Another day in the books and a few more miles closer to our goal. Today was just as exciting as the previous few days as it had its share of adventure and uncertainty. Matt's parents dropped us off where we had finished the day before, just outside an abandoned gas station on Route 65. Our plan was to run most of the day on Route 65 before Mr. Durkin hooked up with us to run his last leg of Arkansas. I am hesitant to say this is his last leg of the trip because I have a good feeling we will see him again before our time on the road is complete. For anyone keeping track at home, he is sitting in second place after running with us for 18 total miles only behind John and Reynold from Columbus, GA. Although the guys from Columbus have more total miles logged with us, Papa D has two states under his belt and I hear he's looking for a third...
We all began running in shorts and t-shirts, the first time we had done at the start of any day, and almost immediately altered our plan of traveling down Route 65. Our traveling companion and life support (GPS) to many unknown and untraveled roads had us turning onto a small dirt road within the first five minutes of running. Once again we made a group decision to follow the GPS to where ever she might lead. The road started out as a dirt path but before long we were standing in the middle of cotton fields on both sides. We kept moving forward hoping that it would improve and a more defined path would emerge. Unfortunately, just the opposite took place. The field of cotton soon turned into row after row of catfish ponds. In case you weren't paying attention to our previous blogs, we are in the catfish capital of the world. For the next two miles we twisted, turned, jumped and skipped our way around the ponds. At one point Matt commented to us that this would be the perfect cross country course. Nothing but a flat grassy field with plenty of different paths to take.
This off road adventure soon ended and we were back in civilization, kind of. We were still on a dirt road but at least it was a road. I kept telling myself as I have been for the past 31 days, that quote "this feels right". None of us have ever been on these roads before and we weren't entirely sure where they would take us but I don't think it really mattered one way or another. We would end up where we ended up and go from there. There is not enough time in the day to worry about what ifs. I know we have said this a lot over the last few days but our journey is already 1/4th complete. This is so hard to believe for me. All the people we have met along the way and friendships we have made still boggles my mind. I can still vividly remember standing on the beach that first day as the rain came down upon us. I remember Ken taking his shirt off as the sun finally came out in the afternoon. He was watching the sun as it was about to show itself from a group of clouds. He timed it just right so his shirt came off just as the sun appeared. Three months remain before we return back to reality...
Anyways, back to the day. We continued to follow dirt road after dirt road until we popped out in the town of Portland, AR, population 552. With only 9 miles left in our day we sat down in the shade to get something to eat and rest for a few minutes. We made some phone calls and talked about the morning with each other when a man who lived across the street came walking toward us. He introduced himself and asked what we were doing. He could tell we were traveling but he wanted to hear our story. We gave him our card and talked with him for a few minutes. When we mentioned that we had just graduated from SUNY Oneonta his eyes lit up. He exclaimed he knew the school well because his niece was Professor O'Mara daughter-in-law. Professor O'Mara is a communications professor at Oneonta and Matt had taken his class. I could not believe this! Out of all the roads we could have followed today and all the places we could have stopped, we chose to sit down in front of this house. In a town with a population of 552 we ran into someone that not only heard of Oneonta but also has a connection to one of the Professors there. It truly is a small world.
Overly excited at this point we continued on down the road where we met up with Mr. Durkin to finish off the last four miles of our day. I do not want to blame him or say it is his fault but the moment we met up with him the wind picked up dramatically. For the next few miles we ran into a fierce wind that did not let up. We finished the day just off of Route 8, where we will pick it back up tomorrow. We have only 22 miles to travel before we arrive in Crossett and will be taking our third day off of the trip. We are now a full day ahead of schedule and can use this day where and when we chose. I am trying to convince the guys to run the nine miles down the road and cross into Louisiana. I don't think it will happen but check back with us over the next few days and find out. .
We ended our day at the Huddle House with a couple of triple-decker hamburgers and fries. This was our second experience with the Huddle and I must say I see a definite third in the near future (tomorrow?). We are staying in a hotel just outside of town and will be here for the next three nights thanks to the Durkin's. The weather is supposed to be nasty the next couple of days, and there is a chance of snow on Tuesday. I can't wait to see what is to come and who we will meet over the next few months.
Make sure you check out our pictures from today. You don't want to miss turtle and puppy-cam.
Thanks for reading and we'll see you on the road.
-Andy
No comments:
Post a Comment