4/13 St. Francisville to Easleyville

Rode from St. Francisville to Jackson, Wilson, Norwood, then Easleyville. We stopped at the town hall in Norwood to use the facilities. We met the Mayor of Norwood, who was born in a house across from the town hall and still lives there today. We had a loose spoke on the tandem and Mike needed some sort of pliers to tighten it. He met Charlie, a black maintenance man for the city and explained what he needed. Charlie went to his pick up truck and got Mike a pair of needle nose pliers. He said to Mike, "if you need them for your trip, you're welcome to keep them". Mike made the necessary adjustments, returned the pliers, and thanked Charlie very much. Upon meeting the mayor, Mrs. Balloo (not the correct spelling, but the correct pronunciation), Mike put in a good word for Charlie. Before we could leave, Mike had to thank Charlie one more time - one of God's best. The people we have met in the south have been very friendly and helpful. Later in our ride, we spotted a couple sitting on the steps of a church having a snack - their tandem not far away. We stopped and visited w/them. It turned out they were from Burlington, WA and were headed west. They had started in Jackson, FL. A little further down the road we saw a biker headed toward us. It was Denise. She had gotten to the campground, got on her bike, and rode out to meet us and ride back. We stopped at a store and met an entirely different Charlie who needed help pouring oil into his truck. Mike, of course, helped him, but I can't say much about him as there are young children reading this blog. Suffice it to say that he wasn't a very nice man. We bought ice and a few other things and loaded them into our bike bags and rode to the campground. The grounds where we camped were nice to look at but the bathroom/shower faciliities left a lot to be desired. The floor was concrete, the sink drained into the shower drain. The shower was wide open w/only about a 2" moat around it. Mike couldn't stand the thought of standing in the shower space so he tried balancing on the "moat". All he got was a cold shower on top of all that.