A Blessed Labor Day Weekend and a Challenge to Pay it Forward

A couple of weeks ago Laurie said we need a weekend away. She was right. We planned a trip to the NC mountains on Silvia our Gold Wing motorcycle and a stay in the Oak Hill Bed and Breakfast in Waynesville, NC. She lucked out and the weather was perfect after many days of 90+ temperatures.

But first, a photo of a gift from my sister, Susie. I plan to retire on Sep 10. She had been plotting this surprise for a few weeks as she knew we liked gnomes. She said these are traveling gnomes and they go in our camper. They will be there soon.

There is one for me and Laurie. Thank you sister.

Every trip for us starts with a stop at a Waffle House. Mission accomplished.

We spent our honeymoon in the NC mountains. During that time we ate a The Sweet Onion in Waynesville NC and we loved it. We try to return to that restaurant at least once each year. We were even seated at the same table from a previous year. I had a Thai chicken meal that was delicious.

We decided to stay at the Oak Hill B&B on Love Lane in Waynesville, NC. That was a wise choice. The host was very gracious and also from Poland as are Laurie's ancestors. She corrected Laurie on the correct pronunciation of her ancestors name and told her the name has something to do with raspberries.

Staying in a B&B means breakfast and our host never batted an eye when I said I was a country boy and gravy and biscuits would be fine. She added sausage and hash brown potatoes. It was good on the out side porch with juice and coffee.

We travelled from Waynesville to Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway so I could get my mountain fix.

Now the point of this blog. We stopped at the B&B Quick Stop and Convenience Store off I-40 just west of Statesville for fuel on our way home. We were tired and butt sore and needed fuel and snacks. I wanted a cherry pie and sent Laurie inside on a mission. She came back empty but stated they had some nice looking honey buns. So I sent her back inside to procure a honey bun. Little did I know she was joking with the cashier inside.

She had said something to the effect of she had to go outside to find out what her honey wanted, then returned to get a honey bun for her honey.

She returned with my honey bun and a lemonade. We had fueled up, removed our helmets and were getting blood to flow again in our butts.

When we travel together we often get approached by folks that want to talk to us and ask us where we are going. An older man walked up to us at the pumps and spoke a few words. He wanted to give us a jar of honey he has just purchased in the convenience store. I asked him "Why?". He said it looked like we were having a great time together. He talked about riding a Harley "back in the day" and maybe he was missing a partner, I don't know. Laurie tried to give him one of our coins with our website URL. But he refused to take it.

His parting words included "God bless you" and "Have blessed day."

It happened so quick, I didn't even get his name. I'm not sure he wanted us to know. It was a very nice jar of honey.

I like the idea of random acts of kindness and I think we have been challenged to pay it forward. It was a very unexpected and touching gift.

Thank you kind stranger.