Fish

New Beginnings?

Well, where have I been for over a month? The day-to-day, mundane stuff of life, I guess. School has started back and may be over soon - for me, anyway. Sigh. God's will be done. Who knows what plans He has for me? So tomorrow I will get out of bed at 7ish, get dressed , ride my little blue scooter to school, and teach my classes as usual as I wait to hear from my rep whether or not I am still a teacher, or if the last ten years were just a mirage leading to something better. I am okay with either because I believe with my whole heart God is in control of the situation.

God promised to say
'This is the way, walk in it;'
I believe He will.

To Helen (&) Back

Back home, peeling, and completely satisfied with our trip. Gary and Andrea were tons of fun to travel with, as were their daughters Tiffany and Ginger, and Tiffany's daughter Nichole, our son Aaron, and Patrick...we haven't decided who he really belongs to, but he's fun, too. We stayed in a really nice "cabin" on Dach Brucken Gasse in Helen. There is a killer turn when you leave the neighborhood, and if you promise not to tell my father, I will tell you that I dropped the scooter on that turn once. I had already made that turn one time perfectly. That second time, Paul was on his scooter, and Gary and Nicole were on Gary's scooter, and Andrea, Patrick and Tiffany were in the car. I headed down the hill to the first turn, made that right turn, then down a steeper hill to the next turn in the road to the left, and blew it. I knew it was a tough turn. I slowed down. I even came to a complete stop when I saw that I was not going to make it through without going into the shallow, rock filled ditch. The stop was too abrupt, though, so when I put my feet down I lost my balance and fell. The scooter fell, too, but it didn't turn off. I ended up with minor bruises - one on my left leg, one on my right ankle, and a knot on my right upper arm. I banged my head on the rocks and scratched my helmet. I laughed. The instant the panic was over I became aware that as I lay there on my back my feet were straight up in the air! I was really quite comical. I am completely blessed that it wasn't any worse!

The rest of the trip (we did end up trailering our scooters, by the way) I scootered without any problems. It really was a lot of fun riding those mountain roads. Some of them are not banked properly (like that awful turn where I fell), and they were a bit challenging, but other than that it was so much fun. Everyone went tubing Saturday except for Paul and I. I have been tubing there when the water is low and it really isn't that much fun to me. So Paul and I spent hours at the waterpark riding the lazy river while they spent four hours trying to get down their river bed. I feel certain we had more fun than they did, and I certainly got more sun. By the way, it rained Saturday night/Sunday morning, and the river was up so the same four hour trip took one hour on Sunday. And Saturday's ride wasn't without it's moments; they say Tiffany's spill out of her tube was quite entertaining!


Here's the burning question from the weekend: what in the world happened to Hansel and Gretel's candy? I love their fudge, usually, but this time it was as if they left out half the cocoa to save money or something. I hate it. they usually have such good fudge. Several of us got candy there - all different kinds - and none of it was anything to write home about. Too, too bad.

Another highlight of the trip (besides Tiffany's tube-turnover) was grubbing for gems at a place just outside of Helen. Paul and I split a $30 bucket of rocks and found a sapphire, two small emeralds, three small rubies and tons of semi-precious rocks like amethysts, citrine, tiger eye, jade, and the most beautiful of all, sodalite. It was like coke-bottle green and blue with purple sandwiched in the middle. So gorgeous, but they won't cut it anymore because it is too soft. I got the sapphire cut, though, and it should arrive in a few weeks. I haven't decided how to get it set - a ring? a necklace? - it is exciting to explore the possibilities. Aaron, Ginger, and Tiffany each got a tiger eye cut, and Ginger got a citrine cut that is going to be stunning! Nicole got something, too, but for the life of me I can't remember... amythest? In any case, it will be so much fun to get our jewels in the mail!

We rode our scooters back beginning Monday morning. The first leg was to Cave Spring, GA. What a wonderful ride that was weaving up and down mountain roads! We left early enough that it was cool, and rode fast enough to keep the heat off even as it got later in the day. We stopped four or five times for water, and only one time for gas. It was not a tiring trip at all. Oh, sure, our bumblies were a little numbly when we arrived, but not so much that we were sore later. We stayed at the historic Tumlin House as we had planned (thank goodness! since I don't believe there was a hotel in the town!) I am including pictures of the house and one of several house cats. The couple that owns the house was friendly, as were the other couple staying the night there on their way to Kentucky. Paul and I played dominoes and cards on a wonderful back porch, and opted not to swim in the tempting pool out back since the evening had already cooled. They had sleep-number-type mattresses on their beautiful antique beds which were made with antique (?) bedspreads. They had dozens of DVDs to choose from in the dining room, so Paul and I helped ourselves to some movies we haven't seen and nestled into that big bed. Our room had a restroom in it, but there are rooms without and for them there is a nice big bathroom midway up the stairs. I am sorry we don't have inside pictures because it was so lovely, but the camera batteries died. You can still see the charm on the outside, though. Look at those huge porches with two or three wicker swings. I really would like to curl up in one and stay for a while, enjoying the cool shade and a good book. I am afraid I would be tempted to sleep out there if allowed!
After leaving the Tumlin House, we went to see the cave spring from which Cave Spring gets its name. There were people there getting hundreds of gallons of water to take home with them. They say this is the clearest water in the entire state of GA. Can you believe we didn't have even a cup to put water in? We went to the general store to buy one, but it was still closed. I really do highly recommend this little town for someone who is looking for some true R&R.

