Hello from Missouri Valley, Iowa. It feels like I have not been on the road for very long time, but today was day 27. It occurred to me tonight how the road has changed me. I am staying with Sarah tonight, in a motel. This motel is so different than the places I have stayed. The carpet matches the bed spread. In this motel there are not random pieces of furniture, like formica tables. I think what I miss most is the little dirty, but laundered, towel for removing make up or cleaning your rifle.
Last weekend I stayed with my friend Tara’s family and had a great time. Kameran, Tara’s brother, showed me residential Bismarck from the back of a scooter. While I was there I ate really well, and lately I love to eat all the time.
From Bismarck I headed south. I ended up in Pollock, SD, where the people are very kind. I stayed in an empty house while I was there- the owners were away on vacation. It was ok- they knew I was staying at their house. Their neighbor brought over pumpkin bread, and zucchini bread as well as a few other treats for me to eat while I was there. I got breakfast before I left town, and everybody in the café was so thrilled to see, and talk to me. I had never even met these people before and now I have a few new pen pals.
Tuesday was a low day for me. Before I even got my bike loaded I started struggling with flat tries. I didn’t leave my campsite until almost 11:30, after 2 miles I was hungry, but I didn’t know what kind of meal to eat at 11:30. I opted for breakfast. While I was eating breakfast the air leaked out of the tire I had been struggling with all morning. I had to get serious, and take this repair to an operating room. I moved into the backroom of a hardware store to do the ultimate patch job. It was nearly one by the time I got back on the road.
I spent 35 miles worrying that my front tire was going to go flat, when all of the sudden my rear tire went flat. It was an easy patch. Unfortunately I only made it another 5 miles before the rear went flat again. I started to dig through my tube reserve. All of my tubes look far beyond repair. I had been fooling myself by holding onto all these tubes. I was stranded on the side of the road. The only productive thing I could think to do was sit on the side of the road and sob.
Sobbing didn’t get me far so I made a tidy pile of all of my belongings in the ditch, and started walking. When I reached a house a woman with hair rollers, and kelly green polyester pants answered the door. As soon as she opened the door I start to cry again. I tried to start speaking by telling her I was having a terrible day. Before could even finish she started firing questions at me-
“Why are you driving out here alone?”
I tried to answer, but could not before she started asking more questions.
“Are you running from something?”
“Is someone chasing you?”
“Are you hiding something?”
She slowed down a little bit, but then she got all worked up again. She started by telling me, “I can’t help you. I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave here. I just don’t know how to help.”
Finally she decided to be productive and drove the truck out to the field to find her husband. While she was out looking for Marvin I was instructed to sit at the picnic table. I was afraid to move. I was afraid of her. While she was gone I thought about running away, being around her was making me feel worse about my situation.
She returned with her husband. He was all smiles when he saw me. He offered to take me wherever I needed to go. I asked for a ride to the nearest campground. I just needed to get away so I could gather my thoughts. When we got to the campground we could not find anyone there, of course there was a self check in area, but Marvin was not going to leave me there without a plan. After driving all around the area we found the camp managers house. The manager sent us to the office, and followed us there. He made a few calls and found a bike shop 80 miles away, in Mitchell, where his maintenance director lives.
I was able to pay for the tubes over the phone, and the next morning the maintenance director brought the tubes to me. Hopefully I don’t find myself in that situation again.
It warmed my heart that strangers would go out of their way to help me.