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
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