We started the day in Lakeview at Hunters Hot Springs Resort. Ann Turley, the owner and manager, made us feel at home with early morning breakfast of warm English muffins, scrambled eggs and coffee.

As we ate this deliciously prepared food, we sat in front of a window overlooking a smoking geyser and an almost wintry landscape of misty howling wind with mountains in the distance.

Our team then had to go running along Goose Lake with a tailwind which was a real blessing considering yesterday’s furious fight with the headwind and rain. We ran back to the R.V., a.k.a. ‘Harmony Home’, where the other girls were preparing lunch. To our great surprise, we were greeted by Sandra Wenzel from the town council and Town Manager Roberta Huddlest. Then we met a reporter, Dennis Bateman, from the local newspaper, the Lake County Examiner, who interviewed us and took some photos. He saw Arpan running earlier and was directed to come to see us. He told us that he had moved from busy Los Angeles to live in this quiet town in the countryside. From his questions it was clear that he really felt the joy and the goal of the run. He said that he feels strongly that “people would like to have more hope than fear.”

We also met Vernon, a raw foodist, the sixth person in less than a week that we met who lives only on raw foods. It impressed us a lot and we asked him many questions. He gave us book written by his wife with lots of raw food recipes. She also autographed it. He expressed a deep appreciation for what we are doing and said that it was a real honor to hold the Torch. He thanked us greatly that we are running for World Harmony.

Maria (Bulgaria) and Anja (Germany)

Feeling Right at Home

Another nice experience some of the team members had at Hunter Hot Springs while some of the women were preparing lunch was feeding the ducks and seagulls. This place is almost like a refuge for the local wildlife and we took advantage of our new found friends. Slava writes, “This morning as I was watching the other team members feed seagulls and ducks, I felt at home, completely at home. Although we ran the day before through a very rainy and windy weather surrounded by a rough terrain for miles and miles, I still felt like it was home. I got very much used to feeling that each town we spend a night in was our home.

“This feeling of being at home is most likely due to the support that the team is getting from each community we visit. I can confidently say that Americans have generous hearts. Yet while watching the ducks and the seagulls easily and happily taking food from us it dawned on me that it is a continuous cycle. Our torch relay inspires communities, communities support the relay, and we in turn inspire other communities and so on. The chain reaction has started. Only the night before, we were served a delicious Mexican dinner at no cost, while today we were feeding the animals at no cost as well.”

After finishing our 96 miles for the day, we drove to Klamath Falls where we will run into tomorrow. There we were kindly offered accommodations for the teams by both the Red Lion Inn and the Holiday Inn Express. Jeff Wood, General Manager of the Holiday also arranged for us to be part of an event at Veteran’s Park in downtown Klamath Falls tomorrow. We will keep you updated on that event which sounds exciting.

Before retiring for the night, we had some delicious Pizza and salads at Antonio’s Restaurant last night in Klamath Falls. We are extremely grateful to James Wood for his support of our efforts and all the staff who were so kind to us.

Finally, we wish to welcome some of our newest runners who will be joining us until Seattle. Pujari from San Francisco and Josef from the Czech Republic have both come to help us with our miles and add to the smiles. My brother, Giribar and his family: Linda, Nicky and Joey, have also joined us for a couple of days. We hope to run into them again as we go north along the coast in a few days.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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