so i'm sitting here, just killing time in between preparations for the big turkey dinner. my (wonderful) wife looks over at me and asks if i want to take my motorcycle out for a ride... i can remember the last time i heard that question. since it was a beautiful, clear day in the mid-60s, i get a big grin and ask her what she needs... the price for my ride: a newspaper with the sale ads. yeah, tomorrow's black friday and she wants (likes) to hit the stores early. sure enough, i tell her, i'll be back in a bit...
so i head out to wal-mart - i wasn't sure what else might be open on thanksgiving, but i knew they were. i get to wal-mart, go to their newspaper section/stand, and nothing. well, a couple of wal-mart sale ads, but no newspapers. nada, squat, zilch, nuthin'... okay, i decide to head up to the gas station, they have those newspaper boxes outside. ride up to hess and pull up to the boxes - empty. both of them. hmmmm, this isn't looking good. okay, i'll back track and head to lowes food, i saw they were open. as i pull into the lowes parking lot, another gas station is open - let me check there. nope, nothing there either, guess i'll try lowes. what do i find?? nothing again, except for the local paper - which won't carry any of the big sale ads my darling wife wants. well, i'll pick it up anyway - it does have a kohl's ad, maybe she'll be happy about that.
as i'm cruising back, i decide to hit one more gas station - this ones closer to our house, but not close to much else. maybe they'll have it. i pull in to the station, locate the newspaper boxes and pull up next to them. two boxes, one of them empty, the other has newspapers!!! schweeeeeet!!!! of course i spent what measly change i had on the paper i bought at lowes, so now i have to go inside and use the atm machine. after paying two dollars for the pleasure of getting twenty bucks out of the atm machine, i head to the counter to get change. as the lady at the counter is making change for my twenty, she starts to marvel at one of the state quarters she's never seen. i'm thinking, please, please, please hurry - my luck someone will buy the last paper before i get out there. she finally hands me all my change and i head out, quickly, hoping no one else has taken the last paper. i walk around the corner, spy the box and the paper is still there!!! ahhhh, yes, this is great. i bend over to drop my quarters into the slot and the top of the paper catches my eye - sunday edition. wait, it's not sunday, it's, uh, it's thursday. then i look at the headlines and the date - damn!! it is sunday's paper. crap!!! my luck... at least i had the local paper. or so i'm thinking.
when i get home, my wife wonders where i've been. i don't blame her, i was gone unusually long for just picking up a newspaper. i tell her i've been all over and i can't get her the paper she wants, but i did pick up the local one. she's like, no, you're kidding, right?? i'm like, no, i'm serious and i recount my journey. needless to say, she was disappointed. she didn't get the ads she wanted and that didn't help with her plans to head out early on black friday.
there were a couple of highlights riding today, aside from just being out there. during one of my journey's back and forth, i pulled up to a stop light. while waiting, a guy on a gorgeous black and white deluxe pulls up on my left. he's got his daughter in tow and an ear to ear grin. i look over, with a smile i tell him nice looking bike. he tells me he just got it and he's out enjoying the day. we exchange comments about how great a day it is to be out riding. the light turns green we say our goodbyes and off we go. i'm thinking to myself about how friendly bikers are to each other. it's a great brotherhood.
another highlight of the ride actually happened after i got home. i pull into the garage and as i'm getting off the bike, i notice someone in a truck has pulled into the bottom of our driveway. i remove my gloves, helmet, and head to the bottom of the driveway. the guy is already out of his truck and coming up my driveway. he saw me riding and wanted to introduce himself. he lives in the neighborhood, rides and is always looking for people to ride with. he tells me he's got a fatboy and a big dog chopper. i can tell he's pretty proud of his big dog. he didn't stay too long, said he was out to get some marinade after his riding buddy from durham stood him up this morning. he says any time i want to ride, stop by his house, rev the engine and he'll be out. cool - another riding partner!!!
overall, the ride was great. as usual, the weather was awesome. (seems i'm saying that a lot lately!!) sunny, mid-60s, not a cloud in the sky. in fact, before i took off, i put the liner in my coat thinking it was a little cooler than what it really was. i regretted doing that as i was riding. i even swapped out my winter gloves for my summer gloves. i could have ridden all day. and just may have if i didn't have to get back and get the bird in the oven.
hope everyone else had as great of a thanksgiving as i did... i am truly blessed...
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