The Kindness Of Strangers

Dave and I have been unbelievably fortunate with people’s generosity during our set back for the trip. First the owner of a cute general store in Avery, ID loaned us his van to drive me to the hospital for X-rays of my wrist. He also let us have it overnight when it was too late to return back to Avery and we had to get a hotel. Then our server at a Mexican restaurant offered us her truck so we could haul my motorcycle to a nearby town to have it more convenient. So far we haven’t needed to take her up on this offer but it was a nice thought on her part. Last night we got a call from Ben, the owner of the aforementioned van, telling us a forestry ranger has been laid off early season and is headed back home. Her home happens to be the exact place we need to get to so we’re further south out of the weather when I can start riding again—Salt Lake City. And she has a truck. Dave’s just ridden back to Avery an hour away to see if it’ll fit my bike and if so, she’s willing to drive me and my bike to SLC next Sat. We were just about to rent a U-haul for $900. It gets better, the owner of the place we’re staying at, the White Pines Motel in St. Maries,  has let me stay in the room well past the checkout time with all our stuff while Dave rides the round-trip up to Avery and back to talk to the forestry worker and arrange the ride. Then, upon hearing of our dilemma on our website, we got an e-mail this morning from a man we met in Samuel, ID at a gas station. A former motorcycle world traveller, Neil has offered us his guest cottage to stay in while my wrist heels. He was even going to drive the few hours south to come pick us up with our bikes and drive us back to where he and his wife live in Sandpoint, ID. Dave and I decided to take them up on their offer to stay but we can ride two-up to get there. So that’s where we’ll be hanging out for the next week until our ride leaves for SLC. I will also mention now how great Dave has been through all this. He’s had to do a lot of arranging of logistics and hasn’t complained about this crappy interruption to our trip. Good thing we have 2 whole years to get around the world as we haven’t gotten very far yet!