This is My Favorite Way to Travel

There is something very special about riding with your life partner.  I enjoy riding with other people as well but riding with him is extra special.  We work well as a team in our day to day life and those skills are heavily used and strengthened every time we go on the road together.   The fact that we are on rather compatible bikes now makes it even sweeter.  In fact, my big bike has done wonders for my road confidence so our riding ability is that much closer also.  OK I’m on a sidecar and he isn’t and that always brings the spiked punch to the church social but we are used to working around that.  There is also all that time we get to spend together.  Right now with my work and his work and my lymphedema and, and, and…that time together is even more precious to us.  Beyond all that though (well maybe not beyond the glory of uninterrupted time together but close) is the reassurance that comes from being with someone who absolutely has my back and absolutely having his.  It makes me willing to ride farther and harder because he will be there for me.  I don’t even have to ask, it’s just a reality of my life.  If I push myself past my endurance he will be there at the end of the day to help carry my stuff into the hotel room and help me off with my gear when I don’t have spoons left to even untie my boots.   If a sudden storm causes us to change routes I will be there to get things packed up and loaded while he consults the radar and the maps.  He doesn’t have to worry about it.  If he’s with me, I’ll go anywhere.  If I ever go around the world, I want to do it with him.

Having said that, there is something equally special about riding solo.   The freedom is absolute and I do mean absolute.  You make plans for six months.  You route, you research roads and hotels and gas stops.  You highlight maps.  You get three days in and find out that there is a folk music festival in town.  No one else you know has much tolerance for lap dulcimer music but you love it.  Guess what?  You can change your mind and stay in town for three days for the festival if you want.  The only person you have to consult is your own self and no one is there to judge you no matter how many banjo CDs you buy.  Are you riding down the road and see a turn off that leads to a much more exciting road?  You can take that road at the last minute, no one cares.  Beyond the freedom there is also the thrill of accomplishing something on your own.  The confidence I’ve gained from solo travel is pretty amazing.  It also helps me understand my traveling style so I can express my needs when traveling with others.  Sometimes it’s nice to ride with no competition or comparison.  Even when I’m riding with Mr. Man who I know supports me and everything I do, when I’m tired sometimes I feel inadequate.  I feel like less, not good enough to ride with him.  It’s not true but that’s hard to see when you’re exhausted.  When I’m alone, I don’t get that as much.  It’s easier to concentrate on what I did accomplish rather than what I didn’t.  One of the neatest things about solo travel is the excitement I get when I think about coming back with Mr. Man or with our riding group.  I get this “I saw something awesome and I can’t wait to show it to you!” mentality that is exciting.

And having said both of those things, there is something really special about riding with a close group of friends that you trust absolutely.  You see each other’s beauty and each other’s ugliness and you still like them.  It helps you realize that you also are lovable when you are at your most unlovable.  Riding in groups creates energy unlike anything else and that shared energy can be intoxicating.  The shared memories and laughter you have around a dinner table after a great day of riding is just about the perfect way to finish a day.  I love seeing someone in my group succeed at something they’ve been working on like tackling a difficult road or increasing their mileage or understanding how their bike is geared.  There is also an awful lot of security in riding with a larger group of people.  The very first big group trip I ever took was with Mr Man and Zippo and Spyderman.  My transmission blew up on day four outside of Roswell, New Mexico.  We turned and were limping the bike back towards Ft Worth where my mechanic was at the time when it really gave up the ghost in Anton, TX just outside of Lubbock.  As I sat at an abandoned gas station waiting for AAA to come, I remember thinking that should the need arise; we had the collective credit to just buy me a new bike if we had to.  Of course, we would never do that but it was nice to know that I wasn’t alone trying to deal with a dead transmission and no working toilets.  Everyone brings a different strength to the group.  Everyone contributes.  Spyderman is one of my favorite folks to beta a plan with.  That man will find holes and problems you didn’t know existed.  The Billy Goat Gruff is my first choice to help manage a scene should an accident occur.  As a former Mr. Man has at work prevented that from happening.  OK, I thought, I’ll just take a solo trip instead.  I started working on that project when one night we had an idea.  What if, we said, the weekend before Labor Day we went out into the Hill Country together with me on my bike and Mr. Man in his truck with my off-road tires?  What if we spent some time on dirt roads?  We love riding like that together and we don’t get the chance to do it often.  He has to go back to work so he would head home to Austin and I would head out to get some solo riding done.  I decided to head to Alpine, TX for a few days.  I won’t do any dirt riding since I won’t have Mr. Man with me but I’ll do some road riding and spend some time exploring the small town of Alpine on my own.  Then I’ll head back to the Hill Country where Mr Man and my riding group will meet me for two days of group riding around Labor Day.  We should have everyone:  Sidecar Adventures (me), Mr. Man, Zippo, Spyderman, Union Jack, The Billy Goat Gruff, and our two new riders who at this moment are called Valkyrie, and the Curvy Bavarian (names subject to change).  That’s going to be a lot of bikes on twisty Hill Country Roads.  Hijinks will ensue!

