For now the pictures... (write up coming)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Back roads, good dogs and fishing
Talking to myself is a pretty common occurrence but typically involves fairly mundane things.
"Don't forget to send in the staffing updates."
"Schedule a meeting to sorta out the load sequencing."
"Was I also supposed to buy cookies?"
Usually these conversations are part of the hustle and bustle of daily life. Small little spinning plates that demand some level of attention. Rarely is there time to have a leisurely conversation with myself. Rare that is, unless I'm riding.
"Granbury? Muenster? Hico?"
"Well... I haven't made the ride to Muenster in a while."
"A stop at the Center Restaurant for schnitzel could be good, but what about a Pirate Breakfast burrito in Granbury?"
"Oh yeah, now that sounds really good. And then from there hop on down to Hico for pie!"
"That sounds like a good plan."
"I agree. Let's do it."
That was the conversation I had in my head as I showered early Sunday morning. By 7:45 I was walking out the door with a rough plan in mind. 7:45 turned out to not be nearly as cool as I thought it would be. Maybe I should have set an alarm after all but doesn't it just sound wrong to do that over a Memorial Day weekend?
The miles passed pretty quickly and traffic was light. Before I knew it Cresson was behind me and Granbury was starting to come into view. I could almost smell the fresh coffee and warm tortillas from Montes -yelp review- .
The first warning sign should have been the empty parking lot coming into view. I pulled in anyway deluding myself, "I'm sure people are just sleeping in and there are probably cars parked on the other side of the restaurant where there's more shade... Right?"
Wrong, turns out they're closed on Sunday. I was tempted to circle the parking lot a second time to see if the sign with their hours might change but I begrudgingly admitted that I just wasn't going to get a Pirate Burrito for breakfast.
"That's ok, this is a motorcycle ride, unpredictability is part of the experience."
"Yeah, a not so great start to the experience."
"But this is Granbury, there are lots of places to get a good breakfast."
"But only one pirate burrito..."
"The Nuthouse Bakery on the square has some pretty good pancakes if I remember right."
"Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Let's do it."
You gotta love small town squares, though I'm not sure you can really call Granbury a small town anymore. Regardless, they've done a great job with the historic area and breakfast would be good down there.
I rolled into the square and found streets blocked off and people everywhere thanks to the Spring Art Festival. Vendors were finishing their setup and tourists were already showing up in force. The Nuthouse Bakery was packed. I had a quick breakfast and squeezed out of there as quickly as I could. As I muttered to myself about how crowded it was and wandered back to my bike, I saw an old man walking a lab with about as much gray on it's chin as I have on mine. The leash was so slack from who knows how many years of learning each other's pace. The kids running past did little to phase or distract either of them.
As I strapped my helmet down and pulled on my gloves, I kept thinking about the man and that dog, the way that leash was only there for the benefit of the outside world.
"Remember how gentle Phoenix used to be with the girls?"
"The way he'd sleep under their crib..."
"Or the way he'd carefully bring that big black head with the distinctive German Shepherd shape into the stroller and drop a slobbery tennis ball into the lap of one of the girls where they giggled and laughed before making the kind of erratic toss that only a 3 yr old can make."
"Or the time he sat and watched that guy Mandy brought over, almost as if he knew the guy would later turn out to be such a creep..."
"I still remember the afternoon I got the call he had passed..."
"The stunned drive home..."
"How hard the ground was, refusing the shovel as hard as I was refusing the reality of it all..."
"I still miss him."
"a lot..."
Before I knew it I was starting my run down 51 thankful for the unexpected trip to the square and the sight of the man with his dog that brought back those memories. We should all be fortunate enough to have those kinds of experiences.
Two things happened at pretty much the same time as I rolled into Hico.
"It sure is starting to get hot huh?"
"Yeah, and I'm still stuffed from breakfast."
"I doubt I could eat much at all right now."
"Ice and water for the hydration pack sounds a whole lot better."
"Convenience store for ice (lots of ice) and water it is then."
"We'll save the pie for the next trip."
So after filling up with ice and water (the FJR has over a 200 mile range on a full tank) I pulled out the map and started looking for squiggly lines.
"Hmm... FM 2481 up to Bluff Dale looks kind if intersting."
"From there FM 1188 to 1189 up to Lipan looks pretty good too."
"Oh! Then you can catch FM 4 up to Palo Pinto."
"Yeah, the run after Santo is really nice."
"Sounds like a plan."
The run up to Bluff Dale was ok, but it was the stretch after Santo that was the highlight of that leg. From FM 4 I spotted Lakeview Dr that goes up around Palo Pinto Creek Reservoir.
I elected to take the south leg and stopped to take several pictures. The most poignant of these was one of a father with his son fishing in the creek. It was pretty hot by this point in the day, but they didn't seem to even notice. I didn't want to be a disruption to their day so I quietly headed on but that visual stayed with me. Those are the kinds of experiences a growing boy will look back on, the kind of experiences a father will cherish.
So... I decided I'd gone out far enough and it was time to make my way back home.
The return trip was down pretty familiar roads with only a few stops for more ice and a few pictures, but my priority was to get home and see about creating a few more memories with my children...
"I need to pack them into a car and make a trip out here"
"Too bad you don't have a big sidecar and could pile them both in."
"For something like this though, they'd be more comfortable in car."
"Especially if it's hot like this."
"No kidding, but it'll be ok if we end up at a lake or river."
