The Earth may be huge, but the world is small and coincidence abounds. For example, take Henk, whom we met in Southern Utah in Escalante in May. He was halfway through a bike tour up through the national parks to Canada. I grilled him for info on our upcoming tour and then honked and waved as we drove off in the Sprinter as he pedaled along, American flag flapping in the desert wind.

Imagine my surprise two months later when a leaner, extremely tan Henk pedaled into our campsite in Glacier with a spirited and accented “hello!” Unmistakably the same friendly, grinning guy from Utah. We quickly caught up and enjoyed chatting about our respective trips. Other than passing out from the heat in Moab on a 100+ degree day (yikes), his trip had gone well and he was loving life.

When we first met, Henk mentioned he was afraid that touring solo as a foreigner would be lonely (his wife had to work and couldn’t join him), but that the U.S. has been so friendly and he was having a wonderful time. It’s great hearing that kind of information from visitors to our country! He looked strong, fit and happy and I was stoked to have crossed paths again while on our own tour.

It’s a small world, after all!

Til next time,

Dakota

P.S. We’re exploring the Black Hills of South Dakota the next few days on a great rails-to-trails route, in case you’re wondering. Here’s the trip map for our journey so far!