just like to have a good time. The game between the two of us did not last very long. I was able to get one shot the entire game and had all my balls still on the table. The guy is good and if you don't believe me, challenge him ayait...and make sure your peoples is there to see it.
Second, and most important, he looks exactly like Dale Earnhardt Jr. We took a picture of him standing next to a life size cardbard cut out and it should be on the site soon. Check it out and make your own call. Just be aware if you happen to run into Dale Jr. somewhere down the road and want to buy him a drink ask to play him in a game of pool first. Only then can you be sure.
We headed back to the house a little past 11 and the entire ride home Maclain was talking about playing the game Rock Band. He has a drum set, guitar and microphone but know one to play with. This was his time to shine and as he put it, get us pumped to "rock across the country". We were all excited and wanted to see him in all his glory but as we started getting ready for bed everyone was dead tired. We felt bad telling him we didn't want to play and called it a night. The next time we are in Runaway Bay, Texas we will be looking for the triangle house and rocking deep into the night.
This morning we woke up around 7:30 after a great nights sleep and packed the joggers up. We were in kind of a hurry as Maclain was leaving the house as well in order to coach a 9-year olds volleyball game. We weren't ready as he was leaving and the last thing he said to us was, "you better not steal my xbox". Durkin wanted to hide it somewhere in the house just to mess with him but I didn't think it was such a good idea.
We had 33 miles to travel today and we tried to get going as quickly as possible. It was already warm and we took off our long sleeves and pants immediately. Ken thinks that soon we won't have to start the day with pants. I agree with him because the weather is definitely picking up. Even after a late night on the town I think we all felt pretty good. I felt 100 times better than I did yesterday and loved every minute of the day. At one point I turned around after being ahead of Durkin and Ken and watched them run as they caught up to me. I was smiling from ear to ear because the two of them looked so tough running down an empty highway in the middle of no where. It still amazes me to think we are running across the country. I continuously ask the guys from time to time if they ever just stop and think about what we are doing. After 3 years of planning and 51 days of actually doing it the whole idea kind of just becomes normal. It loses some of its meaning to some degree and it's just what we do now. So when I stop and look around at the scenery or look at our journey from an outsider looking in, it always amazes me. We are running across the entire country with nothing more than the clothes on our backs, two baby joggers and our boyish charm. I just feel blessed to be living my dream day in and day out and I guess Maclain was right when he said we are crazy idiots.
The scenery today was amazing as we ran up and down a number of rolling hills. The land is becoming more and more what I always imagined the west to be. Cactus are becoming more abundant and the earth itself is started to change in color. It won't be long before we are finally out there.
We ran the first 17 miles before reaching the town of Jacksboro in a blazing 3 hours and restocked our Gatorade supply. I would say this is the one thing we purchase the most of and it is kind of like our gasoline during the trip. We get about 20 miles to the gallon before refueling. We then stopped into a local cafe for lunch and a break from the sun. Our meal was delicious as usual and Ken put away at least 4 Dr. Peppers before we hit the road for the last 16 miles. The road began to flatten out a bit and we kept running at our almost racing pace. We found two more Texas plates and I decided we will no longer be picking Texas license plates up, unless as Durkin stated they are in mint condition. We probably have close to 20 Texas alone and we joked that we can only give people so many plates for their birthday before it becomes old.
We were finally picked up by Ben Taylor around 3:30 and headed into Graham to check into a hotel. For the next two nights we will be staying at a Best Western thanks to Tommy Lewis. Tommy, for those of you who don't remember him, was who we stayed with in Paris only a few days earlier. He knew a few people in the town of Graham and told them about our story. Amy Willis, her husband and Ben have graciously gone out of their way to get us a room and provide us with rides for the next few nights. We all really appreciated it especially with it being the holiday weekend. We understand everyone is busy during this time of the year and it means a lot to know that people are still willing to help us reach our goal.
Ben also took us out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant where we watch some of the college basketball games. It was weird to see the games going on and not really caring who was winning or losing. I usually get pretty involved in the tournament but this year was the first time I didn't fill out a bracket in a long time. I honestly couldn't even name all four number one seeds. To some degree we are putting the real world on hold and just living each day step by step. It's a great feeling to just let everything else go. One last thing about dinner. Neither Ken or Matt could finish their meals unlike myself. I guess we are back to being even after my failed attempt at the largest burger in the world. However, what they didn't tell you was how many cheese fries I had prior to this burger. I still feel I could eat both of them under the table any day.
We returned to the hotel where we are currently doing laundry and relaxing for the rest of the night. Amy will be picking us up tomorrow morning around 8 and driving us back to where we finished today. We have a total of 51 miles to cover in the next two days so we can pretty much go as long or as short as we wish. They are calling for light rain all day so we will see how the day goes. I am not that confident to call our fourth rain day of the trip but Matt can tell you all about that tomorrow. Thanks for reading and for all the support everyone has shown us so far on this trip. Happy Easter Everyone. Enjoy the time with your families.
-Andy
First, for all of you concerned about our safety and the dangerousness of the road we are traveling on let me assure you I have not felt safer all trip. The section of road that Rick was referring to as being "the most dangerous road in America" is long behind us. It was the 30-40 mile section between the town of Denton and Decator because of all the rock trucks that travel it. However, we are currently well past that and in a much more desolate area with a solid 8 foot shoulder. Practically our own lane.
Secondly, I am back to my normal self after mentally being out of it yesterday. It was really difficult for me to get my mind back on the road after spending an amazing four nights with Kaitlyn's family as well as having her around. I was totally surprised to see her and I just mentally checked out for a bit. It was so nice to think about something else besides how many miles we have to do tomorrow or where we would be sleeping/eating the next night. But please don't get me wrong. I am having the time of my life and would not want to be anywhere besides here. Today I am back and ready to knock on New Mexico's door.
So as Rick told you all yesterday we stopped at the triangle house that was situated directly on the shores of Lake Bridgeport. We explained to "the gentleman and his wife" (Maclain and Heather Jobe) about our journey and asked if it would be alright to camp out in their yard. At first I could tell they were a bit skeptical as Maclain kept calling us crazy idiots all night, but by the end of the night we were invited to sleep inside. That's right, Texas has yet to see our camping gear (well John's tent) and we hope to keep it that way. The largest state of our travel and perhaps the most luxurious as well.
Maclain and Heather were heading out to a local bar and wanted us to come along and enjoy a true southern pub. We were pretty exhausted from the early morning, especially me, and a tough day but decided this was the whole reason for doing this run, to experience life outside of New York. Around 8 we headed into town.
The place was nice with a few pool tables, a live band and a huge dance floor which excited Ken. However, he quickly found out the only dancing happening there was the 2 step and on rare occasions the worm thanks to Maclain. The five of us immediately hit it off as we told them stories about our trip and they told us about their lives. It was so great to just relax and enjoy ourselves for a few hours. At times it seems we are always doing something. 24 hours in the day just doesn't seem like enough time for everything we do, but we get it done and are still having a great time.
Maclain paid for everything all night and as we were leaving the owner of the bar gave us our $30 membership fee back after finding out what we were doing. It was definitely a great time regardless of the sleep we might have missed. One last thing before I get going on today. Maclain has two things about him that I will never forget. One, he is an amazing pool player as I witnessed this first hand. Not only does he win but he wins with style. He played 3 or 4 games before I bravely challenged him and as he was cleaning up the table he was dancing and shaking to the music. He was really enjoying himself and Durkin and I both agreed he reminded us of Ken. Both free spirits who just like to have a good time. The game between the two of us did not last very long. I was able to get one shot the entire game and had all my balls still on the table. The guy is good and if you don't believe me, challenge him ayait...and make sure your peoples is there to see it.
Second, and most important, he looks exactly like Dale Earnhardt Jr. We took a picture of him standing next to a life size cardbard cut out and it should be on the site soon. Check it out and make your own call. Just be aware if you happen to run into Dale Jr. somewhere down the road and want to buy him a drink ask to play him in a game of pool first. Only then can you be sure.
We headed back to the house a little past 11 and the entire ride home Maclain was talking about playing the game Rock Band. He has a drum set, guitar and microphone but know one to play with. This was his time to shine and as he put it, get us pumped to "rock across the country". We were all excited and wanted to see him in all his glory but as we started getting ready for bed everyone was dead tired. We felt bad telling him we didn't want to play and called it a night. The next time we are in Runaway Bay, Texas we will be looking for the triangle house and rocking deep into the night.
