4/10/2015
The North Carolina weather had a mind of its own. Hot temperatures had us sweating on my day off. It was hard to believe that I spent the previous day running in the rain. Just like all our rest days, we spent most of the time cleaning the trailer and catching up on computer work. We did take a moment to enjoy another great meal donated by the Red Lobster around the corner from where we parked. I had ordered a pasta with vegetables like I had at another location while Crystal ventured into new territory with a crab leg linguini.
From a day of radiant heat to booming thunderstorms, the weather switched without a moment’s notice. We ran back to the trailer when we saw lightning in the distance. Clouds obscured the bolts yet lit the sky every few moments. Crystal’s hair blew in every direction as we entered our beloved home on wheels. The first action inside the trailer was to close all the windows. The second was to seek warmth underneath a mountain of blankets. Inside the trailer, each thunderous clap sounded as if a giant hammer was striking the trailer. The rains fell hard and the sound of droplets transformed into the sound of thousands of falling pebbles hitting our little metal box. Crystal said, “Maybe we should have continued running today. My weather forecaster reads rain tomorrow.” We drifted into a deep slumber which was only broken by the loudest sonic waves.
The morning started out chilly. I wasn’t sure if the prior day’s forecast was accurate but we decided to make a run for Franklinton. The terrain under my feet experienced everything on this day’s run. The pavement gave way to grass, the grass to rock, and the rock to asphalt. The hills rolled for miles. After navigating the urban jungle the suburban straightaway put a smile on my face. The sun decided to chase away any clouds and we looked good for the rest of the day. The scent of swamp assaulted my nostrils but I didn’t see any swampland around. Once we hit the Wake Forest area, the traffic thinned a little and I was able to ramp up my speed.
Over the course of the day, the activity around my arrival to South Hill, Virginia increased. Blank space on our calendar began to disappear. I had to thank everyone from the town for helping ease Crystal’s load. She had carried such a big weight up to this point. It was nice to see her get a breather. We parked at Fraklinton’s only fast food restaurant parking lot and set up camp. From there we made our plan to reach South Hill a day early. We wanted the opportunity to run with our new friends and also have a chance to visit with some old ones. It happened that my childhood buddy Jay was based in Virginia Beach not too far away.
The evening in Franklinton was also stormy but the volume of the thunder was a few decibels lower and the rain was a little lighter. However, the next day was chilly. I had to run with a sweater to stay warm. My original destination was Henderson. I reached it around noon time and we stopped at a restaurant to use the internet. It was 18 miles on my legs at that point. We decided it was best to push forward so that we wouldn’t have too many miles going into South Hill. As I ran through the last rural bits of North Carolina I passed lots of small towns which people had left for the big city. Abandoned homes and businesses had vines taking back their land. Crystal found one of those places to park our trailer for the evening. The roof and windows were gone from the structure. All that remained was brick. That brick kept us safe and guarded us from the howling wind. It didn’t keep us safe from the pollen in the air though. Tiny dusty pollen particles appliances left a small layer on top of our appliances. Spring was in the air.
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