Road trippin' #1

In promotion of my shoe company Altra, I filled my car only 6 days after returning from my California trip and headed east. Aside from 2 isolated trips, I'd never been east of Denver in the US. I'd seen many airports on my way to Europe but actually experiencing the cities of the midwest and east were new to me.

I left with Jeremy my partner who would be with me for the first 10 days. We visited several shops, reps, and cities along the way. St Louis, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Lancing, Detroit, Toledo, Pittsburgh, New York, and Boston. The Boston marathon expo was amazing and really made me want to go out and run the Boston marathon. The world record was amazing and vibe was great. I also had dinner and a historic run with long time friend Rob who I hadn't seen for years.

Jeremy flew home and I headed south through Jersey, Philly, Baltimore, and D.C. Long days of driving, work, phone calls, and emails. My tourism was mostly dinner and maybe a run through town. Still working with and experiencing this part of the country has been great. Yesterday after meetings in the morning I had the afternoon free. I was able to do a long run through Shenandoah National Park. Beautiful area! The trails were surprisingly technical and I had nearly the perfect 12 mile run....until 1 mile from my car my phone slipped out of my waist pack and shattered. I had just received a new fancy smart phone 3 weeks earlier...and then it was gone. All my pictures from the trip, ability to communicate, contacts, etc gone. Sadly I feel naked without my phone. Exposed and unprotected from the harsh and cruel world. Pathetic our modern technology has made us. Anyway, it put quite the damper on my otherwise awesome day. Looks like I'm dropping the cash and getting a new phone tomorrow.

Today I'm in Charlottesville, Virginia. 13 more days of experiencing the southern sections of America. Very tiring but very cool. Road trippin' at it's fullest.