happily eating my words

Tonight we are at one of those beautiful horse breeder farms I was too
intimidated to approach - one of the places we passed on the way to
Gainesville. And how did we get here? By being invited out of the
blue, by owner Ashlyn who came up to us in a parking lot, asked where
we were headed and would I like a place to rest up with a nice stall
for Walter and bedroom for me?

Never jump to judgement! First, when I posted "culture shock" two days ago, I had
forgotten about sweet Mackenzie and her mother stopping their car to say "hi" and
giving Walter water as we passed through Sadler, before we came into the big estates. And about
later hearing my name called by Reana, a woman I'd met last week in OK, who
was hanging out in her yard with family as I passed by.

And finally today,..
After camping out for 4 out of past 5 days, when Ashlyn S. approached us
in the Walmart parking lot with her wonderful offer, I accepted even
though it meant staying in Gainesville. Little did I know it'd mean
retracing about 6 miles of the way through monied lands we'd ridden two days
ago...and that I'd discover there are some pretty nice folks living at
some of those big horse farms!

Road art on the outskirts of Gainesville

Plus, Walter was at his big-striding snappy happy best as we rode
along, I was in a great mood myself, and do you know that just about
every driver we passed gave us a wave and a big smile? Plus several thumbs-up;
what a difference a day makes!