Yesterday, the sun rose on a beautiful morning, but the temperature was too low for me to want to ride. It clouded up and Karl was back and forth about it, so I suggested that we take the day and go shopping: at three nearby Harley shops. Neither one of us was particularly interested in doing chores, so we decided to make a fun day of it.
First stop: Patriot Harley in Fairfax. Karl was mainly interested in looking for used bikes for Da Boy. His birthday is coming up in April and by then he'll have his motorcycle license. ("Da Boy" will be 27) And Karl really wants to go riding with him - you know, male bonding. There were some promising looking bikes, but at this point it's just a recon and when they finally decide on a bike, Da Boy will have the final say. But Karl likes to plan way far in advance. It took us from Memorial Day until the end of July to finally get our Baby.
I looked around the store and didn't see anything I couldn't live without, so after Karl showed me the prospects for Da Boy, and we talked about them between ourselves and a salesman, we got his card and left for shop #2: Witts in Manassas.
On the way there, Karl and I were talking, and I told him that I really loved that Black leather jacket with turquoise embroidery that I saw last year and couldn't find in my size. It was in and out of the inventory in about a month. But Michelle special ordered another one that was on its way out and she could get it in my size. It's black with a more subdued purple logo and trim. I told Karl that if they ever came out with a jacket with a phoenix in deep reds and oranges on black leather, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I tried on a few things off the sale rack, but in the end, walked away empty handed. Karl really didn't see anything promising there, so it was off to our home store, East Coast Harley in Dumfries. I love that place.
I love hanging out in the gear and apparel area, and more often than not, I end up walking away with something I hadn't intended to buy.
Yesterday was no exception. I met Anji for the first time and we hit it off. We bonded over riding and writing - we both have blogs. Before I knew it I had just bought a half helmet (which I needed for warm weather riding), and Karl Honey, as Anji called him, found a cloth vest with a turquoise and yellow phoenix embroidered on it. They had one in my size and of course, I had to have it. I think we spent about an hour and a half just looking and hanging out. We were really in no hurry.
Walking out the door, we noticed that it was decidedly warmer then it was when we walked in. The sun had burned off all the cloud cover. We got home, and hurried to grab a quick bite to eat and get ready to ride. It was about warm enough for me to ride. I put on my silk long underwear, jeans and a sweater, boots and leather jacket and gloves and we were rolling by about 3 in the afternoon.
We went out through Warrenton and out to Culpeper. We have a good friend who lives there, but we didn't stop. It's the house of no return. We took a break at a gas station and then came home by way of Sperryville (quaint little town) and back through Warrenton again where we stopped again; this time for a fill up and a water break and the took it on home on Aden Road. That's one of my favorite back roads.
It was some cool riding, especially in the very shady areas, but I never got chilled. It was good to be back on the bike again, watching our corner of the world from the back of the Baby. I love the smells from the back of the bike. We ride through a lot of farm country so even in the cold, you can smell the manure going past a dairy or cattle farm. To me it smells better than the city. But I grew up down the road from a farm.
There was the occasional skunk - inevitable in the country. Then there were the wood fires coming from the houses with fireplaces. Homey smells. There were cookouts going on all over the place. We cook out year round, and I smelled burgers and dogs and grilled chicken wafting on the breeze as we rode by. Riding through the larger towns we could smell the restaurants cooking up good stuff. Steaks and BBQ, yummy stuff.
The forsythias, harbingers of spring are in bloom. I saw daffodils full out. Mine at home are still buds. Red buds on trees waiting to pop open on the first warm day. The willow trees have a greenness about them, but no leaves just yet. Most of the fields have that brown-yellow winter deadness about them still; but I noted one single verdant field near Sperryville - spring alfalfa. Surrounded by winter-dry grass.
The wind gusted a lot. That's March telling us that winter is not yet ready to give way to spring. We lost the sun about a half hour from home. the sunset was behind us, but when we stopped in Warrenton, we put on our reflective vests. I could see the orange sun reflected in Karl's helmet below the tops of the trees - also reflected in his helmet.
We arrived home to four happy dogs and a cat, and a cup of warm tea and dinner.
All in all, it was a beautiful cool day.
