Greeneville, TN to Newport, TN

Left the Walmart parking lot today headed for Newport, Tennessee.

Yesterday was spent saying Thank-You to several law enforcement agencies in the local area.The first one was the Johnson City Police Department. He met the Deputy Chief and exchanged patches and coins.

He shot a picture of them all together

and was on his way. His friend, Dwight treated Bill to lunch and has been moved by what we are doing. After lunch, he stopped by Standard Printing, the good folks who made all the shirts that Bill wears when he's cycling. They were excited to see Bill and pleased that their shirts have held up so well. They all talked and Bill got a picture of them.

Great place to have work done...thank-you! After that, Bill headed to the Jonesborough Department of Public Safety in Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee. He met Officer Wesley Corder from the police division and  Lt. Chason Freeman from the fire department and they exchanged patches.

They were impressed with what we are doing and they shot a picture of the 3 of them together.

Then it was back to our home where we finished up and got ready to leave in the morning. We decided to make today a short ride, so Bill left about 9:00. Since I was already at Walmart, I did my hair and make-up and went in to buy a few groceries. Yankee thrift always compels me to buy the 36 roll pack of TP...hey, I save a nickel a roll! LOL! But good sense makes me buy the 4 pack as my storage space is limited. I brought the groceries out to the camper and put them away and started out. Route 321 was quiet and after about 45 minutes, I caught up to Bill and we decided which campground in Newport we would head for. The Tena-see Campground was our choice and I gave them a call to make sure they had space. When I told the lady on the other end what we were doing, she was all excited and couldn't wait to meet us. I arrived first to a very nice welcome and the 2 ladies were full of questions. Jenny helped me to my camping spot and a few minutes later, Bill came pedaling up! Since he hadn't stopped by the office, we both walked over where Jenny opened the door and said, "Welcome home Bill!!" with a big hug.

She gave him an ice cold Gatorade which he quickly drank. We talked and laughed with her and the owner and Jenny even gave me one of her homemade Christmas ornaments!

It's beautiful and I can't wait to hang it on our tree back home. The also called the local newspaper and the sheriff's office! A lovely young lady from the Newport Plain Talk newspaper arrived not long after and we talked at length. Then 3 men from the Cocke County Sheriff's Office drove up  and we met Sheriff Armando Fontes, Chief Deputy John Carrell, and Administrative  Captain Derrick Woods. We shared coins and patches

and talked about all the things that are going on in our country right now. Oh, and did I tell you it was pouring rain while they were there?! But it was okay, we all talked around a covered picnic table and became friends.

The ladies in the office couldn't say enough good things about these men and how they have cleaned up Newport. Thank-You gentlemen for what you do! They left soon after and Bill and I enjoyed a late lunch in the little beach house on wheels. Please continue to pray for our law enforcement across this great nation of ours and thanks for reading.