Originally Posted by phughes

On my tour in June, I would ride all day with no place to stop for water. One day, I stopped in the only town I went through, and there was no business still open, it was a dead town. I rode on and saw a church on a lonely stretch of road. I stopped to see if they would fill my bottles. There was a young boy outside playing, and some adults in the back doing doing some tree work. The boy said hi, so I asked him if there was anyone inside the church, and if I could go in. He said he would have to ask his grandma. He opened the door and yelled, "Grandma, there is someone here!" She came to the door and invited me in, and I saw it was no longer a church, but was now a house. I apologized and told her I stopped to see if the church would let me fill my bottles. She said she would fill them, and invited me further in, I said that was okay, and didn't want to intrude. She insisted. She told me she recently retired from running heavy equipment, and had moved to Ohio since she had family there, and was in the process of remodeling the church into a home. She proceeded to fill my bottles, and gave me a drink mix she said she always used when she was working int he heat in Florida. It was a nice chance encounter.

I ride on, and about ten minutes later, a car stopped and asked if I needed water, and that they lived less than a quarter of a mile up the road, and I was welcome to stop by and fill my bottles. I thanked them and told them the story of the church. Once I got close to the state park I planned on staying, there was a convenience store connected to a bar. I bought water and smelled food. Heaven awaited...beer, food, and a gallon of water.