Our first stop was Fort Ross Historic State Park. Cayla kindly welcomed us and played a short narrative movie about it. Located on the Northern California Coast, the Russian America Company first started their journey looking for a new region for trading.
Hank kindly took us for a tour and shared with us insightful stories of the interconnectedness between Russian, China, Spanish and Metini--the ancestral name for the region.
As the Russian-American Company began their new life in this region, unfortunately they could not grow wheat to produce grain to make bread for their Northern colonies.
Therefore as a solution, they traded bread with the Spanish settlers.
While living in this region they also earned their fortune by collaborating with the native expert hunters. They sold soft gold (the sea otter skin) to Chinese markets and in return brought back to the colony tea and silk.
This Fort was made with redwood and some of the Russian Family lived here. Everything is preserved very well so everyone could get a glimpse of how they lived their life.
It was an excellent tour and on behalf of the runners, we gave Hank a copy of Listen to Nature book.
Liam from Fort Ross held the torch.
Sharing a moment of Peace by holding the torch.
And then the running began...
"Perfect happiness is enthusiasm minus expectation" --Sri Chinmoy--
Excitement was in the air as the whole community welcome Harita who ran into the ceremony and passed the torch among them.
We were welcomed greatly by the community of Elk right in front of Elk Store.
They enthusiastically learned the World Harmony Run song in action.
'Peace begins with me'
Anica Williams and her daughter Mila held the torch together. We thanked Anica for creating such an amicable and strong welcome to the runners at Elk.
Some of us stayed for afternoon tea offered by the locals. Some of us had to continue our run to the next ceremony.
Sending a heartfelt wish for Peace and Harmony to the next town: Montecino.
Harita held the torch and ran to the next ceremony.
At the little community park at Montecino, a group of locals waited for us and cheered the runners.
Country guessing games!
Each one of them held the torch, quietly put their wishes, and lastly sang 'Let There Be Peace On Earth' together.
We thanked Carole Raye for uniting the community to meet the Peace runners.
Tracy who now lives in Montecino, ran the Peace Run in Elk in 1987! What a wonderful connection!
Another friendly local in Montecino held the torch outside his photography gallery.
We are beyond grateful to co-owner Jeff Stanford, pictured holding the torch, our wonderful waiter, Jared and the entire staff of Stanford Inn's Ravens Restaurant, for treating our team to a most delicious and exquisitely prepared and presented vegan meal. Since our first visit in 2014, we have been offered a meal every time we have passed by. The whole experience is serene, uplifting, and deeply nourishing.
The mission of Stanford Inn is "...to celebrate nature- its beauty, its support for us, and its resilience...to create an environment in which guests, staff, and family are able to connect and deeply appreciate the natural and, in so doing, themselves."
The starters were a gourmet meal in themselves!
We left sumptuously fed, happy and enormously grateful! What a beautiful end to a day filled with oneness-happiness!
Every single heart is happy--and Torch is absolutely beaming with Joy!
Always good to remember that we keep going in order to carry the best wishes and prayers from everyone as we continue our Peace running. As Sri Chinmoy wrote: "May the flames of peace-torch Kindle and awaken Each and every world-citizen."
