When the day arrived, I rose and donned my usual riding clothes. At breakfast Jarrod looked to me with some confusion and asked if I shouldn't change to something less... well... easier to clean such as jeans though my boots would be acceptable. I completely (and perhaps sometime foolishly) trust my husband so I returned to my room to change.
After leaving Chao lei with the baby sitter we began a pleasant drive into the forest. I will say the forests here are not as the forests in Oregon, or even Japan, but they are beautiful still. Suspiciously, as we drove farther talk of our ride and what we would see became less frequent until I hear him say to close my eyes. we were almost there.
The car came to a stop and my loving husband said "Surprise!" This is what I saw.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered my steed had four wheels rather than four feet.
I have not ordinarily been one to consider this as "going for a ride." In fact, my husband has often called me a "girlie girl" for my resistance to unnecessarily soil myself with mud or grease or whatever else he brings near me. I will even admit a fondness for femininity.
But I am also not afraid to try new things so with determination I accompanied husband to the office where I was to choose a helmet and be assigned my steed. After receiving instructions of how this beast operates we started to the trail with Jarrod following me (to assure I would be safe he said. He says many things.) We traveled what seemed to be a freshly wetted trail. At time it would widen enough for Jarrod to travel beside me at which times he would look to me and grin. We travelled until we arrived at a large open but muddy field. Since I have never ridden on a machine as this, I was told I would have "first honors" to the field. Their were suspicious smiles all around.
As I looked to myself I noticed small spots of mud all over me. Jarrod only laughed. Since I was dirty I determined I would continue with no reservation. What I did not know was the field was not as the trail; flat and muddy. There were unknown pits filled with mud awaiting the unwary rider.
I cautiously began to ride the field and with some encouragement began to cause the atv to slide to the side. As I became comfortable, and with more encouragement, I began to ride faster. It was when I was driving at what I thought would be as fast as I could go given my lack of riding skills that I found the first mud pit (I was told later it was rare that they have seen anyone ride into it that fast).
The world before me suddenly changed to brown. I felt myself leave the seat momentarily before I came to a stop. I could see nothing and could taste only mud. Soon someone approached asking if I was o.k. I said yes... I think. Then they began to wipe my goggles. When that was complete and I had gathered myself I completed my circuit. You will be happy to discover there were several more pits to contend with but since I understood they were there now they did not surprise me so.
I will admit I did enjoy myself. Especially after the first pit. After all, how much muddier could I get? There is also a certain satisfaction to throwing out all notions of proper appearance and simply enjoy oneself. I was quite surprised at the behavior of everyone involved that day. We arrived strangers but at the end behaved as if we were life-long friends.
If you are curious to what I eventually looked like, this is it. Fortunately I need not launder the jump suit since it was theirs. I need only brush the mud from my teeth, neck and hair (not all remained in the helmet).
I would not object to doing this again... someday. I still prefer my steeds to have hooves rather than tires.
Oh how fun!!!!
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