In my work life, occasionally, I get to travel. \u00a0Travel involved my great co-worker and best friend Roberta. Trips were monumental adventures. \u00a0I’ve been telling Roberta all about the great fun I’m having on a bike. \u00a0She’s interested. \u00a0She decided that she needed a bike of her own. \u00a0She bought a beautiful maroon bike. \u00a0Almost the next day, something was mentioned about a trip to Iowa. \u00a0Roberta and I were going to be on the road again and we were thrilled.\u00a0I told Roberta that I wanted to take my bike and go on bike rides after work. \u00a0Roberta was thrilled at that. \u00a0We chatted about getting two bikes to Iowa. \u00a0We chatted about how she would lug her bike around. \u00a0The next day, Roberta drove to work in a new maroon mini van. \u00a0It matched her bike and was perfect for lugging two bikes, our luggage and training material. \u00a0We were excited and set to go.<\/p>\n
It was a chilly time of the year. \u00a0I’m thinking it was March. \u00a0The weather had already warmed up in Kansas City. \u00a0I forgot about Iowa winter not being over till April.<\/p>\n
Off we went on our great adventure in the \u00a0new maroon mini van containing one brand new maroon bike and my used yellow bike. \u00a0We got to our desination town and discovered a bike shop. \u00a0Turns out it was a lucky bike store as Roberta needed the bike pants, bike shirt, bike coat, bike gloves, bike helmut, bike winter coat. I named Roberta as “Shopper of the Year”. \u00a0Matching her \u00a0maroon bike with a maroon mini van put her over the top!<\/p>\n
Our travel overnight stays at that time were Bed and Breakfast rooms. \u00a0We shared a room and had some amazing adventures withB&B’s. \u00a0Enough that I should make another series of blog about Susan and Roberta B&B Adventure \u00a0We had found a B & B in the farming country of eastern Iowa and checked in early in the afternoon. \u00a0What an amazing wonderland…the country! \u00a0This place was beautiful. …beautiful country home, red picturesque barn, grass and view. \u00a0Oh it was lovely! \u00a0We checked in, looked at our room and left to take a bike ride on a nearby Iowa bike trail. \u00a0We returned after dark. \u00a0Our hosts were worried about us. \u00a0They should have been worried about us! \u00a0We would have been smart to tell them exactly where we were going so they could have picked up our frozen dead mangled bodies. \u00a0Thankfully, our bodies ended up alive!<\/p>\n
Let’s think about Roberta. \u00a0She just got her bike. She hasn’t had the time to develop bike fitness. \u00a0Let’s think about a bike seat and constant pedeling. \u00a0Sadly, I didn’t think about that when I led her down the bike trail. \u00a0We rode and rode on the beautiful path. \u00a0Sadly, we had to turn around and ride back! \u00a0There was pretty frozen snow on the ground. \u00a0Since it wasn’t melting, you can tell that it \u00a0was cold outside. \u00a0Somehow, the daylight seemed to be fading and it seemed to be getting chilly. \u00a0I had been riding my bike for enough time, that I had become accustomed to the cold. \u00a0I wasn’t bothered by it. \u00a0Roberta was on her first ride, in a cold cold place.<\/p>\n
Roberta has lots of “go”. \u00a0She has fortitude. \u00a0She has spirit. \u00a0We had finally turned back and were on our way back to the parking lot. \u00a0We stopped occasionally to rest. \u00a0Roberta decided something was wrong with her bike’s front wheel. \u00a0We stopped and looked at the front wheel, made it move and there was no flaw. \u00a0The front wheel was flawless. \u00a0The next time we stopped, Roberta said, “I think there is something wrong with the front wheel because I can no longer feel my feet.<\/p>\n
“Susan, you go on. \u00a0Just leave me here to die!”<\/p>\n
OH! Roberta’s legs had frozen. \u00a0It’s tough to ride a bike when you can no longer feel the pedals. \u00a0No wonder she thought the front wheel was broken! \u00a0She was tired and her legs were frozen. \u00a0It’s bad enough when your feet freeze. \u00a0It’s unimaginable when your legs freeze. \u00a0There was no complaint in Roberta, just “Leave me here to die”. \u00a0The “Leave me here to die” people are true champions! \u00a0They go until they can no longer go.<\/p>\n
