Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Today, as usual, I started running early, in the dark at around 4 am,
so I'd have time up my sleeve to take a break from the midday heat.
Over here, at least, I'm becoming a bit of an attraction. Some people
asked if they could take photos of my legs. A guy named Rick who ran
with me for a way called his wife and she baked a peach cobbler and
brought it to me on the run.
July 2
Bernie briefed me today on our plans for the run through northern
Mexico. It can be tricky travelling through that country because of
the bandits, drug runners and illegal immigrants trying to enter the
United States, and there have been shootings there in the past, so I'm
glad Kim Beazley was able to pull strings to try to keep us safe.
We've decided to arrive at the border at the end of a day's run,
camp just on the US side, then next day, bright and early, we'll send
the crew ahead 80 kilometres to suss out a safe route, and I'll follow
the route they've set. By the time I finish that day we should be clear of
the danger zone, and after three days we'll be well away from trouble.
That's the theory, anyway.
I'm wondering if the wonderful hospitality I've been experiencing
will cease at the Mexican border. Down there and in South America,
the language, the road signs, the culture, the political and civil situa-
tions will all be different from what we know.
July 4
Today was a highlight in my life. In years to come, when I'm looking
back at this pole-to-pole run, I'll remember with a smile the day I was
a guest of the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. With Brooke and Dillon,
Bernie and Katie at my side, the team made such a fuss of me. The
huge crowd cheered when I was introduced and the announcer broad-
cast my quest, and the donation details went up on the scoreboard.
The players honoured me by inviting me to run the four bases, and
they didn't have to ask me twice. What an experience! Players and fans
wanted their photos taken with me. Peter Moylan, a Perth boy whose
fast ball of 160 kilometres per hour has made him a star pitcher with
the Braves, signed a ball for Dillon.
