When I search through my memory of fantastic people that I met on my journey, there are some that just shine. Here I carry on my ode to those people I met along the way or who gave me a place to stay for the night (or nights), often total strangers, who subsequently left an indelible memory; a memory which from time to time drifts into my consciousness, taking me back to a lovely nostalgic place…today, those people are:
Rob and Liesl
Rob and Liesl live in Boerne, Texas. In a beautiful home just out of town. They both work from home, and have two fantastic kids. I met them by chance; I was lining up at a supermarket checkout in downtown Boerne, when a woman behind me started talking to me. Asked me what my story was, carrying a pack on my back and a skateboard in my shopping trolley. So I told her my story. The next thing I knew I was being bundled into her people-mover van with her two sons, her obviously intent on me not spending the night in my tent. I still remember Rob’s reaction when he got home and Liesl introduced me to him. “I thought that perhaps I had been replaced by a younger man,” Rob recalled later. He was all rather confused until he got the whole story.
Rob and Liesl were amazing hosts. In total I think I stayed at their home for 5 days. They had a sleep-out above their garage, so I had my own room detached from the house. Rob even drove me down to the Mexican border and came with me across to Mexico for a day (I had to renew my tourist visa stamp for the US).
I haven’t had contact with Rob and Liesl for a long time. I wonder how they are, how their triathalons are going, whether their kids have skinned their knees lately on their mountain board or BMXs or have taken up triathalons too…
I am still so full of gratitude for the five very restful days I spent at Rob and Liesl’s place; you guys have a special place in my heart.