Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sunday Road Trip

Today three friends joined me at my house to go for a bike ride. We had two white bikes, one red and one blue. We had two Harleys, a Yamaha, and my Suzuki. We had 3 with loud pipes and mine. One started up in the driveway - vroom. Another-vroom. Another-vroom. Mine - nnnnnnnnnnnnn. I had to verbally add a vroom. I don't want to stick out. We headed west on the road I live on. I was third in line. What fun to wave to the neighbors as I pull out in this parade. Before we got to the highway, a red squirrel came barreling across the road. I don't know if it actually hit the front tire on the first bike or simply put on it's own squirrelly brakes but it did a backward somersault and took off running back where it came from. Was that an omen? A good or bad omen? I'm still not sure. Our plan was to circle Mille Lacs Lake clockwise. We headed north through St. Francis, Bradford, and Dalbo. Turkey vultures teetered in the wind north of Bradford. A bald eagle soared over our heads in Ogilvie. We headed west on Highway 23. About a mile out of Milaca, one bike quit working. We let it cool down while we waited in a driveway. The homeowner came out to check on us. He was very nice and allowed us to leave the bike in his yard. One of my friends got on another friend's bike. We had lunch at the Embers in Milaca and arranged for a trailer to come and pick it up. I had oatmeal with fresh blueberries and boy, was that good! One friend had to get home so she left early. Some times plans don't work out. Although we never saw Mille Lacs we still had a nice adventure. After the bike left on the trailer, two of us headed south on Highway 47. We took some back roads. We went on one road off County Road 8 that took us past the Livonia cemetery. We saw a big buck cooling himself in swamp water up past his legs. We took a twisty, curvy, hilly road. One a sharp curve I had to avoid a huge snapping turtle that had been hit by a car. I swear it's back was a good 12 inches across. I wonder how old that turtle was. I really enjoyed the day. The wind was strong but it was steady. The traffic was light and the roads were in excellent condition.

1 comment:

Cajo said...

Oatmeal? Again? Come on.... You have the chance for someone to make you pancakes and an omelet and you get oatmeal? You're so square! ;p

Hallaway

I have only been to Maplewood State Park once before. The time of the year was autumn and we thought we could snag a campsite. Wrong. Despit...