Short ride today. Not because we weren’t feeling it or the wind was blowing (well it was, but not in our face all day) 😂 but instead we were headed to Haley and Christian’s home.
We met them back in Marathon, Texas at a coffee shop. They were in town with Haley’s extended family celebrating a birthday and planned to go down to Big Bend for a day of big hiking. Everything in Texas is BIG! ❤️🤍💙 That morning we dashed into town for a big cup of hot coffee.
We got to talking about bike touring and were fascinated to hear about Christian’s dad cycling across Australia some years ago. And no that’s not going to be our next trip. It sounded grueling.
Haley came out to see our bike set up, ask a few questions and said if we’d be anywhere close to their home in Bastrop they’d like to host us for a night.
I gave her a travel card and said our goodbyes. A few days later she emailed me and we figured out our route went right past their driveway. I kid you not. It was meant to be.
As we were peddling up their driveway today Haley came walking down with their littles in tow and all smiles. What a welcome reunion!
Their family lives on 22 acres outside of Bastrop. So peaceful and just lovely in every way.
Instead of Tom and I being on the cooking side of the kitchen counter, Haley and Christian prepared the tastiest meal (and plenty for second helpings) while wrangling little James and Charlie. It just felt like home as they opened theirs up to us and loved us BIG.
Conversation and a meal with a loving, faith filled family and hearing about their lives, their future while sharing about ours was one of the most soul satisfying evenings of this trip.
We have only a few days left in Texas and our visit with this sweet family is a heartfelt way to say good bye to a state we’ll miss.
And oh… guess who we met.
This is Bevo, their neighbor David’s longhorn that he received as a birthday present from his wife. I just think that is so cool!
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Keep Calm and Pedal On 