Day 16: Welcome to Arizona!! And an unexpected meeting.

Today marked the first official run in Arizona, and somebody turned on the heater, haha. It was much warmer today than it has been this entire trip. But I welcomed the heat, because I much prefer warm running to running in a toboggan and long john shirts. Of course, ask me about that in about a month when I've been running in the desert heat for a while.
Today's run was not bad at all though. I was running in honor of one of my best friends, Mike Snyder today. Mike has always felt like a younger brother to me I guess. Mike has done a tour in Iraq, a tour in Afghanistan, been to South Korea, and Africa all on duty in the Army. Always hated to see him deployed, because sometimes it was hard for him to contact home and let us know how he was doing. He's back now, and just recently discharged from the military. Mike and I have always had the ability to make each other laugh uncontrollably, usually because of some less than tasteful jokes. But Mike is also a very loyal friend to me, and I am very fortunate to have met him.
Back to the run, did I mention it was hot. Well, it was hot. Still, my body felt pretty good most of the day. Nothing really bothered me too badly, other than the occasional fly, or tractor-trailor. The heat didn't bother me much either. Let's just see how I feel after about 2 months straight of it, haha.
Got another newspaper to pick up the story. The Lake Havasu paper interviewed me yesterday on my day off, and got some pics this morning as I was beginning my run. Hopefully I'll have a link to post when the story is done.
The best part of the day today actually occured as I had just finished my 20 miles for the day. I had just gotten into the van, and mom and I were heading down the road to an RV park nearby, when we passed a man on the road, heading westward, pushing a 3-wheeler carriage loaded full. We had read about other people running across the country, an a couple were supposedly toting their belongings in front of them. We immediately turned the van around to see if it could be possible that this guy was one of those people. Unbelievably, it was!! His name is Milton Miller, coincedence on the last name I think not, and he is going from Miami, FL where he lives, to Los Angeles, CA. I couldn't believe we actually saw someone on the same road, crossing the country. His run is called 100 days of Madness. He is camping on his own all the way out, now that is bold!! But he is so close to the finish line. He is actually traveling basically the same route to LA that I just covered. He's on to Parker, AZ, then 29 Palms Highway to Riverside, then on to LA. Milton had some great advice for me as well as encouraging words as I am still basically at the beginning of this journey. I am still in awe that I met him. His story is much like mine in that, neither of us were elite athletes really, and in fact we were both kind of couch potatoes before we decided to embark on these journeys. He informed me that we were in a club of 2,  just me and him that were not elite athletes before we started these trips. Awesome, just awesome. As you can tell, I was really happy to meet him, and just so cool that we were traveling the same road.
Anyway, we stopped in Bouse, AZ at an RV park for the night, which is where I am writing this. Under the stars, on a beautiful Arizona night. What a good day today. Hopefully there are many more like this. Tomorrow, I inch closer to Phoenix. Goodnight all.

Day 16: Running for my friend, Mike Snyder.

Rest Day at Rotary Park in Havasu City

Drew chillin' in the van at Rotary Park, lokking out at Lake Havasu.

Making new friends

Way to go, Rotary--service to the community in 33 absolutely wonderful acres of beaches, green areas, playgrounds, picnic shelters, sand volleyball courts, etc.! Lake Havasu is a mass of blue water in the midst of wild canyons and desert.

Random pics from my phone during runs,

 First day, looking down the beach at the Belmont Pier.

 At the end of the run to March Air Force Base, looking back west.

 Running beside a mountain in Beaumont, CA.

 Campground pic, we had a nice view.

 I was running beside I-10 on a frontage road, and this billboard caught me funny. Es muy bueno!!

 One of my many miles on the 29 Palms Highway.

Finally made it into Arizona on April 14th, about 6:45pm.

Day 14: Bye Bye California!!

That's right folks, I am officially in Arizona now. Not just to sleep in a Walmart parking lot, which we did 3 consecutive nights. We drove into Parker, AZ every night just to have a place to park the van, and we drove back west each day this week so I could inch my way closer to Parker by foot. I finally arrived this evening, about 6:45 pm, PST. It was such an amazing feeling as I crossed the bridge above the Colorado River and saw the sign welcoming me to Arizona. Although I had seen the same sign the previous 3 days as we drove into Parker, it was quite different to finally make it there on these weary legs. It meant that I had officially run from the Pacific Ocean to Arizona!! It was a very surreal feeling when I stood under the Arizona sign to get my picture. 12 days of running. 240 miles. 1 state complete. I stopped just long enough to take the moment in, grab a few pictures, and re-run the last little bit so mom could get it on film, haha. I told her she better get it on the first take, cause I'm not stopping til I finish the day's run, a whopping 0.5 miles into Arizona. She said, "oh, it's only a couple extra steps". But to me, after 20 miles, a couple extra steps is pushing it.
Anyway, the run today was very nice, although I was on fumes really for most of the morning 12 miles. I got a good rest in at lunch, and finished strong. It was nice not to really hurt badly for 2 straight runs. We decided that since we had been staying at the same Walmart parking lot for 3 days, we'd mix things up a little. So we drove north some 30 miles to Lake Havasu City just for tonight, where we now are sitting in the vehicle, at a Walmart parking lot, haha. I should clarify, we were sitting at the actual Walmart parking lot until a nice patrolman informed us that we were not allowed to stay there overnight. Apparently, Walmart only owned the building here, the parking lot was city property. The patrolman was a very nice man though, and directed us toward the "Old" Walmart parking lot, which we are now at, sitting in the vehicle. It's much darker in this lot, but there's a 24 hr Circle K gas station within walking distance if I get any late night cravings for beef jerky. I've already set my sights on IHOP for breakfast tomorrow, which has me so giddy, I may not sleep well. It's the little things I enjoy, haha. Tomorrow, it's back south to Parker, AZ and I assume our normal Walmart Inn & Suites location. Saturday morning, it's up and off towards Phoenix. If all goes as planned, I should be in Phoenix within 7 running days. Hopefully we get a chance to meet with the Governer of Arizona there, or at least maybe take in a Diamonbacks game on my day off. Anybody know how to get ahold of Ken Kendrick. He is a fellow WVU alum and is the GM of the team. If so give the guy a call and hook me up, haha. Anyway, all is well on the road today. Mind is good, body feels decent, and California is now in the rear view. Night.

Lost or Found in the Desert

Signs to everywhere.

Shoe Shrine?

More of the old shoes and other meaningful items near mile 107 CA route 62 .

Day 14: Running for my best bud, Jerod Greathouse!!