It was a wild and crazy ride…
The end of July, heading into August and what else have we got to do but hop on the bike along with 17 other ladies and trek down through the mountains of West Virginia? Yeehaw!
Yes, I know this is the September article, but I must tell you about the adventures of the summer!! Holy smack down guys and girls! We had us a fantastic road trip and believe it or not…18 women did it with no whining!! (Well…I didn’t hear any because I have loud pipes and I was up front 😉) But, seriously, only a few of us had ridden together before so this was going to be a real test for everyone!
The start off was awesome…we left on a beautiful July morning, the sun shining with temperatures in the low 70’s only to climb into the low 80’s. As we left Ohio singing ‘Country roads take me home…’ all smiles, we were doing great and then we stopped for lunch. Just before we stopped, I heard the Lord say, “At this lunch stop, put on your rain gear.” I acknowledged Him and after lunch, I said, “I am going to put on my rain gear.” Everyone looked at me like I would jinx them or something like that and so…I didn’t. Guess what…not 5 minutes after we pulled out it started raining! OF COURSE, IT DID!!! (Yes, I learned a lesson there). So, we stopped and put our rain gear on and for the next 69 miles it rained….no, no, it didn’t just rain…it POURED!! We stopped a few times during the rain and at one point we got separated. There were 12 riders, 9 motorcycles, 3 trikes, a truck, and a car. The 3 trikes, truck and car got separated from the 9 motorcycles by traffic and didn’t see us exit. But God is so good, and He directed their path a different route, kept us on the same route and we arrived at the house at the exact same time that evening!! Not only that, but all of us saw this beautiful rainbow as we finished out the last few miles of the trip which gave us all this grand sense of relief and hope that He had always been with us and would continue with us the rest of the way. (Heb 13:5 says ‘He will never leave nor forsake you’)
We rode through mountains we hadn’t seen, whipped through the winding curves of West Virginia (fun, fun, fun!), each of us met a new friend, a new Sister. Each of us climbed mountains we had never climbed before and took challenging curves we had never taken before. Sister encouraged Sister, there were no jealousies, no back bites, no …. Well, there was the shark in the cook pot but that’s another story for another time.
My point is this…we all need each other. We learned that perfect strangers could go on a road trip of over 900 miles, live in a house together for a weekend and by fully relying on God as our keeper and guide, we can make it through a rainstorm, find our way when lost, make it down a mountainside in total darkness on a narrow road and come out smiling and laughing at the end of the day. We also got the privilege of blessing a few bikers while out there looking at the sites!
So, what’s your next adventure going to be? I can tell you that ours will be wherever God leads and if our paths cross, you are sure to know it’s me as you hear ‘Yeehawwww’ over my pipes as we roll in the wind…
Mary G.
