Leaving York

On Tuesday Alex and I clean the camper and pack the car. This entails getting dried bacon grease off the stove we've been using and reconsolidating all our stuff. After that's all over, Tuesday night we make steak with rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper for dinner. We know it's gonna be our last good meal for awhile so we decided to make it good. The steak was really yummy and we used up the last of our butter on the baked potatos. Satisfied with our meal and needing rest for the next day we go to sleep only for Alex to start to get sick. At about 12:00 his eyes hurt, then he gets the shivers, then he starts coughing and can't sleep. By 4:00 AM he can barely put one foot in front of the other enough to get to the bathroom.

When we get up at eight in the morning, he's still feeling terrible. I don't know where he gets his strength from, but somehow he packed the rest of our stuff in the car while I finished cleaning everything in the camper. At about 10, we go to Bill's house and give him a card and cookies to thank him for everything he did for us. We tell him that we'll send him postcards and as we pull out of the driveway we write down his address. When we get to York I go into the bar and Naomi is working. I tell her that we're leaving and she gives me one of the warmest hugs I have ever had. She gives me the bar's address and I tell her that I'll write soon.

Then we stop at Steve's place before leaving town. I bring him cookies and a card too. We all sit together and he gives us his friend Beaver's number. Steve says, "He's the nicest guy who ever broke my jaw. And he knows some English people down in Florida. He says he'll make you feel at home." Steve gives Alex and I a hug and then we set off from York.