A Sunday Afternoon Ride

When I was younger and lived at home with my parents, we attended church on Sunday mornings and then went home and had a special Sunday supper my mom would leave slow cooking in the oven when we left for church. After lunch we would often take a Sunday afternoon drive before attending church again in the evening. My dad never had a destination in mind, we would just start driving and when a road looked interesting, that’s where we went. Twist and turns, lots of new scenery, and an occasional stop for a soda pop, my favorites were Dr. Pepper, Nehi grape, cream soda, or orange crush.

When I was old enough to drive, my dad would give me the keys to his Chevy three speed on the column, paneled utility truck and a tank of gas and I was free to explore my own surroundings of the county I grew up in, as long as I was home for Sunday evening church services. I learned to use a stick shift, use a clutch, build a trusting relationship with my parents, and a love for discovering what is down that road that I have never been on and looks so interesting.

Larry and I attend church on Saturday evenings and that leaves most of Saturday and all day Sunday to ride and explore. Several of our friends couldn’t ride Sunday due to various reasons, so it was just two couples with a late morning start after leisurely reading the paper and having the appropriate cups of coffee, which in my case is two.

We stopped to gas up the bike and meet up with Dave and Lorie at their house since we both live in Ferndale. Gary, their neighbor, our friend, and fellow HOG member walked down to chat before we headed out for the day. Gary would have been riding with us, but he thought just maybe the weather forecasters would be correct this time so he put his bike in the shop to get its 1,000 mile check up.

We didn’t have a plan except to stay in Whatcom County because while it wasn’t a bright sunny warm day, it was not dark and gray as we looked south at the potential for rain. We headed out at a sightseeing pace on Smith Road, Noon Road, and then Mt. Baker Highway. Over the hill, down to Silver Beach, around Lake Louise Rd., and Park Rd. to The Blue Mountain Grill.

We arrived just in time for Larry to order from the breakfast menu while the rest of us had lunch. Just as our food was being served Sky stopped by our table to talk about vacations, bikes, future travel plans, work, and his kids. We had a nice visit before he headed out on his Kawasaki (this is his 3rd bike, #1 being a Harley, and #2 a Ducati) for his Sunday afternoon ride.

After lunch we headed towards Kendall, South Pass, North Pass, various roads in-between, Everson for a pit stop, and then looking at the clouds we decided not to push our luck and just head for home. Half way around the county for a Sunday afternoon is not bad. As we left Everson we passed a field of sheep and the Ewes had already had baby lambs. One tiny little guy with black wool looked like he was only days old. Good thing he had a warm coat on because the temperature was starting to drop.

We waved good-bye to Lorie and Dave when we returned to Ferndale and we headed through town and up the hill towards home. It started to sprinkle just as we pulled in our driveway--great timing!