Below left, you can see the folks getting enough water for an aeon. The entrance to the cave was locked so we didn't get to go in, but here is the view, on the right.


Can you believe how clear thewater is? Those are trout in there; can you see them?

The rest of the journey home flew by. We traveled all small highways and byways. Can you believe Paul and I didn't even have one real argument? Okay, I admit it, I was peeved when we just flew by the Tate House without even so much as a pause to admire it; but that was as bad as it got. We found out on the way home that our precious little long-haired, dapple Dachhaund was in need of semi-urgent medical care following what we think was a snake bite, so we did rush a little from Oneonta to Oak Grove. She had to have surgery to remove necrotic tissue from her muscle on her back leg, but she is home again and resting on her "throne."

So, now it is time for the Haiku. Hmmm. Let's see.

Mountains masked in mist
Steep roadways rise and descend
Helen on my mind

I am so looking forward to the end of this week when I head to Helen, GA. I am a little apprehensive, too, as I wonder about the trip there and back and the elements that might beat down on us. I am thinking about the possibility of trailering the scooters there, then riding them back. Any thoughts from anyone else on the subject?

Oh! I almost forgot the haiku at the end!

Trailering the scoots

Seems like ducking out in fear

Common sense wins out.

I am so bummed out. I only got 68 mpg on my scoot this time. It is still good, I guess.

Drove to Hoover and back this evening. I don't think I particularly like going 50-60 mph in the dark. Especially with amber glasses on. The glare is too much, the bugs hurt like a big dog, and I am not as confident that I can be seen. Think I will try to hold my scooting to daylight hours.

Dark, cool, windy night

Bugs, like snow, fall in the light

Can you see me now?

Brrrrr! Cold Alabama Nights

What on earth? Why is it so cold in Alabama right now? We had to cut our scooter rides short tonight because we weren't dressed warmly enough. Plus we are really tired. I did tell you that my husband is old, and I am practically getting ready to just about start getting old.

purple sunset clouds

decorate the evening sky

ohmygosh, it's cold!

Don't you just love riding in the evening? I do. I love when the air gets a tidge cool and the scents of nature waft past...wonderful! We just did a little jaunt into town to eat tonight. The food was good, but a bit too pricey...three meat and three's was almost $30! Sheesh! It's like riding together is bringing my family closer. I love that!

two scooters, two bikes

five friends head on a mission:

water Becky's plants

Our first adventure

Paul, my 57 year old husband, finally bought a scooter, so we immediately set out on an adventure. It required a lot of discussion, of course, just as the purchase of his scooter required much deliberation. Motorcycle or scooter? Which motorcycle? A big one like a cruiser? A lighter one like my son's Honda Shadow Spirit 750? Oh My Gosh! Just make up your mind and quit talking about it!

What won him over was riding my People S 250 home one night. He had been riding my Schwinn Graduate 150 just to see if he could stand to motate on 2 wheels. When we switched scooters that night and I rode my Schwinn again, I realized why he was hung up on buying a motorcycle rather than a scooter. It is tiny, and much like riding a sardine can on small wheels with a pretend engine...well, in comparison to the much stronger, larger wheeled People S 250. Once Paul rode my People he had to get his own People. Now we both have People. (I crack me up.)

Anyway, the big adventure.

We drove from Oak Grove in western Jefferson County, near Birmingham, AL, to Centreville, AL. This was well over 100 miles by the time we passed Centreville to get to Jimmie's BarBQue and then drove back to Centreville again. Jimmie's wasn't our original goal, but since we were both tired of being pelted by the rain we opted for his place over Big Girl BarBQue which was 5-10 miles further - no one really seemed to know how much further for sure. It's delicious bbq, found about halfway between Centreville and Prattville on Hwy 82.

Lessons learned on our first big adventure:

• Always carry a long sleeved shirt and long pants
• Always have a neck gaiter, because 70 degrees/6:30 a.m./foggy/60 miles per hour = dadgum cold
• Carry ibuprofen in your seat when you are traveling that far.
• Stop often
• One hundred miles is a long dadgum way to go in a day on a scooter
• Riding gloves would be nice, even in the summer
• Have one extra day's worth of prescription medicine in a keychain pill bottle just in case.
• If you are traveling with an old man who goes to sleep at 9:30, be sure you bring something to do

So we did all this driving down to Jimmie's and back to Centreville under partly cloudy skies. The partly cloudy sky became an angry purple, fully clouded sky with equally angry wind, so we decided to find a motel for the night. Thank goodness for the Windwood Inn! Can you believe in that little town we found a spotless American-owned room for about $50 bucks? We were amazed. As we ate our ice cream treats from the neighboring DQ, we decided 100 miles was a good rule of thumb for adventures to remain fun. Of course, we could go farther, but at what expense to our tender buttocks?

Mileage average: 70mpg+

Here's a link to the Inn (so I can find it again!)

http://www.trails.com/all-hotels/points-of-interest.asp?poi=65368

partly cloudy skies
full of possibilities
on the first trip south