Iowa, Ohio, and New Jersey

As sad as we were to leave the great state of Colorado, it was time to get on the road again. Our goal was to make it to Suze Whoreman’s family beach house on the Jersey Shore. Timing worked out just perfectly so we would be in Dallas Center, Iowa (Tyler’s hometown) right in time for the 5th Annual Denny York Memorial Ride (Tyler’s Uncle-ish)! Tyler and I were lucky enough to be able to use THE Denny York’s bike while honoring him. It did alright, for a Harley (look at me, I got biker jokes). Just kidding, it was great! However, before the ride even started, we ran into some trouble with the oil reserve overflowing ALL OVER me! That’s ok though, nothing a little dish soap didn’t fix. A prairie-fire loving old timer took the bike back to his barn and got it all fixed up. All in all, this was such a special experience to be a part of. Different generations of bikers coming together to remember an important member of their community. The ride took us from town to town, from bar to bar where raffle prizes were given away, tenderloin sandwiches were consumed, whiskey shots were ingested, and memory toasts were made. We had a beer with ol’ Denny at his grave side. That made me cry. Tyler ended the ride with a drunk passenger clinging to his back who was contemplating life, death, and the meaning of it all. Later that night, we had Chinese dinner plans with Tyler’s mom and step dad and drunk Leah quickly turned the conversation to institutionalized racism and oppression. Ya know, just some light dinner conversation.

The next morning, we packed up and got back on the road to the Jersey Shore for some GTL! Soon after we left Dallas Center we drove through Iowa City. We took a quick detour to meet up with Shauna for a cup of joe, great conversation, and some slobbery Diesel kisses. After we said goodbye we saddled up and drove and then drove and drove some more. We made it to Oak Openings Preserve in Toledo, Ohio to camp for the night. We slept in a very well kept campsite for $20. We set up our tent, sprayed ourselves from head to toe with bug spray, ate a few slices of Casey’s Pizza (of which we had earlier bought two large boxes), and went to bed. We used the great outdoors as our bathroom, teeth brushing area, and changing station since the campsite *seemed* to be pretty remote. In the morning, we packed up and headed to a different part of the park for a quick jog. As we turned the corner about 450 ft away there was a beautiful, fully functioning bath house equipped with showers and working plumbing. *Palm to face.* We did a quick jog in the woods of the park, passing several high school cross country kids-I almost cried. The humidity and the mosquitos proved victorious as we could only knock out about 3 miles without dying. Back on the sweaty road we go!

As we left Ohio, we had a very long drive ahead of us, but we were lucky enough to have it broken up by a coffee visit with Matt and Susan just outside of Pittsburgh! We said our, “see you soons” (5 days) and got back on the road! After going through 4 million tolls and donating $5 billion to the “betterment” of PA and NJ, we parked in front of the Wringwood abode! Let our three day adventure begin!!

We walked down the street to meet up with Suze, Ashley, and the family near the peer! It was a joyous reunion! For crying out loud, we hadn’t seen them in 3 weeks! This was the first time we had met the famous parents of Suze: Mary Lou and Brian (although he told me his name was John and told Tyler that his name was Darrell). Off to a good start! It was already pretty late by the time we got there so we just settled in and caught up for a bit, then went to bed. Let me just go ahead and say that this beach house was incredible! There were enough rooms for all the couples to have their own room and Colin got the bunk bed room all to himself! There was a wonderful kitchen, spacious living/dining room (aka. Game area), and an awesome balcony! The Ringwoods (that always includes Ashley btw)  went out of their way to make sure we felt at home and treated us as a member of the family!

