September 25 Crossing America

Yemassee, SC – Moncks Corner, SC a distance of 75 miles.
5,860 miles traveled through today, 4,767 of them on my bike.

The day didn’t start well as there was heavy fog when I left Yemassee.  Didn’t much feel like riding either as my legs felt as though they were lead, guess from having two days off and two days of riding without gear.  It took me 22 miles of grinding out the miles pedal stroke by pedal stroke to get into a groove.  Arriving at my intended overnight town  Reidsville I was unable to make contact with anyone at the Police Department even though they had two numbers to call which I did and had to leave a voice message.  Then I hung around town for an hour and half waiting for a return call but never received one.  Well I didn’t exactly wait as I tried to make contact with three different churches and failed to succeed there, too.  Had no choice but to continue riding on to the next town Moncks Corner which was a chore and a half with the high heat and humidity.  Sometimes you just have to grunt it out and do what you have to do.  This day I rode the furthest ever with a fully loaded bike weighing in at 110 lbs.

Arriving in Moncks Corner I knew the first place I wanted to check with for possibly  hosting me this night was the fire department.  After making an inquiry as to where it was I rode directly to it.  Just as I arrived at there the  sky opened up and it began to pour buckets of rain.  I said a little prayer before entering the office the Chief or Captain on duty would have mercy for this Old Guy and allow me to stay the night.  No one was in the office but I heard the TV in the lounge, kitchen/dining area and asked the three firemen sitting there who might be in charge.  Cory the shift supervisor said he was and I immediately introduced myself, gave him a quick summary of my journey and asked if I might stay the night.  Cory said he couldn’t make that decision but led me to the Captain on duty Bobby Gass, (Same as gas but with two SS, Bobby later told me) this time Cory did the talking for me and then I shook the Captain’s hand and hoped he would be allowing me to stay.  What a great guy, took him all of 10 seconds to say yes and welcome me to the Moncks Corner Fire Department.  We then reentered the lounge area where I was introduced to firemen Matt and Bubba.   Capt. Bobby then showed me around the fire house, told me I could sleep in the conference room and even be able to take a shower and do my laundry.  Bubba asked if I’d like to use a sleeping mattress, more like a regular twin bed, he used to sleep on and I said great.  Bubba aired up the mattress while I removed my gear from Spirit.  Asked Bubba if I might be able to use the air compressor to top off my tires, it was a good thing I did as the rear tire was down to 65 lbs.  Good thing I did as low tire pressure causes pinch flats especially with the load Spirit is having to carry.

All the guys were interested in hearing about my journey and I about their lives, too.  Matt was the only one I didn’t get to know as I guess his shift was over or something as I didn’t see him the rest of the night.  These guys lead such interesting lives and I enjoyed as much listening to them as telling my tales.  Bobby I learned has a 28 year old son who was nearly killed by a car bomb in Iraq in 2005 and is still recovering and coping with his injuries.  I pray all works out well for Bobby’s son.  Cory I learned is a transplant from Minnesota and came to this area in 2001 and started a new and better life for himself.  He and his wife are expecting a baby in seven weeks.  Congratulations Cory.  Bubba is a good ole’ boy who I enjoyed visiting with at length and shared with him my son’s first name just after birth was “Bubba” had the nurses put the name his crib. We changed it to Shawn later.  When it was near dinner time Capt. Bobby asked if I’d like to join them as they were serving up  spaghetti with the meat sauce made with venison.  Oh yea, it took me all of half second to agree to that offer.  One of the things I’ve missed being on the road is eating venison it’s a stable meat in our home.  Later on Capt. Bobby and I visited about the liberal deer season; two deer a day from Aug 15 to Jan. 15 plus being able to hunt with dogs.  I learned some areas the only way to get a shot at a deer is to have dogs chase them out of thick brambles humans are unable to penetrate.  Cory said folks who don’t know better think using dogs isn’t sporting but did you ever try shooting a deer on a dead run making sure before you pull the trigger you have a safe line of fire, made a lot sense to me.  Gees can you tell I love these guys?  By the time the night ended I felt like we all had been friends forever.  Capt. Bobby said I have to come back down to South Carolina for a visit after my journey is  over.  To be sure Capt. Bobby I will do my best to make that happen.  Thank you, Capt. Bobby for allowing me to stay the night and to all of you for making me feel like a welcome friend; making me comfortable, feeding me and most of all for being my friends.  The only thing I forgot to get a picture of us together before leaving.  Perhaps if one of you read this you can email me a picture and I’ll include it in my journal.  One thing for sure you all will forever be in my memory.  God Bless you guys I pray God keeps you safe.

Matt, Capt Bobby, Corey and Bubba, a finer group of firemen you'll meet.

Capt. Bobby and the guys at the Moncks Corner Fire Department and all the good folks I have met and wrote about in this journal and those that are waiting to be met and written about are the America I had hoped to discover Crossing America.  People are good, God is great!

Final note: All you future touring riders who happen to land in Moncks Corner and need a place to stay for the night you would do well to see Capt. Bobby and the crew of this fire department.

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