So stay tuned readers.  Road Reports from that trip should start happening soon.  Oh and 2016 looks to be a Big Group Ride year.  Apparently, I’ve finally forgotten how stressful Colorado is.  We are looking at touring parts of the Deep South in what we are calling The Hotter, Deeper, Stupider Tour.  Highlights might include the Barber Motorcycle Museum, The Blue Ridge Parkway, the Cherohala Skyway, and Dollywood.

In Just Spring

IN Just-

spring when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame baloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old baloonman whistles

far and wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

the

goat-footed

baloonMan whistles

far

and

wee

-e e cummings

Ah Spring!   Warm weather, then muggy weather, then rain, and then a few glorious days of sunshine when it’s not as hot as the surface of the sun.  The time for all good motorcyclists to be riding, riding, riding!...When it’s not a torrential downpour.  In my house it’s also time to plan next year’s trip.  We aren’t getting a big trip this year.  It looks like we’ll have about a week in September that we are going to use to ride like crazy people out in the Hill Country.  Next year though we are going to try for another group ride.   I’ve recovered enough from our Colorado Trip to think about doing this again.  Right now, it’s pretty nebulous.  Not so much a plan as an idea.  I know we want to try to get to the Motorcycle Museum in Leeds, Alabama and I think there has been some mention of Dollywood.  Mr Man has mentioned the Blue Ridge Parkway and that sounds pretty awesome too.  We’ve invited everyone to put in opinions and requests so that we can start forming a plan but otherwise, all we know is we want to do another group ride the summer of 2016 and we are inviting two more riders than before.  So that’s eight bikes and a possible support vehicle.  Yep, we are crazy.  I can’t wait though.  I can’t wait to see what form this trip takes and what new adventures we have.  

At least that’s what I tell myself.  Because there is always that chance isn’t it?  Always that chance that this trip will be the trip your friendship can’t come back from.  The trip that ends with tears and screaming or icy silence that never ends.  Motorcycling is risky but most people think about risk to life and limb.  They don’t think about the interpersonal risks that comes from group travel.  I do.  I think about it all the time when I plan trips.  I think about it before I start the very first email asking “Who wants to go?”  Then I send the email, risking personal conflict and tears and fury 2500 miles from home. 

Because it’s Spring, the time for foolish ideas and even more foolish actions.  And believe you me, we are fools but I have faith in us.  I have faith that we value our friendship enough to work out conflicts and will be forgiving of each other’s folly.  Not that there haven’t been tears and yelling and me hiding in the shower at 3 in the morning while I break out in hives from stress.  Not that I haven’t had my doubts that my friendships or my marriage would survive the argument over what to order on the pizza (this is a bit of a fabrication, there hasn’t been any actual conflict over pizza I just won’t share how silly some of the arguments have been with people who weren’t there.)  Despite all that we’ve always come through for each other. So  I have faith,  I take risks.  After all, motorcycling is the fine art of risk taking.  Besides, it’s Spring and the world is  puddle-wonderful.

There's a First Time for Everything...Again

There is nothing quite like your first ride on a motorcycle.  Unless, of course, you get to have that first ride all over again.

 

I went for a ride last weekend.  A real ride, not just running errands.  Mr. Man and I woke up on Saturday and realized we had no plans.  So we promptly made some that involved getting on our bikes and riding together.

