NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
An 80-year-old woman made a spontaneous move from California to Tennessee, despite never before visiting the state<\/p>\n
The woman befriended a local resident who helped her find temporary housing and set up a GoFundMe to support her<\/p>\n
Despite the uncertainty of her situation, the elderly woman said she is excited by the adventure, declaring, “Life starts at 80”<\/p>\n
An 80-year-old California woman spontaneously traveled thousands of miles by car to relocate to Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Lois Mayo told local CBS affiliate WTVF-TV<\/a> that she was inspired to make the move due to “the history and the people and the southern hospitality” of the Volunteer State.<\/p>\n She’d never once visited the state before in her life and completed the two thousand mile drive in five days without a map. She traveled alone, save her two cats Vanilla and Bubbs.<\/p>\n “I knew I-40 would take me to Tennessee,” said Mayo, who used up most of her monthly Social Security allowance on the drive to Murfreesboro.<\/p>\n Shortly after arriving, Mayo \u2014 who had been living in her car since reaching Tennessee \u2014 met Paris Barnes, who works at a local Walmart. The pair met when Mayo came in to shop and asked Barnes for help finding an item.<\/p>\n “She’s my angel,” Mayo said of Barnes during a WTVF newscast.<\/a><\/p>\n “I wholeheartedly think that it was meant for you to step into that Walmart and that you were meant to meet me and that God is using me to help you,” Barnes told Mayo in reply.<\/p>\n Barnes, who said Mayo was “homeless” when they met, temporarily set Mayo up in a motel, where she said she made many friends.<\/p>\n Barnes has also established a GoFundMe<\/a> to further support Mayo.<\/p>\n “What I thought would be a quick interaction turned into something I couldn\u2019t walk away from,” Barnes wrote on the GoFundMe.<\/p>\n “After talking with her, it became clear she may be struggling with memory issues,” she continued. “She shared pieces of her story, including that she has a son in California but she couldn\u2019t remember his phone number because she lost her phone during her journey. I couldn\u2019t let it end there.”<\/p>\n Ultimately, Barnes said on GoFundMe that she was able to locate Mayo’s son, who had been trying to reach her, yet she said he was unable to offer financial support. Barnes said the best option was to offer Mayo resources in Tennessee, since she showed no desire to return to California.<\/p>\n