Robby has always been a very "hands-on dad", so it was no surprise to me that he wanted to be very involved in the planning of Caitlin's wedding. Oh, I also know part of his plan is to keep us reigned in with the money. And I must admit that this is a pretty good idea; I call him our "Compass". So, this past weekend, I announced that we would go out to nail down a place for the reception. Waking up before anyone else in the house on Saturday morning, I decided that it might be a good idea for me to go for a little run...to get all of those endorphins going for the day, ya know. So, as I was tying my shoes, the bedroom door opened and out walked Robby...dressed for a bicycle ride. WOW! It had been at LEAST a year since he had been on his bike; I wondered if his thoughts were in the same place mine were that morning. He asked if I would like to join him and I agreed, heading back to put on my riding shorts.
Before we set out for our ride, I asked Robby in which direction we would be heading. I was hoping it was not toward the highway for a couple of reasons: First, there is a HUGE hill to climb on the ride back that I can NEVER make and second, some of those people driving out there on the road scare me to death! He told me that indeed, we WERE going to be heading that way (ugh...)...for about an hour long ride.
We were going to head out to look for reception sites when we returned. Caitlin's maid of honor would be going with us, so Robby declared we would only ride for an hour. OK, I thought I could handle that. We set out for our usual route, but apparently while we were riding, Robby had ANOTHER idea. The first thing we spotted on our little outing was a plantation house set up for an outdoor wedding. Whipping our bikes around, we decided to check the facility out; perhaps it would do for our reception. After meeting the owner and touring the house, we realized that alas, it would be too small for our function. Back on the bikes, I thought we would be turning back soon to head out for our day of reception site hunting. As we got closer to a road that REALLY makes me nervous, I asked Robby to NOT take us down it; he agreed, but what he had in store for us next was even worse!
We took a left at that 4-way stop (I still hated having to navigate THAT...) and I suddenly realized that we were off of our normal path. "Where are we going?", I asked. "Just keep going; I thought we would go check out one of those reception sites," he replied. WHAT?! OH MY GOSH...Did he KNOW how far that was?! He noticed my surprised reaction and said, "You can turn back if you want and I'll go." I wasn't ABOUT to look like the wimp here..."No, I'll go." If I thought a portion of our normal route was dangerous, I was about to have a panic attack! Not only did we have to navigate a circle round about (with cars!!!), we hit a busy section of road, where reading road signs was required in order to NOT get hit! Those endorphins I had hoped to gain for the day's adventure were going to be used up before we even set out for the day!
We stopped at the site, looked around for a bit and decided that this site would most likely not do either (ugh!...rode all the way there for NOTHING. AND risked our lives in the process!). Robby announced that it was finally time to head back. After doing a little mental figuring, I said, "Wow...this turned out to be a little 30 MILE RIDE!" "Do you just want me to ride home and come back and get you in the truck," he inquired? "And LEAVE me out here by MYSELF?!"..."NO WAY!...I'm riding back."
We got about half way back when it happened; I found that those bicycle pants I was wearing weren't quite padded enough. Excuse me for being so blunt, BUT...my "sitting bones" felt fractured, my legs were beginning to cramp, my crotch was on FIRE and on top of all of that I now had to pee! Hey! About 2 HOURS had now passed!!! It was about that time that Robby turned to me and said, "I need to speed up and get my heart rate a little higher; will you be OK to make it back from here alone?" "Sure...(sigh); go ahead on," I said. And then he was lost in the distance.
Riding back, I got to experience the fear of "vehicle wind" hitting me square in the face as drivers zoomed past me...a tractor coming head on, that took up the entire other side of the road...AND, my personal favorite, the truck who tried to play "chicken" with me while passing that tractor (He won...)! I NEEDED to get back soon. Turning on the last road, getting closer to my final destination, I almost didn't recognize the truck coming toward me that was slowing down; it was Robby! He had already made it home, gotten the truck and come to get me and my bike (Yay, Robby!). As I got off of that bike to get into the truck, I felt like I had been horse-back riding for a month! WHEW!... I was glad THAT adventure was over!
After jumping in the shower, we all got ready and headed out to find the "PERFECT RECEPTION SPOT"! Well, that is another story in itself...and I will tell you right up front; it was EASIER SAID than DONE. That little "Biking Adventure" had NOTHING on the adventure that was in store for us the remainder of the day...
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