This morning we woke up around 7:30 after a great nights sleep and packed the joggers up. We were in kind of a hurry as Maclain was leaving the house as well in order to coach a 9-year olds volleyball game. We weren't ready as he was leaving and the last thing he said to us was, "you better not steal my xbox". Durkin wanted to hide it somewhere in the house just to mess with him but I didn't think it was such a good idea.
We had 33 miles to travel today and we tried to get going as quickly as possible. It was already warm and we took off our long sleeves and pants immediately. Ken thinks that soon we won't have to start the day with pants. I agree with him because the weather is definitely picking up. Even after a late night on the town I think we all felt pretty good. I felt 100 times better than I did yesterday and loved every minute of the day. At one point I turned around after being ahead of Durkin and Ken and watched them run as they caught up to me. I was smiling from ear to ear because the two of them looked so tough running down an empty highway in the middle of no where. It still amazes me to think we are running across the country. I continuously ask the guys from time to time if they ever just stop and think about what we are doing. After 3 years of planning and 51 days of actually doing it the whole idea kind of just becomes normal. It loses some of its meaning to some degree and it's just what we do now. So when I stop and look around at the scenery or look at our journey from an outsider looking in, it always amazes me. We are running across the entire country with nothing more than the clothes on our backs, two baby joggers and our boyish charm. I just feel blessed to be living my dream day in and day out and I guess Maclain was right when he said we are crazy idiots.
The scenery today was amazing as we ran up and down a number of rolling hills. The land is becoming more and more what I always imagined the west to be. Cactus are becoming more abundant and the earth itself is started to change in color. It won't be long before we are finally out there.
We ran the first 17 miles before reaching the town of Jacksboro in a blazing 3 hours and restocked our Gatorade supply. I would say this is the one thing we purchase the most of and it is kind of like our gasoline during the trip. We get about 20 miles to the gallon before refueling. We then stopped into a local cafe for lunch and a break from the sun. Our meal was delicious as usual and Ken put away at least 4 Dr. Peppers before we hit the road for the last 16 miles. The road began to flatten out a bit and we kept running at our almost racing pace. We found two more Texas plates and I decided we will no longer be picking Texas license plates up, unless as Durkin stated they are in mint condition. We probably have close to 20 Texas alone and we joked that we can only give people so many plates for their birthday before it becomes old.
We were finally picked up by Ben Taylor around 3:30 and headed into Graham to check into a hotel. For the next two nights we will be staying at a Best Western thanks to Tommy Lewis. Tommy, for those of you who don't remember him, was who we stayed with in Paris only a few days earlier. He knew a few people in the town of Graham and told them about our story. Amy Willis, her husband and Ben have graciously gone out of their way to get us a room and provide us with rides for the next few nights. We all really appreciated it especially with it being the holiday weekend. We understand everyone is busy during this time of the year and it means a lot to know that people are still willing to help us reach our goal.
Ben also took us out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant where we watch some of the college basketball games. It was weird to see the games going on and not really caring who was winning or losing. I usually get pretty involved in the tournament but this year was the first time I didn't fill out a bracket in a long time. I honestly couldn't even name all four number one seeds. To some degree we are putting the real world on hold and just living each day step by step. It's a great feeling to just let everything else go. One last thing about dinner. Neither Ken or Matt could finish their meals unlike myself. I guess we are back to being even after my failed attempt at the largest burger in the world. However, what they didn't tell you was how many cheese fries I had prior to this burger. I still feel I could eat both of them under the table any day.
We returned to the hotel where we are currently doing laundry and relaxing for the rest of the night. Amy will be picking us up tomorrow morning around 8 and driving us back to where we finished today. We have a total of 51 miles to cover in the next two days so we can pretty much go as long or as short as we wish. They are calling for light rain all day so we will see how the day goes. I am not that confident to call our fourth rain day of the trip but Matt can tell you all about that tomorrow. Thanks for reading and for all the support everyone has shown us so far on this trip. Happy Easter Everyone. Enjoy the time with your families.
-Andy
Friday, March 21, 2008
Day 50
Today started a little early for Andy, as he and Elyse had to bring Kaitlyn to the airport so she could return to Albany. Check out the news link from Denton, as Kaitlyn made a cameo appearance in there as well! Andy and Kaitlyn said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways. She made it safely back around 3:00 New York time. As for Andy, he returned to the house at about 5:30 Texas time to get an extra hour of sleep before the team would wake up for the day's travel.
When they awoke, it was 6:30 and the guys began to pack the joggers. This was quite a task today, as the team spent the past 4 days with Kaitlyn's cousins. Andy said they had stuff everywhere, and it was like an early Easter egg hunt to find everything. Once the joggers were packed, the guys jumped in the car for the hour ride to where they had left off the day before. They were going to be starting about 12 miles outside of Decatur. This hour ride was used for some sleep, but it was a restless ride. Andy said he was physically exhausted today, and mentally he just wasn't in it. It was a hard day to get moving. The trio began moving around 9 am, and walked for a little while. They made about 3 stops in the first 40 minutes to correct one of the joggers front wheels. Like I said, it was just a tough day to get any momentum flowing.
Today was a big day in some other ways. First, the guys found a total of 12 license plates on the road today. They kept 8, one being from Minnesota! The team kept moving, and arrived in Decatur for lunch. Andy said the courthouse was huge in this small town. They headed to the Courthouse Cafe for lunch. After about an hour of eating and recovering, they began the 19 miles to Runaway Bay. Right after leaving Decatur, the road became a much larger highway. There was a lane in the middle that no cars could travel in, maybe intended for maintenance. However, it was empty, and the team took advantage. The ran for about 10 miles on this lane, with traffic on either side. Andy said that today was easily the hottest day of the trip so far, with temperatures in the low 80s. Despite the temperature, the crew kept moving toward the day's final destination.
Just before arriving in Runaway Bay, the guys caught a glimpse of their first plateau. They could see the walls of the plateau in the distance, and Andy said it was neat to see because he has never experienced one. Just after that, the road split around a huge lake. Runaway Bay was located right on the lake, and the guys became excited as they drew closer. Andy said that after miles and miles of farmland and empty space, it was cool to see this huge lake appear and the road split around it. As they rolled into town, they stopped at a gas station. The trio was told there was not much in Runaway Bay, so they wanted to get some water, Gatorade, and food incase this was their only opportunity. Right next to the gas station was a public beach, and Ken was really looking to spend the night there. Right as they were going to head to the beach, they came across some police officers and asked if it would be alright to put up their tent. The officers said no, and gave no indication that they would help the team. The guys decided they would rely once again on the kindness of strangers and head down the road to see if someone would let them pitch the tent in their yard.
About 3-4 houses in, the guys were ready to give up. No one had been answering their doors, and they were almost decided on just finding a safe clearing to put up the tent. Ken saw one last chance - a "triangle house." This house had a roof that went all the way to the ground, forming a triangle. Luckily, the gentleman and his wife were outside, and Andy asked if it would be alright for them to set up shop. The man quickly obliged, and the guys were excited. The gentleman began talking to the guys more and more, and he was all about their quest. He really thought it was awesome that they were traveling the nation for such a noble cause. The guys were about to shower in the lake, when the gentleman generously offered up his house for showers. After showers, he offered to order them a pizza. The guys were pumped. They thanked him and agreed. A few minutes later, he asked if they would rather go to a bar and get some food an drinks. Ken was PUMPED and immediately wanted to go. A little while later, the gentleman, his wife, and the team headed to Red's Sports Bar and Grill.
When they arrived, they had to become members of the bar. The gentleman tried to reason with the owners of the bar, because the guys would only be there one night. However, they would not budge. This gentleman picked up the tab for the three $10 memberships, and they entered the bar. As they entered, they received membership cards, which were identical to the Thumbs Up Productions business card that Ken and Ryan Pennell had created just a couple years earlier! When I finished up my conversation with Andy, he was headed back inside to get some food and drinks, which the gentleman has also graciously offered to pay for.
One more thing before I close up this blog for the night. Durkin told me that this gentleman, in their talks about the journey, told them an interesting fact about the road they had been running on for the past few days. Discovery Channel named that road the most dangerous road in America! With this new information, the guys will be paying much more attention to traffic, and continue to dominate the most dangerous road known to man.
Thanks for all your continuous support, and KEEP MOVIN'!
