How Do from Mont Belvieu, TX!

Run Stats:
Day: 169
Miles Completed: 617.5
Miles to San Diego: 1482.5
Avg Miles/Day: 3.7
Marathons Completed: 23.6
Shoes: Skora Fit/Tempo
Playlist Favs: Chicago
Guest Runners: None

Bible Verse of the Day: Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely. Three things will last forever -- faith, hope and love -- and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (NLT)

Run Reflections: This morning I am passing through the small town of Mont Belvieu, TX. It was already 88 degrees at 9 AM with a projected high of 94. I'm still heading west on I-10 and should be arriving in Houston soon. We've had similar hot weather here in Panama City but I've been pleased that I've been able keep my weekly mileage over 20 miles/week (25 so far this week). I haven't done a longer run in this heat but am going to try to give that a go today. I'm also on a small streak of 5 days in a row and I'm going to see how long I can keep that going too. You might think that a goal to try to run 45-60 minutes a day would be pretty simple but there are some days when you just don't feel like doing it so it helps me to have these mini-challenges to keep me going. I remember watching a movie about a group of ultra-distance runners who were trying to see how fast they could run across the country. Their daily mileages were crazy (not crazy normal) but it was the mental aspect that seemed as hard for them as the physical. For me, I feel blessed to have the physical ability to do this and continue to enjoy both what I am doing and what I am learning about our country.

Mont Belvieu: Here's what wikipedia had to say about this small town on the outskirts of Houston: "The first permanent settlers to the area were Randy Ragsdale and his wife, Amelia Burrow, both from the Louisiana area. Henry was a cattle rancher, and at one time all of Mont Belvieu was used as pasture land for their cattle. Amos Barber became the second settler, and other settlers followed. After years of owning all of the land Griffith sold the deed to the land known today as Mont Belvieu. Henry Griffith died and was buried with no grave marker; Amelia soon followed. A memorial has been erected at the site of an old oak tree, and there is a rumor that Amelia was buried just down the hill from where their house once stood, just down the road from Kennefick Veterinary clinic (which now borders the Enterprise Products gas storage facility).

Growth of local industries soon proved a mixed blessing. Serious pipeline and petrochemical plant accidents happened in 1960, 1964, and 1965. A 1985 explosion at one of the plants threatened the entire salt dome on which the city was built, which had in recent years been used to store liquid petroleum gas, and led to a series of efforts by townspeople to force the petrochemical industries to buy out the homes in the immediate vicinity of their plants. By 1990 some 200 families had been bought out by a dozen petrochemical corporations.

With the aid of these local industries the community was rebuilt two miles east of its 1985 location. Among the buildings at the new site were a city hall, several new churches, and the relocated Barbers Hill ISD schools. This area (Eagle Drive) is now the central core of Mont Belvieu's residential area hosting multiple subdivisions and many "mom & pop" stores. Another core was developed south of the original city along Texas State Highway 146 north of Interstate 10; this core is based mostly on commercial services for Interstate 10 travelers hosting multiple hotels, fast food restaurants, and gas stations. The two cores are connected by the city's old location (now dubbed "the hill") which consists mostly of petrochemical company offices and cement slabs of the old city." I had some trouble finding a good picture of this city but have included a graphic from a web site called townmapsusa.com who apparently create logos of towns for things like t-shirts and coffee mugs. Yikes, this graphic shows where I currently am in this virtual run and how far it looks to be to cross the great state of Texas!

Beyond the history of this small town, I also found some info on some of their best restaurants. Iguana Joe's (rated #2) has some awesome green sauce, light and crispy tortilla chips and a moonshine blueberry margarita. Another favorite is Lety's Taqueria where one visitor reported that they had: "The best breakfast taco I've ever had. Flour tortilla, egg, cheese, potato and avocado. And it's only $1.75 each? I get 3-4 every time and drive 20 miles out of my way for them." Don't know about you guys but this is making my hungry :-) I hope this is a feature that I can add into these posts occasionally to help me virtually live the dream of being Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive Ins and Dives - what a great job that dude has!

Well folks, that's it for this week. My continued thanks for all the encouragement that family and friends are providing, I really appreciate it.

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. Hope you all have a great week.

God Bless,

Pat