Lotta planning goes into completing a 50 State journey.
Work, home life, travel, weather, expense. Places you wanna see, times of year you wanna see ’em. Running all the continents, all of Canada (ok, maybe that’s just me). But – when down to your last dozen states, ya start thinkin’: Where am I gonna finish? Like picking a burial plot, kinda a big deal. My first Quest was super strategized/organized/planned. Since marathon 10, knew my journey would end in Colorado. No HOME TURF REPEAT – May’s Colfax medal was Colorado #18.
Fast forward 2019. South Dakota or Wyoming. Just two states left, west of the Mississippi. Seemed poetic to complete at Bighorn (after 2 fails). Then, Pistol (in March). Far too much (self-imposed) pressure to finish BIG at goal races. Finish, finish with a smile. Go there & enjoy the day. Still registered, flying to Sheridan, running mid-June but… taking the mental outta Bighorn this year.
CHOSE the Black Hills of South Dakota for my Round 2 finish.
Scenic, historic. Right time of year & only 5 hours from my Colorado front door.
Land of Wild Bill Hickok. Lived/breathed THREE WEEKS here, yet he’s Deadwood immortalized (gunned down, buried here). Statues, billboards, black-n-white museum pics, name of my downtown Hotel. Not your typical marathoner journey (casinos, booze, cigarettes). But…the Wild West it is.
Deadwood Mickelson Trail, a runner favourite. More folks race-registered than town residents. Will complete marathon ONE HUNDRED FIFTY tomorrow. Add to the list; it’s a good one.
3 highway hours Friday, sleeps in Lusk [Wyoming]. Chuck wagon omelette, minutes from the border. South Dakota: Great Faces, Great Places. Bib pick-up, hotel check-in – all business done – 1pm ticket, Boot Hill bus tour (cash only please). Wild West stories. Gold claims, poker cheats, saloon girls, a U.S. President & the death of Wild Bill Hickok. Railroad Museum, Adams Museum, Days of ’76 Museum, a shootout on Main Street. Pre-race HISTORY NERD holiday, LOVE LOVED! Deadwood Social Club for dinner ❤️
5:30am, look for the trolley. 50 State road ends in Deadwood. SOUTH DAKOTA!
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- Land of Hickok
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- Boot Hill Tour
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- Wild Bill & Calamity Jane
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- Adams Museum
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- Great Faces, Great Places
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- HISTORY NERD holiday
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- Native Lakota treasure
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- Black Hills’ first locomotive
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- local Plesiosaur DIG
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- downtown Deadwood
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- gold claims & poker cheats
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- Main Street shootout
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- 50 State road ends HERE
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- 5:30 Start tomorrow
Deadwood Day
Punta Arenas, Day 2. Goal: Must find food.
Some are hunters, some gatherers. Fortunately, I inherited both genes. It’s not that I require HUGE meals, but I like them regular/consistent. I need to know food is available & my food is near. Totally/entirely natural (likely fact-based), this prey drive I share with Ro. Wiki it. I’m almost kinda positive this truth can be found on the Internet 🙂
After missing dinner night prior, alarm set, up/showered/quick-ready for the day – FULL breakfast, hotel downstairs. Run plans later, sightseeing – yeah, yeah – first, FOOD. Thanksgiving spread of dishes at my table of 1. Buffet, hot beverage. EAT!
Insert: Katya. Would you like to sit with us? And…my Circle of Friends began.
First met Katya (Jorge and Paula) at Customs Control in Santiago. Me: FaceBook averse, no Spanish, introverted, table of 1 please. It was there & Katya, who asked – are you also running White Continent? Luckily wore my SWAG fleece over from Dallas. Later Emilio. Dan. Jeff. Silvio. Seth – and 20+ others. But first, there was Katya. Thanks friend.
Easy group run after break-FEAST, breezy 5 miles on the bike path. Cemetery stroll post-shower. Strange but true. Google search: top 5 things to do in Punta Arenas.
Cementerio Municipal Sara Braun. Peaceful/manicured landscape, Greco-Roman architecture, Croatian mausoleums. Dogs lazy-lounging on steps, ‘round fountains, logging sun hours. [2 long streets away] Plaza de Armas (Muñoz Gamero) to the statue of Magellan.