- Rick
When they awoke, it was 6:30 and the guys began to pack the joggers. This was quite a task today, as the team spent the past 4 days with Kaitlyn's cousins. Andy said they had stuff everywhere, and it was like an early Easter egg hunt to find everything. Once the joggers were packed, the guys jumped in the car for the hour ride to where they had left off the day before. They were going to be starting about 12 miles outside of Decatur. This hour ride was used for some sleep, but it was a restless ride. Andy said he was physically exhausted today, and mentally he just wasn't in it. It was a hard day to get moving. The trio began moving around 9 am, and walked for a little while. They made about 3 stops in the first 40 minutes to correct one of the joggers front wheels. Like I said, it was just a tough day to get any momentum flowing.
Today was a big day in some other ways. First, the guys found a total of 12 license plates on the road today. They kept 8, one being from Minnesota! The team kept moving, and arrived in Decatur for lunch. Andy said the courthouse was huge in this small town. They headed to the Courthouse Cafe for lunch. After about an hour of eating and recovering, they began the 19 miles to Runaway Bay. Right after leaving Decatur, the road became a much larger highway. There was a lane in the middle that no cars could travel in, maybe intended for maintenance. However, it was empty, and the team took advantage. The ran for about 10 miles on this lane, with traffic on either side. Andy said that today was easily the hottest day of the trip so far, with temperatures in the low 80s. Despite the temperature, the crew kept moving toward the day's final destination.
Just before arriving in Runaway Bay, the guys caught a glimpse of their first plateau. They could see the walls of the plateau in the distance, and Andy said it was neat to see because he has never experienced one. Just after that, the road split around a huge lake. Runaway Bay was located right on the lake, and the guys became excited as they drew closer. Andy said that after miles and miles of farmland and empty space, it was cool to see this huge lake appear and the road split around it. As they rolled into town, they stopped at a gas station. The trio was told there was not much in Runaway Bay, so they wanted to get some water, Gatorade, and food incase this was their only opportunity. Right next to the gas station was a public beach, and Ken was really looking to spend the night there. Right as they were going to head to the beach, they came across some police officers and asked if it would be alright to put up their tent. The officers said no, and gave no indication that they would help the team. The guys decided they would rely once again on the kindness of strangers and head down the road to see if someone would let them pitch the tent in their yard.
About 3-4 houses in, the guys were ready to give up. No one had been answering their doors, and they were almost decided on just finding a safe clearing to put up the tent. Ken saw one last chance - a "triangle house." This house had a roof that went all the way to the ground, forming a triangle. Luckily, the gentleman and his wife were outside, and Andy asked if it would be alright for them to set up shop. The man quickly obliged, and the guys were excited. The gentleman began talking to the guys more and more, and he was all about their quest. He really thought it was awesome that they were traveling the nation for such a noble cause. The guys were about to shower in the lake, when the gentleman generously offered up his house for showers. After showers, he offered to order them a pizza. The guys were pumped. They thanked him and agreed. A few minutes later, he asked if they would rather go to a bar and get some food an drinks. Ken was PUMPED and immediately wanted to go. A little while later, the gentleman, his wife, and the team headed to Red's Sports Bar and Grill.
When they arrived, they had to become members of the bar. The gentleman tried to reason with the owners of the bar, because the guys would only be there one night. However, they would not budge. This gentleman picked up the tab for the three $10 memberships, and they entered the bar. As they entered, they received membership cards, which were identical to the Thumbs Up Productions business card that Ken and Ryan Pennell had created just a couple years earlier! When I finished up my conversation with Andy, he was headed back inside to get some food and drinks, which the gentleman has also graciously offered to pay for.
One more thing before I close up this blog for the night. Durkin told me that this gentleman, in their talks about the journey, told them an interesting fact about the road they had been running on for the past few days. Discovery Channel named that road the most dangerous road in America! With this new information, the guys will be paying much more attention to traffic, and continue to dominate the most dangerous road known to man.
Thanks for all your continuous support, and KEEP MOVIN'!
- Rick
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Day 49
It's been a while since I (Ken) has written a blog, so I guess it's my turn. Today was a gorgeous day on the road for us. We woke up at 7am this morning to a nice cool and clear morning. When these mornings present themselves to us, I have come to KNOW that blue skies and warm breezes await us. That is exactly what we got, all day today :)
Elyse drove us to Joey's cafe, which is where we ended 2 days ago. We got running by about 8:30, and we all felt pretty good from having the day off yesterday...one thing was a bit different this morning, however. We had another member of nationrun today joining us! Kaitlyn was with us, and we were all as pumped that she was out there with us as she was to be there.
As I said, we got going around 8:30, Kaitlyn, Andy, Matt, and myself. Now...I will also revisit this topic later in the blog...but going into today, our good friends Reynold and John from Columbus, GA were incontestably in the number 1 spots for cameo appearance mileage so far on our trip...they have been sitting at 27 miles and in first place since day 11 of the trip. Our day today was pegged to be around the 27 mile range, but Kaitlyn didn't know exactly how far she was going to make it. The results will be revealed as you read on in the update.
We got going heading west on Route 380. The shoulder was pretty good for the most part! It was really nice running with Kaitlyn, we all got some good talking in today. Most of the time when we run...the dialogue is filled with dumb jokes and weird sound effects...but I felt like all of us had some nice things to talk about today.
About 10 miles into the run, as we entered Denton, TX...we saw a bowling alley. Before the trip, Durkin proclaimed 2 random goals for the trip: He wanted to 1) See a movie during the middle of a run one day, and 2) Bowl a game during the middle of a run one day. Since we saw the bowling alley...we all decided to take a good break and hit the lanes! We got set up in a lane and before we knew it, we were bowling...midday on a Thursday...while the sun was shining and it was beautiful outside!!!
Anyways, my first ball of the game was a strike...for a second I was thinking this was going to be the day that I bowled a 300. That was not to be... for today, the second frame, I bowled a 9 and missed the second ball. I ended up with a measly 144..but it was a strong enough showing to bring home first place on the day. The real story was the battle for 2nd-4th place. At the 8th frame, Matt, Andy and Kaitlyn were only separated by a mere 5 pins. By the time the last frame came, Matt had secured at least a 3rd place over Kaitlyn, but Andy only needed a spare to BEAT Durkin! Any type of spare and that was it, he would win. He got the first 9 pins in the first ball. But with that one pin being the difference between a W and a L, Andy choked and missed it. He fell to the ground, crying and rolling around in complete disappointment. He eventually got it together and we packed up and got moving.
Kaitlyn was still feeling pretty good at this point, so we kept rolling pretty good. 14 miles in we grabbed some quick lunch at DQ and kept it rolling. We kept running at a pretty steady pace for the rest of the day, and Kaitlyn kept moving...I was really proud of her! Her body was getting a bit tight towards the end of the day, but even at the end of the run, she raced Durkin to the ending point in what she describes as "...perfect running form!" She ended up beating him.
Elyse picked us up at around 27.5 miles on the day. So at this point we had Kaitlyn atop the current all-time NationRun cameo appearance mileage list. Again, I will return to this topic in full detail at the end of today's entry! When we got in the car...I had a package waiting for me!!! My parents had overnighted a box filled with a couple goodies. I got my new cell phone, as my other one bit the dust recently (I have a pink razor by the way.) They also included my new shoes from Saucony, and some other gear Saucony had sent us. It was pretty cool, we all got shirts, hats, shorts, Saucony brand chapstick, many pairs of shoes, and various other small things. THANKS SAUCONY!! My parents also sent a bunch of Easter goodies...so it was like getting a nice and early Easter basket from the Easter Bunny, even though I won't be home for Easter.
Elyse then took us, well mainly me, to the Verizon store so I could get my phone set up. I got it all taken care of and I now have a working cell phone. My first call was to my girlfriend, Claire. She was glad to see my number on her Caller ID, and not Andy's or Matt's. It was a nice feeling to use my own phone...now I don't have to mooch phone time from them!
We went back to the house and got showered up. Elyse told us that she was expecting a much more "potent stank" from us on the ride home, but was pleasantly surprised that our smell was quite under control.
We then all went out to dinner at Snuffer's. We sat at "The Last Supper" table as our waitress told us that is what our table was called. It was quite fitting, as this was the last time we got to see most of Kaitlyn's family. It was a really nice dinner, and it was especially nice to see everyone one last time. Everyone in this family has helped us out so incredibly much during our stay in central Texas! On a side note to the dinner...Durkin, Andy and I all got the Double Cheeseburger...which was 1 pound of burger....Durkin and I dominated this thing...while Andy choked once again on the day and only finished...I would say 3/8 of it. It was a poor showing.
