Video of the first month in USA

Sweetness on the Road to Harmony

With no ceremonies planned and lots of mountains to run on, our travels today were very interesting. We happened to meet quite a few people, mostly tourists, who stopped along the road to see what we were doing.

Among the curious and supportive tourists were Josef Burch and his son Simon from Lucerne, Switzerland,

a family from Tampa, Florida

and a couple from Tennessee. It just so happens that the couple from Tennessee(sorry not to get their names) had been to Latvia three times. One of our runners on that morning team, Kaspars, just flew in from Latvia a few days ago where he lives. The gentleman who stopped for us was thrilled about this and started singing a song in Latvian. What serendipity indeed.

Another couple, Oliver and Birgit, from Germany stopped as they have been touring the southwest as well. So many Europeans love this part of America which is quite understandable considering the vastness and natural beauty of the landscape.

A more local gentleman, Gus, from Prescott, Arizona also stopped on the side of the road to take photos with us. Without any planned meetings today, already before noon we met quite a few wonderful and interesting people who went out of their way to meet us and share with us some of their ideas and strivings for a more harmonious world.

We ended our very scenic day as we ran along the Virgin River at a place called Big Rock Candy Mountain. Stoney, the manager, offered us three rooms at half price which was very helpful as there was not many places to stay in this remote area surrounded by strange and beautifully shaped mountains. The mountain derived its name from a classic folk tune first recorded in 1928 by Harry McClintock. The song spoke of a mythical place, a metaphor for yearning of an ideal world. But this mountain is real, a unique caramel colored rock formation in central Utah’s Sevier County just a few miles north of the small town of Marysvale, population around 400.

The Big Rock Candy Resort has many activities including kayaking, rafting, horseback riding and bike trails. The restaurant there is owned by a fantastic chef named Terry and his wife Chris. They were extremely kind and generous to us tonight in offering a superb meal which was served by Amber, a senior in high school near here who was very friendly and efficient at the same time. Her only complaint was that she is not good with accents from visitors and usually the tourists coming through here have foreign accents.

No communication problems here.

But tonight we had seven different accents at one table and even though at first she was concerned about it, she communicated very well with all of us. She had the most trouble with the Latvian and Uzbeki accents but was very polite and sweet with everyone. She was so excited to serve us all that she may even come out and run with the morning team going through her town of Joseph tomorrow.

Arpan and the Harmony Team

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