Before leaving the hotel in the morning, we were happy to meet with Papaha's past tennis student and long-time friend, Kristen.
It also happened to be the exact day of Papaha's birthday so we sang a couple of songs to him, including a traditional song from Kristen's family.
Another cake, this time smaller, since he already got ice-cream as a pre-birthday celebration at one of the campsites.
Sadly, Papaha and Gabriele are leaving the team today - thank you for your super enthusiastic participation!
We also felt peace from this Bengali tiger.
Roxana is starting her run for today here. This time, the torch is lit and the flowers are in the background.
A friendly vendor in Kalama kindly gave us some very fresh fruit.
Very healthy snacks. Plus all grown and bought locally, in one of the many farms along the road in Oregon.
And another friendly local in Kalama! We enjoyed running through this town.
And another friendly local in Kalama! We enjoyed running through this town.
Beautiful welcome at the Castle Rock Senior Center. It has been a long tradition of ours to come to this place for an "Icecream Social" which we very much look forward to!
Their boards had many posters announcing our visit!
We held a regular ceremony since only two of the members from the gathering were there during our last visit in 2018.
We also played the country guessing game with the seniors and they seemed to enjoy it very much. They guessed Salil's country immediately.
A special guest at the ceremony, Emily from the local Daily News, who came to take a couple of pictures of our runners while preparing an article for the Saturday issue of the paper.
We presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Alice, the Director of the Senior Centre.
Another gift to the centre - a Jharna Kala artwork by Sri Chinmoy which will find its place on one of the walls.
Home-made brownies and a nice printed memory from our last visit - the photos reminded us of how much younger we are getting ;)
We brought some of the farm strawberries to accompany our sweet treats at the Senior Centre.
Thanks for the traditional ice-cream, we were so much looking forward to it!
and the toppings...yum!!!
On the walls we also found photos from our previous visits, as well as a framed Torch-Bearer Award given in 2014.
Passing the torch among these lovely ladies and men.
Thank you, Castle Rock Senior Centre, for hosting us. We will be looking forward to our next visit!
And thanks to Emily who drove all the way to Castle Rock to meet us.
These ladies wanted to accompany our runners on the way. We walked half a mile together and met other enthusiastic people on the way.
Being more inland, we immediately felt the difference in the temperature; it is much warmer since early in the morning.
Since our cars also need a good care (10,000 miles is a long journey!), we stopped by for a service and oil change.
Also animals need to feel peace and we love meeting them on the road. At least the shade of our flower-flame touched this lovely pony.
Fernando, marathon runner.
Tonight we are camping right beside the river and we cannot resist having a quick dip. Although the water is cold, it's exactly what we need after running during a hot day.
Our duties haven't finished yet. We need to document our journey, write the reports and prepare for the next day.
Our campground office... The reality of peace on the Peace Run ;) ...but still enjoying the tranquility of the nature in the meantime...