After we said goodbye to everyone, we got on our way back home for our last night in Flower Mound, TX. Kaitlyn's flight leaves tomorrow morning at 6:30...so Andy will be going with her to the airport as Matt and I get to sleep in a little extra!! But, we are all super glad Kaitlyn came down. Not only did you surprise Andy and make his life by being here, Kaitlyn...but you really were a delight to be around :) Thanks for coming down and hanging out with us. I appreciate it, though probably not as much and as deep as Andy does, so much! Thanks again!!
I will now talk about our Official & Current All-Time NationRun Cameo Appearance Mileage List. I have attached a nice and easy-to-remember acronym to it...the OCATNRCAM List!
So, before today, John and Reynold from Columbus, GA were sitting pretty by themselves in first place at 27 miles. Today, however, Kaitlyn ran 27.5 miles. We had thought that John and Reynold had been squeaked by in the standings! After doing some Google Maps investigation...we have come to the conclusion that there is a 3-way tie for First place at 27.5 between Kaitlyn, Reynold, and John. Kaitlyn has informed us that when she comes out to San Diego at the end, she will be adding some miles to her total to move ahead in the standings! Reynold and John, we hope you're reading this...for I believe this is a challenge on Kaitlyn's part! For records sake, I will now show our readers the current mileage list of those who have run with us so far on the trip:
All-Time NationRun Cameo Mileage List
1) Kaitlyn Skelley 27.5 miles
1) Reynold Counts 27.5 miles
1) John Teeples 27.5 miles
4) Dave Durkin 18 miles
5) Josh "Sunshine" Mitchell 12 miles
6) Columbus Running Club 7 miles
7) Texarkana Running Club 6.5 miles
8) Scot Mindel .25 miles
That is our current list! Anyone can at anytime add themselves to this list by coming out for a run with us!!! Also, totals can be added cumulatively if...for instance Kaitlyn runs a half mile with us at the end and passes John and Reynold to claim first place! Only time will tell what the end list will show as the victor.
So it's getting quite late, and this blogger is tired. I hope you all have a nice holiday weekend with family and friends. If you go out for a run in the next week...run an extra mile for me :)
Ken
ps - I hear that my good friend Jess Lebowitz just got some NationRun shirts delivered today from Rick Decarr...AWESOME. Wear those things proudly around Oneonta and the rest of the world. I love you!!
pps - I miss you Claire!
ppps - goodnight world
Elyse drove us to Joey's cafe, which is where we ended 2 days ago. We got running by about 8:30, and we all felt pretty good from having the day off yesterday...one thing was a bit different this morning, however. We had another member of nationrun today joining us! Kaitlyn was with us, and we were all as pumped that she was out there with us as she was to be there.
As I said, we got going around 8:30, Kaitlyn, Andy, Matt, and myself. Now...I will also revisit this topic later in the blog...but going into today, our good friends Reynold and John from Columbus, GA were incontestably in the number 1 spots for cameo appearance mileage so far on our trip...they have been sitting at 27 miles and in first place since day 11 of the trip. Our day today was pegged to be around the 27 mile range, but Kaitlyn didn't know exactly how far she was going to make it. The results will be revealed as you read on in the update.
We got going heading west on Route 380. The shoulder was pretty good for the most part! It was really nice running with Kaitlyn, we all got some good talking in today. Most of the time when we run...the dialogue is filled with dumb jokes and weird sound effects...but I felt like all of us had some nice things to talk about today.
About 10 miles into the run, as we entered Denton, TX...we saw a bowling alley. Before the trip, Durkin proclaimed 2 random goals for the trip: He wanted to 1) See a movie during the middle of a run one day, and 2) Bowl a game during the middle of a run one day. Since we saw the bowling alley...we all decided to take a good break and hit the lanes! We got set up in a lane and before we knew it, we were bowling...midday on a Thursday...while the sun was shining and it was beautiful outside!!!
Anyways, my first ball of the game was a strike...for a second I was thinking this was going to be the day that I bowled a 300. That was not to be... for today, the second frame, I bowled a 9 and missed the second ball. I ended up with a measly 144..but it was a strong enough showing to bring home first place on the day. The real story was the battle for 2nd-4th place. At the 8th frame, Matt, Andy and Kaitlyn were only separated by a mere 5 pins. By the time the last frame came, Matt had secured at least a 3rd place over Kaitlyn, but Andy only needed a spare to BEAT Durkin! Any type of spare and that was it, he would win. He got the first 9 pins in the first ball. But with that one pin being the difference between a W and a L, Andy choked and missed it. He fell to the ground, crying and rolling around in complete disappointment. He eventually got it together and we packed up and got moving.
Kaitlyn was still feeling pretty good at this point, so we kept rolling pretty good. 14 miles in we grabbed some quick lunch at DQ and kept it rolling. We kept running at a pretty steady pace for the rest of the day, and Kaitlyn kept moving...I was really proud of her! Her body was getting a bit tight towards the end of the day, but even at the end of the run, she raced Durkin to the ending point in what she describes as "...perfect running form!" She ended up beating him.
Elyse picked us up at around 27.5 miles on the day. So at this point we had Kaitlyn atop the current all-time NationRun cameo appearance mileage list. Again, I will return to this topic in full detail at the end of today's entry! When we got in the car...I had a package waiting for me!!! My parents had overnighted a box filled with a couple goodies. I got my new cell phone, as my other one bit the dust recently (I have a pink razor by the way.) They also included my new shoes from Saucony, and some other gear Saucony had sent us. It was pretty cool, we all got shirts, hats, shorts, Saucony brand chapstick, many pairs of shoes, and various other small things. THANKS SAUCONY!! My parents also sent a bunch of Easter goodies...so it was like getting a nice and early Easter basket from the Easter Bunny, even though I won't be home for Easter.
Elyse then took us, well mainly me, to the Verizon store so I could get my phone set up. I got it all taken care of and I now have a working cell phone. My first call was to my girlfriend, Claire. She was glad to see my number on her Caller ID, and not Andy's or Matt's. It was a nice feeling to use my own phone...now I don't have to mooch phone time from them!
We went back to the house and got showered up. Elyse told us that she was expecting a much more "potent stank" from us on the ride home, but was pleasantly surprised that our smell was quite under control.
We then all went out to dinner at Snuffer's. We sat at "The Last Supper" table as our waitress told us that is what our table was called. It was quite fitting, as this was the last time we got to see most of Kaitlyn's family. It was a really nice dinner, and it was especially nice to see everyone one last time. Everyone in this family has helped us out so incredibly much during our stay in central Texas! On a side note to the dinner...Durkin, Andy and I all got the Double Cheeseburger...which was 1 pound of burger....Durkin and I dominated this thing...while Andy choked once again on the day and only finished...I would say 3/8 of it. It was a poor showing.
After we said goodbye to everyone, we got on our way back home for our last night in Flower Mound, TX. Kaitlyn's flight leaves tomorrow morning at 6:30...so Andy will be going with her to the airport as Matt and I get to sleep in a little extra!! But, we are all super glad Kaitlyn came down. Not only did you surprise Andy and make his life by being here, Kaitlyn...but you really were a delight to be around :) Thanks for coming down and hanging out with us. I appreciate it, though probably not as much and as deep as Andy does, so much! Thanks again!!
I will now talk about our Official & Current All-Time NationRun Cameo Appearance Mileage List. I have attached a nice and easy-to-remember acronym to it...the OCATNRCAM List!
So, before today, John and Reynold from Columbus, GA were sitting pretty by themselves in first place at 27 miles. Today, however, Kaitlyn ran 27.5 miles. We had thought that John and Reynold had been squeaked by in the standings! After doing some Google Maps investigation...we have come to the conclusion that there is a 3-way tie for First place at 27.5 between Kaitlyn, Reynold, and John. Kaitlyn has informed us that when she comes out to San Diego at the end, she will be adding some miles to her total to move ahead in the standings! Reynold and John, we hope you're reading this...for I believe this is a challenge on Kaitlyn's part! For records sake, I will now show our readers the current mileage list of those who have run with us so far on the trip:
All-Time NationRun Cameo Mileage List
1) Kaitlyn Skelley 27.5 miles
1) Reynold Counts 27.5 miles
1) John Teeples 27.5 miles
4) Dave Durkin 18 miles
5) Josh "Sunshine" Mitchell 12 miles
6) Columbus Running Club 7 miles
7) Texarkana Running Club 6.5 miles
8) Scot Mindel .25 miles
That is our current list! Anyone can at anytime add themselves to this list by coming out for a run with us!!! Also, totals can be added cumulatively if...for instance Kaitlyn runs a half mile with us at the end and passes John and Reynold to claim first place! Only time will tell what the end list will show as the victor.