"Yep, then have a chance to go swimming."
"And do some fishing..."
"Don't forget to send in the staffing updates."
"Schedule a meeting to sorta out the load sequencing."
"Was I also supposed to buy cookies?"
Usually these conversations are part of the hustle and bustle of daily life. Small little spinning plates that demand some level of attention. Rarely is there time to have a leisurely conversation with myself. Rare that is, unless I'm riding.
"Granbury? Muenster? Hico?"
"Well... I haven't made the ride to Muenster in a while."
"A stop at the Center Restaurant for schnitzel could be good, but what about a Pirate Breakfast burrito in Granbury?"
"Oh yeah, now that sounds really good. And then from there hop on down to Hico for pie!"
"That sounds like a good plan."
"I agree. Let's do it."
That was the conversation I had in my head as I showered early Sunday morning. By 7:45 I was walking out the door with a rough plan in mind. 7:45 turned out to not be nearly as cool as I thought it would be. Maybe I should have set an alarm after all but doesn't it just sound wrong to do that over a Memorial Day weekend?
The miles passed pretty quickly and traffic was light. Before I knew it Cresson was behind me and Granbury was starting to come into view. I could almost smell the fresh coffee and warm tortillas from Montes -yelp review- .
The first warning sign should have been the empty parking lot coming into view. I pulled in anyway deluding myself, "I'm sure people are just sleeping in and there are probably cars parked on the other side of the restaurant where there's more shade... Right?"
Wrong, turns out they're closed on Sunday. I was tempted to circle the parking lot a second time to see if the sign with their hours might change but I begrudgingly admitted that I just wasn't going to get a Pirate Burrito for breakfast.
"That's ok, this is a motorcycle ride, unpredictability is part of the experience."
"Yeah, a not so great start to the experience."
"But this is Granbury, there are lots of places to get a good breakfast."
"But only one pirate burrito..."
"The Nuthouse Bakery on the square has some pretty good pancakes if I remember right."
"Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Let's do it."
You gotta love small town squares, though I'm not sure you can really call Granbury a small town anymore. Regardless, they've done a great job with the historic area and breakfast would be good down there.
I rolled into the square and found streets blocked off and people everywhere thanks to the Spring Art Festival. Vendors were finishing their setup and tourists were already showing up in force. The Nuthouse Bakery was packed. I had a quick breakfast and squeezed out of there as quickly as I could. As I muttered to myself about how crowded it was and wandered back to my bike, I saw an old man walking a lab with about as much gray on it's chin as I have on mine. The leash was so slack from who knows how many years of learning each other's pace. The kids running past did little to phase or distract either of them.
As I strapped my helmet down and pulled on my gloves, I kept thinking about the man and that dog, the way that leash was only there for the benefit of the outside world.
"Remember how gentle Phoenix used to be with the girls?"
"The way he'd sleep under their crib..."
"Or the way he'd carefully bring that big black head with the distinctive German Shepherd shape into the stroller and drop a slobbery tennis ball into the lap of one of the girls where they giggled and laughed before making the kind of erratic toss that only a 3 yr old can make."
"Or the time he sat and watched that guy Mandy brought over, almost as if he knew the guy would later turn out to be such a creep..."
"I still remember the afternoon I got the call he had passed..."
"The stunned drive home..."
"How hard the ground was, refusing the shovel as hard as I was refusing the reality of it all..."
"I still miss him."
"a lot..."
Before I knew it I was starting my run down 51 thankful for the unexpected trip to the square and the sight of the man with his dog that brought back those memories. We should all be fortunate enough to have those kinds of experiences.
Two things happened at pretty much the same time as I rolled into Hico.
"It sure is starting to get hot huh?"
"Yeah, and I'm still stuffed from breakfast."
"I doubt I could eat much at all right now."
"Ice and water for the hydration pack sounds a whole lot better."
"Convenience store for ice (lots of ice) and water it is then."
"We'll save the pie for the next trip."
So after filling up with ice and water (the FJR has over a 200 mile range on a full tank) I pulled out the map and started looking for squiggly lines.
"Hmm... FM 2481 up to Bluff Dale looks kind if intersting."
"From there FM 1188 to 1189 up to Lipan looks pretty good too."
"Oh! Then you can catch FM 4 up to Palo Pinto."
"Yeah, the run after Santo is really nice."
"Sounds like a plan."
The run up to Bluff Dale was ok, but it was the stretch after Santo that was the highlight of that leg. From FM 4 I spotted Lakeview Dr that goes up around Palo Pinto Creek Reservoir.
I elected to take the south leg and stopped to take several pictures. The most poignant of these was one of a father with his son fishing in the creek. It was pretty hot by this point in the day, but they didn't seem to even notice. I didn't want to be a disruption to their day so I quietly headed on but that visual stayed with me. Those are the kinds of experiences a growing boy will look back on, the kind of experiences a father will cherish.
So... I decided I'd gone out far enough and it was time to make my way back home.
The return trip was down pretty familiar roads with only a few stops for more ice and a few pictures, but my priority was to get home and see about creating a few more memories with my children...
"I need to pack them into a car and make a trip out here"
"Too bad you don't have a big sidecar and could pile them both in."
"For something like this though, they'd be more comfortable in car."
"Especially if it's hot like this."
"No kidding, but it'll be ok if we end up at a lake or river."
"Yep, then have a chance to go swimming."
"And do some fishing..."
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