 

We went down an old familiar route that took us to a great lunch spot.  It was a curvy back road that we had been down many, many times in the past but for me this time was special.  This time, was the first time.  This was the first time I had taken Nightingale down this road and she ate up the miles and curves and wanted more.  It was the first time I really kept up with Mr. Man in the curves and didn’t think twice about it, it wasn’t even exciting.  I just did it and realized when we stopped that he didn’t leave me behind once.  I realized once again that despite my heavier weight and the sidecar, our bikes are really well paired for touring.  If he really gets stupid with the speed and peg grinding cornering then yeah, he’ll lose me but riding about the speed limit and taking the curves at the speed limit instead the posted speed for the curves?  I can keep up with that pretty well.  This was also the first time I’ve done a lot of riding since I lost a lot of fluid out of my legs and it was like learning to ride all over again.  I felt much lighter on the pegs.  Mounting and dismounting the rig was much less difficult (sadly for Mr. Man it was much less humorous as well) and shifting my weight from side to side in a curve was super easy-peasy.  Mr. Man said I was getting more of my body over the curve than before and it certainly benefited my riding.  I had the usual amount of pain in my legs after being on the bike for about 70 miles but now I know that’s the lymphedema talking, not me just being out  of shape and I should just work out harder to make the pain go away (hint: the pain may never go away and that’s going to be OK).  If I get off the bike and get my legs up then they feel better and I can ride some more.  I did about 140 miles all in all and I felt about the same physically as I did before the diagnosis, maybe even a little better.  For the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful that things will be ok.  That riding won’t really be that different, I’ll just be aware of things in a different way.  Nothing has really changed except that I feel better and have the tools to manage my swelling.  Maybe I’ll even see that 500 mile day that I thought I would have to give up on.  Maybe not.  And that is actually ok.  For the first time, I’m not comparing myself to anyone else and coming up short.  I was riding for myself and  taking the time to do the self-care I needed so I could ride some more.  Thoughts of being able to keep up with anyone or being good enough to ride with other people didn’t enter my head at all.  Because now, with the lymphedema, I don’t have time for that nonsense.  I don’t have time for made up worries or insecurities.  I have real worries and real insecurities now that have nothing to do with anyone outside of myself.  Now, if it doesn’t serve me or my well-being, I have no time for it in my life.  And that is one of the most freeing things that has come out of my journey this year.  I suddenly don’t feel that I have to prove myself to anyone and I don’t feel  guilty about it.  And the icing on the yummy yummy cake that was my ride on Saturday?  I got to have my first ride all over again and it was every bit as life changing as I remember.

It's Been a Long, Long Time

As the song goes, "So kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again/ It's been a long, long time."
This was the love song I sang to Nightngale the morning as she and I followed Mr. Man out of the driveway and down the road at long last.  We are blessed with a three day weekend so we gathered some friends and headed to Kerrville for some motorcycle fun.  I was a sad panda a bit because Zippo and Spyderman weren't able to join us but we did have Union Jack and The Billy Goat Gruff.  We also took the opportunity to invite a few friends out who are newer riders.  Ender joined us on her Vulcan and we had two others join us on BMW Airheads who I haven't blog named yet.  I'm still working on that.  Union Jack actually had trouble with his battery this morning so he and The Billy Goat Gruff met us out here once that all got sorted.

I've chosen the delightful Inn of the Hills as our home base for this trip.  It's clean and not too expensive and there is food and drinks attatched to the hotel.  We had a great ride out and just got back from a lovely dinner.  I've got just enough time for a short blog before I go to bed.  And that's been the thing with my life lately (by lately I mean the last year).  I've only got a very limited amout of time and too many things to do.  I took on a board position in the social club I belong to so I have real obligations I have to meet.  I'm still the Librarian of the Women's Chorus I sing in and I was recently moved to join a church.  Also, I do work.  So real obligations are happening and I don't have any time to ride.  This weekend has become so very important to me.  It's the first riding I've done since last summer and the first time I've been able to get my brain to unspool since June.  Just me and my girl and some like minded friends on a long winding road into the hills.  Then time in the pool to cool down and time around a table to share food and stories.  Now time in the quiet of the room with no sound except the keyboard and the sight of Mr. Man lounging on the bed playing a game on his tablet.  Life stripped of all complications, all obligations, all responsibilites.  Tomorrow holds the promise of warm weather and sweet twisty roads.  It's about damn time.

It's Not Failure, it's Feedback

The countdown continues.  Just three more days to our epic multi-bike trip to Colorado that I am calling "Six Bikes and a Diva".  My packing is done, only loading left to do.  Tomorrow Mr Man and I are heading to Zippo and Spyderman's house to load Zippo's bike and the truck.

This is my third attempt at a large group trip.  The first one ended shortly after it started when my transmission attempted to run away from my bike in Roswell, NM.  The second trip was completely re-planned in the middle of the trip because what I organized was a hot rolling mess but we finished and had a great time.  Each trip has taught me new things that I hope will help this trip be successful.  so what have I learned so far?

