Day 76

It seems like a lifetime since one of us "blogged." But once again, we are finally at a computer with the World Wide Web or so they call it. It has been so long since I did things like check my email, or we added photos to our webshots, or I even got to check in with the outside world in just about every way! I just want to start the blog with a couple "real" statements:
1) Wind sucks
2) Pampers, you need to learn to spell!
3) I love Pampers!
4) Durkin is doing really well.
5) We're almost out of New Mexico.
6) It's Andy's BIRTHDAY!

So, today we ran about 30 miles. We had no real starting point that was in a town or ending point that was in a town either. We ran from mile marker 16 to a little ways past mile marker 45. As I stated above, Durkin was feeling much better, so we moved at a pretty nice pace the entire day..

I must say, that I am kind of disappointed that now, whenever anyone asks us the question, "How old are you guys?" We cannot respond simply anymore with "We're all 23." Since today marks the 24th year since Andy's birth, we must now say "Matt and Ken are 23, and Andy is the old guy at a remarkable 24 years." But, with that said...I am happy for Andy that he got to spend his birthday with his family. We just sang him the birthday song and ate cupcakes and he opened a bunch of cards that had money falling out of them...so I think he had a good day.

As we ran today, we ran through a very small town called "Fence Lake." It didn't seem like there was anything there, or anyone there...but as we rounded the corner of town, we saw one, almost dominating plaque with some words about Fence Lake. We thought it was funny...and kind of weird. Here is what it said:

There is a mysterious force that drives people to new lands and new frontiers. there is an abiding love for the land and newly turned soil, for young livestock and for the freedom of ownership, for the independence of spirit. This marker will remain to honor those people who first came, those who left, those who stayed, and those who returned. Fence lake, you will someday fade away. until then, this serves as a remembrance of the heart, soul, and spirit of those who passed this way.

It's almost like this community is calling it a future ghost town! It was still kind of cool to see this thing in the middle of this town that was in the middle of nowhere!

The weather today was pretty good for most of the day. There was not a cloud in the sky. Around 1pm, however, the wind came in once again. It wasn't as bad as it has been in the past...but it was pretty forceful in our faces until at one point we hopped on a northerly road, and the last couple miles, the wind was actually at our side, and sometimes it was at our backs so our run ended quite nice!

Throughout our trip, since the beginning, we have seen huge trucks carrying giant pieces of machinery...many times the trucks have the sign "oversize load." Yeah, we've all seen those trucks. We have seen countless trucks carrying the most dangerous, sharp, intimidating looking things. We always laugh because it seems like every time we see another truck come by, its always something crazier than we've seen before. We have joked that we think the trucks are carrying these pieces to one location somewhere east of where we are, and they are building a super machine called the "Crushinator." One earlier this week, one such truck carried a GIANT tube looking thing with sharp metal teeth in the middle...and in response to seeing this truck go by, Andy affirmed to us that "Yeah, that's the Crushinator's toe." So, who knows...maybe one day the crushinator will wreak havoc across the land. Until then, enjoy your life!

One other thing that needs to be said about today is the grasshoppers! They were out in full force today. I don't know what it is about them that makes them think they can just hop whenever their little hearts desire, but they seem to hop into the wind at the most inopportune times. Today was the worst, it was like one of the plagues! As I ran, they would just hop into the wind, and since the wind was in my face they would just whack right into me. One of the grasshoppers smacked me right in the eyeball. I was down for the count for a couple seconds, but luckily I escaped without even the slightest corneal damage. All day though, these suckers would just hop into the gusts of wind. They would land on the pavement of the road many times and they would just "tuck and roll" when they landed! It was kind of funny to see hundreds of these things floating through the air. Some of them traveled quite a long distance as they were carried by the wind. Today, my arch enemy was the Grasshopper, or Orthoptera Caelifera. Hopefully, tomorrow, they decide to rest while we can happily run without the fear of a sudden grasshopper impaling my eye!

So we ended around 3:00 when Andy's parents picked us up. It was an hour drive to Gallup, NM, where we will stay tonight and tomorrow night with the Wahila's before they head back to New York! We checked into our hotel room, and we all took showers and got did up. I called Claire, because cell phone reception has not been my friend out on the road lately, and it was nice to hear her voice for the first time today. Apparently, she has a group project due tomorrow, and one of her partners emailed her her "part" of the paper, and it was much less than desirable. So tonight, it is my girlfriend's job to pick up that other girl's slack and finish the paper. Don't stay up too late :(

As I said before, we sang the birthday song in Andy's parent's room before we headed out for his birthday dinner. We ate at a local Pub and Grill. It was awesome! The place had sports memorabilia all over the place...it was like a museum! I looked around and there was everything from Lebron James' signed high school basketball jersey to Pete Rose's signed baseball that he wrote on it "I'm sorry I bet on baseball." It was cool to look around...the food was pretty good too! if I ever come back, I'm definitely hitting that place up again!

Now we just headed back to the hotel and were doing some laundry and other stuff. We only have 2 more days until our day off! We're starting to feel better after this little funk we went through, especially Durkin. hope you all enjoyed the blog, the first from one of us in a while! Keep doing your thing, wherever that may be. We miss you all and you are all in our thoughts as we start coming into the final stretch of this Nation. Only 40 days left. WOW. San Diego, here we come.

-Ken