SATURDAY, MAY 16 - DAY 3:
This very seriously was… one of the best days of my life. Every time I thought that it couldn't get any better or more beautiful, we came around another corner, and there was another lake, river, mountain, waterfall, or girl that was more spectacular than the one we just saw. This area is truly God's country. I've always loved the mountains, and feel very much at home here. Plus, it's a tourist area, so there are a lot of smiles on the faces of the other people who are also enjoying the experience of this natural wonderland. Here's the recap of the day:
6am - Yea… six solid hours of unconsciousness. I don't think I even dreamt. Jacques had said that he was gonna sleep in, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw his bright eyes and excited expression of anticipation about our upcoming day ride.
8:45am - Hot tubbed, coffeed, morning beered, and blog posted, we got on our bikes and took off.
9:00am - Gassed up and our ice chests full, we left Sunriver… but not before Mike, the friendly gas attendant at the local GSMM (gas station mini mart) took our picture. Jacques and me… two giddy young boys, setting out for a day of fun and frolic. Poor Sunriver… it would never be the same. Not really, this place is full of giddy young men (and women).
9:45am - Sisters… the town of, for breakfast in the shadow of The Sisters… the mountain of… a set of 3 peaks named Gloria, Ruth, and Ann. Kidding. Their names are much more exciting. North, Middle, and South. We met Katie, a cute young blonde waitress, who sat on my lap for a photo op, and gave me her email address. I love how I am able to portray myself as harmless.
11:15am - Sahallie Falls. Wow.
11:25am - Kahoosa Falls. WOW. The pic that Jacques took of me didn't do the scene justice. With the waterfall in the background and an almost complete half circle rainbow around my head… we were indeed in the eye of the rainbow. And we stayed there the whole day… figuratively. I could fill two or three pages with words trying to describe my thoughts and feelings that were (and still are) inside me, about this area, and my blessings to be able to enjoy it with someone like Jacques. I love Jacques.
Kahoosa Falls
After being in Jacques and Lovely's home for only a few hours yesterday, I had told them both about my fear of meeting them. I thought there could be two things that could happen. Either (a) our personalities wouldn't match and it would be awkward or uncomfortable, or (b) we would hit if off instantly and be close friends, as if we'd known each other forever. Even though Jacques and I had grown up together as children in the same small town… we had never actually met until now.
Well… it was fear (b) that was realized. Jacques and Lovely are two of the kindest, warmest, generous, funny, etc. persons I've ever met. I love them so very much, there are tears welling in my eyes.
12:30pm - Fuel for our bikes. Jacques had refused to name his bike. He says, "It's not a he or a she… it's androgynous… sexless, and abstinent." Poor thing… Honey feels sorry of 'it'. But she loves 'it' anyway, because she knows how much I love Jacques, and she is a very loyal and loving girl.
So, although his scooter doesn't have a name, he does call it, 'The Praying Mantis', and I've come up with a description for Honey. She's, 'The Silver Lioness'. The Mantis and the Lioness, out on a daylong hunt for fun, frivolity, friendship, and the feeble attempts at humorous ways to word things.
12:45pm - Another incredible vista. Jacques didn't want to take a picture of me splashing water all over myself, so I took one of him, sitting on his bike doing what he seems to do about 95% of the time… professing and profounding about one thing or another. I never knew there was anyone else who could talk more without stopping to breathe… besides me.
2:30pm - We had to turn around. The scenic bypass was impassable. Too much snow. It was about 80 degrees, so I rolled around in it for a while, and left a snow angel (snow devil?) for the next visitor to admire. Oh, I didn't get the girls' names, but as we were goofing around a car was going up the hill, so I stepped in front of it and forced it to stop. I asked the girls if they wanted to get out and be in a picture with us and the driver hesitated… and with the most obvious expression of fear that I've eve seen on anyone's face, said, "Hhmm… no". I did see a little smirk on her face though, as she squealed off, continuing up the hill.
Honey… my Snow Angel
5:15pm - After two or three more stops not entered in my journal, we stopped in Oakridge for some food. Jacques wanted McDonald's, but I just couldn't do that, so I asked the gas attendant if he could recommend someplace in town. He couldn't, but Tippy… a young pink haired girl jumped out of her truck and strode over to me and told me I needed to go to 'The Trailhead'. She said, "It's operated by hippies… you'll like it." How in the heck did she know I was a hippy? The food was wonderful and the kids working there were super cool. Forest the cook and Hillary the waitress, invited me into the little kitchen to chat with them.
