We have a lot of fun friends, so we were delighted when Lynn & Debbie Bedford decided to accept our invitation to join us at the cabin. Lynn is one of Terry's childhood friends and have remained friends for 60 years. The oldest of 5 siblings, Lynn is somewhat of a tease and not unaccustomed to pulling a prank or two. You cannot imagine the twinkle in his eye and the delight on his face when he pulls off a good one. He is a retired FBI agent and the son of an FBI agent and can spin stories all night with the smallest amount of encouragement. They are the friends we visited in Guatemala and also in South Africa. When Afton was going to ask a boy to a backward dance, Lynn willingly (with the permission of the boys parents) arrested him as agent in charge and released him only after he agreed to accompany Afton to the dance. We have a lot of Lynn Bedford stories, but I will share just this one with you now.
After Lynn graduated from college and became and agent at one point he was assigned a position in McAllen, Texas. It was there he met Debbie, 19 years old, innocent and 8 years younger than Lynn. I believe his prank happened at their apartment very shortly after they were married. It was a hot day and they decided to go swimming in the apartment swimming pool. As a football player and an agent, Lynn was accustomed to rigorous workouts at a gym to stay in shape, including swimming. For those occasions he wore a speedo but Debbie had never seen them. So when she suggested they go swimming, Lynn put one on in jest. He would have never worn them for a regular swimming activity. Being young, and a new bride, Debbie didn't know what to say when he walked out and modeled his speedo asking if he looked o.k. So she simply asked if he didn't have another swimsuit. Lynn said certainly, and he went back into the bedroom and pranced out in yet another speedo, but in a different color. Now Debbie's face was getting a little red, and she still didn't know what to say. She didn't want to offend her new husband, but on the other hand she didn't want to go out in public with him wearing that suit. So again, as politely as she could, she said she didn't like that one very much either, could he find another suit? He said sure, and went back to the bedroom to change. This time when he came out, all Debbie could do was cover her eyes, yell oh no, and run into the bathroom crying and shut the door. She had never seen a jock strap before and didn't know it was a joke.
Since we didn't take any pictures while they were here, you will need to see pictures of them in Africa. They don't look much different even though it was 10 years ago. Below is Lynn after eating a Mopani worm. He was willing to do this because he got a certificate if he did.
So we have had a delightful week with them here. On our final day of the visit, we took them on a quad ride over Engineer Pass. At 12,800 feet above sea level, the views are spectacular. We ride over rough roads, once a stagecoach trail and past the mining town of Anamas Forks, now a ghost town. We go from pine trees, to above the tree line, and into Arctic tundra. It really is breathtaking and quite an adventure. We see waterfalls, wildflowers, occasionally wildlife, and the remnants of mines. After about 5 hours of riding and exploring, we loaded the quads on the trailer and headed back home, but because we were hungry, we stopped in Silverton for a bite to eat. While on the trail I had talked to a local and he told me that the place to eat was Handlebars, so we went there. We all ordered hamburgers, and I went to the ladies room while I waited for the order. The facilities were small and occupied so after sometime I returned to the table and Lynn said he had ordered appetizers for all of us. I looked at the plate and Lynn quickly said it was deep fried zucchini. I brightened up, I love deep fried zucchini, although I rarely have it, but I was famished. Looking at the plate though, I noticed that instead of ranch dressing to dip it in, they had barbecue sauce. I said that was odd, and Lynn responded that it was a combination plate. Some of it was zucchini and some was chicken. I picked up a round piece and said I didn't think I would dip it in barbecue sauce, but after biting into it I determined that I must have the chicken so I tried the barbecue sauce. As everyone ate, I would ask, "Did anyone get zucchini?" To which they answered no. (I didn't notice they were all trying to keep a straight face.) So when the waitress returned, Lynn said, "Our order didn't have any zucchini on it. The waitress smiled and said, "It must have gotten eaten by the Rocky Mountain Oysters" and she walked away. Lynn was roaring. He asked me if I had heard the waitress and I said yes and repeated what she said but I couldn't understand what that had to do with anything and I didn't know if she was heading to the kitchen to correct our order. He asked me if I knew what Rocky Mountain Oysters were and I said sure. Then he dropped the bomb. Did you know you were eating them? Well I surely would not have eaten them if I knew. But they did taste a little like chicken.
If you are unaware of what Rocky Mountain Oysters are...look it up.
