10/21/2015
After consuming my favorite cinnamon rolls at the Holiday Inn Express dining area, Crystal and I headed back up to our room to rest. We wanted to take advantage of every minute in our comfy room. An event was scheduled for later in the day but we were unsure of where we would stay. Luckily the GM that had set up our accommodations was on duty. She had worked with Reading Is Fundamental many times and she loved to support things that helped the local community. We had a great rapport and chatted for some time. At the end of our conversation she made sure we were kept in luxury for one more evening.
I didn’t remember much about the day since I rested until my alarm began beeping. I rubbed my eyes, splashed cold water on my face and threw on my shoes. I left Crystal asleep and headed to my event at the public library. I was setting up a little area in the kids section when my phone started screaming. I pulled it out and shut if off in one swift motion. It turned out to be the news. I had no idea they were coming to cover my story. I called it back and luckily the reporter was just a couple feet away from me. I gave a short interview and told the cameraman he was free to shoot the event. I talked to local families about what I was doing, read from one of my books, and gave a few books away. Surprisingly it took a couple hours.
The next day was overcast. I started the day a couple miles outside the city. I had left off in an industrial area in near darkness. I didn’t even realize the east side of town was run down. My first couple miles I passed a mission and saw several people that were down on their luck. It make me think about how blessed I was to have good health and the ability to run free.
It didn’t take long before I reached the Fish Lake trail. It was paved and smooth unlike the actual road for the cars. The banks on both sides of the trail were steep and trees grew out of jagged rock formations. I found Crystal running on the trail. The clouds had parted and the day was pleasant. Crystal prepared a couple of vegetarian chilidogs for lunch and we enjoyed our surroundings.
I only had a few miles to run before reaching the AAA Motel in Cheney. Mike and his wife Allison were happy to donate a stay so I ran onto their property to introduce myself and then told them I wanted to get ahead on my miles. I knew there were some big mileage days in the near future so I thought I would displace some of the load to my lighter days. They gave us a cute and comfy room with a super warm heater. I had a wonderful night’s rest and woke up the next morning ready for another marathon.
Step by step my wonderful pine trees became sparse. It became a different kind of beauty. Most of my road to Sprague was a gravel backroad. When the plateaus sprouted in the distance I stopped running for a moment to stare at the natural formations. I tried to imagine how the rocks had taken that shape. The hills followed me all the way into Sprague. There Crystal had found a little campground for us to park. Of course, like the previous night, I wanted to take down a few more miles. I ran through the town that had more antique cars than it did people. I continued straight through for a few more miles. I could smell animals nearby and when a pack of about twenty deer crossed the road I stopped and rubbed my eyes. I had been near many deer on this trip but never that many at one time. I ended five miles outside of town, slapped a sticker on a sign to mark my spot. We counted our blessings as our fortune with warm nights continued its streak. 
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