So it's getting quite late, and this blogger is tired. I hope you all have a nice holiday weekend with family and friends. If you go out for a run in the next week...run an extra mile for me :)
Ken
ps - I hear that my good friend Jess Lebowitz just got some NationRun shirts delivered today from Rick Decarr...AWESOME. Wear those things proudly around Oneonta and the rest of the world. I love you!!
pps - I miss you Claire!
ppps - goodnight world
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Day 48
"Hello Y'all"--Those are the famous words of my family in Texas! That's right - this is the time you have all been waiting for - a cameo appearance in the blog of NationRun2008.
This is Kaitlyn, Gigs, Gigglefest, kskells coming at you with a report from Flower Mound, Texas. As you learned yesterday I came into Dallas to surprise Andy, spend time with my family and see the NationRun team as they continue to make great strides across the country. So far my time here has been great and today the boys opted for a day off. Hopefully this day off doesn't set them back at all--but it was certainly worth it (especially for me!).
We started off the morning by sleeping in which was amazing for all of us involved-I think at this point in the trip the boys take in all the sleep they can get. My cousin Elyse had a great breakfast made for us that consisted of: Eggs, coffee cake, fruit and what is apparently called "pigs in a blanket." Durkin loooved the pigs* in a blanket and I am not so much a fan of sausage so I gave mine up to Andy and ate away with just the "blanket". It was good. After a great breakfast and chatting we hung around the house before deciding what the plan would be for the day. The guys watched an hour or so of trick shot bowling which consisted of throwing the ball through 4 chairs and throwing two balls with the same hand. It was quite intense.
There is one part of the morning that I must not forget to mention. We had a showdown in the living room between my second cousin Logan and Durkin that consisted of Star Wars Trivia. This mini trivia session started off with Durkin and Logan exchanging a shared Christmas present between the two of them, a Star Wars pop up book. I guess it is normal that a 23 year old and a 6 year old receive the same gift for Christmas?! Logan and Durkin went back and forth testing each others knowledge of Star Wars for the remainder of the day. It was cute**
Once the trivia was done and it was established that the boys were extremely impressed with Logan and his Star Wars knowledge, the seven of us headed to Fort Worth. On our drive over to Fort Worth the boys were talking about how this area of Texas (Dallas) would probably be the biggest area they would hit until they reached San Diego. Durkin mentioned how one of his goals in Texas was to purchase a Texas belt buckle--so for the rest of the afternoon we were all on the lookout. Our afternoon started with a lunch at Angelo's BBQ Restaurant. This was a BBQ Restaurant that was wigged out with animal heads all over the place. We saw Deer, Moose and Antelope heads. Berkley was extremely afraid of the bear wearing a t-shirt. After eating lunch and taking some pictures we were off to visit the Fort Worth Stock Yards.
I don't think any of us knew what we were in for at the Stalk Yards--right when we arrived we were greeted by a horse and decided to walk into a barn. I am not a huge fan of animals, but we saw the cutest new born horse. It was so small and adorable, only five days old. I also got to sit on a horse and as I was mounting it the back of my jeans ripped. It was the classic moment.
Matt eventually found the belt buckle he was looking for at the fourth or fifth shop. It was a giant silver outline of the State of Texas, probably 5 or 6 inches across and just as high. This thing was enormous. He proudly displayed it for the rest of the afternoon looking tougher than ever. While downtown we also witnessed a mini cattle herd as 20 or so cattle were marched down the main street. It was interesting to see and people around us acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Berkley and Logan also tried their luck in a giant maze that was once a check point in The Amazing Race 5. It took them 25 minutes to snake their way out.
Before we were about to leave and head back to Vanessa and Brent's house for dinner we decided to check out one of the largest Honkey-Tonk clubs in the world. We were all asked to show our Id's in order to look around and wouldn't you know it, I was the only one in the group that didn't have mine on me. They didn't believe I was of age and we were forced to leave without getting our full Texas tour. Better luck next time I guess.
We headed back to Elyse's to change my ripped, favorite, most expensive pair of jeans I've ever owned and then headed over to Vanessa's for dinner. This whole experience for me has been great because it has been so fun to not only visit my family, but also see their homes. They come to NH every summer to visit our family, but it not often our NH family gets out to Texas. So as my Aunt Pam, Elyse and Vanessa spent time cooking, I of course was outside jumping on their awesome trampoline. Andy, Berkley, Logan and I had a great time. We played freeze tag and popcorn - all of which Berkley and Logan were pros at. Andy showed us all some impressive moves that he had recently picked up at the Trampoline and Tumbling Institute in Paris, Texas. While we were fooling around on the trampoline Durkin and Logan were battling it out across the lawn, each with light saber in hand. I don't know who was having more fun. My 6 year old cousin or a 23 year old mustache grown man. Once I was done acting like a six year old dinner was ready! Pam made GREAT lasagna and Elyse and Vanessa did a great job preparing the meal as well. While eating some dessert we all had the pleasure of watching IDOL. Yes, that's right--Elyse, Scott, Vanessa, Brent, Logan and Berkley are all huge fans. I can't say Andy, Ken and Durkin felt the same. Just for the record Logan thinks Simon should be "kicked off." As we were about to leave for the night Andy's phone rang. To the guys surprise it was a friend they had met earlier down the road. Anita, from Greensville, MS was calling to see how things were going. She was excited to talk with the guys and they felt the same way.
After a great day it was time to head back to Scott and Elyse's to prepare myself for my cameo appearance on the road. Today was so fun and I am grateful the boys decided to take the day off. I hope to get enough sleep tonight because I will be "attempting" to run with them tomorrow. DO you think I can make it-because at this point I don't think my family has much confidence in me...we'll have to see! I hope to make it all day but I will have my cell phone ready to go.
I leave you with my Grandmother Hale's words of wisdom to the boys:
"Keep those legs running and continue to follow your dreams!"-Thanks Grammy
Be sure to check in tomorrow to see if I make it or if the boys end up pushing me in the jogger! Also, to the family members of Andy, Ken and Matt--the boys look so GREAT and I can assure you they certainly eat enough:)
*Kaitlyn/Gigs*
I talked with my parents today and they informed me that a number of packages arrived at my house. For those of you that have not looked at the website lately we have added a thank you and links to Saucony. Patrick, the VP of Marketing contacted us about a week ago stating he has been following our run and wanted to help us out. The great people at Saucony have generously donated 6 pairs of running shoes to all of us along with a number of t-shirts, running shorts, head bands, hats and even rain coats. We would like to thank Patrick and everyone at Saucony for there support in our dream. Without the help of great people like them and across the country this trip would not be what it is for all of us. Keep it coming America...
-Andy
* They were made of beef so I guess they were "Cows in a blanket".
** I wasn't sure just how into Star Wars Logan really was, so I started with easy questions. At first it was simply "what color is Darth Vader's light saber? how 'bout Luke's?". Logan really impressed me so I stepped it up a little bit and he still kept the answers coming! On our way to Fort Worth we were stopped at a stop light and both our car and the car he was in had the windows down. Ken and Andy were pressuring me to hit him with some trivia but my mind was drawing a blank. I thought of asking him what Boba Fett's ship was called but I knew there was no way he would get it. I couldn't think of anything else to ask so I just blurted out that question, sure enough he immediately fired back with "Slave 1!". I was in total shock, I'm pretty sure they don't even mention it's name in any of the movies, he just knew it.
On the topic of Boba Fett, today we found out when Logan grows up he wants to be a bounty hunter. In a related but much cuter discussion, we learned that when Berkley grows up she wants to be "A doctor, a mommy and a grocery shopper...and work at target!"
May the force be with you,
Durkin
This is Kaitlyn, Gigs, Gigglefest, kskells coming at you with a report from Flower Mound, Texas. As you learned yesterday I came into Dallas to surprise Andy, spend time with my family and see the NationRun team as they continue to make great strides across the country. So far my time here has been great and today the boys opted for a day off. Hopefully this day off doesn't set them back at all--but it was certainly worth it (especially for me!).
We started off the morning by sleeping in which was amazing for all of us involved-I think at this point in the trip the boys take in all the sleep they can get. My cousin Elyse had a great breakfast made for us that consisted of: Eggs, coffee cake, fruit and what is apparently called "pigs in a blanket." Durkin loooved the pigs* in a blanket and I am not so much a fan of sausage so I gave mine up to Andy and ate away with just the "blanket". It was good. After a great breakfast and chatting we hung around the house before deciding what the plan would be for the day. The guys watched an hour or so of trick shot bowling which consisted of throwing the ball through 4 chairs and throwing two balls with the same hand. It was quite intense.
