On The Road

I thought I would be supremely inspired to write now that I am on the road, but truth be told, I have not been inspired in the least! But, perhaps…that is where to begin. 

I left Atlanta this past Monday, Jan 23rd.  The “yellow brick road” was a very wet one. Rained for the first 2 hours until I hit Birmingham, AL. Afterwards, smooth sailing into my first destination, Oxford, MS. Notes about Oxford: a quaint, clean town. Home to University of Mississippi or more commonly known as OLE MISS. Lots of red brick buildings (typical of the south) and a cute “historic”downtown square. For you readers out there, William Faulkner made Oxford his home as did John Grisham for many years. Surprisingly, I did not find the locals there to be all that friendly. Strange, I thought. I did find a good bookstore and a place for breakfast. The breakfast place is called Bottletree Bakery! Wonderful granola! I did go for a run there, but will share about the running in my weekly recap. 

Next stop: Little Rock, AR

I departed Oxford and headed west, then northwest to Little Rock, AR, bypassing Memphis. I chose this more northerly route because all the other times (3) I have been across country, I have traveled thru Texas and wanted to see some other states this time. Unfortunately, there was not a lot to see on this drive to Arkansas. I pulled into Little Rock late in the day and actually just ate dinner at my hotel. I wish I had something more exciting to tell you, but I don’t. I’ve been staying at Holiday Inn Express Hotels and so far, all have been pretty good places to stay. You know I am a coffee snob, so I have not had too much of the hotel coffee and the next morning, I went in search of a coffee shop in little rock. I actually wanted to serif I could find alternate places to Starbucks. I tried. I found a place and ordered a regular coffee. I hate to say it, but I left and had to chuck the coffee…yikes. Ok…where is nearest Starbucks…

..I found it! Ok…onward to Oklahoma City! 

More rain greeted me on this third day of my journey. Rained a good bit, but pulled in OKC with blue skies and sunshine.  I easily found the main downtown area and more specifically, the basketball arena. I had considered going to the NBA game that night, but then decided against it when I could not find a hotel room anywhere nearby! Bummerstay had to stay on the outskirts of town and saw a Mexican place within walking distance. I thought maybe this place would have good food and margaritas, but no…damn! Well, at least the meal was cheap…I am without a job, you know! 

I ran the next morning and then took off for East New Mexico. I mean no offense to anyone who lives in either OKC or Little Rock, but as I spent just a little bit of time there, I found both places to be rather dreary and depressing. Perhaps, it is because of winter. All I can say is that being there made me appreciate where I have lived (Atlanta) and where I am headed to next (SF)

From OKC, I headed west and then Southwest and stayed in a very small town called Santa Rosa, NM. I could have gone longer, but I am trying not to drive more than 6-7 hours a day. Beyond that, it just isn’t too much fun! I got a recommendation for dinner and margaritas from the hotel front desk clerk. Both the food and margaritas were better than my previous 2, but still far from what I am accustomed to….I guess I am becoming a margarita snob in additon to a coffee snob. OK. I can probably live with that….

I love the SouthWest. When you drive across it, it’s hard not to just continuously drop your jaw in disbelief over the beauty of the landscape. And the quiet….ahhh, it’s so amazingly quiet. One of the things I have noticed since I have been traveling is how my mind has just been quieter and quiter….the inner noise is virtually non-existent. It’s as if the driving has been my traveling meditation. Wonderfully peaceful. 2 weeks ago, my head was filled with so much stress, noise, worry….and it has all but simply fallen away….no doubt some of it will come back, because actually a certain amount of stress is good, but it’s nice to have the quiet for now, both internally and externally. 

I left early the next morning and headed towards Flagstaff, with a brief stop in Albuquerque. I thought I might stop and stay in Santa Fe or Taos, but as I got closer and closer, I was just now drawn to do so….I think I just want to get “home”. I stopped for a cappuccino and a couple of grocery items in Albuquerque and then kept truckin’ on to Flagstaff, AZ. And that is where I currently am, Flagstaff. Cool little town in Northern Arizona! Decided to stay 2 nights. Ran this morning and will catch up on the running posts tomorrow. Hope to get another run in tomorrow morning before heading to Las Vegas! 

 

I was but a witness

Walking in to Starbucks, I wasn’t feeling quite right; I had not eaten well and the icy, snowy conditions of the city had gotten me all off balance. I grabbed some mixed nuts along with the tall coffee and scanned the room for a place to sit. Fat Chance. Ansley Mall location is one of the busiest in the Atlanta area for Starbucks. Add in a snow day when nothing else is open and finding an open table is just not gonna happen. So, I walked outside and sat at an empty table. 34 degrees didn’t feel too bad earlier when I had run to and from work, but sitting in it now was not too fun. I rose and peeked inside; nope, no available tables or even a chair.

After just a few more minutes, two guys exited and I figured they had to have just vacated a table. I jumped up, made my move inside and secured an empty table. YAY. So, there I sat with my coffee, New York Times, & bag of mixed nuts. My body was still trying to get settled. I began reading some work research and occasionally I glanced up. When I did, I noticed the table in front of me to my left. At first, I wasn’t sure if the two individuals were men or women. They both had been heavily clothed; one had their head held down and was simply sitting there and the other was turned sideways with a large scarf around the neck. After watching them for a few moments, I saw they were women. The one who had her head down was intermittently sleeping and every now and again would open her eyes and pretend to read the paper in front of her. When I saw her eyes, I saw absolute fatigue, utter exhaustion. She was also shivering. Shivering as if she had been cold for days rather than just now coming in from the outside. You and I don’t know that kind of shivering and I pray we never do.

