By Bill King
I have been blessed to see some of this world’s most beautiful places. I love to travel by ground, but those land masses separated by large bodies of water, like oceans, are awfully hard to reach by car! They have yet to build a bridge to Europe or Hawaii.
I don’t especially love long flights, but they are better than long swims! No, actually, I’ve never attempted to swim an ocean. I did, however, see several countries by bicycle last week…even different continents, and I did it all in just a few days. Impossible, you say?
Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places I had never seen. In preparation for a trip there, I read all about the country and looked at numerous pictures of its natural beauty. It is a country with a relaxing tropical climate year-round and breathtaking natural beauty. Their West Coast borders the Pacific Ocean, and their East Coast borders the Caribbean Sea. Between those two bodies of water is a land filled with majestic volcanic mountains and beautiful lakes. There, you’ll find beautiful flowers such as the orchid, which is their national flower. The trees are filled with birds of stunning colors, such as parrots and toucans. They even have wild monkeys. Jean and I were scheduled to spend a week there in January, but due to the week that I spent in the hospital in December and my subsequent recovery, we had to cancel our trip.
Last week, I finally had the opportunity to see Costa Rica. I did so by bicycle. Now, I know you may be thinking that I am not well enough yet make that kind of trip by bicycle. I’ve probably never been in good enough physical condition to take a bike trip like that. Not only did I pedal through Costa Rica but several other scenic places, that included Patagonia in Argentina, the mountains of East Taiwan, and the deserts of California. I made a return trip to Acadia National Park on the Coast of Maine. The last time I visited there, we drove up Cadilac Mountain and, in the middle of June, almost froze to death. This time, I rode a bike up the steep incline in February and actually broke a sweat! The really unbelievable fact is that I toured all those places in one week! What do you mean you don’t believe me?
Last week, I got a good portion of my cardio workout in without ever leaving the Opelika Sportsplex, but I saw all those places there. Each day, I ended up in the exact same sport where I started. Actually, I never left that spot, because I was riding on a stationary bike. The Sportsplex has Life Cycles with computer screens that simulate riding through all those beautiful places while getting in your exercise. It helps pass the time, plus it’s almost as good as being there and seeing those places in person. Almost as good, I said.
Many things that are not the real thing are simply not as good as the real thing. In this age of computers, cameras, and monitors, we have many things that simulate actually being there. We can play golf, football, or most sports while sitting on our sofa. We can even watch a live worship service broadcast through television or social media while sitting at home sipping coffee in our PJs. That’s a wonderful opportunity when we are sick or homebound, but whether it’s Costa Rica or Church, it’s never quite the same as actually being there in person.
