Eugene, Oregon

Totally last minute, we wrote to couchsurfers in Eugene, OR the day we were leaving Melissa’s. On our way there, we received a phone call from one of the couchsurfers girlfriend saying his place was full, but she could host us still. We got there late, which she had generously said would be fine with her, and met up at her place. We hung out chatting for a bit with Holly and Richey, and they were rad.

Terrell, TX

We arrived at Paula’s in the afternoon and were greeted by her, five or six children and two horses talking a leisurely walk. Smiles and hellos encouraged us to feel welcomed and right at home. We were given a cozy bedroom and lots and lots of hospitality. It was such a great place surrounded by gorgeous land and sky.

Fort Worth

We trucked over to Fort Worth from Tyler, ready to spend a couple days not traveling. We had arranged to stay with our next couchsurfing host, Angie, from Thursday to Sunday. Driving past her place, it was like we were back home in a West Philly neighborhood. The streets were lined with trees, quite a relief to find some shade from the hot Texas sun, and we drove on to meet Angie where she was working.

Couchsurfing, Shreveport!

Couchsurfing is a great thing. We have been meeting some awesome people and on our way out of Jackson we did just that. Our next destination was Kaufman, Texas where we would visit the Southwest Vipassana Center to help out between meditation courses. We had about five days to kill before we arrived so we decided to look up some people on CS to stay with along the way. One of them was Matt in Shreveport, LA. Shreveport was only a about a three to four hour drive from Jackson and along our route into Texas. We met Matt, our host, at his apartment after he got home from his job as a lawyer for the US Air Force. We could tell instantly that Matt was a genuinely nice guy, he made us feel right at home.

The Panhandle

Our next plan was to high tail it out of Florida and go to Biloxi, MS to meet a relative of Amy and family. We sent out a few couchsurfing requests to people in the panhandle where we were thinking about resting for the night after the lengthy drive. We had no luck getting any responses, and we figured we may need to get a hotel room. So we stocked up at NFP (Nature’s Food Patch) and then we get a call from a couchsurfer saying we can stay at his place for the night. Great! So, with the rain following us steadily, we made our way up north and then started heading westward.

Gainesville – Gators, Grease, and Gift Gardens

While in Charlottesville, we met Connie’s lovely friend Jamie, and she told us that we could contact her friend Beth if we passed through Gainesville on our way to Clearwater. So we did just that, and Beth kindly agreed to have us spend a few nights at her place. Unfortunately, we never met her husband, who was away, but we were more than happy to meet their awesome dog, Murphy! Beth was a wonderful host and great company. The night we arrived, she made an amazing vegetarian dinner… YUMMM! And she also informed us that there was a volunteer opportunity the following day with FOG – Florida Gift Gardens. Florida Gift Gardens builds free raised-bed vegetable gardens for underserved and low-income Alachua County, Florida residents and the institutions that serve them, helping them become more self-sufficient and increasing their ability to provide for some of their own food needs.

Athens

We arrived in Athens, and before meeting up with our first official couchsurfing host, we stopped at The Grit to have a light lunch. And turns out they even had 3 gallons of waste oil to offer! A drop in the bucket, but it felt good.

Hillsville, VA

I’m sitting here in Athens, GA. Just yesterday we came from Asheville, and before that, Hillsville. Tomorrow we leave for our 10 day meditation course in Jessup, GA. Time is flying by.

Our good friend David let us stay with him in the small, hilly, town of Hillsville, VA. Good times and good food were had by all (of us). When we weren’t four wheeling for firewood, climbing Buffalo Mt., or waiting for the cows to come drink by the stream we were making lots of yummy food to share. Some of the menu items were: (red) lentil chili dal, Kale and rice with tahini dressing, vegan french toast, and the ever-so popular tempeh reuben…