Once a Runner

I got State #41 by driving from Stacie’s to Charleston, West Virginia. 1060 miles total to do the “free” Charleston Park Run. It was a very low key and friendly event and rained the whole time. The most important thing is that #41 is done.  I drove to Lexington, Kentucky the first night and then to Charleston. As soon as I finished the race I drove all the way back. I didn’t know if I was up to that long a drive but it went fine.  It was a good test run leaving Charlie with the kids and he did fine other than being terrorized by a 2.8 earthquake whose epicenter was only about 10 miles from the house.  Kentucky and West Virginia were both beautiful the only thing that struck me as odd were the people in a Krogers grocery store in Charleston. Everyone either looked frightened, bewildered or shell shocked. It was strange. Fortunately that wasn’t the case with the people at the race who were all friendly and cheerful despite the rain and the locked restrooms. 

It’s always good to get back to St. Louis! Charlie is really funny. As soon as we get there he settles right back into our room and that’s his domain for the duration. He comes out to tell me when he needs something or if he needs to go out and then comes up to visit throughout the day. He definitely thinks he runs the house.  I got out to Rock Hollow for a three mile walk. The only problem with that is the first half is all down hill and obviously that means all uphill coming back. I was ridiculously sore for a few days after. It’ll be interesting to see how/if these back to back to back races in June will play out.  Stacie saved some leftovers from Easter dinner for me and that made for a couple of nice meals. Remember what I said about traditions and how much more meaningful they are when shared.  I got to see the kids play on all four of their teams the first weekend so that was a plus. With crazy schedules and weather it wasn’t going to happen for sure. Chase’s lacro...

On the road again Charlie is going with me Where will it take us? Creswell, Oregon 4-15-2002 The night before we left he literally wouldn’t take his eyes off me.  Woke up to thick fog this morning so no rush heading out the door only planning to go to Williams, California for the first night. Taking it in shorter drives to St. Louis this trip. From St. Louis the trip will literally be planned day to day.  The trip out was uneventful and that’s a good thing. We kept the distances reasonable so I never got to the point where I was overly tired. I did start out rough two mornings but felt better after being on the road for a while. Mileages were - Williams, CA 399, Mojave, CA 396, Williams, AZ 388, Santa Rosa, NM 475, Edmond, OK 439 and Grover, MO 465. A lot less than I used to drive in a day before I got sick but not bad especially traveling with a dog.  The nice thing about traveling a route I’ve done before is there wasn’t any “pressure” to try to stop or detour to see an...

It’s April 13th, over a month since I’ve written anything so I thought I would try to find enough to do an entry before Charlie and I hit the road Friday for what I hope is an extended trip. Normally since I started blogging I haven’t gone this long between entries but there just doesn’t seem much to write about anymore unless it’s medical stuff. As a matter of fact I’m writing this while I wait to do lab work and then see the doctor at the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute.  All I can say is thank God for the VA. This was what the charge was for my last treatment. 😳 What happens when the dog gets through the gate and then the gate closes and you’re holding his leash.  Most years wherever I am even if I’m alone I try to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with corned beef and cabbage or at least corned beef sandwiches. This year I opened a can of potato soup. Potatoes are symbolic of Ireland right. 🤷‍♂️ Then I followed up with some mint chocolate chip gelato to keep my ice cream tr...