The kindness of strangers

After being on the road a little over 3 weeks, we have done some reflecting on those little acts of kindness we have received from strangers..

Heather and Jeff in Whistler who plied us with beers and chips, and many many words of advice in bike touring, the Divide, bears and happy bums.  And donated us their bear spray!  When strangers become friends!

The young couple in whistler who donated some cheese and jalepeno sausages, yum!

Then the Irish/English couple in Whistler who donated beers and sausages.

Then there was the crazy dog man who was a gift from the gods when he took our panniers for us as we climbed up the insane Highline road to Seton Portage.

And Mark a fellow cycle tourer who shared many a cycling story, our campsite and his powdered hummus with us at Pavillion Lake.  We ran into him again in the Main Street of Canmore, a few weeks later!

Then there was the couple in Revelstoke who shared their beers, and a potential trail building job for Shane, including a chopper ride to the site....ahhhh!

The campground in Canoe that offered half price camping for cyclists!  

Tanya from the Kicking Horse Hostel in Golden, who provided her yard for camping and access to all her facilities for free.  The mozzies were a not so welcome bonus!

And the poor Dutch couple at Lake Louise who asked to borrow a lighter for their fire, and suddenly found us drinking their beers, and Shane building their fire!

The life saving Japanese couple we met in Banff at the Banff Adventure Film Fest, who gave us a lift back to our campsite, and saved us from walking home in the storm.

Wilma from the Rocky Mountains Chalet in Canmore who saved us from the cold and the rain, and every hotel being booked out, and gave us a 2 bedroom apartment she wasn't meant to rent out, and did it for half the price, angel!!

The crazy 3 Alaskans, Dave, Tom and Chris, who we shared days 2&3 on the Great Divide.  Great company, some amazing stories, delicious brownies, a few shots of rum, and now a place for us to stay when we go to Alaska at some point!  It was really sad to leave the gang!!!

The crazy Alaskans!!

The Calgary couple at the Blue Lake Campsite, there for the serenity, then 5 cyclists destroyed their peace, so they sat us down in their comfy chairs and shared their beers!!

And that's only 3 weeks worth!​​

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UPDATED!!

The random RV park in Baines Lake, just before we crossed the border into the States.  We rolled up to an RV park, pretty much full of permanent RV's.  Befre we were off the bikes, some retirees offerred us beer.  Then they invited us to their annual park Pot Luck Dinner, at the local hall.  Picture table after table full of home cooked food they had been cooking all day, as well as a big table of desserts, and free beer.  This was INSANE we ate so much that I we had to roll around town on the bike for an hour before we could even consider going to bed!

Pot Luck dinner

Our wonderful Warm Showers hosts, Michelle and Greg, who put us up in their house in Eureka, Montana, gave us a warm bed, a warm shower, took us to the brewery, and fed us beer and steak - awesome

The old bloke at the library in Bigfork who gave us the inside scoop on the local Friday night Art walk where you visit local galleries, and they supply free food and booze!

Bev and Dan in Seely Lake, who we called our Foster parents - in fact we wrote a whole blog about them they were awesome!  

The bike tourer in Butte who was quitting the trail due to injury, so he donated his bear spray to us - finally we had one each!

The outdoor shop owner in Helena who greeted us at the door of his shop with a slice of cake each!  hilarious!

The receptionist at the Condos in Island Park,  Idaho, who, despite the fact that they were booked out, took pity on the sopping wet miserable cyclists, and made an apartment available when it shouldnt have been!  I offerred her a hug, but she threatened to cancel our room if I came near her in my wet muddy state!  

The fireman we met at Steamboat Lake who gave us some liquid gold (Sam's cola) after we found out that it was miles to the next store.  He also called ahead to make certain the visitors centre would stay open for us.

Karen and Ray, in Steamboat Springs, we wrote about them in this blog.  They looked after us like parents would, and even gave Richelle a lift to Frisco, such amazing people!

Stefan in Breckenridge, who stopped us on the bike path and asked us our story.  Then he handed over $20 and said buy yourselves a beer!  It actually bought us lunch, but so generous!

Carolyn and Pieter, our wonderful Warm Showers hosts in Breckenridge.  A beautiful house where we felt right at home for 2 nights.  They cooked for us, and had some amazing stories to tell.  I was happy that we were able to give them something back in return, I cooked curried chicked with medeterranean cous cous, and then we helped them out with some painting of their unit they are renovating.  It feels so good to finally do something in return for such generousity!

The lovely lady at the hostel in Salida who dropped everything to give me a lift to the post office then the bus station, so nice! 

The motorcycle tourer who met Shane on his way to Salida, and asked him if he was accepting donations.  And then handed over $100!  Shane nearly fell off his bike!!!

And down in New Mexico, after Shane had diverted to Alberquerque to replace his pannier ripped by a dog, he woke up one morning to find an envelope on his bike ; "To help with repairs" and it held $20!!

Walk into a shop and eat cake!

Then there was our fantastic Warm Showers hosts in Denver, Allison and Jim, who let me stay 2 nights in their beautiful home, its so nice to have the comforts of home!

​There are certainly some amazing people out there!!!