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