Saturday, April 17, 2010

Have you hugged a fat boy today?

I've decided that it just wouldn't be a proper country crossing without a run in with a HOG rider.

Today was an interesting day. All we knew is that we were leaving Eastman for Alamo today and camping tonight.

We had forgotten that last night the channel 13 WMAZ news had shown a segment on the run. The reporter came out yesterday to our point along highway 28 and done the interview right there.

Apparently, that's the main news station because right from the beginning of the run people were honking and waving.

One guy stopped and gave us powerade.

Then we met Sherwin. He was riding his motorcyle and saw us, turned around and pulled off the road and waited for us.

As he approached us I have to admit I was anticipating some trouble. He was a rather large man riding a Harley with a leather vest and patches with "Born to Ride," "Loud pipes save lives," and "Ride or Die" all over it. He would've had no problem roughing us up a bit if he wanted to.

He turned out to be a great guy who had seen us on the news. He told us about his shop, Fat Boy Camo, and said if we stopped by he'd give us shirts. We couldn't pass it up. 5 miles down the road we came up on his shirt printing shop and stopped to talk with him some more.


Sherwin and the shirt he gave me.

We got talking about where we were staying tonight and we told him we were camping in Alamo but didn't know where.

Long story short, he knew the people that own the funeral home in town, Townes Funeral Home. And they let us, not only camp in their yard, but also let us shower in the home.

I feel very refreshed and preserved after showering there. Maybe they mix the water with the preservative the Egyptians used....maybe. Maybe not.

Regardless, we had a great time meeting the copious amounts of people today.

And today, I ran for all 140 families of JRA kids in the entire state of Oregon. Maybe I'll have to run in Oregon.

-- Patrick

4 comments:

  1. I just want to let you know that I have immensely enjoyed following your run across the lower portion of our great country! I wish you well and will still follow you around and see if you finally decided to do a northern run! ;)

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  2. follower #25 says, I wish I could be there for the finish.(Evite response)

    If this were a race you'd be sprinting right now. Last night I went to watch my nephew, JT, who runs for Stanford, run a PR in the 5000. I mentioned to him that you were approaching the finish of your run, He and his teammates were in awe! What a monumental, or just Mental thing this is. stay strong, Don't be afraid to start your sprint early, There are many behind you, but not one chasing. As in the beginning, I read your blog with a lump in my throat. keep rollin' Pat!

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  3. Patrick...that is so cool. It sounds like each day is a new adventure, can't wait to see you at the end. aunt Marie

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