Anniversary

We got married today. In 1974. In Wyoming. The next day, it snowed three inches. Aw...Springtime in the Rockies! So when I got home this afternoon from a rollicking day with fourth grade ---it was Field Day!!!--we decided to go out on a date. It was pretty low-key because we're going to eat out at a really nice place tomorrow night with our daughter who is coming for a short visit.

But, it was such a fabulous night here in the desert that we just wanted a little motorcycle ride and a quick meal. What a gorgeous evening for a ride, too. It's about 80 degrees, and the air is perfectly clear from the breeze that was going all day. After we ate some yummy Mexican chicken, we drove up over the hill and down into the desert that is on the north shore of Lake Mead. It's a great ride, through a little canyon and down and around past huge rocks and the hardy little plants that somehow survive out there. We stopped at a turnout and just looked up at the stars that were finally starting to pop out into view.

CoolGuy asked me if I remembered my first ride on his motorcycle. Umm...no, actually, neither of us could recall it. We figure it was probably to the beach. That was a favorite place to ride because both of us couldn't get enough of looking at the ocean. We often drove down to the beach and then headed up along the edge of the tall cliffs that overlooked the ocean a little south of that beach. So, it could have been there. Here are some photos of motorcycle rides through the years.

 

1974:  This is the first motorcycle we shared, and this is the year we got married. We were on Mount Palomar in San Diego. SoCal was just the best place ever to ride a motorcycle. (1938 Knucklehead)

 

 

1975:  This was after we were married, before we had kids. I think I was on my way to a night class to learn shorthand or something. I didn't end up pursuing that career. But I really liked riding this motorcycle, too. (1950 Panhead) (my favorite motor)

 

 

1980: We'd been married long enough to create three kids when we had this motorcycle. We shared babysitting with some friends and this time they had our kids overnight while we went to a camping/biker event. We watched their girls while they went to a dental convention in L.A. for a weekend. (1961 Panhead with Shovel top end)

 

1982: Everyone liked to ride the motorcycle. There was a Saturday tradition that each week someone got their turn to ride down to Denny's and have breakfast with Daddy.

(1961 Panhead with Shovel top end)

 

 

 

1983: One year we decided that we needed a Christmas picture. Three rolls of film later, we managed to finally get one that had everyone smiling, looking at the camera, and no dogs were running through the shot. (1961 Panhead with Shovel top end)

 

 

1987:  We moved to Idaho after thirteen years in San Diego, and immediately realized that we actually didn't like winter anymore. We lasted there about two and a half years and then CoolGuy got a transfer back to California. In the meantime, he bought this bike from his late friend's estate. A good memory of a life-long, almost-brother. 

 (1969 Shovelhead)

 

1992:  It's so much nicer to ride when the grass is always green and the sky is usually blue. We lived near the ocean for six years, and I don't think he took the truck to work more than a few days. Contrary to a really old song: It does rain in Southern California, every once in a while. (1969 Shovelhead)

 

 

1997: From the Pacific to the Atlantic...well, the Chesapeake Bay, at least. We got transferred again. It's very, very green on the East Coast. There are an amazing number of bugs,too. So, keep your lips closed when you ride, or you'll be scraping insects off your teeth when  you get home.

(1969 Shovelhead with a new paint job.)

 

 

2010: After ten years in the East, we came home to the West. Although we live in the desert, sometimes we take the bike to SoCal and visit our old haunts. My favorite ride is still Pacific Coast Highway.

(1969 Shovelhead)

 

 

2011:  This is an old tradition, too--the New Year's Day ride. We do it because we can...I hope to keep this tradition going till I'm older and grayer. (1969 Shovelhead) (still...)

 

 

 

2012:  Now we've got grandchildren who join in the fun. Everyone likes a motorcycle ride. You can't beat it! CoolGuy has been wrenching and improving and refining this same bike for over twenty years. It'll be the one we drive for the next 39 years, probably. And if we can't keep riding together on two wheels, then we'll just have to wear our leather jackets in our wheelchairs.

Happy Anniversary to us.