1.  Democracy has no place in a motorcycle line.  There should be a leader who is In Charge while on the road.  This person should be in front.  Dinner time once we are at our destination is the appropriate place for people to have an opinion.

2.  Someone should be In Charge of planning the trip start to finish.  This does not have to be the same person as above.  In our case, it's not.  I am our Road Captain.  I plan the trips, make the rough route, choose the stops, book the hotels, and I dole out jobs to everyone else as I see fit.  Mr Man is our leader on the road.  He and I consult a great deal ahead of time about the route, the line order, where we are going to eat but...once we are rolling, his word is law and he is In Charge.

3.  Expectations are paramount.  Everyone has to understand when the trip is going to suck and when it's going to be fun.  Everyone should know when we'll be doing things together and when we are doing things on our own and what the goal of the trip is.

4.  My expectations should be realistic.  I need to really understand what everyone's limits are and route accordingly.  In a situation where I can't, I need to be upfront about what we are going to have to do in order to leave Texas.

5.  A good group trip must have something for everyone and not completely please any one of us.  It needs some nice roads for Mr Man and he also needs a day he can go off by himself and ride crazy miles really fast.  Spyderman and Zippo need moderate days and beautiful locals to bed down in as much as possible.  I need everything to go smoothly and nothing to blow up.  Union Jack and the Billy Goat Gruff are still a little unknown to me.  I suspect that Union Jack needs to ride with the group as a member and have the chance to stop and take pictures on occasion.  Although I don't know what the Billy Goat Gruff needs to have a successful trip, I bet I will when I'm done.

Just three more days and the adventure begins.  I'll have more lessons learned after this.  Hopefully, I'll also have a wonderful group trip to tell stories about.

Things I've Learned So Far

Each trip on the bike is a rolling 70 mph classroom about coping and maximizing enjoyment.  Everyone travels differently and the only way to know how you travel is to travel alone.  I encourage everyone who tours to travel alone because when you discover your style you can then express that to riding companions and it is from that point that compromises can be made and happy group riding will occur.  Apparently I don't like to stop when I'm riding by myself.  I don't like to take pictures, I don't want to go see that neat thing over there.  I want to ride, my experience is the ride, my memory is the ride.  Also, I hate getting out of all my gear only to have to struggle back into it over and over and over again.  I did try to stop and take pictures on my way up to Durango....with my helmet still on because I didn't want to bother taking it off for 5 minutes just to put it back on.  I got ok pictures but my framing certainly would have been better had I taken my helmet off.  I don't mind stopping for lunch or to see the Big Thing/Museum/Natural Beauty that is going to take a while to see and if I'm traveling with Mr. Man I enjoy getting off the bike to take pictures every once in a while.  We can talk about the ride and talk about what we are doing next and talk about his crazy late braking he does going into a curve.  Seriously don't follow this mans brake points unless you also have the crazy.

I've also learned that I like to get up early and get on the road but I don't always leave as early as Mr Man does when he's alone.  I like and need a nice long breakfast and I take longer to get dressed and packed and loaded than he does even when I'm packed minimally.  I don't think its a girl/guy thing because I'm fast and I can get ready faster than at least one of the men we travel with on a regular basis.  I just think it's a me thing.  I prefer to move a tad slower.  But I can move if I need to, tomorrow I probably will be on the road earlier than usual because I do want to be able to linger on the ride and try to stop more and take some pictures so if I leave early, I won't feel so pressed I hope.

I've learned that I'm not lonely traveling alone.  I was a little worried about that but it hasn't been a real issue.  I do have people that talk to me through out the day and strangely I really enjoy the social interaction I have with waitstaff so I've tried to find actual restaurants to eat at and not just fast food.  Also, shopkeepers give me a lot of social interaction.  Once I'm in my room I'm fine.  I have netflix and I have my book and I can listen to my public radio via the internet.  I'm fine, I like my solitude.  I'm glad I chose today to wander around Durango and shop and see and eat.  I got a lot of social interaction from the woman at the wholesale jewelry place who gave me some hints about Ouray to the gay man who stopped to ask me about my bike and ask for hints on where to go in Austin.  It was enough interaction that I was ready to retreat back to my room to blog and then to order Chinese take out.  I'm eager to see friends and family again and would enjoy doing this trip again with company.  I enjoy the companionship you get during a trip as you soak your bones in a hot tub and laugh at each other.  I really love that.  But I love this too.  I love pleasing no one but myself.

