Our experience in Waterloo was so great that we decided to try another city park. We crossed into Indiana and tried a small town by a lake. There wasn't a police officer to be found and people in general didn't seem very friendly. With no luck at the parks, we decided to call the churches in town. We just wanted a place to pitch our tents where it would be legal. Cord spent at least 45 minutes calling various churches but no one was able to help us. Another touring cyclist rode by and our family grew a bit larger. Dave is cycling around Lake Michigan and had only been on the road 2 days.
Dave had spoken to the police and they said, "Ride out of town and knock on someone's door to see if they will let you camp in their yard."
We were feeling quite deflated that the church option hadn't worked. We loaded up and rode out of town like a bunch of ruffians being chased by the law.
As we rode by homes I kept thinking no, no, no not that one. Neil was in front and I yelled for him to stop. I saw a woman working in the garden and they had a huge lot. I thought that anyone who gardened would be alright with me. Her son was working with her and when we asked for a place to camp, she looked a bit stunned. 5 bicycles and 6 people looking rather strange and the sun was setting quickly. Her husband quickly appeared and we explained our situation. We were all THANKFUL when they agreed to our camping in the yard.
Dan came out a short while later and said, "God has blessed us and we want to share what he has given us with you. Please come in and take a shower if you like."
Deb checked on us and offered us the use of her washer and dryer. It had been at least 7 days since we had done laundry and when you have only 2 sets of clothes to wear, that is an extremely long time!
I went in to take a shower after fixing dinner. When I came out, Cord was in the kitchen, talking with Dan and Deb.
"You won't believe this. The A's are Christians, they homeschool and they drink raw milk!" Cord said. Cedar had been wearing his raw milk shirt and they have a dairy on top of growing corn and soybeans. This was one of Cedar's main hopes for our trip. He wanted to visit a working dairy and missed drinking his favorite drink. What an amazing way God answered that prayer.
We stayed up late talking and were invited to have breakfast with the family. Two of their three boys were home and I am so glad they were able to witness our meeting.
Cedar and Cord got up early to see how the cows were milked so I had a singing boy for the rest of the day. We were just so blessed to have met them and still shake our heads at the wonder of it all.
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