After a very restful night of sleep, we got up and headed to the Wildwood beach! This beach was dog friendly so we were able to take Diesel and Suze/Brian’s sweet doggy, Shadow! Diesel loved running in the sand and getting into the ocean a few times. He did not, however, love the bath that he got when we returned to the house. Nonetheless, the beach was a blast! Colin, who is a professional athlete mind you, had the great idea of doing a “fun” workout in the sand. He set up this suicide course on the beach. You know, no big deal, you just sprint 5 yards, then turn around and sprint 10 yards, then repeat it 5 times or something dumb like that. My “sprint” was more like a jog and “suicide” was an appropriate name for it. Then Suze thought it was a great idea to race while we did this, because- sports. So, Colin kicked our asses and everything was right in the world. We left the beach, then got showered up for the MAIN EVENT!!!!! We had reservations for an Escape Room! It was up to us to break into Mrs. Rich Lady’s safe, steal her jewelry, and successful escape before the cops arrived! The pressure was on as soon as they shut the door! This was Tyler and my first time doing one of these, the Ringwoods on the other hand are freaking professionals! I thought we were gonna meet in the middle of the room, huddle up, and make a game plan. Boy was a wrong. As soon as the timer started the Ringwoods spread out and started ripping the room apart looking for clues. I was still trying to ask questions and they practically had one foot out the door already. As the timer continued to count down, and we got closer and closer to cracking the case, we all wanted to make sure that Ashley was in the right position to open the safe on the very last clue. I was so awkward about this, “Oh, I think ASHLEYYYY should go answer thissss clue.” *wink, wink*

So, Ashley did answer that clue! After a little help from the monitors, we cracked the code to open the safe where Ashley found a little ring box: “the Rich Lady’s jewelry.” Ashley turned around and bam, there was Suze down on one knee!!!! She said, “Wait, are you fucking serious?!” then started bawling! It took Suze a minute to gain his composure and a reminder from Ashley to actual ask the question, but he finally did and she said YES!!!! Ashley had to help Suze determine the correct hand to put the ring on, but once the logistics were figured out, congratulations and hugs were shared all around. There wasn’t a dry eye in that tiny room including the guys who were monitoring! The ring Suze used belonged to his grandmother and escape rooms have always been a part of their relationship, so this was an incredibly special event! We were so happy and thankful to have been invited to be a part of it! We celebrated that evening with a DELICIOUS seafood dinner and some Old Fashions! The celebration didn’t end there, however. We went back to the house and played a Ringwood family favorite game of Pit! If you’ve never played, I fully recommend it! But you have to play it with this lively family! It is essentially a game where you just scream overtop of each other and trade cards at the speed of light. Once you have 9 of a kind, you slap the bell and shout “Corner on _______.” You better hope you don’t hit that bell at the same time as someone else or your hand will never work again! I think we played this game for about 4 hours. After we were all sufficiently bruised and hoarse, some people retired for the night and the rest of us moved the party out to the balcony. Colin, Tyler, Suze, and I stayed up for another 3 hours planning the most epic wedding ever! You won’t want to miss it! Get this: Game themed wedding. Bridal party walks out on giant puzzle pieces. Invites are a riddle and if you can’t figure it out, you’re not invited. Instead of bouquets of flowers there will be black lights to solve any clues out there. Tables are board game themed. If you don’t like someone at your table, you can ditch them by screaming like in Pit. It was very elaborate and there was much more to it, but Vodka made me forget the rest. She’s a bitch. Ashley was on board with all these plans, btw. ;)

The next day we went back to the beach without the dogs this time. We played Can Jam and you should know that whoever was on Collin’s team, was the winner! Although Suze gave him a run for his money.  After we were all tired of getting our asses beat, we decided to do a “fun” workout again! Diamond formation. Throw frisbee. Complete 10 of whatever workout is decided. Rotate and repeat. Very silly. Very fun. I think people either thought we were beach body pros or crazy.

That night we hung out at the beach house and the boys played one more game of Can Jam in the yard. Both Brian and Suze kept the game going in a last ditch rebuttal effort where they sank the frisbee into the slot. This was the first time I’d ever seen that actually done! Impressive! After that we  were all pretty beat, so we ordered mexican food in and played Settlers of Catan! It was on this night, that I decided I wanted to have children-adult children- adult children named Suze and Colin. Maybe I really just want to be adopted into the Ringwood family! We had the very best time and can’t thank them enough for their amazing hospitality! We tried to do just that the next morning. We ran down on the beach, then brought back some donuts to share! After some hugs and tears, it was time to say goodbye!

On the road again!

-Leah Hot Pocket Wilson

We completed the escape room with an added bonus of an engagement!