I've also learned that I was so very wrong about Highway 84.  I thought it was boring hot road.  It proved me so very wrong the moment we turned north out of Santa Fe to head to Durango.  There were many hill I crested to whisper "Oh My God" as I involuntarily rolled off the throttle because it was that beautiful, the road was that exciting.

I've also learned how to charge my video camera so I should be able to take some video of my ride to Ouray tomorrow.  In the meantime, here are the pictures I did get at my one stop yesterday.

Also, I'm not sure what my internet connectivity will be like in Ouray so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog.  I'll see if I can find an internet cafe or something.  I'll be in Ouray for two days, three nights so I'm hoping I can find something.  If not, I'll post again from Pueblo on my way home.

Quick Edit:  I've been tacking my miles daily so I wanted to note that yesterdays ride was 227 miles.

Not Quite Day One

Today is more like day .5.  I left work and rode about 130 miles to Early.  This sets me up to make it to Littlefield tomorrow in under 300 miles.

I don't think this trip feels quite real to me yet.  Right now it's all pack and load the bike and then ride in the heat and count the miles to AC and dinner.  No fun at all.  Tomorrow it will be how early can I get out of here to beat the heat.  Again, no fun.  I think it will hit me about Santa Fe.  Maybe I'll be riding and suddenly I'll be like "Shit!  I'm going to Colorado for two weeks on my own.  WooHoo!"

I know I'm excited somewhere inside.  Maybe it's the underlying trepidation I have about the trip that just needs to shake free of my boots.  The small fear that my bike won't make it.  I'll kill the transmission, I'll fry the clutch.  Of course, issues like that were the entire reason I bought the newer, bigger bike.  So far, she's been a trooper.  My poor R90 broke down on me the first two weeks I had her.  I have faith in the bike, faith in the set up of the rig.  I have faith in my abilities to navigate.  To strike the right balance of printed map, written route and GPS.  I just have to shake my doubts loose from me and let them melt away like the dishes I forgot to do before I left.  They serve no purpose for me, they should be ejected from my psyche.

I'm anticipated the excitement starting tomorrow night, when the hard riding is done or perhaps the day after when I pass Clovis, NM and the wasteland that is New Mexico South of I40 where I'm riding. 

For now, I'm checking my route for tomorrow and planning on an early night.  Tomorrow is Day One and I want to be ready.

Getting Dirty

It's the night before the Texas Adventure Ride.  We are packing up the last little things and I am testing out posting with my little tablet.  I've been thinking about Dirt and why I love if so much.

Let's all get something clear, I'm very new to dirt.  This is my second big ride involving dirt but I know I love it.  I loved it from the first time I nudged my tire onto something that wasn't concrete.  There is something....primal about off road riding.  Something Zen that invites you to exist inside the flow of life and yet demands that you have control of your bike.  Not too much control though, too much will land you on your butt in the dirt.  You must let the handle bars be easy under your hands and accept the fact that the mild fish tail you are feeling is perfectly normal.

None of my riding friends are dual-sport riders.  That makes me a little sad sometimes but it's ok.  It's scary, it's not for everyone I get it.  Then again, I think twisties on concrete is terrifying and yet I find myself on them quite a bit.  Mr Man and I were talking about dirt and how much it terrifies him.  I know there are risks to adventure riding but they are risks that make me happy.  Just like his risks make him happy.  That's the trick I think, to mesh your risks with your joys.  I love the soft organic feel of dirt, the gritty roughness of gravel.  I love the unknowable destination I sense every time I see a dirt road; this almost overwhelming urge to know, "What's down that way?"  It overcomes my fears, my stress, my everything.  Just let me point my front tire down a dusty road I've never been and let me answer the great question of "where does this go?"

I always hope the answer is "Nowhere"

Day Three: Hello Schröddy

Yet again, it's been a day of ups and downs.

We rode about 150 miles today up into Oklahoma.  Apparently I finally got to see the pretty part of Oklahoma because it was stunning.  I also got to see how my rig handles on decent curves.  I was pretty impressed.  Because of it's height and the wide stance of the rig I was expecting the handling in curves to be...well...alarming. I was surprised by how well it did.  Having an excessive amount of power at my disposal worked in my favor.  I was able to keep up with Mr Man and while he wasn't riding like a rockstar, he also wasn't going slow. We were taking the curves between five and ten miles over their posted speed.  Although I was taking the 45 mile an hour curves at 45 miles an hour.  Again, the power of the bike enabled me to quickly catch back up with Mr. Man.  I also learned that on 55 mile an hour left hand curves I have to actively slow the bike down.  The centrifugal force of the sidecar pulls the bike around the corner.  If it's a long curve the whole rig just keeps building speed as the car tries to whip around the bike. It's like the sidecar becomes a rock in a slingshot that never leaves the sling.

