4/7/2011
Even though I am twenty-eight miles closer to the end of this journey, I really ran 30 something. I had to go around some very long trains. There we so many of them and some were moving. I even saw some hobo’s hanging out under the bridge.
You know what I find funny? I find the human need to create lines and boundaries funny. Originally I started out on the south side of interstate 40. The streets were red brick and the houses had white picket fences and purple flowers blooming on the trees. People smiled. Due to a freeway cutting across my running path I had to detour to the north side of the interstate. In an instant, the houses transformed from the Brady Bunch to the Bates motel. Just look at the pictures. I’m not kidding. Then there was yet another line when I crossed the train tracks. I guess that is why they used to say “from the other side of the tracks”.
Eventually the shanty like neighborhood gave way to the plains. As I ran, I began to see many familiar logistics trucks passing me. There are several hundred companies that I have memorized. But, I must say, Fed-ex takes the cake. This company literally owns the road. If these companies were gangs, Fed-ex would be the Corleones hands down. So, I feel lucky that these guys are on my side. After passing me day after day on the road the truckers are pretty familiar with the dark skinned Asian guy running on the side of the interstate. Some of them see me a couple times a day on their routes. I too can recognize faces and trucks now. I bet when I reach the finish line I will be on a first name basis with some of them.
I ran into the Texas Welcome center. It was at the end of Amarillo. There my mom was waiting to get some video footage and she was chatting with my new friend Grandpa Eggy. We chatted a bit about family and about what I am doing. Eggy happens to have twenty grandchildren. Of course not all of them are third grade aged so I didn’t have to sign twenty books. I did happen to sign three though.
Finally, what would my run be without my daily animal encounter. When I entered mile 25 two dogs ran right up to me barking. I had the mace out but then I decided to extend my hand and pet them. They melted in my hands and we became instant friends. They became so attached, they followed me and wouldn’t go home. I had to explain to them that I’m on a mission and that their gaurdian would miss them. They understood but laid in the middle of the street until I was out of sight.
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