The girl's team enjoyed a quiet lunch on the banks of the Columbia River just before entering Washington State.

The Longview Mini Mart is not only a great meeting place for our runners and the Cowlitz Valley Runners, it is run by some very generous patrons who kindly filled van's tank to the brim.

Shobhavati meets some new friends from New Zealand who now live in Rainier.

David from the Cowlitz Valley Runners joined the team for the run from Longview to Castle Rock.

Tom from the Cowlitz Valley Runners also joined the run.

David's son also joined the run with his Dad and carried the torch up one of the big hills.  We are excited to have him join us next time too!

The Castle Rock Senior Center enthusiastically welcomed the runners.

Joining the festivities were Kim Teruya from the US Forest Service, Susan Barker, Superintendent of the Castle Rock Schools and Cowlitz County Commissioner James Misner.

Our host, Myron Nelson was excited to welcome the runners for the 4th time.

Myron accepted the World Harmony Run Torch Bearer's Award on behalf of the Castle Rock Senior Center for its continuing contributions to the community.

The Cowlitz Valley Runners were also excited to receive the Torch Bearer's Award for its long standing efforts to increase interest and participation in long distance running.

The community was pleased to offer the runners many gift baskets and goodies, including cookies, cakes, fruits and roasted coffee.

Among the gifts was the most coveted 'Big Foot' license. Commissioner Misner provided the answer to a long standing question, "Yes, the legend of Big Foot started in none other than Castle Rock, Washington".

After all the gifts and awards, it was time for the main event, ice cream!

We all reluctantly departed from Castle Rock, full of ice cream and goodwill from one of our favorite stops on the US Harmony Run.

Next stop is Vader and the much anticipated Potato Bake!

Shobhavati, Jana and Priyala enjoy a few minutes of relaxation before the Potato Bake begins.

Thumbs up for jumbo spuds and...

a remarkable history of the City of Vader, presented to us by historian David Holland.

The Vader Citizen's League, lead by Liz Hicker, Linda & Don Hanson, Donna Rogers, Lois Wilson, Dave Holland and Ivan Bachman made the runners feel right at home.

We were even invited for a tour of Dave and Ivan's beautifully remodeled 1903 home, originally built by one of the towns founding families.

Katya played a few songs on Ivan's piano for us as a parting memory to a very memorable day. Thank you David and Ivan!

– Rupasi

Distance: 89 miles

Team Members:
Shobhavati Davies (New Zealand), Jana Duskova (Czech Republic), Tom McGuire (New Zealand), Katya Percheklii (Ukraine), Larissa Zub (Belarus), Priyala Carvalho (New Zealand), Salil Wilson (Australia), Harita Davies (New Zealand), Atulya Berube (USA), Rupasi Young (USA)

Harmonemail:
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Gallery: See more images!