4/22/2015

The rain looked as if it were suspended in midair after a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. It was coming down hard during our evening in Stafford when Crystal announced that we were going to eat at Chili’s in Stafford. David the manager told her he was very enthused to feed us. I found a tiny bit of energy to run from the trailer to the inside of the restaurant. The building was warm and the staff was friendly. They knew who we were from the moment we stepped through the door. The prompt service impressed me because the seats were packed with bodies.

The meal was exactly what we had come to expect from Chili’s. I tried cheese poppers for my appetizer which was probably the only vegetarian option at Chili’s which I had not tried before...

4/20/2015

I spent the morning hitting the keys of my computer. The clicking sound hypnotized me and I got lost in my world. I had fallen behind on my updates from the road. It was hard to pinpoint how I had slipped behind. When did I miss a day? I thought I had remained diligent over the course of seven months. No matter, at least I had hand written copies to transcribe.

After a while beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. I knew it was time to get out of the trailer. I rubbed my eyes to make sure the clock read noon. Of course the rumbling from my stomach from my stomach confirmed it was past noon. At that moment Crystal informed me that the Manager from the Applebee’s in Massaponax sounded excited to have us for a meal.

Before ordering I hydrated with a mango lemonade...

4/19/2015

Most of my days on the journey have ended in exhaustion and relief. On the days without a deadline my body ran at leisurely paces and on the days where I had to press, somehow I found my speed. On day 225 the warm morning had me believing it would be a light day. I took off running sometime after lunch. Despite the many hills that I had taken on the prior days my legs felt strong. Crystal and I headed to the only destination available to us. It was a truck stop in Ruther Glen which was twenty-seven miles away.

The trees had thinner trunks than in the last few states I had run through. The brown waters looked as if they had lots of mud in them. It was harder for me to spot fish while running. Although, I did have the pleasure of seeing many frogs jumping around...