There is one part of the morning that I must not forget to mention. We had a showdown in the living room between my second cousin Logan and Durkin that consisted of Star Wars Trivia. This mini trivia session started off with Durkin and Logan exchanging a shared Christmas present between the two of them, a Star Wars pop up book. I guess it is normal that a 23 year old and a 6 year old receive the same gift for Christmas?! Logan and Durkin went back and forth testing each others knowledge of Star Wars for the remainder of the day. It was cute**
Once the trivia was done and it was established that the boys were extremely impressed with Logan and his Star Wars knowledge, the seven of us headed to Fort Worth. On our drive over to Fort Worth the boys were talking about how this area of Texas (Dallas) would probably be the biggest area they would hit until they reached San Diego. Durkin mentioned how one of his goals in Texas was to purchase a Texas belt buckle--so for the rest of the afternoon we were all on the lookout. Our afternoon started with a lunch at Angelo's BBQ Restaurant. This was a BBQ Restaurant that was wigged out with animal heads all over the place. We saw Deer, Moose and Antelope heads. Berkley was extremely afraid of the bear wearing a t-shirt. After eating lunch and taking some pictures we were off to visit the Fort Worth Stock Yards.
I don't think any of us knew what we were in for at the Stalk Yards--right when we arrived we were greeted by a horse and decided to walk into a barn. I am not a huge fan of animals, but we saw the cutest new born horse. It was so small and adorable, only five days old. I also got to sit on a horse and as I was mounting it the back of my jeans ripped. It was the classic moment.
Matt eventually found the belt buckle he was looking for at the fourth or fifth shop. It was a giant silver outline of the State of Texas, probably 5 or 6 inches across and just as high. This thing was enormous. He proudly displayed it for the rest of the afternoon looking tougher than ever. While downtown we also witnessed a mini cattle herd as 20 or so cattle were marched down the main street. It was interesting to see and people around us acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Berkley and Logan also tried their luck in a giant maze that was once a check point in The Amazing Race 5. It took them 25 minutes to snake their way out.
Before we were about to leave and head back to Vanessa and Brent's house for dinner we decided to check out one of the largest Honkey-Tonk clubs in the world. We were all asked to show our Id's in order to look around and wouldn't you know it, I was the only one in the group that didn't have mine on me. They didn't believe I was of age and we were forced to leave without getting our full Texas tour. Better luck next time I guess.
We headed back to Elyse's to change my ripped, favorite, most expensive pair of jeans I've ever owned and then headed over to Vanessa's for dinner. This whole experience for me has been great because it has been so fun to not only visit my family, but also see their homes. They come to NH every summer to visit our family, but it not often our NH family gets out to Texas. So as my Aunt Pam, Elyse and Vanessa spent time cooking, I of course was outside jumping on their awesome trampoline. Andy, Berkley, Logan and I had a great time. We played freeze tag and popcorn - all of which Berkley and Logan were pros at. Andy showed us all some impressive moves that he had recently picked up at the Trampoline and Tumbling Institute in Paris, Texas. While we were fooling around on the trampoline Durkin and Logan were battling it out across the lawn, each with light saber in hand. I don't know who was having more fun. My 6 year old cousin or a 23 year old mustache grown man. Once I was done acting like a six year old dinner was ready! Pam made GREAT lasagna and Elyse and Vanessa did a great job preparing the meal as well. While eating some dessert we all had the pleasure of watching IDOL. Yes, that's right--Elyse, Scott, Vanessa, Brent, Logan and Berkley are all huge fans. I can't say Andy, Ken and Durkin felt the same. Just for the record Logan thinks Simon should be "kicked off." As we were about to leave for the night Andy's phone rang. To the guys surprise it was a friend they had met earlier down the road. Anita, from Greensville, MS was calling to see how things were going. She was excited to talk with the guys and they felt the same way.
After a great day it was time to head back to Scott and Elyse's to prepare myself for my cameo appearance on the road. Today was so fun and I am grateful the boys decided to take the day off. I hope to get enough sleep tonight because I will be "attempting" to run with them tomorrow. DO you think I can make it-because at this point I don't think my family has much confidence in me...we'll have to see! I hope to make it all day but I will have my cell phone ready to go.
I leave you with my Grandmother Hale's words of wisdom to the boys:
"Keep those legs running and continue to follow your dreams!"-Thanks Grammy
Be sure to check in tomorrow to see if I make it or if the boys end up pushing me in the jogger! Also, to the family members of Andy, Ken and Matt--the boys look so GREAT and I can assure you they certainly eat enough:)
*Kaitlyn/Gigs*
I talked with my parents today and they informed me that a number of packages arrived at my house. For those of you that have not looked at the website lately we have added a thank you and links to Saucony. Patrick, the VP of Marketing contacted us about a week ago stating he has been following our run and wanted to help us out. The great people at Saucony have generously donated 6 pairs of running shoes to all of us along with a number of t-shirts, running shorts, head bands, hats and even rain coats. We would like to thank Patrick and everyone at Saucony for there support in our dream. Without the help of great people like them and across the country this trip would not be what it is for all of us. Keep it coming America...
-Andy
* They were made of beef so I guess they were "Cows in a blanket".
** I wasn't sure just how into Star Wars Logan really was, so I started with easy questions. At first it was simply "what color is Darth Vader's light saber? how 'bout Luke's?". Logan really impressed me so I stepped it up a little bit and he still kept the answers coming! On our way to Fort Worth we were stopped at a stop light and both our car and the car he was in had the windows down. Ken and Andy were pressuring me to hit him with some trivia but my mind was drawing a blank. I thought of asking him what Boba Fett's ship was called but I knew there was no way he would get it. I couldn't think of anything else to ask so I just blurted out that question, sure enough he immediately fired back with "Slave 1!". I was in total shock, I'm pretty sure they don't even mention it's name in any of the movies, he just knew it.
On the topic of Boba Fett, today we found out when Logan grows up he wants to be a bounty hunter. In a related but much cuter discussion, we learned that when Berkley grows up she wants to be "A doctor, a mommy and a grocery shopper...and work at target!"
May the force be with you,
Durkin
Day 47
It is currently 11:27 Texas time, lets see if I can't get this blog over and out while its still Day 47.
First of all I'd like to start off with something that should have made it in yesterday's blog. Minutes after meeting Brent's kids we learned they loved Star Wars! Even more incredible, his 4 year old daughter was able to quote Han Solo! She was a little shy at first, but it only took a minute for her to show us her impression of "Laugh it up fur ball!". I was really impressed, most little kids just know about light sabers and Darth Vader, but this girl quoted Solo! His son Logan is also very into Lego Star Wars, these kids are great!
Anyways onto today. We got back going right were we left off yesterday. It was a very dark, cold, windy, rainy morning. We worked on getting some supplies and putting the jogger together before making our way out into the storm. Of course on days like this everything goes wrong. Somehow Andy managed to muscle the jogger a bit too much, and we had to do some quick surgery. After that we got on our way down 380. At the start of the day there was no shoulder, lots of rain, and no visibility. It was pretty scary and tough to get going, so I decided to get the guys motivated. I gave them a speech that would have made King Leonidas proud. We were up against two strong forces, the forces of nature beating down on us from the skies, and the force of unyielding economic development in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. There were consumers EVERYWHERE! But all the commerce and all the rain was no match for us! Andy and I agreed that some times you just gotta "Man Up". We were like salmon swimming up stream, as there was a strong flow of water running down the little shoulder we had. There was no choice but to push on. Early on in the run we were stopped by a police officer who actually put his lights on to stop us (a first for the trip). There had been reports of men running with a baby in the storm and he was coming to check us out. He warned us that we were on a very dangerous road and we should get off it immediately. We couldn't really tell if it was a warning or an order, so we pushed on. About 8 miles into it the rain was coming down really hard, and we were surrounded by lightning. We decided to pull into the Wal-Mart, and try to wait out the storm for a while. The folks in the Gardening Center were more than welcoming to us, and let us take over a small portion of concrete.
We waited around for about 40 minutes and made up a game plan. We figured we'd try to get another 8-12 in on the day, cutting it short by about 10. This works out however since we have a 19 mile day planned for two days from now which we'll just switch out.
