5/21/2015
Walls made of stone drew people’s property lines on the straight road to Stonington Ct. They looked a little bit like the walls around Gettysburg. A variety of trees shaded me from the sun on an already chilly day. My throat swelled and it was difficult to swallow. I couldn’t tell if it was the inhalation of cold air, or the labyrinth of pollen through which I had to navigate, that handicapped my respiration. I only knew I sympathized with asthma sufferers.
While faced very few changes of road, I did have several steep climbs. I powered myself through the inclines when thought about being behind a couple of days. Normally being slightly off schedule wouldn’t have bothered me but I had a chance to see family on this trip and the window of opportunity narrowed with each passing minute. My cousin David had invited me to stay with him in Massachusetts. He was also a runner and he had an event to run on the weekend. I knew I would start to string together multiple thirty mile days in order to reach him.
As I continued to run, seagulls squacked in the distance. Without seeing the beach I knew their sound. Their sounds were more drawn out and less sharp than the inland birds. As my throat grew increasingly sore, I focused on the scents in the air. The salty ocean air blended with trees with white flowers for a sweet smell. Occasionally pollen found its way into my system and caused a fit of coughing but I eventually made it. We made it to our last stop in Connecticut without a hitch. It was a KOA in Stonington Connecticut. It was a huge park with plenty of activities for kids. Humongous colored tubes laid about unwrapped by the front office. It was evident that they were about to install huge multi colored slides by their playground.
Running from Stonington to Coventry started out with a small hitch. We entered Rhode Island early through the town of Westerly. It was a town known for old money. Just after snapping a couple photos at the state welcome sign Crystal and I took separate roads. Two minutes after leaving my company, a cop in a short sleeve shirt stopped me and gave me the third degree. I wondered to myself if I was being racially profiled. He told me I looked very suspicious running past the town’s largest bank with my face covered. I explained that there was an ample amount of pollen in the air but he continued with his questioning. My tolerance for the questioning was growing thin. Even as I walked away he continued to say that things looked very strange.
It took running the next ten miles to get the interrogation out of my system. The roads led to a couple of small trails which Crystal was not able to drive on. I was surrounded by trees and beauty. I did however pass an old cemetery in the middle of the forest that had not been kept. Every few steps there seemed to be streams and lakes to my sides. Thirty one miles were finished when I popped up on the other side of the trail to find myself in a small town with a few large stores. Hello Walmart, Home Depot, Walgreens, McDonalds. These were the sights which I ran into. You would have never guessed they were lurking right behind the miles of green vegetation. 
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