State: Florida
I got up and went with Tami to work at Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens.
For those of you that don’t know, after I volunteered for a few days at Cedar Lakes, Tami asked:
“Hey do you want like a week worth of work? We just had somebody quit.”
Being as that I am always looking for work along the way and have finite funds, I immediately agreed.
The work has consisted of digging ditches for new electrical pipe, weeding thud apples (nasty plant with lots of stickers), carrying brush to the burn pit, tilling soil in the field, and today we picked at a rock hard gravel pile and then went and filled in pot holes.
So good honest work.
I won’t lie and say it was nothing. Every part of me is sore, but I earned every penny. I just worked the way my dad always taught me.
During the course of the day, Dr. Ray Webber offered me another week of work. For awhile, I was on the fence about this because I can always use a little more cash in my pocket and the fact that I liked everyone I was working with, but I also felt the call of the road. I’ve got about three weeks left in Florida before my flight leaves and there is still so much to see.
So I declined his offer, but thanked him for it. Ray later told me if I ever needed work, I would always have a job waiting for me here at Cedar Lakes Woods and Gardens.
This job gave me the ability to get some new equipment for the real start to the trip (Maine). I’m very grateful to Tami and Dr. Webber for it and just want to thank them again.
Thank you guys, I truly appreciate the work and our new friendship.
Anyways, near the end of the day Tami came up to me and Ray and told him that she needed to get to the event, but she was my ride and that I needed to go with her. Ray agreed and then we headed out.
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“Midget Sumo Fight,” Tami said and I laughed.
“Seriously, where are we going?”
“Seriously, midget sumo fight. Now I know you and you can’t be saying it was a “short” fight. They frown upon that kind of stuff,” Tami said and I busted out laughing.
It turned out it was a rodeo where me and Tami were to hand out flyers for Cedar lakes. I fit right in and actually handed out more flyers than Tami using my country boy accent that I’ve perfected over the years.
After a few hours, we clocked out and got to watch the rodeo.
In the 12 years Tami has been in America, she’d never been to a rodeo. Luckily, she had a country boy with her to explain the rules.
How the riders have to hold on for at least 8 seconds just to be scored and how the score depends upon how wily the horse/bull and how controlled the rider was.
I really can’t wait to do it when I get to Ohio (with my buddy Calvin Thatcher, who likes to bull ride and one day wants to own his own rodeo).
I was at a rodeo that I had no idea I was going to be at that day. I was with a pretty girl. And best of all there were funnel cakes the size of your face!
So it was a great day and a great week.
I’ll be working the rest of the week (Dr. Webber gave me a few more days because he likes my work ethic) and then Monday I’ll be getting back on the road.
And while I wonder what new adventures the road holds for me, I’ll always cherish the time I spent at Cedar Lakes with the “Proper” English Lady, Jesse James, Lori, Joel, Brandon, Deanna, Jenna, and of course, Dr. Ray Webber (A man with a heart of gold, a sharp mind, and a lover of all things outdoors).
Forever your friend,
~The Outsider