Day 5: Park City to Chino Hills

Destination: Chino Hills, California
States I drove through today: Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California

Today was the last day of travel planned for the DSTNCE-Mobile and it was certainly a long one. The day started amazingly as I continued my visit in Park City with Katy. I went for an early shakeout run at 6am on the golf course, then started up one of those 9000 footers that I mentioned were in Katy's backyard. I started off feeling really good... it was a beautiful morning and the trail was a nice soft switchback. I could feel myself working a little harder on the incline but I enjoyed having that muscle screaming, gasping for air feeling without having to get the hard fast pounding on my legs. I continued up the gradual slope and took a few pictures along the way, but after about 20 minutes, I decided I was in enough oxygen debt and started the decent back to the golf course. Katy would have joined me, but she had a pretty nasty spill on her road bike a couple days ago and is still letting her wounds heal.

After the run, we went over to this great little breakfast place and I had one of the best bagel sandwiches ever, along with a very large coffee to prepare me for the rest of today's activities. From here, Katy, Bella, and I had a nice hike up to the top of PC enjoying all the wonderful scenery around us. It was a short hike, but enough to get the heart rate up a little and to get some great photos of this amazing city, like the one below.

On a side note, let me talk a little bit about Katy. We first met in high school and as I recall, we became pretty good friends almost immediately. She is an amazing little lady and one of the nicest people I know. At about the same time we became friends, I also gained two new and amazing fans in Ed and Jeanne (Katy's parents). All throughout high school and college, the Jacksons were like my second set of parents. If my mom was not able to attend a meet (which was rare), the Jackson's had no problem stepping in and taking on the role as my #1 fans. I consider myself very lucky to have had these people in my life and I am so glad I managed to squeeze this visit into my journey.

On top of that, in the short time that I spent in Park City, I came to the conclusion that it is probably the coolest place I have ever been in my life. There are over 300 miles of dirt trails ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 ft, you see gorgeous backdrops in every direction you look, temperatures rarely get below 20 and rarely above 80, you can ski until May in shorts, and you have a really cool town that completely revolves around the athletic enthusiasts in all of us! I promised Katy that I would be back as soon as possible for another visit and would spend a much longer time there to enable more of the adventures that I've heard so much about.

Finally, I brought myself to actually say goodbye to Katy and Bella and left Park City to head out on the final leg of this journey. It started off pretty nice going through the mountain ranges of northern and central Utah. Then it all turned really boring once I got into the canyons and deserts of southern Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. This boringness was soon followed by lots and lots of heat. Let me remind you that the "Blue Beast" does not have AC. I would not recommend driving 6 hours through the desert with no AC in 115 degree temperatures. I had 5 liters of water and 2 gatorades, yet I never once had to go to the bathroom until I finally arrived in Cali. It was not a pleasant drive and I would not wish it on anyone.

At long last, I arrived in the great state of California. I made it to Chino Hills by 8:30 PM, I did not pass out from heat exhaustion, and the "Blue Beast" dominated those 3200 miles like a champ!

Stats:

• Trip Duration: 5 Days
• Driving Hours: about 50
• Miles Driven: 3181
• States Driven Through: 13 (+1 Province)
• Miles Ran: 18
• Gallons of Gas: 81.95
• Average Miles per Gallon: 38.82
• Total Cost of Gas: $341.94
• Highest price per Gallon: 4.69 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• Lowest price per Gallon: 3.75 (Brooklyn, Iowa)

Now, after being in Chino Hills for 2 hours (enough time to get a sandwich, unload the car, and take a shower), I am currently sitting in the Los Angeles airport waiting for my 6am flight to Eugene, Oregon. This will open up a whole slew of discussion topics that I do not have the energy for right now. I'm actually rather surprised at how much I've put on this post already.

Speaking of which, I just want to say how much I appreciate any of you that have been following this blog series. I will be the first to point out that these posts have not been the most coherent pieces of literature and have been more of a regurgitation of thoughts. I don't edit them and I have rarely hit the spellcheck button before I press the publish button and pass out next to the computer. My days have been filled with all sorts of craziness and excitement, so it has been nice to share at least a little bit of that with my friends and family through this medium.

On that note, I'm logging off for now and will start fresh from Eugene with some recaps of my experiences at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials!