Some days on the bike trip, plans just didn’t come easy. The day I returned back to the US from Ontario Canada was one of those days. As I was eating breakfast, I was trying to determine where I was going to stay that night. Previously, I had tried to secure a warmshower host in the area close to Buffalo, New York with no response; camping spots in the area were either too far away, or had no availability; there were no good options for any hotel/motel in the vicinity; Airbnb options either had no availability or was too far away to bike that day.
I had stayed at a Hipcamp site in Michigan and loved it so I searched that site and found a camping site, The Apple Cove Farm, which was about the perfect distance away in the right area. I was disappointed to discover that the tents sites were not available and I had missed the 48 hour deadline to reserve a yurt or permanent tent. It was getting late, and I needed to get biking.
I had an enjoyable morning ride on a trail along Lake Erie and a beautiful crossing of the Peace Bridge back into the US. I stopped at a nice city park in Buffalo to have a snack and create a definite plan for an end point for the day. A quick perusal of all the options showed me nothing had changed. I thought, maybe if I called the Apple Cove Farm directly they would open up a tent site on their campground for a cyclist.
I never expected the call to go so well. The owner answered the phone and I explained that I was traveling cross country on a bicycle. He was interested in my trip and asked me if I was raising money for any cause. When I informed him that I indeed was raising money for climate related causes he got excited and instantly offered me one of his permanent tents complete with a cot, pillow and blanket for no charge. I went from somewhat desperate to better than I could have expected luxury, in seconds. However, I was not yet done with having my needs met by surprises.
I was 25 miles outside of Buffalo in the late afternoon, with 20 miles yet to go as I started to encounter some serious hills along with high temperatures. In the middle of a significantly long and steep hill I passed a house that displayed a large sign, “Happy 50th Birthday” with a crowd of people in the driveway and front yard. I decided I wanted to wish a happy birthday to the celebrant just for fun. I turned into the driveway and informed the gentleman walking toward me that I wanted to wish the birthday person a happy birthday. He smiled and said, that would be my wife, Tina, let me go find her. A few moments later Tina appears, and I inform her “I bicycled all the way from Seattle, Washington in order to wish you a happy birthday”. She loved my greeting and asked me all kinds of questions about my trip. Then asked me if I wanted a cold glass of water. It was not my intention to be offered anything from the party when I stopped, but I was not going to turn down cold water. When I sat down to drink the water, someone else asked if I wanted any pizza or cupcakes which of course I did, and now a plate was handed to me with 2 large slices of pizza and 2 cupcakes on it. I enjoyed my surprise meal and the gathering enjoyed hearing some of the details of my trip. I ate a cupcake and a slice of pizza and wrapped the others in a napkin and packed them away for later. I thanked the party hosts for their generosity and thanked the guest of honor for allowing me into her day.
I arrived at the Apple Cove Farm an hour before sundown, after discovering that there was no place to purchase any kind of dinner as I had thought there would be. I would have had a very meager dinner that night had I not stopped to wish Tina a happy birthday. I was the only person in the campsite that night. The owner had allowed me to stay at his campsite when he wasn’t even there.
I did not intend to wait to make accommodation reservations because this was a very hard day to figure out. I’m amazed and thankful that on my bike trip, on this day and many others I was taken care of when I needed others to take care of me.