Random Meetings

My first (of many I expect) self induced unusual experience of the trip. Having been at campgrounds in fairly remote areas for the last two weeks or so I decided if I was going to learn about the US and its towns I needed to meet the people. As I was entering Grand Rapids, MN I devised my plan. I would find somebody outside in their yard and tell them briefly about my trip and plans, hoping they would have the time and desire to tell me about their life and town. An additional desire was to find a place to stay and perhaps after chatting for a while they would find some space for me somewhere. I didn't have any expectations (or much of a plan) so when the main street of Grand Rapids was closed with a detour into a residential area I knew I was on the right path. It would have been easy to chicken out as you just don't know how people will react and I'm not the most extroverted person.

What would you know, the first person I came across was the retired Police Chief. In retrospect that was probably better as you would expect him to be a fairly good judge of character. I chatted with Harvey and his son Alan, himself visiting from Denver, for at least 3 hours. During that time, Harvey's daughter Beth dropped by with her daughter as did some other of his grandchildren. I came to discover he has 5 kids and 9 grandchildren, a good portion of whom I actually met. I had brought up the question of a place to stay when I first arrived and nothing more was said about it. As it began to get dark I wondered if he was going to say, "It's been nice chatting with you, bye now". Thankfully, when he said he had to go inside, he offered that I could camp in his yard. Normally that would have been fine but with the motorcycle on the back and only staying one night that's quite an effort to remove everything. I ended up laying on my air mattress in their garage. It's funny how after spending the last week at the mercy of the elements and insects, a warm, dry garage without bugs and with light for writing is as enjoyable as any of the variety of 5 star hotels I've stayed in around the world. Everything is relative and joy is what you choose.

In the morning I went to the door to thank them as I was leaving. Harvey's wife answered and the three of us chatted for a while. I had not yet met Dorrie and she mentioned she had been considering creating a blog too so we went to their office and I showed her how to do it. We ended up spending another couple of hours working on some PC issues she'd had. I was glad I could provide some service for their generosity and we all went away with what I believe was a very positive experience. I learned a lot about them and their town, exactly what I had planned to do.