7:30pm - Just south of La Pine… almost home and Jacques decides he has to pull off the road for another beer, so… after he motioned to me that we were gonna pull off to the right… he turned LEFT… and proceeded to ride down the wrong side of the road. There was oncoming traffic so I pulled over to the right, onto a small shoulder as the two cars behind us almost ran into each other trying to figure out what the fuck we were doing. It was the only bad thing that happened the whole day… after riding 341 miles with only about 10 miles to go.
Besides that one goof up, Jacques and I match up pretty good in our riding personalities, techniques, and abilities. It was as if we'd been riding together for years.
We spent probably 50 miles of our ride… side by side, on the two lane highways, going 60~80 mph… our handlebars only 2 feet apart, or less. In fact, about three or four times, we'd actually be holding hands.
Jacques' Mantis has a cruise control so he can take his hand off the throttle. It was so cute… two guys riding down the road on their motorcycles holding hands. Awww.
8:00pm - Our last stop of the day was at the Sunriver Grocery Store, the same place we made our first stop, earlier that morning. Jacques says it's the only grocery store in the State of Oregon where you can buy liquor. Vodka it was.
8:30pm - Home… 11 hours 45 minutes and 351 miles. It was in all seriousness, one of the best days of my life.
Side Note: It's early Monday morning, but before I tell you about Sunday's fun and games, I have to digress for a while…
Although it's been in the mid 80's the last two days, it's also been very cold in the morning, but only until the sun comes up and then it warms up pretty fast. Today is supposed to be another day just like the last two.
Jacques says they've been the warmest days of the year so far. I told him that I put a good word into my buddy God, and asked that 'he-she-it' share some of his graces with us while I was in town. Me and God… we're tight.
It's 4am and I'm waiting for the coffee machine to stop sputtering, so I can begin my morning wake up routine. Ah… right on queue (or is it cue?). Coffee's ready, so it's time for my hot tub. I'll be back in a moment to make the post about yesterday, which was very seriously, the 2nd best day of my life. Except for one glitch. I'll get that part of the story out of the way right now:
When Jacques and I got home from our day ride (on Saturday), we found a raging woman in our midst. Somehow she had gotten the impression from Jacques that we were gonna be home three hours earlier. Bless her heart… her feelings were hurt.
Sometimes people get melancholy and quiet when their feelings are hurt. That's the way I usually am. Lovely however, has the personality of a tigress. She wasn't quiet or melancholy about her disappointment. She was actually quite verbally loud about expressing her feelings.
I could sense the intensity and importance of what she was saying, but I couldn't help but have to fight back a little smile, when I also sensed it was mostly a venting process. She needed to purge herself of the negative energy in her system. I love Lovely… even while (or maybe because of) the passionate tirade that she performed for us… it was very endearing to me.
Jacques will understand I mean no disrespect when I say this… Lovely is my kind of woman. She is strong willed, intelligent, beautiful, loving, thoughtful, generous, and outspoken… with a physique to die for.
Wow, I'm wordy today. TODAY?!!??!! I haven't even gotten to the bad part of Saturday's story. Ok, here it is:
After Lovely's expression of disappointment was over, I felt like going for a swim in the river near their home, but when I thought neither of them was willing to take me to the spot, I decided I'd give myself a baptism using the bird bath in their backyard. Jacques had been so pleased and happy that he had gotten the thing working for the first time this season, and actually said, "Maybe I'll get lucky tonight (because Lovely will be so happy about this)".
So, there I was… splashing water on my head, face and chest, and things are going fine. Then I decided I'd be more thorough and turned my back to the birdbath. I put my hands behind my back and dipped them into the water. The first time I tried to flip the water up onto my back, I didn't have my fingers deep enough in the water. The second time, a little too deep. I caught the small bowl holding the water spurting fish with my fingers, and pulled the hose connection out, as the poor little fish and bowl tipped over on it's side. I tried to make a joke, saying it looked like someone had shot the fish with a gun, but inside I was crying with embarrassment and sorrow.
Especially when Jacques tried to get the thing working again, and the pump wouldn't turn back on. Hopefully there's a reset switch or something on the pump he hasn't found yet. Boy… part of me feels better… telling you about how my silliness has once again created chaos, and part of me knows I will never totally forgive myself, and will be guilty about it for the rest of my life. Darn those Tarot cards. Lovely had told me I would be carrying guilt with me for a long time, and I responded with a very assertive, "I don't do guilt".
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