An August Weekend Ride

This past weekend was a fabulous August weekend. The skies were bright. The temperatures, while warm, were not too hot to get out and enjoy a nice leisurely ride on our Harley Davidson. 

My husband and myself decided that since we hadn't heard from any of our usual riding friends about doing anything special or taking any rides together that we would just go out on our own. Just the two of us spending some quality time together. We knew that some of the others did in fact have some other plans and that they wouldn't be available for any group ride and that really suited us just fine this time. 

I decided to pack a small lunch for us rather than stopping someplace for a beer and a burger like we so often do. We headed out rather early so we could just enjoy the day while beating some of the heat of the day that was bound to come later in the afternoon. We decided to take some of the back roads and stay away from any major highways today. We wanted to see all of the sights of summer rather than lanes of pavements and lots of cars and trucks all vying for position on the road. We wanted to ride past fields of corn and other crops. We wanted to see cows out grazing in the fields. We really just wanted to experience more of what nature offered today.

It didn't take long to get away from town. Soon we were on a long stretch of road that isn't traveled by others too much. It felt refreshing to be on the bike taking in all of the sights. We stopped for a short break after only an hour or so of riding. My husband said that he just wanted to stretch his legs for a little while and once I got down from the bike, I agreed that it did feel good to walk a little. We were at an area that we knew in advance we were coming to. It's just basically just a little turn off from the road. Someone had placed a picnic table there years ago. Who did this we wondered. But, we both agreed that it was one of the nicer things that someone could do for anyone that needed to stop and relax for a while. We only stopped a few minutes, but it was long enough for us and we got back on and started riding again.

Once back on the road we realized that we had not topped off the tank before setting out for the day. We knew there was a small town just a few miles up ahead and we also knew that we had plenty of fuel to make it there and then some so there wasn't an immediate need to have gas "right now". I was glad for that since I had been glad to stand for a while, I still didn't want to walk for a while too. 

We got into town a short while later and decided to walk through a couple of the small shops there. It's always fun to go through small town stores since you never know what you will find in them. I saw a couple of things I liked and although I liked them, I didn't want to own them. We got back on and headed out on the road again. 

We had been riding again for about an hour. We passed through some smaller towns and we hit a lot of open road. As we rode we remarked about all of the things we were seeing. We also agreed that the farming life was a tough one and one that we were glad someone chose to do and glad that it wasn't us. At this time we had been out for around three hours. I said that I was ready to eat the sandwiches we had with us. My husband agreed and we found a quiet area that was nicely wooded with a small clearing where we could spread out a blanket and sit on the ground. It's really amazing that there is so much wooded land in our state. We become so accustomed to living in a city that we forget about all of the great nature that is so abundant in the state. Much of it privately owned and the rest state owned. Either way, there is a lot of land in Michigan and we have all of this so near to us and yet we see it so little.

After we ate, we decided that it was time to turn around and head back home. We found a little different route to take us home and we decided to use it rather than just back tracking our route to where we were. This route did involve a little highway travel but it was along the shoreline and looking off at the water is always nice. Especially on a day like today. 

As we got nearer to home we decided to stop and check to see if any of our friends were at the bar where we often meet for food and some pool. Sure enough some of them were there. They all wanted to know where we had been and what we had been doing today. Someone tried to call me earlier and said they got my voicemail. I said that I had left my phone at home and then told everyone about our day of riding adventure. They all said that they would like to do the route and that we should all plan on doing it together. I said it sounded like a plan and that we would all think about a future date for the ride.

We ate, played pool for a while and then said we were tired and that is was time to head home for the night even though it was still relatively early. We said our good nights, got on the Harley and headed home. Lying in bed that night I reflected on what a day it was and just how relaxed I felt. Soon slumber fell over me and the day was officially over. But, what a day it had been!