Somehow I convinced Roberta that I wasn’t going to leave her to die and she had to get back on the bike and ride. \u00a0I might have lied and told her we had just a short way to go. \u00a0I don’t remember, but the Roberta Champion got back on that bike, frozen legs and all…and we made it back to the trail head! \u00a0Oh we were happy and exhausted.<\/p>\n
We just got the bikes in the car and were starting to get into the maroon mini van when we both saw something on the other side of the road. \u00a0It was hurtling towards us. \u00a0We both reacted and leaped into the car. \u00a0I slammed shut the driver door when BLAM, SCRATCH, TEETH and paws ripped against the door and window. \u00a0Good LORD! \u00a0 BANG FLASH all I saw was a dog-like creature about ten feet tall, blood dripping out of its mouth attacking the side of the car! GOOD GOD! \u00a0I started the mini van and we screeched the heck out of that place of hell! \u00a0Roberta nearly froze to death and now the both of us had narrowly missed being shredded alive. \u00a0\u00a0What if we had been outside the car when that twenty foot meat eater attacked us with the ten foot long blood dripping fangs?<\/p>\n
SCREAM! \u00a0Thankfully, the car obeyed and we sped down the road leaving the thirty foot monster with the twenty foot bloody fangs behind.<\/p>\n
We returned to our B & B. \u00a0They had a hot tub. \u00a0They gave us wine and cheese. \u00a0The hot tub was outside. \u00a0Tough that we were, we got our bathing suit bodies out in the March Iowa winter and leaped into boiling water! \u00a0Oh the warmth! Oh, the alcohol! \u00a0We soaked our frozen bodies in the hot tub and loved it. \u00a0It is dark in the country. \u00a0There are no street lights. \u00a0We looked up into the sky and saw a million billion stars. \u00a0Neither of us had seen a million billion stars in a long long time being city residents!<\/p>\n
As we were looking up at the stars, Roberta said these following life-changing-words. \u00a0These words changed both our lives…dramatically, physically, emotionally and any other words you can imagine. \u00a0Our lives took a big turn. \u00a0Roberta’s life changed the most. \u00a0Her life change also affected many many others in a continually cascading life journey. \u00a0Without this Iowa trip to the country, ….well, let me explain.<\/p>\n
Roberta said, “I love the country. \u00a0Henry has been asking me to marry him and move to the country. \u00a0I think I will marry him and move to the country”<\/strong><\/p>\n Those were the words that started the dramatic life change.<\/p>\n The next day, we both took a pledge to start looking for a place in the country to live. \u00a0We love the country! \u00a0The idea that I might have horses came into my mind. \u00a0We pledged to move to the country and buy a horse.<\/p>\n I went home and told the spouse about wanting to move to the country. \u00a0He reminded me that we had only four years yet to pay on our city mortgage. \u00a0I agreed that it was a stupid idea.<\/p>\n Roberta told Henry that she would marry him and move to the country. \u00a0And she did just that! \u00a0Her house in the city sold immediately after they got married and they had to live in a hotel for a couple of months. \u00a0Her sons became independent of their mother and established their own residences. \u00a0Finally, Roberta found the perfect country home. \u00a0Then she searched for a horse and found an older suitable horse. \u00a0She also became a “chicken lady.” \u00a0Roberta has many many stories of her first years in the country. \u00a0Country learning years is what I call them!<\/p>\n I visited Roberta when she got her horse and immediately renewed my vow to buy a place in the country and get a horse! \u00a0Poor Terry never had a chance after that. \u00a0I looked up country homes in the paper. \u00a0There was only one. \u00a0We drove out to Pleasant Hill and fell in love with our new home to be. \u00a0Terry was happy. \u00a0No longer did he have to hide and store antique pickup part in the back yard, basement and garage. \u00a0He decided to start restoring antique John Deere tractors. \u00a0I also got to enjoy country learning experiences!<\/p>\n