july 11 day 63 31 miles (in honor of the vol staters) total 1,655 respect the hills of west iowa. having moved past glacier-dozed central iowa i found some sweet hills in the west finishing with the windblown loess hills. loess is a fine silty soil and very rich. where it blew in from no one seems to know. so why not blame canada? after all it is their granite stones i saw cluttering up Read more
at 10:20:03 i set foot on solid ground in nebraska. 1,650 miles after wetting my feet in the atlantic in newport rhode island. i wonder what new adventures are in store for me here? laz
Isn’t it amazing, the crops and the creatures seem to “just know” when the time is right to start their next task. Things start slowly at first… The butterflies all migrate within days of each other….in a given area the cherry blossoms might all bloom on the same day! From the outside looking in, it’s a wonder that these happenings seem so coordinated. Well, to most people in rural Tennessee, along the vol state course, Read more
july 10 day 62 30 miles total 1,624 i knew this was going to be a warm one when it was still over 90 f at 2200 hours. nonetheless i was looking forward to the night, expecting nothing but good roads, and that is just what i got. my own lane thru construction for 8 miles then 8 or 10 more with a real shoulder before finishing the day with my own lane again. road Read more
july 9 day 61 27 miles total 1,594 the night sky over iowa just keeps getting better as the moon dwindles and comes up later each night. we got neck strain from gawking and counting falling stars. ed gave bridgett a constellation exam (which i would have failed) but i was the only one who knew the brachiosaurus and the coelacanth! iowa had a sweet surprise waiting after the first 5 miles. if we did Read more
so you want to take a side road to avoid 20? we will bring 20 to you. (enjoy the trucks)
july 8 day 60 25 miles total 1,567 another day of working too hard for too little result. even tho a lot of the problems are all the time eating delays off course that just seem to materialize every day. i am not disappointed in my effort. but these old legs just don’t have much left in them. funny (or maybe not) that i feel like mentally i am better prepared to handle this than Read more
july 7 day 59 28 miles total 1,542 it is amazing how much difference running conditions make. night running on the hell road was easy and we had only a few moments of indecision passing thru fort dodge in the dark. we “got out of dodge before sunrise” come daylight i cruised on the road with an actual shoulder. karen and will were pleased to usher in my best day in a while. not the Read more