The night before we left Mississpi we met another biker who wanted to cross the bridge into Louisiana with us. In the end he needed to leave an hour later but we were happy to have met him nonetheless.
Entering Louisiana we met a number of local folk. The owner of a nearby tattoo parlor called us over and asked us who we were, where we were coming from and where we were headed. He seemed genuinely interested and took some pictures with us.
When we walked into the convenience store the owner insisted on giving us free bottles of Gatorade. We were pleasantly surprised to see how truly friendly and generous these people were, especially considering that we were complete strangers to them!
Continuing on to Leesville, we were extremely grateful to the local Days Inn for sponsoring our stay.
Onwards to Livingston, Texas, where the mayor set us up to meet with a Jewish friend of his, Dr. Mike Shukan. Originally from Newark, NJ, Mike is a very active member of the local Jewish community. We enjoyed talking to him and offered to put on tefillin with him. He initially declined but 30 minutes into our chat we asked him if he wanted to check his Jewish Blood Pressure. This obviously piqued his medical interest and he agreed. We asked for his left arm and pulled out our tefillin. He laughed and agreed.
While we were talking with Mike, another guy came over to us and said, "Hey, I recognize you guys! You’re the ones I saw on the 190.” It turned out he was actually a truck driver for Lays and passed us twice, once east-bound, once west-bound, while out doing deliveries.
Our new truck driver friend, Bob, found it inspiring that we were sharing a religious experience with fellow Jews who hadn’t had a religious experience in years. He also expressed concern that we were drinking enough and gave us a box of chips as a parting gift. Thanks, Bob!
