Blissful Chaos: Weekend Fun & Disappointment, part 1...

As I mentioned before SD and I had some fun plans last weekend. For many years now we've wanted to buy our own motorcycles. My family has always ridden bikes for as long as I can remember.

My parents first put me on a bike when I was just 3 years old (ugh, I wish I had the photos here to share, but they're somewhere in an old photo album in TN). I've always ridden as a passenger and I have some extremely wonderful, very fond memories of riding with my Popop through some of the most gorgeous back country roads in Maryland, esp. in the fall when all the beautiful tree leaves are changing colors.

Popop rode his bikes up into his 70's, and then due to declining health and poor eyesight he didn't ride much past then, but he still kept some of his bikes into his 80's. This is one bike he's had for-practically-ever:

My older sis and I rode in this side car together, just two tiny little girls with great big helmets on. Again, wishing I had those photos here with me because I can see them so clearly in my mind & would love to share them. I guess you'll just have to use your imagination and pretend we're there.

One of our family's favorite traditions was to go for a long beautiful ride and then end up at a small little mom & pop shop called Barbara Fritchies for the world's BEST apple dumplings!!!!

It's a tiny little shop, doesn't seem like much, but it was part of some wonderful childhood memories.

Anyway, my family moved from Maryland to way out west Wyoming when I was in high school (an incredibly long story for some other time). I fully planned to move back to MD after graduating, but as fate would have it, WY is where I met & married SD. Later we moved to Idaho for college and I've been stuck out west ever since.

Of course, now many years later with 4 children, it's a bit expensive to visit MD. We had visited in 1997 when my sister got married and then the next time I had a chance to go back wasn't until Thanksgiving 2006...almost 10 years later!

I spent a week staying with my grandparents in their huge, amazing home...the same home my mom was born in and they've always lived in. We had an incredibly wonderful visit with many other relatives coming by, including my mom, both sisters, my brother, several uncles, my great aunt Dolly, and one of my many cousins all were there with Popop and Mima for a huge family Thanksgiving.

Looking back it was such an amazing, special memory, esp. since Popop passed away just one year later, so I'm incredibly thankful we had this last visit together.

Anywho...back on subject, while I was there I had a BLAST going for several motorcycle rides!!! First, my baby brother took me for a fun, exciting, and somewhat life-flashing-before-your-eyes kind of ride on his V-Star 650.

While he's ridden for many years, my brother had never before carried a passenger, so I was the first one!

After we returned home he admitted to me he was pretty scared at times during the ride too. Carrying the extra weight and balancing with a passenger makes a BIG difference!

While we were out riding we stopped at a park and he tried to teach me how to drive his bike. Of course it was much too heavy for me to pick up, and he accidentally had me trying to start in 2nd gear the whole time, but it was fun nevertheless.

Then later that week we went on a much longer ride with our uncle on his amazing, $20,000+ Harley! Of course borrowing Mima's (my grandma) leather jacket & helmet, I had to take a couple of glamour shots to send back to my husband.