Thanks to Randi at the Chamber of Commerce in Butte, Montana, we were able to have great accommodations last night. We are ever so grateful also to Shelly and Dan for arranging for us to be at some inspiring Fourth of July events.

The first event was last night’s incredible fireworks display. We got to view them from up close where Shelly and her family live. This morning we walked and jogged in the huge parade.

This is touted as the largest Fourth of July parade in Montana. We also had the honor of walking between two inspiring local politicians. The Chief Executive of Butte, equivalent to a ‘Mayor’, was very welcoming as we were able to meet him just before the parade got underway. He seemed very popular and well liked by the people along the route.

The Senator was marching behind us. We luckily had the chance to meet him afterwards. He seemed quite impressed with our event, the World Harmony Run, which seemed to coincide with some of his own ideas as well. He also is a very good long distance runner who has traversed the State of Montana a number of times. He knew some Hungarian, Russian and German words and had fun conversing with our team members from those countries. He told us how he traveled around the world when he was younger, discovering how similar people were rather than getting caught up in the differences. He seemed like a very caring and dynamic person who knows his constituents’ needs and concerns quite well.

After the parade we met up with Shelly and Dan who were nice enough to lead us to Belmont Park where we would run on stage and present ourselves and our journeys.

We went there in the early afternoon and thanks to the organization of John Raymond, who works for Encore Entertainment, we were able to share our ideas and song with about 1,000 people who had come to watch some musical concerts.

The evening found us at the Canyon Ferry Mansion , a stunning B&B and spa.

Sandy and Steve Rose have transformed a 1915 old run down building to a wonderful accommodations. They were so hospitable and friendly that we could not believe that such a great place would be possible in this ‘neck of the woods’. Actually, having come over the highest pass in the area, we were now running at over one mile high, around 6,000 feet in elevation. But the hot sun kept us a bit warmer today as we headed towards hotter and drier climes.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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