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.

White Sands and Las Cruces, NM

Our next drive took us from desert landscapes to steep climbs and forests to White Sands. As we descended from higher elevations, we came upon a vast open area. Mountains hugged the skyline ahead in both directions, and at the base of the range we were able to make out the sea of White Sands. We passed a sign advising us not to pick up hitchhikers (they may be escaped convicts) and then we passed another informing us that we were soon to be surrounded by missile ranges. Dodging hitchers and deadly flying objects, we made our way to White Sands National Monument.

Colorado City, TX

After our stay at the Southwest Vipassana Center, we headed into West Texas to rest for a night in a little town called Colorado City. There we stayed with Ava, our couchsurfing host. When we arrived, she whipped up some guacamole as well as cucumbers flavored with lime juice, and it took us no time to dig in. Then she sautéed some squash with her favorite sauces and seasonings. Before eating, she had to sneak out to make a shift change since she’s a paramedic and was on call.

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.

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.

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.