Beso, beso. Not just kissed the toe – I TASTED the BRASS. One for the Team, ALL IN, germophobe NOT. Past 2 days, Penguin Island [tour] cancelled for rough seas. One BRASS KISS & 75000 Monopoly $$ later, confidently purchased a ticket. Gloria. Cindy. My circle now double-digits. Early dinner at La Luna. Fresh fruit/bottled water/juices secured at a local Mercado. Life FANTASTIC.
Adventure next: Isla Magdalena – Penguin Island! 🐧
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- morning group run
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- Plaza de Armas
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- Cementerio Sara Braun
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- R.I.P. must-see 💀⚰️
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- rated top 5 – GLOBALLY
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- Familia Kusanovic
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- dog days of SUMMER
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- Monumento Hernando de Magallanes
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- brass toe of Magellan
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- Texas? nope, CHILE!
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- Life FANTASTIC ❤️
Punta Arenas (Mercado Day)
Never once to Hawaii, now twice in 2 years. Sis’ celebrating her big 5-0 Birthday this week AND running a 50K all-UPHILL ultra-marathon in our 50th state.
[Can’t believe you have a sister turning 50? Just smile & say: Nope I can’t believe it either. No need to share she’s my younger sister ❤]
Boarded a direct flight to Kona (United). 7 hour ride, 5 of it over the vast Pacific. Kept my shade shut & movie-binged. Caught up on the latest Planet of the Apes prequel – don’t be a hater. NOW we know why Nova couldn’t speak in the Charlton Heston version. LOL>
Open-air airport, no walls – just like Maui. Rental car pickup. B&B overnight in Kona. Palm trees, flowers – and chickens, crazy amount of chickens free-ranging in Hawaii. Tropical, temperate Hawaii. Sis might be planning ALL future family getaways.
Woke super early (time difference). Morning hill trek before Saturday’s 50K. Road climbed high above Kona, beautiful view of the ocean. Easy 2-mile run that got away from me. Garmin read 5.12 [miles] when I returned for fresh fruit & papaya pancakes. Paradise.
Late road start to Hilo for tomorrow’s 50K registration. Sis beat me there (retrieving lost luggage) & managed bib pick-up. Afternoon FREE, too early to check-in my bougie condo in Waikoloa – beach DAY. Detoured north: Laupāhoehoe Point Beach Park.
80° & sunshine. HUGE turquoise waves lashed the Park’s volcanic-rock shore. Laid back in lush green grass & closed my eyes. Ocean breeze, surrounded by Palms, secret quiet paradise. Big Island drive home (digged on the Hawaiian names).
Laupāhoehoe ⇨ ʻŌʻōkala ⇨ Pa’Auilo ⇨ Honoka’a ⇨ Waimea ⇨ Waikoloa
Lunch in Waimea, dinner in Waikoloa, both with a pig theme. 500,000 wild hogs on the Big Island – I went with fish 🙂
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- Sis’ 5-0 destination BIRTHDAY
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- tropical CEMETERY run
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- secret quiet paradise
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- HUGE turquoise waves
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- ocean breeze, surrounded by Palm
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- Laupāhoehoe ⇨ ʻŌʻōkala ⇨ Pa’Auilo ⇨ Honoka’a ⇨ Waimea ⇨ Waikoloa
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- 500,000 wild hogs on the Big Island
Laupāhoehoe Point
Hawaii’s feral pigs have history in their genes
“It has always been believed that the pigs were likely brought by famed explorer James Cook when he discovered the islands around 1778,” says Anna Linderholm, assistant professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University.
“He almost certainly brought pigs, chickens, and other animals with him. But our findings show that the wild hogs there today were introduced much earlier than his arrival, by hundreds of years at least. They likely came from European or Asian descent.”
Texans love their cattle, and Hawaiians love their pigs. Millions of visitors to the islands have attended luaus where a roasted pig in the ground is considered a must-see event, and Hawaiian lore has it that pigs were associated with various Polynesian gods and they were treated with great reverence and respect.
“The ancestry of feral hogs in Hawaii today can be traced back to Polynesians, and their colorful island history and legends are embedded in the state’s culture and many traditions,” Linderholm says.
