Video of the first month in USA

An early morning run with temperatures in the 50’s F (10-12C), overcast skies and a flat road to run on is more than one can ask for when waking up and running almost 10 miles before breakfast. Running into Burns, Oregon where we stayed last night, my team enjoyed the peace of nature before the onset of busy traffic.

The vast open plains of Oregon are teeming with wildlife who freely roam their peaceful habitat.

The threat of rain diminished as time went on and we had a wonderful morning run before switching to the R.V. (recreational vehicle) and having to drive over 100 miles to end up in our nighttime destination for accommodations. Many times our accommodations are not anywhere near where we end our run for that day. Driving many miles to find rest is well worth it though, because many generous people offer complimentary rooms for us.

At the half-way point of our journey, the friendly crew at the local Tire Service Center took much needed care of our RV. Only 5000 miles more to go!

After our run was completed by well before noon, my team had to drive our R.V. to a nearby Les Schwab tire store to check the front tires which seemed unstable. Tiny, Corey and others took good care of us as they fit us into their schedule right away.

They saw a few problems with a tire and did a tire rotation for a very fair price for us. We are glad when others take our efforts seriously and offer their goodwill and kindness in return.

Everyone at the shop was kind and friendly and they were thrilled to pose with us and the Torch for a group photos. Their creative camp display in the front of the store was quite amusing as Sergey, our Russian runner, even came out of his tent to see who was holding the torch.

Our team of eleven happy campers in the middle of it all.

After finding our other teams that were just finishing their daily mileages, we took a short rest at the beautiful Lake Abert. The lake was as smooth as glass, reflecting the billowing white clouds and deep blue sky, only increasing the sense of beauty and vastness. It is rare that the whole team is together during the day so we had to take a team photo with this glorious natural background provided by Lake Abert.

Driving to Lakeview, we were treated to a delicious Mexican meal by Jose Guitron at ‘El Aguila Real Restaurant’. This is third time they have treated us to their delicious food and we truly appreciated and sacrifice and kindness displayed towards us.

The good folks at the Hot Springs Lodge were very kind and hospitable. They treated us like family.

The women’s team was lucky enough to have two rooms at the Hunter Hot Springs Resort due to the generosity of Jeff and Cindy Butterfield, the new owners Ted, their son, was so kind to give us a tour of the grounds which featured a regular geyser spouting water high in to the sky every minute on the minute.

Like a miniature ‘Old Faithful’, this geyser is a phenomenon of cold and hot water springs under the ground. Ted and his friend Zach even showed us their stone collections with obsidian being the featured stone here. When given a chance, even young children can display a brilliant mind and a sense of keen observation.

The men’s teams camped out at a very nice, large and beautiful campsite called Juniper Resevoir RV Resort.

Mary and Don Shullanberger were very friendly and generous in their offering of such spacious quarters for us and were there to greet us and make sure we were happy with our spacious camping area.

The Grounds at The Hot Springs Lodge are a haven for a great assortment of our feathered friends.

Juniper is a large, clean and friendly campground complete with 24 hour laundromat and free high speed internet wireless access which I am using at the moment to send this story and some photos.

Arpan was feelin a little "tired" at the end of the day.

Harmony is certainly a big word here in Oregon. All the people we have met as well as the vastness and beauty of nature here have offered us a multidimensional display of harmony, friendship and goodwill as we traverse the mountains, high deserts and valleys of this attractive and expansive state.

Arpan and the Oregonian Harmony Runners

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