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