COLLINWOOD
Seems funny that during our days off we assume that the post for the day will be pretty much bland except for "We rested and ate out....and rested some more. End of story.
But the truth is....This day proved to be just as memorable as our riding days.
Most of the day was mostly just like the description above: We rested in the morning and worked on minimizing our load as we will push tomorrow thru the final 3 days of riding in some of the toughest climbs of the trip. We tuned up our bikes and then headed over to Chad's Restaurant for another round of Lumberjack burgers and Catfish!! Great stuff.
But the best stuff of the day was about people. A common theme in bike touring is that being at street level for an extended timeframe....you can't help but come across some of the greatest people. They don't ever make headlines...and they don't want to. But they are the folks many times behind the scenes doing good things for their community and other people every single day. We've talked about this as a group. It's so unfair that the news every night flashes the really BAD things that happen and show mostly the bad folks doing bad things. In reality, the majority of folks are good. And do good.
In walk Dianne and Larry Butler. Owners of our B&B "Miss Monetta's Cottage". They were just checking in on us and delivering a few more goodies such as breakfast bars, popcorn and coffee and such. We exchanged a few words on the outside deck when Dianne invited us all to see the other cottage that they rent out. For the next few hours.....Dianne and Larry proceeded to give us all a tour of their home town of Collinwood in their Trailblazer. The sawmills, the businesses, the old train station and so much more. All just because. We were thrilled that they would spend this much time and effort trying to make us feel welcome and at home.
We thank you Dianne and Larry......and we thank you Collinwood Tennessee!!
How wonderful and exciting to read that a great portion of America is just that - GREAT! It's amazing how many good people are out there!!! Thanks for the report - wish I could've been there to hear and see all that! Pat
ReplyDeleteSo that was posted on the 14th (hope you got your taxes filed - Uncle don't cut any slack to bikers) and I am thinking you are close if not done.
ReplyDeleteWell done (again). Did you ever find any interesting grave sites ? Can't wait to read the wrap up. Great job. Another huge adventure under your belt and on top of your bike seat !