Two days riding the range

My Noble Steed (Sort Of)


I got a short up and back deployment to look at a water damaged RV in Virginia Beach.After dropping off Alida’s Car in Wilmington I hit the dusty trail for a trip so short in time that there won’t be any postcards. Just 11 hours and 680 miles in basically a day.

The two days ride is a 2025 Nissan Sentra. Calling it a noble steed might be generous—it’s less stallion, more mule with a limp. The kind of mount they hand the greenhorn who hasn’t quite proven himself worthy of a bronc. My suitcase is the saddle, my backpack the bedroll, and together we’re just trying to make it from town to town without throwing a shoe. Maybe one day, if I stay loyal to the rental kingdom, I’ll be trusted with something that can actually gallop—or at least a goat that bites.



The Ranch Owner’s Quarters



But the trail took a funny turn. For one night, they put me up in a Homewood Suites. Two beds, a whole kitchen, a fridge big enough for a side of beef, and a bathroom the size of a dance hall—all to myself. For a cowboy ridin’ a Sentra mule, it felt less like a bunkhouse and more like I’d snuck into the ranch owner’s quarters.


 The free breakfast was Definitely not made by a man named cookie. Powdered eggs, weird sausage links and bagels of a weird consistency..


Lots of variety but nothing great.. coffee was decent though



Happy Trails



So here I am—an entry-level cowboy with a mule in the parking lot and a king’s quarters for the night. Travel’s a funny thing. You take what the trail gives you, and sometimes the trail gives you more than you deserve.


Happy trails,

Nate 


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