Yesterday was a long day heading into Greenville. I did not get moving until around 10am as I was pretty tired from the days before. But after a good days walk with some welcoming cool changes and showers moving through, I did finally arrive to Greenville at around 8pm, tired and sore and looking for a place to pitch my tent. I made my way through the center of town looking for a friendly looking campsite until I got to a hampton Inn on the outskirts of the small city. I noticed out the back there was a nice little patch of grass that would suit my tent perfectly. I went in and plopped my pack on the ground next to the reception and even before I could speak I had a bottle of water thrust into my hand from the receptionist. We got talking about what I was up to and she made some calls to her supervisor in regards to whether or not I could pitch my tent there. She hung up the phone with a sorry look on her face and told me the supervisor had said "no." But she was not deterred, and offered me a spot (after asking her husband if it was ok) in her backyard for the night. So we headed off there around 10pm and on arrival I met her two great sons, aged 17 and 14 and her two gorgeous twin daughters aged 12. They helped me get my tent up in their backyard then we sat around and chatted for a while. They really were a great family who if I wasn't so tired I would have stayed up all night talking to. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out to it.
The next day I was out on the road again at around 8:30am. I grabbed some breakfast at the local store and headed south. I was about 10kms into it when the sun started to heat up again and I began to think to myself "what I wouldn't give for a nice shower, some good food and a nice comfy bed." I dreamed this dream for a little longer before I noticed a red jeep coming towards me flashing its lights. It seemed like friendly flashing, if such thing exist so I was curious to see who was behind the wheel, little was i to know it was the answer to my prayers. Out of the car got Stephanie, one of the people who had helped me out last time on the trek, she had tracked me down again, god was I happy to see her face. After a hug and how do you dos , Steph offered to take my backpack with her and her friends for the day to lighten my load which I was more than grateful for. We organized that I would keep on heading south for the day until about 5pm and then Steph would come back to pick me up and take me back to Lelend, which is where she is from, as they had a bed and breakfast ready for me and dinner reservations at 6:15pm for us all. This sounded great but I had no idea of how great it was too be.
Steph picked me up at 5 as organized, this had allowed me to cover around 30kms for the day which was good. We got to Leland and went straight to the bed and breakfast which Steph and her husband (who is a great guy) are part owners, but WHAT a bed and breakfast it is... I thought we had just pulled up to the White House. This place is beautiful and nestled right along Deer Creek which runs right through the middle of town and is actually home to a local alligator. After settling in there and meeting the lovely 85 year old Charlotte (the inn keeper) who is as fit as a fiddle and I am sure could do this trek faster than I am at the moment, I hopped into that shower I had been dreaming about earlier and washed all the grime and sweat off me. The we all headed out to dinner at the local restaurant. We met up there with a bunch of Stephs friends who were a bunch of fantastic people all full of advice and questions about the walk and a bunch of great stories about the region. They really lifted my spirits after a hard week and I honestly cant thank Steph, her husband and them for that enough. Just having a good meal and a laugh does wonders for the soul.
Right now I am in one of the comfiest beds I have been in for a long time and trying my best to soak up every last bit of these luxuries because I really do not know when I will get anything close to like this next on the trek. I tell you it is going to be hard to leave this place and people tomorrow...
http://www.thompsonhousebb.com/
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