Thank you Mrs Jones!

On a cold January night, four girls from different parts of Ontario sat by the side of the road near Mittie, Louisiana. They ate canned vegetables and whole wheat pasta, prayed it would not rain and were a bit cold. Before hopping into their sleeping bags for the night, the girls drank camomile tea and laughed while thinking of where they would be spending the next night.

" Wouldn't it be great if we just happened upon the perfect host."

"Yeah, we could just pretend to be out of water and start knocking on doors until we found the ultimate person to stay with."

"She would offer us tea and scones..."

"...have warm and comfortable beds..."

"...be an amazing cook..."

"...have great stories to tell us..."

"...and kittens pulling trollies covered with pies..."

"...and her name would be Mrs Jones."

While the girls laughed at the impossibility of such a scenario, they had no idea what was to come. They thought Mrs Jones was too good to be true, but she wasn't. Magic was afoot on that January night by the highway. As Team Ontario listed dozens of charactaristics they wished to find in friends or host allong the way, they conjured Mrs Jones in dozens of incarnations.

Every person we met allong the way was a different version of Mrs Jones. Each and every individual who helped us was astounding in their generosity and openness to bring four (then two) perfect strangers into their home and treat them like a long lost friend.

Mrs Jones, thank you for showing us your town, for giving us directions and for driving us around when we were stuck by the side of the highway. Thanks for lending us your truck, your towels, your spare bedroom, your car, your computer, your phone and your shower. Thanks for feeding us birthday cake, pizza, cookies, chilli, salad, pasta and breakfast of all kinds. Thanks for visiting museums, going to movies and riding roller coasters with us. Thanks for opening your heart and home to us, for sharing stories and bits of your life with us. This trip would not have been possible or very much fun without you.