ride to the lake...

didn't take my usual sunday morning ride... since my nephew was staying with us and he wanted to go to the store with me, i decided to take the cage. we were also planning to go up to the kerr lake, so it was looking like a day with no riding...

we got back from the store and we were waiting for my nephew to head off to his class when my wife asked if i wanted to ride my bike to the lake. wow!!! that was a surprise... of course i want to ride!!!

i was going to take matt along with me, but there was some confusion there. he went upstairs to change and came down wearing shorts. i reminded him that if he wanted to ride, he needed to change into jeans. so he proceeded to go upstairs when my wife said something to him. not sure what it was... but i know she was in a hurry to get up to the lake, so she was rushing us to get our stuff together. i told her that matt had enough time to change - heck i wasn't even ready yet. at that point, matt mumbled something and didn't change. so, i rode alone instead of being able to share the ride with someone.

leaving for the lake turned into a comedy... to begin with, we were rushing to get out of the house, which is always a recipe for something to go wrong. we had to go to the store to get some stuff - i wanted to get a life jacket for our youngest and my wife needed to get a new bathing suit. she's been looking for a suit but hasn't found one she likes. at this point, she just needed to get something since we'd be at the lake. and since we'd only be at the lake (and not at a fashion show), pretty much any suit would do. (btw, even if the suit isn't the best she could find - she looks hot in it!!!)

we head to the store, me on the bike, following my wife in the cage. when we get to the store, we break up and head in different directions - each with our assigned tasks. i had to get the life jacket and meet them back at the front of the store. my wife was heading to get the bottled water. one kid was heading off for school supplies and the other was heading to the music department.

after searching half the store, i find the life jackets and pick one out - a spiderman one!!! my son has a fascination with spiderman, so it was really nice to find one with spiderman that also fit. he was excited. we wander to the front of the store looking for family. no one. i decide to walk to where the water is - it couldn't have taken that long to get a case of water. nope, not around there. head back to the front of the store. as we're walking by the registers, we pass one kid rushing to the registers. i ask him what's up. he says he's buying a cd and needed to get some extra money from mom for the tax. ahhhhhh, i ask where mom is. he points, i start walking. and walking. and walking. i can't find her. as i'm heading back to the front of the store, music kid comes back with his new purchase. he looks at us and notes, assessing the situation quickly, that i haven't found mom. he says she should be around bathing suits. oh yeah, she was picking out a new suit - how quickly my small mind forgets. we find her and she's already got a suit in hand. excellent, we're finally ready to go... until my wife asks if i got the water. doh!!! i forgot to get the water. i go get the water and return. did i get the hot dog buns too?? damn!!! she heads off to get the buns and i get in line. while we're in line, i realize i didn't pack my flip flops. great, now we have to stop by the house so i can get my flip flops - another delay. so much for the earlier start we wanted to get...

after stopping at the house, we finally head on up to the lake, me on the bike and the family following in the cage. it was a nice ride, not much traffic, temps not too high yet. and we were heading to the lake to swim and hang out - what's not to like?? we went up the back roads that i found a trip or two ago. that's nice because now we don't have to get on the interstate at all to get to the lake.

we had a great day at the lake. we met my father-in-law up there. he got there early in the morning to cut down a couple trees. about an hour after we got there, he and his buddy headed back home. i think he wanted to stay but his buddy wanted to get back. since his buddy drove, my father-in-law didn't have much choice but to leave with him.

we spent the rest of the time swimming in the lake and hanging out on the dock. before heading home, we cooked up some hot dogs on the grills. sometimes i forget how tasty hot dogs on the grill can be. i don't know if it's our hunger after swimming all morning or what - but those hot dogs are soooo good. we ate, cleaned up and headed back home.

ride home was good - again all back roads. it was quite a bit warmer, but after a good day at the lake, it was a great ride...