Solo and Unsupported Run across America blog rerun. Posted every weekday at 8am. Buy the now complete book and full story at www.abrahamlouis.com/runningwater

The coyotes gave me a 4:45 wakeup call, and I decided to build a fire and wait out the couple hours of remaining darkness in warmth. I had gathered enough wood last night for such an occasion. I found that if you wrap the emergency blanket around your shoulders and stand by the fire it acts like an oven and warms your whole body. I was on the road at 7:00 am and made my way back to Route 66. There are a few things that you never want to go through on a long distance run and one of them is diarrhea. I’m not going to go into detail but basically my only pair of running shorts was out of order for the day. With the recent loss of my running pants, I was forced to wear the pure white, $10 Wal-Mart spandex pants I had picked up for some extra warmth back in Kingman. Needless to say, the stares lasted a bit longer and I felt like an idiot. My stomach felt awful, my body lazy and lethargic.

I am always finding strange things alongside the road but what I found today topped the list. Ruby rolled over an FBI agent’s identification badge. He was the chief of police for the Hualapai Indian reservation. Excited about my find, I picked up the two fold and practiced flipping it out and yelling, “ON THE GROUND THIS IS THE FBI”! A few miles later, I flagged down a police car and handed over my treasure. After reviewing my drivers license to make sure I was not a murderer dressed in blinding white running clothes, we had a nice chat. He told me the chief would be super excited and that he had been looking for it for the past two weeks. Ten miles later I got to meet the Chief. He said he was also looking for his wallet and was wondering if I had seen it. I laughed to myself and told him I would keep my eyes open. I checked into the Lodge in Peach Springs. The Lodge turned out to be more then I needed, but I wasn’t about to complain.