We kept rolling, and eventually met up with Dan, a reporter from the Dallas area. We couldn't believe this guy was out in the storm! You'd have to be crazy to put yourself out into weather like this! All jokes aside, this dude was out there in business clothes, nice pants and a tie, not exactly waterproof gear. We talked to him and agreed to meet up at a diner about 5 miles down the road. We spent the rest of the day literally getting blown over by the wind, and talking about how hard Dan was for being out here. I'm going to make it a point to e-mail his supervisors and make sure he gets a raise for his incredible passion for journalism. We saw Dan across from what we thought was the diner we were stopping at, but after stopping and asking him we found it was about a quarter of a mile up the road. This got us all pretty excited. We started singing all sorts of upbeat songs, culminating in Diddy singing the "Mana-Mana" song from The Muppets. Words can't explain how into it he was, it was a beautiful moment. We were laughing, singing and dancing in the pouring rain, when Andy decided "I'm wet enough, I might as well dive into that ditch!". Sure enough, Andy ran and slid into a small stream created by the rain Crocodile-Mile-Style. Ken and I erupted into laughter since it was absolutely insane, and no one encouraged him to do it, he did it for him. We eventually met up with Dan at Joey's Cafe, a delicious Italian spot where we talked for about an hour about the trip. Dan was very interested in the trip. You can definitely tell when a reporter is interested in the story, or just going through the motions.
After lunch Elyse picked us up and brought us back to some dry clothes and warm showers. We all got organized and relaxed, and met back up with Brent to get in some quick hot tub action at a local health club. We all really enjoyed the hot tub after a long day in the cold rain.
After the hot tub it was time for the main event, dinner! I say the main event because I've been personally looking forward to this moment for the last few days. Kaitlyn (Andy's girlfriend) has been planning for over a month to come out today and surprise visit Andy! Its been quite an adventure keeping this secret from Andy. Ken and I developed a game where we would stand about 5-10 feet from Andy and would see who could say "Kaitlyn is coming to visit in a few days" the loudest without him hearing us, I got pretty risky with it. We went to a Tex-Mex restaurant and took a seat. After about five minutes Kaitlyn laid the classic come from behind hand over the eyes "guess who" move on Diddy. He immediatly smiled and said "Thats why you haven't been answering your phone today!?". It was a really cool moment, I've been really excited for both of them the last few days.
Due to a complex combination of Kaitlyn's visit, and a slew of personal reasons we've decided to take tomorrow off so we can really enjoy this area with Kaitlyn and her family. Its an unscheduled day off, but hey we deserve it! Besides, we banked one up back in Mississippi, so we're still on schedule for our May 26th dance in San Diego!!
Happy Birthday Peggy!!
Love,
Durkin
Edit: I finished this post at 11:59 I swear! pay no attention to Blogger's flawed timing system.
First of all I'd like to start off with something that should have made it in yesterday's blog. Minutes after meeting Brent's kids we learned they loved Star Wars! Even more incredible, his 4 year old daughter was able to quote Han Solo! She was a little shy at first, but it only took a minute for her to show us her impression of "Laugh it up fur ball!". I was really impressed, most little kids just know about light sabers and Darth Vader, but this girl quoted Solo! His son Logan is also very into Lego Star Wars, these kids are great!
Anyways onto today. We got back going right were we left off yesterday. It was a very dark, cold, windy, rainy morning. We worked on getting some supplies and putting the jogger together before making our way out into the storm. Of course on days like this everything goes wrong. Somehow Andy managed to muscle the jogger a bit too much, and we had to do some quick surgery. After that we got on our way down 380. At the start of the day there was no shoulder, lots of rain, and no visibility. It was pretty scary and tough to get going, so I decided to get the guys motivated. I gave them a speech that would have made King Leonidas proud. We were up against two strong forces, the forces of nature beating down on us from the skies, and the force of unyielding economic development in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. There were consumers EVERYWHERE! But all the commerce and all the rain was no match for us! Andy and I agreed that some times you just gotta "Man Up". We were like salmon swimming up stream, as there was a strong flow of water running down the little shoulder we had. There was no choice but to push on. Early on in the run we were stopped by a police officer who actually put his lights on to stop us (a first for the trip). There had been reports of men running with a baby in the storm and he was coming to check us out. He warned us that we were on a very dangerous road and we should get off it immediately. We couldn't really tell if it was a warning or an order, so we pushed on. About 8 miles into it the rain was coming down really hard, and we were surrounded by lightning. We decided to pull into the Wal-Mart, and try to wait out the storm for a while. The folks in the Gardening Center were more than welcoming to us, and let us take over a small portion of concrete.
We waited around for about 40 minutes and made up a game plan. We figured we'd try to get another 8-12 in on the day, cutting it short by about 10. This works out however since we have a 19 mile day planned for two days from now which we'll just switch out.
We kept rolling, and eventually met up with Dan, a reporter from the Dallas area. We couldn't believe this guy was out in the storm! You'd have to be crazy to put yourself out into weather like this! All jokes aside, this dude was out there in business clothes, nice pants and a tie, not exactly waterproof gear. We talked to him and agreed to meet up at a diner about 5 miles down the road. We spent the rest of the day literally getting blown over by the wind, and talking about how hard Dan was for being out here. I'm going to make it a point to e-mail his supervisors and make sure he gets a raise for his incredible passion for journalism. We saw Dan across from what we thought was the diner we were stopping at, but after stopping and asking him we found it was about a quarter of a mile up the road. This got us all pretty excited. We started singing all sorts of upbeat songs, culminating in Diddy singing the "Mana-Mana" song from The Muppets. Words can't explain how into it he was, it was a beautiful moment. We were laughing, singing and dancing in the pouring rain, when Andy decided "I'm wet enough, I might as well dive into that ditch!". Sure enough, Andy ran and slid into a small stream created by the rain Crocodile-Mile-Style. Ken and I erupted into laughter since it was absolutely insane, and no one encouraged him to do it, he did it for him. We eventually met up with Dan at Joey's Cafe, a delicious Italian spot where we talked for about an hour about the trip. Dan was very interested in the trip. You can definitely tell when a reporter is interested in the story, or just going through the motions.
After lunch Elyse picked us up and brought us back to some dry clothes and warm showers. We all got organized and relaxed, and met back up with Brent to get in some quick hot tub action at a local health club. We all really enjoyed the hot tub after a long day in the cold rain.
After the hot tub it was time for the main event, dinner! I say the main event because I've been personally looking forward to this moment for the last few days. Kaitlyn (Andy's girlfriend) has been planning for over a month to come out today and surprise visit Andy! Its been quite an adventure keeping this secret from Andy. Ken and I developed a game where we would stand about 5-10 feet from Andy and would see who could say "Kaitlyn is coming to visit in a few days" the loudest without him hearing us, I got pretty risky with it. We went to a Tex-Mex restaurant and took a seat. After about five minutes Kaitlyn laid the classic come from behind hand over the eyes "guess who" move on Diddy. He immediatly smiled and said "Thats why you haven't been answering your phone today!?". It was a really cool moment, I've been really excited for both of them the last few days.
Due to a complex combination of Kaitlyn's visit, and a slew of personal reasons we've decided to take tomorrow off so we can really enjoy this area with Kaitlyn and her family. Its an unscheduled day off, but hey we deserve it! Besides, we banked one up back in Mississippi, so we're still on schedule for our May 26th dance in San Diego!!
Happy Birthday Peggy!!
Love,
Durkin
Edit: I finished this post at 11:59 I swear! pay no attention to Blogger's flawed timing system.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Day 46
The weather called for heavy rain in the afternoon and we all wanted to get on the road as early as possible. We were kind of worn down from the previous few late nights and tough days on the road which made waking up harder than usual, especially for Ken. As we packed the joggers and prepared for the possibility of rain Ken remained in bed. This was not his normal routine. Just before we had everything packed away he asked Matt and myself if he could sleep an extra hour and catch up with us later in the day. This was not something that I really wanted to do but I also didn't want to get hit with rain if I didn't have to. After a few minutes of debate we decided to leave Ken in bed with one of the joggers as Matt and I started our day. We were to call him at 9 to wake him up.
We found a Sonic for a couple of breakfast sandwiches which Durkin was not a fan of. He was really looking forward to a biscuit sandwich and when we opened the bag to find two burritos Matt could no longer contain his anger. He eventually ate the burrito but claimed he did not have to like it.
