Unexpected Accommodations Ollie's bike expenses were growing fast. He was forced to make a number of repairs after our little mishap, and then the bike started to run rough. In fact, Ollie had begun to sweat and wonder not if, but when, he would be forced to push. Not a good way to be so far away from home. Our planned week of adventure was rapidly coming to an end, so we turned around and headed back north. We rode a bit slower and hoped that Ollie could nurse his ailing bike along. But then Ollie made a bad decision that would cost him in a big way. We had stopped at a small town USA grocery store. Ollie went in to pick up a few supplies while we waited outside in the parking lot to pore over a map. After some time had passed, Ollie had still not returned. It seemed to us like he was taking an inordinate amount of time in returning, when we noticed a police car pull in near us. We watched the smoky enter the store. Moments later he came out the door with a downcast Ollie by his side. Ollie had been arrested and was charged with the theft of a can of corned beef. The storeowner had had a serious problem with shoplifting in recent weeks and wasn't going to take it anymore. Ollie was going to jail! The sheriff's office was only a short distance away and he permitted Ollie to ride his bike there. Once there, and after several hours of processing, he was stripped of his shoes and belt and shown to his room. The barred door swung closed and with a solid metallic clang; Ollie was locked in. Ken and I were for a loss on what to do. We couldn't leave our friend, yet we had nowhere to go. It was about 9:30 pm when we finally were forced to make a decision. We unpacked and setup our tent on a small patch of turf by the back door of the police station. As we were preparing to settle in for the night, the first rains of our trip started to fall. We quickly discovered that the tent was not very waterproof. Around midnight, the station's night watch took pity on us and offered us one of the cells accommodations. We accepted after we were assured that the doors would not be locked. So there we were right next door to Ollie. I spent the first minutes just reading all the scrawled entries on the walls from previous houseguests, each proclaiming some horrible deed. I remember thinking that this was kind of cool. Then I would check to see if the door was still ajar. Free Ollie! The next day the sun had returned. We collected all our resources and bailed Ollie out from jail. This action essentially left us penniless. We were told by the releasing officer that we could leave the country, but our friend would have a warrant for his arrest waiting for him should he ever return to the States. Or, he could appear in court the next day and deal with the consequences. He suggested that any sentence would probably be very light based on his lack of previous criminal record. Once out in the daylight, we devised a plan. Ken would phone home and have some additional funds wired to us. Ollie asked us not to let anyone know about his situation, so Ken had explained in his call that we had had more expenses than we had expected, that everything was ok, and that we were in the process of heading home. It took most of the day of hanging around the post office, but the cash finally arrived care of Western Union. The next phase of the plan was to find somewhere to stay. We took the first road in town next to the courthouse, and rode up it a few miles to find a well-treed and private lot that we could pitch our tent on. Nestled high above the town, we sat in out tent and discussed all the possible scenarios the next day's court session could bring. We also worried some more about Ollie's bike as it had struggled mightily on the steep incline leading to our hideaway.
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