The Present, The Past and sometime we'll get into the future

We went on another bike ride yesterday and Jimmy said that it was up to me where we rode, so I took him down through Kentucky, over to Virginia and then on to Tennessee and then home again. I think I bit off more than I could chew and boy was I ever pooped. We rode 309 miles and all he wanted to do was to ride down to London, Kentucky's Golden Corral for an early supper. I love being spontaneous and I'm not into too much planning because it seems to spoil all the fun. The way I see it is, if you plan something then you expect to have fun and it's not always as much fun as you thought it would be...too much build-up & hype before the trip actually begins.
I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and stop to check to see if we had received any mail, but found that our airmail letter hadn't even been picked up yet. I almost went postal because that bill was due yesterday. What is the mail coming to and now they want to cut back the service to only five days a week and the rate is going up two cents sometime in May again.

This is my handsome husband. Can you believe that he'll be 73 this year? He lets me do anything I want and caters to my every whim. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that we have spent the last 15 years together 24/7 with only an occasional mini trip by me. We've been retired during our whole marriage and have done a lot of traveling around the United States by motorcycle because he hates vacationing in cars. One time my son-in-law Ray, daughter Suzanne, grandson Matt and I kidnapped him and told him we were going out to dinner, and took him off to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee/North Carolina and held him for ransom...nobody paid so we held him hostage for a few days before we brought him home.

Before I met Jimmy I made of list of requirements that any man had to pass before I would consider them as possible suitors and Jimmy passed with flying colors. First on my list was "must like to ride motorcycles" and it didn't matter if they had one because I could buy them one. Next on my list was, "must be older than I" because I was getting tired of dating younger men. Next on the list was, " no present alcohol or drug use." The list was longer but I've probably already bored you enough. I've always been a straight-laced tomboy dare-devil sort of girl and I'll do anything as long as it's legal. I thrive on adrenalin rushes and have always been attracted to bad boys on motorcycles, but luckily they were never attracted to me and I had to buy my own.

I once fell in love, well really twice with a motorcycle. The first time was when I was young and a friend (Emory Mulchin) of my older brothers took me for a ride to Disneyland on his bike. I made up my mind that day that I would have one someday. I only rode on it once, but I was hooked. Several years pass by and fast forward to age 43 and someone on a motorcycle starts parking on the hill over-looking the pond at Shady Oaks and watches me work around the pond every afternoon. I didn't care about the person, but I loved hearing the rumble of the motorcycle as it approached and I looked forward to hearing it come by. I never found out who it was but I didn't care because I only liked the sound of his bike. I know I'm weird...and besides I was married and Jim (not to be confused with Jimmy) hated bikes with a passion and it wasn't until we got divorced that I finally bought my own bike, then two, three, four, five & six. I told you, I love bikes and I've thankfully passed on that gene to my offspring.

Now lets get back to yesterday's ride. I saw buffalo in two different places. I guess every state now has live buffalo. I didn't get a picture because honestly I was traveling too fast and they caught me off guard. I'm assuming that Shady Oaks once had buffalo roaming around there because the area there is called Buffalo Hollow. When the old timers talk about places they say, "back there in Buffalo is where I saw that bear," or something like that. I've heard Jimmy say that he played there in Buffalo. What a coincidence....that's where I lived, his play ground.

One of these days I'll share with you the story of how Jimmy & I met and how I put off a date with him for 4 years...did I mention that he's a patient man?