R17 33 Interim The Beavers Are Coming

Beavers Do Orange City 

We heard the car from the back patio and then some scampering feet. Then, from inside the house, we heard the door bell ring. We walked around the front of the house and there was Grandpa! And he was SOOO excited! He zoomed around the yard and proceeded to pick up every person he met--a very surprised Jerry and Helene included---and swing them around yelling, "I missed my beavers!!!" (He even picked me up. Which is quite a feat. The 'roids are working!). 

Looking back, I don't remember how Grandpa got to Orange City, but soon we were awash in beavers. 

There were beavers arriving in the Team van (borrowed from Smitty). And there were beavers arriving in Luke's truck. There were beavers arriving by bicycle. 

D-$ Borrows Pochy's First Pelt

Soon we were all rushing around the house, making introductions, staking out sleeping territory, and making new friends. There were so many beavers! 

Fits like a Chinese jersey.

After me, and Steven, and the Mayor.

There was Masinga, Pochy, Luke, Too Much, Bandit, and JK, and Grandpa and Kenny. 

There was our new driver--D-Money, cousin of FOB and MB who arrived by bike. 

And there were all sorts of complicated comings and goings. Luke would be leaving in the morning, taking the Mother Trucker and perhaps meeting up with us later in the week. 

Good bye old friend.

We had to get everything into the van, and then the baggers arrived. 

Steven will need to pipe up and tell us the full story of how she and the Mayor met the Bagger Squad, but here is the abbreviated version. 

So, Steven and the Mayor are on Warm Showers, a website that allows cyclists to connect with people who are willing to put them up while they are on bike journeys. (This is what the Mayor wanted us to use on the RideOut.) They had connected with two brother baggers, riding across the country to raise money for Lupus (one of the brother's girlfriend suffers from the disease). They were a bearded and wooly pair from North Carolina (I believe) and when the mentioned a little ride called "ragbrai" which they were thinking of doing, Steven and the Mayor sat them down to explain. 

And then in a gesture of good will and hospitality, they invited them to stay with us at our home stays. 

Which was fine...sort of. Except that negotiations with home stays are tricky. Because people are flakes (remind me to explain the forthcoming "douche bag fee"), we don't know who is coming and how long they are riding until the last minute. And then it changes. Constantly and without reason. All of that is fine, but if you are wondering why the logistics committee is increasingly stressed out and frantic come early July that is why. 

And, some of our home stays are pretty tenuous connections. Helene and Jerry were from the Orange City website. Other people are friends of parent's friends who aren't so sure they want a bunch of crazy bikers coming to stay, but are willing to try...

Then there is of course the roles of home stay liaison (this year Masinga took on that role) and the home stay connection (the person who found us the home stay). And these people have great responsibilities of communication and soothing with our home stays, expressing gratitude, and making sure we aren't coming across as total d-bags. 

All of this is fine...usually. But there can be some tense moments. For example, Helene and Jerry really wanted to cook dinner for everyone. Which was lovely and totally unexpected, but our numbers were constantly in flux, and then the baggers arrived. And the rule of baggers is exponential. If you invite 1 bagger, 4 will show up. And that is what happened. Steven and the Mayor invited their baggers to stay, and they brought two other baggers. 

All of that is fine...sort of, except that Helene was a pretty nervous and contentious hostess and when unexpected people showed up she got upset and worried that we wouldn't have enough food, and then went out and bought more food. The baggers were sweet and polite and in all reality they didn't make an actual impact, but adding numbers at the last minute does make an emotional impact. It stresses out hostesses and our home stay connections and some of the more etiquette conscious beavers (me). 

There are two schools of etiquette thought on ragby. There are the people who say, "meh! It's ragbrai. What's the big deal? It's just another couple people. Who cares?" (You can imagine who fits into this category). 

And then there are the people who are anxious to make a good impression because we live in this state and we may actually need to come back here in 5 to 7 years, and we don't want our team to get a bad reputation, and even though it is ragbrai that is no excuse for rude behavior to people who are volunteering to be kind to us. (You can imagine who fits into this category).

There also seems to be some level of correlation between type one and not living in the state of Iowa or doing any of the home stay logistics, but that requires further research. 

Beaver Hang: FOB in the leather chamois! 

Despite the tension, we all tried to role with the punches and we all settled in on the back patio for food and beers and celebration of our reunitedness. 

This year would turn out to be the year of the Sneaky Beaver! And there were lots of secrets and presents afoot. 

Group Hug! 

One of those was a gift of a Pliny the Elder (best beer in the world) that Steven had found and brought to Iowa to give to Masinga in honor of her graduation. (I insisted that Steven give to to her right away, rather than let it rattle around in a hot van for half a week. That beer is too good to travel).

It was the first of many celebrations and secrets to come!