indyfabz

We had a day off in Glasgow, MT and got invited to partake in the free lunch being served by Gordon's Warehouse Grocery on customer appreciation day.

Even when I am tired and hungry I always try to be polite and tell my story, even if it's for the 5 times that day.

I think being in a group of 13 made us less approachable hospitality-wise. I am also certain we seemed less needy. When I started my travel home from ME I did experience some acts of kindness. One woman at a campground gave me a half a leftover pie she had baked in her RV.

But there is a flip side to that: When I was touring for 7 weeks alone in 2000 I felt there were several occasions where people felt uncomfortable. A "Why is a single guy his age on his own? Doesn't he have any friends? Something must be wrong with him." vibe. One evening I was sitting on a picnic table inside a screened in shelter (so many mosquitoes) in a free campground/park in Wisdom, MT. Woman pulls in driving an RV. Does a few circles then drives off. Maybe 30 min. later a man riding a tandem with a young-ish child comes rolling into town. Two days later I met the woman while doing laundry at a KOA. She told me she was driving SAG for her husband and daughter who were riding across the country. I also mentioned that I had camped in Wisdom. She said she had driven into town, checked out the campground, saw some "creepy" looking guy and decided to look for a motel room in town. it was the night I was there. Open mouth, insert foot. It was fun listening to her try to walk back that comment. After that, I tried to work into conversations that I was on way to see my girlfriend who was interning at Mesa Verde N.P.