11/20/2015

An old friend from younger days had popped in to see me right after we visited the block of food trucks. I must have smelled like a plate of exotic spices but at least I matched the exotic furnishings of the place. I greeted my friend Randy in the lobby. One girl had begun to set up the complimentary drinks while a couple people lounged. I hadn’t seen my buddy in almost a decade. It was surreal because he still had the youthful look I remembered despite the addition of two young daughters. I filled him in on the adventures of my life since he last saw me. And of course we laughed a lot about incidents from a lifetime ago. I was happy to see that he was helping others as a life coach in Portland. He had also just released a book called “Unlimiting You”...

11/17/2015

The last evening before heading into Portland, John Nunn from the Seattle area sent me a message that informed me he was in my proximity. He wanted to introduce me to his friends, the Coopers. They lived in the Portland area and were helping me plan a preschool visit. Crystal and I had tossed clothes around the room in a haste while we readied ourselves for socializing. We left the room in disarray as we didn’t want to keep them waiting. Unfortunately someone had decided to wedge a compact car into the tiny sliver of a space in front of our truck and trailer. After a bit of maneuvering we inched out of the space and headed to the Portland Brewery and Taphouse. It was nice to have an evening out in the big city. Lighted bridges decorated the night drive.

John introduced us to S...

11/15/2011

A psychologist named Maslow wrote a theory about the hierarchy of man’s needs. He depicts our needs in life as a pyramid. At the base of this are the physiological elements we need for survival; food, shelter, water. As we move up the pyramid, friendship and community become a priority. At the pinnacle of this pyramid is the need for purpose and self-actualization. Day after day I have teetered between my basic survival and my purpose in life. As I approached my final new state on this run I closed in on my purpose in life: making this world a better place.

The grey skies kicked off my day in Kelso. Just after the first mile I started climbing a slippery wet hill. As I ascended the hill, the rain again began to pour...