The morning was going along smoothly as we went up and down a number of steep hills and around many twists and turns in the road when suddenly my phone rang. I expected it to be Ken telling us he was already awake and getting ready to leave or Kaitlyn seeing how my morning was going but was excited when I found out it was Glen Turner - The Legendary Zzzoomer. For those of you that are not familiar with Glen he is currently zooming across the country. He has created a device where he is part running, part scooting and part zooming his way from California to Tybee Island, GA. This is the exact location where the three of us started our journey 7 weeks ago. Originally, we thought our paths would cross but it turned out that "we missed each other in the night". Nevertheless, this phone call thrilled us as we talked to Glen about what we have seen and vice versa. As we hung up the phone Durkin and I felt like we had another zoom to our step and rolled for the next few miles.
At 9 we called Ken for his morning wake up call. Unfortunately, he did not answer. We called his over and over until finally around 10 he answered. He was finishing up packing and heading out the door, probably 10 miles behind us. For the next hour or two we took back road after back road before dumping out to route 121. We followed this last 11 miles before linking up with 380 which will take us the remainder of the way across Texas. For the next 2 weeks this road will be our home.
With 5 miles left in the day Durkin and I stopped at a Sonic in the town of Melissa, where we met up with Brent Jones, Kaitlyn's cousin's husband. For the next three day we will be staying with her family just outside of Denton. He was in the area for work and wanted to meet up with us a bit early. We explained to him that Ken would be another 2 hours before he caught us and since it looked like the rain would hold off we decided to go and get something to eat. Brent treated us to Mexican, Durkin's favorite, and it was nice to sit down and relax. After our meal we drove back to Sonic to meet up with Ken. The three of us finished off our 30 mile day and were picked up by Brent on the outskirts of McKinney.
Brent told us we could drive directly home or check out his boss's* ranch a few miles away. No one was all that interested in seeing a ranch after another long day and an hour drive ahead of us until Brent mentioned we might be able to shot a few guns. We all immediately agreed that we could not miss out on this opportunity. From here I will let Durkin describe what happened on the ranch but let me preview it by saying...unbelievable!
We totally abused The Second Amendment today, and I loved every minute of it! Les, the caretaker of the ranch showed us around, and let us enjoy some of his firearms. We started off with some skeet shooting on the pond. It was the first time any of us had ever handled a shotgun, and most of us handled ourselves pretty well. I nailed my very first shot, and ended up 2/10 on the day, Ken took down the record with 3 out of 9, and Andy limped in with a pathetic 0 out of 10, we were all pretty disappointed in him. After the shotgun we tried our hand at a pistol. There was no accuracy with this, we just took turns unloading clips into the pond, trust me, way more fun than it sounds. We hung around a little while longer waiting to meet up with the infamous "Machine Gun Mike". Brent assured us we wanted to stick around for this, since it isn't every day you get to handle automatic weapons. We drove up to the shooting range and met up with Mike. Les and Mike told us that if we were shooting we had to load the magazines so we got a quick lesson and got to work. Mike is a big gun collector and told us the history of each of the guns in the small arsenal he brought. He had many different machine guns that have been used in various wars of our military past. Some of these guns had quite the kick and unloaded before you knew it. The most notable guns we fired were the M-16, identical to the one being used by our soldiers overseas, and a 45 calibur Dirty Harry style pistol, that thing packed a punch!
After spending 3 hours at the shooting range we headed to Elyse and Scott's house for dinner (another relative of the Skelley/Hale family...I know they are everywhere). When we arrived a banner saying Welcome Runners was hanging in the doorway. The kids had designed the entire thing and even drew pictures of us. Ken was the only one with hair. It was 8pm when we finally arrived and we quickly showered before we ate. Dinner was amazing and the company was even better. Everyone was interested in our journey and had a million questions. It still feels good to explain to people why we are out here and what we are doing. Our dream is continuing to affect people as we go and it amazes me still.
Tomorrow I am predicting rain. Before we left for the trip I told the guys we would only encounter 10 days of rain. We have been lucky enough to only see 2 days out of 46 so far. Tomorrow, I am afraid will be day 3. 1,000 miles and 7 weeks living on the road. We have had an amazing time so far and I know it will only get better from here. Keep reading and follow your dreams.
Keep Zoomin'
-Andy
*We later found out that Brent's boss was the 136th richest billionaire in the country according to Forbes Magazine.
We found a Sonic for a couple of breakfast sandwiches which Durkin was not a fan of. He was really looking forward to a biscuit sandwich and when we opened the bag to find two burritos Matt could no longer contain his anger. He eventually ate the burrito but claimed he did not have to like it.
The morning was going along smoothly as we went up and down a number of steep hills and around many twists and turns in the road when suddenly my phone rang. I expected it to be Ken telling us he was already awake and getting ready to leave or Kaitlyn seeing how my morning was going but was excited when I found out it was Glen Turner - The Legendary Zzzoomer. For those of you that are not familiar with Glen he is currently zooming across the country. He has created a device where he is part running, part scooting and part zooming his way from California to Tybee Island, GA. This is the exact location where the three of us started our journey 7 weeks ago. Originally, we thought our paths would cross but it turned out that "we missed each other in the night". Nevertheless, this phone call thrilled us as we talked to Glen about what we have seen and vice versa. As we hung up the phone Durkin and I felt like we had another zoom to our step and rolled for the next few miles.
At 9 we called Ken for his morning wake up call. Unfortunately, he did not answer. We called his over and over until finally around 10 he answered. He was finishing up packing and heading out the door, probably 10 miles behind us. For the next hour or two we took back road after back road before dumping out to route 121. We followed this last 11 miles before linking up with 380 which will take us the remainder of the way across Texas. For the next 2 weeks this road will be our home.
With 5 miles left in the day Durkin and I stopped at a Sonic in the town of Melissa, where we met up with Brent Jones, Kaitlyn's cousin's husband. For the next three day we will be staying with her family just outside of Denton. He was in the area for work and wanted to meet up with us a bit early. We explained to him that Ken would be another 2 hours before he caught us and since it looked like the rain would hold off we decided to go and get something to eat. Brent treated us to Mexican, Durkin's favorite, and it was nice to sit down and relax. After our meal we drove back to Sonic to meet up with Ken. The three of us finished off our 30 mile day and were picked up by Brent on the outskirts of McKinney.
Brent told us we could drive directly home or check out his boss's* ranch a few miles away. No one was all that interested in seeing a ranch after another long day and an hour drive ahead of us until Brent mentioned we might be able to shot a few guns. We all immediately agreed that we could not miss out on this opportunity. From here I will let Durkin describe what happened on the ranch but let me preview it by saying...unbelievable!
We totally abused The Second Amendment today, and I loved every minute of it! Les, the caretaker of the ranch showed us around, and let us enjoy some of his firearms. We started off with some skeet shooting on the pond. It was the first time any of us had ever handled a shotgun, and most of us handled ourselves pretty well. I nailed my very first shot, and ended up 2/10 on the day, Ken took down the record with 3 out of 9, and Andy limped in with a pathetic 0 out of 10, we were all pretty disappointed in him. After the shotgun we tried our hand at a pistol. There was no accuracy with this, we just took turns unloading clips into the pond, trust me, way more fun than it sounds. We hung around a little while longer waiting to meet up with the infamous "Machine Gun Mike". Brent assured us we wanted to stick around for this, since it isn't every day you get to handle automatic weapons. We drove up to the shooting range and met up with Mike. Les and Mike told us that if we were shooting we had to load the magazines so we got a quick lesson and got to work. Mike is a big gun collector and told us the history of each of the guns in the small arsenal he brought. He had many different machine guns that have been used in various wars of our military past. Some of these guns had quite the kick and unloaded before you knew it. The most notable guns we fired were the M-16, identical to the one being used by our soldiers overseas, and a 45 calibur Dirty Harry style pistol, that thing packed a punch!
After spending 3 hours at the shooting range we headed to Elyse and Scott's house for dinner (another relative of the Skelley/Hale family...I know they are everywhere). When we arrived a banner saying Welcome Runners was hanging in the doorway. The kids had designed the entire thing and even drew pictures of us. Ken was the only one with hair. It was 8pm when we finally arrived and we quickly showered before we ate. Dinner was amazing and the company was even better. Everyone was interested in our journey and had a million questions. It still feels good to explain to people why we are out here and what we are doing. Our dream is continuing to affect people as we go and it amazes me still.
Tomorrow I am predicting rain. Before we left for the trip I told the guys we would only encounter 10 days of rain. We have been lucky enough to only see 2 days out of 46 so far. Tomorrow, I am afraid will be day 3. 1,000 miles and 7 weeks living on the road. We have had an amazing time so far and I know it will only get better from here. Keep reading and follow your dreams.
Keep Zoomin'
-Andy
*We later found out that Brent's boss was the 136th richest billionaire in the country according to Forbes Magazine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)