While pulling out of the parking lot of a Baptist Church in Woodfin, North Carolina, we were struck by a shockingly aggressive fire hydrant. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it–but regardless of what hit whom first, the outcome was that the nozzle of the hydrant ripped some of Anne Marie’s skin from her body.

Fortunately, we were right across the street from a body shop, whose employees sawed the distended metal for free and then flattened it out so we could reattach it later. We were all a little wary of the police officer who was called to the scene to file a report at first, since our only interaction with NC’s finest before then was less than friendly, but he was clearly on our side in this whole thing.

Then there was Joseph, the owner and proprietor of Denver House in Denver, North Carolina, a wiry, pony-tailed dude who not only let us fill up on the waste veggie oil he had disposed behind his sports bar, but also provided us with free sweet tea and invited us inside the air-conditioned bar itself to recharge our electronics and get a discounted meal. He was almost supernaturally friendly.

In our first two weeks of travel, we’ve met almost too many amazingly friendly people. There are a hell of a lot more of the good people out there than I originally realized. Sure, we’ve had our encounters with some flat-out assholes as well, but the positive interactions both outnumber the negative and were far more intense and significant. Once you get past any lingering distrust, deep down most people seem to be pretty decent.