Have you met some interesting people?
Hmmm....well, I’ve met a bunch of people who are done with COVID restrictions/masks! 🤣 Normally we meet the owners of the various places where we go, but this year was a bit different. And me being introverted doesn’t help.
Ok, Rusty, you asked about meeting interesting people. I finally have you a story!
I think I’ve mentioned on here (but maybe not) that I follow a truck driver on YouTube that livestreams his runs. He’s like me, runs all 48 states (can’t do Canada-border’s closed). He’s been livestreaming on YouTube for 13 years.
He’s had several of the ‘road crew’, as he calls his followers, meet him over the years. He had a coin (think like a military challenge coin) made up with website logo on one side and his phrase ‘mash it!’ on the other to hand out to road crew he meets. He drove within 1/2 a mile of my house a couple weeks ago, but it was during my work time plus he was pushed for time on the delivery. So no meet up.
He lives in Illinois near Chicago, but not in the area where I’ve been traveling. He was recently home for his time off and got a load this past Friday, bringing him to Olney IL. That’s 60 miles from where I stopped last night. BUT, he posted his delivery was scheduled for 2:30 Monday. So maybe a chance to meet up, but probably not.
I checked his website when I got to the hotel last night; turns out there was some miscommunication about the delivery and it’s for 2:30 today. So that meant he would be sitting at the truck stop in Olney for another night. I promptly hotfooted it the 60 miles to Olney, located his truck in the parking lot, and we talked for about 15-20 minutes (he knew I was an ex-driver).
He noticed the hat I was wearing. It’s a UV protectant hat that looks like a straw hat; I’ve got all my Route 66 lapel pins stuck in it. Not only did I get my coin, but he said he had gotten 2 lapel pins for being a million mile driver from his company by accident. So he gave me the extra one!