I booked us into the Days Inn in the thriving metropolis of Potoeau, OK.  Since it is Labor Day Evening all the tourists have left town and we are actually the only people in this hotel.  Neat but creepy.  Buy hey, we have our bikes parked on the front porch of the hotel and there is no one to care.

On the sad hand, Austin seems to be on fire.  Our house is fine as far as we know but it's unnerving being so far away from Very Bad Things that our happening almost in your backyard.  It reminds me of when two F4 Tornadoes chose to tear into my hometown while I was in college.  All I could do was stay up and watch the weather and call my loved ones.  Speaking of houses, our house alarm keeps going off.  Twice.  Both times were false alarms but it's making me wonder if the alarm itself has a malfunction.  Unfortunately, until we get home, nothing can be done.  So we'll just keep riding.

Tomorrow we are heading into the Ouachita National Forest for a day of fun curvy riding.  After that, plans are vague.  We really don't have any.  We only have possibilities.  We are Schrodinger's Motorcyclists.  Our house exists in of state of Fire/No Fire while simultaneously maintaining a state of burgled/safe while we ourselves exist in endless possibilities of North,South, East, and West.

And that is a sure sign that my brain is down.  Tomorrow the report from the Forest....perhaps even pictures.

Day One: Happiness is Not Reliant on Circumstance

Our trip started at 8:30 this morning.  By our first stop I knew that my boots were too small.  The boots were fairly new but I had ridden in them quite a bit already.  I had ordered my actual size instead of the size larger that my previous boots were.  I should have stayed with the same size.  Speaking of our first stop, that's where I met my enemy.  I was in a grungy little bathroom in Hearne, TX.  When I walked in I saw the huge cockroach in the corner.  "Ok," I thought, "you stay in your corner and I'll stay in mine."  Yeah, that didn't work so well for me.  The little jerk bum rushed me.  I stomped my foot at him trying to scare him off and he  just ran faster.  This left me screaming and jumping around the bathroom with my riding pants around my knees.  I finished everything as fast as  I could and ran out of the bathroom fastening my pants as I went.  Mr Man had a good laugh and I discovered that in my haste I had ripped two of the teeth from my zipper.  This would be the second set of pants I broke a zipper on.

The ride itself, I have to say was beautiful and the heat was not as bad  as it could have been.  We did get stuck behind a truck hauling a rickety old house (I kid you not).  It was blowing insulation all over the road.  We also had a moment where Mr Man was distracted by a plastic bag blowing around the road about the same time I was distracted by....air maybe.  He looks up to see a truck stopped in the middle of the road waiting to turn.  He brakes quickly and I actually stood up on my back brake and grabbed a handful of front brake.  My brakes work and I didn't even hit Mr Man.  However, the whole experience was....invigorating and called for another stop soon after.  That was the stop where my boot got pretty uppity with me.

We had already decided that my boots were not working and that I couldn't ride a week with them like this.  They were simply to small across my instep and toe bed.  We had planned on stopping at Wal-Mart in Paris and picking up something, anything else.  They would not be optimal riding boots but they also wouldn't be crippling.  Our last stop before Paris was in Sulpher Springs.  I got off the bike and headed inside for water.  Two steps and the sole flopped off my left boot.  The glue had melted from my heel to my arch.  Ok, really?  I think that's overkill.  I had already decided to replace the boots, there is not need to get dramatic about it.  Mr Man Duct Taped the sole back to the boot.  All I could do was laugh.  And that's when it hit me.  I had been laughing though the whole day.  Through my feet hurting so much I wanted to cry.  Through insulation flying through the air.  Through the Attack of the Killer Cockroach.  Through my boot attempting to escape me by ripping itself apart.  I had laughed.  Because I was on my darling bike Nightingale.  Because I was with Mr Man on our first trip alone together in five year.  Because happiness comes to you despite your circumstances.  Not because of them.

We are finishing up our evening relaxing and trying to shake off the stress of the day.  Because it was stressful even if I was smiling through it.  Tomorrow we are going to putt around Paris and have some coffee, maybe shoot some pictures and plan the rest of the trip.  I'm not worried about it.  We are together on on our motorcycles.  I will be a good trip.