As we set our bikes against the side of a Safeway to get our bearings and a bite to eat, we were greeted by John and Rose, a couple loading a massive amount of groceries onto a wagon. We greeted the couple, and Rose was ecstatic to hear what Jesse and I were doing. She told us how good she felt when she walked to and from the grocery store, and how she couldn't understand how anyone could drive in a car when it felt so nice to be out exercising and enjoying the day. She offered to let us take a shower at their home. We gratefully accepted, and she gave me directions to their condo nearby. They departed and we gourged on our snacks.
Jesse didn't feel like staying in a pay campground, so we got directions to a good spot to camp outside of the town. After talking to a kind veteran who almost certainly had Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, we headed to the house to shower.
We were greeted by John and entered into a cool, air conditioned room adorned with little knick knacks and counters still covered with the recently purchased groceries. The condo was small, no more than 1000 square feet, and it felt very comfy. After a quick paper-rock-scissors tournament, Jesse took the first shower as I talked to Rose and John in the living room.
John works for a traveling carnival and had just returned from a long event in Tucson. They had spent the day going back and forth from the grocery store (twice) to load up on food and supplies for his homecoming. Rose quickly offered to let us do our laundry, have dinner with them, and spend the night if we weren't riding straight through. I talked to Jesse when he came out, and we were both more than happy to spend a night indoors and away from the riverbed the veteran had gravely warned us about.
After my shower John, Jesse and I took Stoney (the dog) for a walk through the desert with a couple cold beers and pellet guns to keep things interesting. John told us about various aspects of "The Show," including his time spent as the guinea pig for the 5-story slide when it had been set up incorrectly... Laughter ensued.
When we got back Rose had prepared an immaculate spread for dinner. For the second time that day I ate until it hurt. We were supposed to watch a movie but Jesse passed out in his lounge chair not two minutes after sitting down in it. John and I had already seen the movie, so we decided against it and he wandered off to take care of something. I pulled up a stool in the kitchen, where Rose was cleaning up after dinner (I offered to help, but she flat refused.)
It was at this point that I found out why Rose had had a glint in her eye and a special smile on her face when she had talked about walking to the grocery store earlier that day. She told me that after surviving a bout with cancer, she had "blossomed" up to 600 pounds from never leaving the house. She had since lost nearly 400 pounds from exercise and diet, and said she felt like she was living again after having given up.
Jesse had mentioned earlier that he was riding to Cedar City, Utah. Rose had mentioned her mother grew up in Cedar City, a town in Southern Utah with a strong Mormom community. Rose had grown up with this same devout Mormon upbringing, and continues to practice and live her life in keeping with the LDS faith. She did her mission in a Spanish speaking country after graduating with a Law degree from Yale, and following her mission continued living in Barcelona and practicing International Law. She had been a partner in Baker and McKenzie, a major international law firm, prior to having cancer.
She had met John only seven years ago, after beating cancer for the second time. Across the street from the hospital room where she underwent treatment, John had been working a carnival; neither of them realized until they began dating years later. She told me how lonely she was when John was on the road, but that he had been tireless after leaving the show a few years back and it was her who had convinced him to return to it. Although it made her lonely, she was happy to see him feel fulfilled again.
More than anything, she talked about how grateful she was. She said that although they lived humbly, she wouldn't have it any other way and that she appreciated the life she had been given. I thought again of Grandpa Ringler, a child of the Great Depresssion who would have fully appreciated the two trailers-worth of food in Rose's pantry.
Rose and I talked until I couldn't hold myself awake on my stool any longer. I sank into the warm bed John and Rose had made up for me, and I felt incredibly lucky to be where I was.
John, Me and Jesse armed to the teeth!
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