10/26/2015

As the final steps of stage 3 crept closer, I was given the privilege to glimpse various geographic phenomena. The landscape threw a bit of everything my way like an obstacle course designed to test the body’s performance on all terrain. On my journey to Ritzville I found myself on rocky back roads and plenty of flat land. The road curved in a couple places but I didn’t need to stay aware of turns. I didn’t realize I was running into the wheat belt. All the rock formations disappeared and gave way to fields as far as the eye could see. I could feel the cold of winter creeping into my days. The urgency to cover more ground nagged. In the back of my mind, the thought of high mileage days through forests, at elevation, in the cold, was like a flashing signal...

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...

10/19/2015-

I had run hard to get us to Coeur d’Alene Idaho to celebrate Crystal’s birthday. We had two days without the worries of running, securing lodging, or putting on an event. The locals all mentioned that we were fortunate to have warm weather. After sleeping in at the Tamarack RV Resort, we had a couple hours before check in time at the Days Inn Hotel. We decided to walk around the downtown area next to the lake.

The first order of business was to put some food into our system. We discovered a cute little sushi place in the heart of downtown. It was named Kaiju (Strange Monster). All their specialty rolls were named after the villains from the Godzilla movies. Their manager Fawn was kind enough to donate lunch...