“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” — George Harrison, Any Road –
Most days, we get chocolate milk for the energy and health benefits. Today, we got a truckload.
Our daily drink.
We emptied the truck.
It was a gorgeous morning full of beautiful countryside and sites.
The world’s nicest car wash.
The shire.
Can you spot the UFO? This picture better end up on History Channel’s Ancient Aliens.
Attending this would kill John-Michael and thrill Tara.
– What do you want to do today?
– I dunno, what do you wanna do?
– Let’s not start that again.
John pulled up to find out about our walk. While talking, Nancy pulled up to find out details as well. We had a nice time meeting them and learning about the area.
Nancy and John
After a few more miles, we came upon the road that we were supposed to be taking and saw this:
That’s a problem.
Rather than double back several miles, we used our phone to find another possible road that we could use as a detour. It turned out to be a gravel road, but it worked and after a few miles, we were back on track.
Bulls and bulldozers.
When we reached Barnesville, we stopped by the library to use their WIFI and to ask about what was in the area as far as a place to stay or camp. Annette and Paula were very helpful and let us know about a Bed and Breakfast in town. They gave us the phone number and let us use their phone to make the call since our cell phones weren’t in service range. Paula asked about what we normally do about sleeping, and when we told her we frequently camped, she offered up her back yard. She said it was small, but we told her that if it was at least 10 feet by 10 feet, we would have all we needed. We can’t say enough about how great all of our experiences have been using local libraries. The librarians are always helpful and knowledgeable about their respective areas. There are more than just books at your local libraries.
We spent more time at the library and then grabbed a bite to eat while waiting for Paula to get off work. We walked to her house, where we met her husband, Jeff, daughter, Megan, and granddaughter, Nora.
Nora, Megan, Jeff, and Paula.
Jeff was really intrigued by our walk, although he had no interest in doing anything like it. His preferred mode of transportation is a bicycle, and he let us know that he wants to go on a long ride some day.
After hearing that ramen noodles are on our menu, Jeff let us know he had a case and we could have it if we wanted it. We didn’t have room for a whole case, but took three packets. Jeff snuck a $20 bill between the ramen packets. We tried to refuse it since he and his family were already doing so much for us, but he insisted, so we gratefully accepted the gift. Paula also offered to let us do laundry, but we still had some clean clothes and were already overwhelmed by her and her family’s kindness, so we passed on the offer. We all talked as the sun went down and then we retired to our tent, promising to sneak away quietly in the morning so as not to disturb anyone.