Video of the first month in USA

Our good friends Yuyudhan and Meghabhuti stayed with us another night and decided to run some miles with us again this morning. Yuyudhan came to the rescue yesterday when our motor home camper, had one tire go bad while it was being driven. Luckily we had a spare tire but it was quite intimidating to try and change a double tire on such a large vehicle. Yuyudhan did so successfully and saved us a costly towing charge.

Local canoe enthusiast Derek, just had to stop to welcome the torch to his home town of Madison, Wisconsin.

Yuyudhan and Meghabhuti joined my morning team in our run along the Mississippi River to La Crosse, Wisconsin. They covered the first nine miles and had to turn back to return to Minneapolis. On their way back they called to tell us that a huge storm was headed our way with high winds, lightning and heavy rains.

Tina and Brenda were thrilled at the sight of the torch runners in their area.

It was quite dark with clouds and we started getting a little drizzling rain at the time. Not sure what to do, we tried to get to La Crosse as quickly as possible where we were to meet with the local Boys and Girls Club. We arrived just in time as the storm seemed to be quickly approaching.

We were very warmly greeted there by Terry and his son Jake, Directors at the club along with about 50 very excited children and staff members.

They had very nice signs they made for us and formed two rows for our runners to run in between as we entered the gym.

After a very nice ceremony with singing and our Harmony train run around the gym a few times, the children were able to touch or hold the Torch and offer their wishes for a more harmonious world.

Terry was very understanding of our message and our efforts to promote harmony and friendship from the local level to the global level. His own efforts at the Boys and Girls Club with a very diverse range of ethnic groups are very important and commendable. It was a great way to be welcomed to Wisconsin and we owe a debt of gratitude to Terry and his staff and the children as well.

We also were covered by two local television stations, ABC and CBS affiliates. We want to thank Lisa, Travis and Angie for coming out with their cameras and conducting interviews as well. Ryan from the Houston County News and Joe Orso from the La Crosse Tribune also came out to cover our progress through the area. We are very grateful when the media decides that our story is newsworthy and make efforts to share our message with the general public.

Tim and Casey were stoked to hold the torch.

Afterwards the ceremony, Terry invited some of us to lunch. Our small team of myself, Vladmir from Moldova and

Dmitry from Ukraine had finished our morning run and were able to accept the invitation. We had a very inspiring time with Terry who treated us to a meal and shared with us his involvement with youth and sports which is so essential in our society today. We wish Terry and his family all the best in their great work for harmony and intercultural friendship.

The rest of the day was relaxed for the runners as the storm had passed us by but the clouds and cooler weather made for easier running. We settled into the Ramada Inn, White House in Richland Center. They offered us two complimentary rooms and our good friend Mary from Chicago paid for the third. The hotel has rooms named after each state of our country, so walking up and down the hallways brought back memories of some of the experiences we have had as we ran through most of those states so far.

Dewey, the manager at the Country Kitchen Restaurant in the hotel was very kind in offering us complimentary meals for our runners. We are about to go there now to eat and I am sure that the food will be excellent. We are very grateful to all those here in Richland Center who have made our stay here quite enjoyable so far. We also are grateful to Mary for the arrangements.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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