I caught a glimpse of the other ones’ eyes; soft, young. She had been sitting very still while reading the newspaper. There were no coffee cups or other pieces of evidence they had actually purchased anything. Obviously, they came in seeking shelter from the bone-chilling, wicked weather. Looking around the room, people were using their laptops, playing cards, conversing…and I wondered how many others noticed these two ladies. I thought of how I almost didn’t notice them. My thoughts drifted to where I would go when I left Starbucks; I was going to dinner across the street and then going home to my warm house. I wondered where they would go. Did they know where they were headed after the early 5:30pm coffee shop closing?

As I prepared to leave, I first went to their table and asked, “Can I get y’all some hot chocolate or something?” Immediately, they both looked up at me, smiled and said, “oh, yes, Thank you.” Me; “Or coffee, do you want coffee?” The ladies, brighter, “Oh, Yes, Coffee. Thank you so much” Me; “ok. I will get y’all some coffee.”

I walked up to the counter and ordered 2 grande coffees. As I was waiting, I reached into my pocket and pulled out two $20 bills. I grabbed a coffee and a $20 bill in each hand and went back to their table. I set the coffee and the money on the table and said, “this is for you. take care of yourselves.” They looked at me and smiled big. Then, they each gave me a hug and said “thank you.” “God bless”, I said “take care of yourself.”

I walked out. I was half-smiling. So shaken was I, so touched was I, I nearly burst into tears.

your sunday tour guide

A left outside of the building and a long stretch on Monroe Dr. I pass by the Kroger, Publix, Starbucks and cool new restaurant, HobNob. Crossing Piedmont Ave and still on Monroe, I run by Grady High School, another Starbucks, Trader Joes, Midtown Cinema and continue on the slight uphill to next intersection at Ponce de Leon. Once I cross Ponce, Monroe changes to Boulevard and the next Mile could also be referred to as “crack alley” (someone recently referred to it in that manner). Lots of run down apartments and people on the streets at all times of day or night — not sure what they are doing…but no one ever bothers me and I don’t bother them. I just keep runnin’. Soon crossing over big intersection of Boulevard/Freedom Parkway and into Edgewood and the MLK Center. Finally, I make a turn, a right one onto Dekalb Ave and head West towards Downtown. I pass the MLK Marta Station and soon make another right hand turn onto Peachtree Corner. I’ve just passed Georgia State University and a bunch of downtown hotels. Now on another long straight stretch on Peachtree Rd…taking me past The Fox Theater, another Starbucks, & Margaret Mitchell House. Now into Midtown and on a stretch that includes many new high rises, a new LOEWS Hotel (wanna check it out!!) ANOTHER STARBUCKS, W Hotel, 14th Street Playhouse, Art Museum and nearby Piedmont Park. Finally another right turn onto a street that takes me into Ansley Neighborhood (gorgeous, wide streets, large, older homes) passing Ansley Golf Club and winding my way back onto Monroe and back home.

How many Starbucks was that??

AM run = 15.3 miles

PM run = 5.7 miles

Sunday total = 21

Week total = 34

holding the line

“One morning in Boston, it was snowing so hard that I didn’t think anybody would be going training, but I went down to the track anyway. Billy Smith was there, though. He opened the door and said: ‘the road to Mexico is out there'”.  -David Hemery – who won the 400 meter hurdles at Mexico City in 1968

I’ve always loved this piece! Can’t you just visualize it? I sure can…

Today, Tuesday, was group run day at the office. If you saw my last post, you will notice that 8 people joined me last week. Major Success! Well, when I looked at the weather report a few days ago, I saw that Tuesday would be the worst day; cold w/ snow flurries. In Atlanta. More snow. WOW. And it’s gonna be high 60’s by the weekend. Naturally, I thought it was gonna be interesting to see if anyone showed up to run. Even myself. I had good runs over weekend, but the weather forecast surely wasn’t making it easy to stay motivated to go outside after a long work day. But, I held the line. Inside, I feel like I have a responsibility to ‘hold the line’ of the group; to not miss a day, to not have any excuse to not be there. Usually, every Friday and Monday, I send an email about the run (as a reminder). I did the same thing this week so they would know I would be there, regardless of weather. By noon today, it was apparent that no one was joining me. Of course when I realized I would be going solo, I had thoughts of letting myself off the hook for the day or even just go run on treadmill. It was 37 degrees and snow flurries still coming.

I had been in the office all day and went out for coffee around 2pm. The little jaunt to Starbucks was actually refreshing since I had felt so cooped up all day. Decision Made. The run outside is on. Holding the line. Whether anyone was there with me or not. It’s perfectly understandable that people would opt out…for weather reasons or for whatever they’ve got going on. No problem. I will be there. I will be there again, next Tuesday at 5:15pm.

‘Cause for me…the road to LA MARATHON (and beyond) is out there!

TRAIN HARD. TRAIN SMART. BE BRAVE!