Tuesday, July 31, 2007

1,050 miles later.....


#1BB and I rolled into Baltimore about 6:30PM last night and it was a cool, breezy, evening. We had gotten to Bowie, MD, about 3:45 yesterday and I thought we might wait there and have a coffee to let traffic die down. Nothing like facing stop and go madness after 1,000 miles on a motorcycle. I didn't want to chance it and we made the right decision: the rest of the ride home was easy and nice, although it's practically impossible to get to our house without going on the interstate, which is a bummer after so many nice state highways and smaller roads on this trip.

The purpose of the trip was my family reunion in Tennessee this weekend, but I set a goal of learning to ride my motorcycle well enough to take it on the trip. I was prepared, but the trip itself prepared me for much more. We rode through all kinds of conditions: sunny, windy, interstate, winding highways and roadways, rain, downpouring rain. I even rode with injury: I stupidly stood up at a traffic light near Charlottesville, VA, on the way to TN and immediately singed my right leg on the exhaust pipes. A stupid mistake that I will not make again, and now have the battle scars to remind me.

My sister, mom and cousin were the master planners for this reunion and they chose a beautiful cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN, high, high, HIGH up in the mountains. When we arrived Friday afternoon, tired after a hot, winding drive into the hills of the Cherokee National Forest, we found the address and looked straight up. I had done alot in 500 miles, but going up such a vertical rise seemed too scary for me. #1BB said I should go up first, to impress my family, which was now all gathered at the top of this hill--watching and waiting for us. He leaned over and said "just put it in first and don't stop til you get to the top or you'll roll backward."* so i did that. i put it in first gear, pulled on the throttle, took a deep breath and hoped for the best. and i did it! i rolled up to the cabin and there was applause! my mom was worried, we were over 3 hours later than our expected arrival, but she was impressed. i think my dad was impressed, too, but rather than say that he was, he said "a more experienced rider would have taken that hill better"....or something like that. who knows why he couldn't have just said congratulations.

the reunion was great and it was a wonderful location. we spent 1.5 days in the cabin with my whole family, playing games, eating and drinking and catching up. some of the kids i haven't seen in 3 years and i had that strange experience that i'm sure my aunts and uncles have had, where they see you and you are small and then the next time they see you, you've turned into a person who can talk and hold some kind of a conversation. it was really fun.

riding the bike for so many miles puts you into a meditative state. i was able to get comfortable enough (and even started to really understand how to counter-steer the bike! even at high speeds!) that i could look around. i sang to myself and talked to myself. i thought about things that needed to get done, but by the time we got to Tennessee, i had really let go of work related issues. what could i do about anything while so far away? even though there was internet available to me, i didn't check my email. i didn't want to think about work, the album, this tour that starts tomorrow--i needed to really let go and focus on the time with my family. i'm amazed, it really worked.

a strange thing happened about 200 miles into the trip. i was singing Patty Griffin's "Mary" to myself. Then i decided to recite the Hail Mary to see if i could remember it.....saying it slowly, like praying, not rushing through it like i did when i was a kid, after confession--having to say it 10 times fast. i thought about Mary. I'm not really into God....(how stupid does that sound? What i mean by that is, I haven't really dedicated, and don't care to at this point, serious brain time to the concept of God. I mean, I think about it, but i don't really think about it.) but strangely, i do think about Mary. i don't know why--i just have a fascination with her. I'm not about to say that i think she guided my bike safely there and back, but with all that time to think--i really pondered her life. What is must have been like. Not the Hallmark Sunday Night Movie version, but really what it must have been like. Having been raised Catholic, I think that's the thing I held onto about the religion I have left behind--the stories of the people and the saints. The God part of it doesn't appeal to me much. But the people in that history book they call the Bible do. in short, it was an interesting ride. i'm a little sad that tomorrow, i'll be leaving for 3 weeks and won't get to ride again until i get back. but work is work is work. i'm happy to have the job that i do.

we tried to stay off the interstates as much as possible. they are truly frightening if you are a new rider. you must ride at 65mph+ to keep up...and then you are being tossed around by wind....then an 18 wheeler passes you and you get blasted by the draft. the first 50 miles of the trip was on an interstate, so i got that out of my system fast and much preferred the state highways and back roads we took. they made the trip longer, but well worth it. plus--we got to see these gems, both in Virginia.

i like how the sign shows both a vacuum cleaner and an automatic weapon. you know, in case i was confused about what a "Vac & Gun" shop does. Who knew that repairing and selling them took the same kind of expertise. could it be that they both "suck"?












hopefully, the employees will also wash their hands before returning to work......


















*he may have said something like this. all i really heard in my head was "oh sh**, oh sh**, oh SH**!"

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