Never Have I Ever: From Privilege to Road Hobo

Never Have I Ever shopped at a Dollar store for anything other than holiday paper goods before this trip. Now I think Dollar General is a gleaming edifice of bounty and all things good. So much delicious food! Tuna, peanut butter, Knorr rice packets, ramen, canned beans and vegetables and if you are lucky, some fresh fruit. Walmarts are in bigger towns but these little Dollar General gems are in every little podunk town. 

Never Have I Ever thought Bud Light beer was so very delicious. We were at a Homewood Suites in St Louis one night and they offered happy hour: a piecemeal dinner to include pasta and complimentary wine and beer on tap. Leisa scrunched her face and reported that it was Bud Light (eeuuuww). She went back to our room and I proceeded to pour myself a draft anyway because that's how low we now go. I took a glugg and found it to be a cold, refreshing draft of delicious nectar. What? I reported this experience back to Leisa. She in turn went to the dining room and poured herself a draft and also found it to be amazingly delicious. So now, Bud Light is the official beer of choice for the Spokane TransAmers after a day of riding. 

Never Have I Ever had such a simple skin care regimen. Back home I have a morning and evening skin care protocol that involve myriad antioxidants, exfoliants, humectants, moisturizers, fortifiers in the form of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, hyaluronic acids, glycolic acids, copper peptides, green tea clay masks, niacinamide, retinoids, etc etc. Since this trip started, I wash my face with hotel bar soap, use sunscreen in the morning and a simple moisturizer at night and my face is pretty much the same. 

Never Have I Ever felt so connected. To my country, it's history and the people in it. We are in the heart of the Bible belt, the Red Zone and we have found people to largely be kind, generous and without horns. 

Never Have I Ever been so unfussy and grateful for places to sleep. We have slept on the floor of fire stations, churches, city park pavilions, a restaurant dining room floor and beds in mid-level and budget hotels. We cram five people to a room with all our bikes and gear. We endure each others snoring. We dress and undress in front of each other. We have learned that pitching a tent on the concrete floor of a park pavilion is preferable to grass because ticks and earwigs are everywhere, and the dew will make your tent wet for seemingly forever. We have stayed in peoples homes where they are what we would consider abject slobs, tiptoeing around the clutter and the mess and we are grateful for the hospitality and shelter. After all, we are just hobos.