From Here To There And Back Again: DAY 8- 375 words

THURSDAY, MAY 21st - DAY 8:

6:15am - A wonderful night of sleep… 9 1/4 full hours.

7:00am - Got on-line and traded barbs with Jacques about our bikes…

My responses to his comments:

"Honey has much more leaning capacity than what you saw.  I am attempting to complete a 16-day, approximate 3,000-mile journey, and am not interested in pushing myself or Honey to any of our limits.  If you were riding along with me for my complete ride, I do not think you or your toy mantis would be able to keep up with us.   Yes, yes, yes… your bike can corner faster and stop faster than Honey, but remember, she also weighs ½ as much as Honey, and carries ½ the passenger weight."

Then, I followed up with:

"Yeah… that was great… the times we punched it at the same time… riding side by side… Honey's deep throaty roar, and Mandy the Mantis' cute high-pitched whine… accelerating side by side… I admit it… your bike does perform.  It is very fun, the way our bikes accelerate almost exactly the same.  And their top speeds are indeed, almost identical.  Too bad your bike isn't as beautiful as mine."

Gosh, I love the way Jacques and I can banter back and forth.  He not only takes my barbs better than anyone else I've ever played with, but can dish it back to me better than anyone as well.  Truly, we are brothers from different mothers.

7:30am - Peter to school, then drop offs at Goodwill, the dump, and the recycling center, to unload Mimi's truck.

8:30am - Posts and emails.

11:00am - I had a light meal and then took off on Honey to meet with Michael and DeMarie, the kids of my best Seattle buddy Jim, who died last year from cancer.  He was an amazing dude.  Priest, poet, construction worker, administrator, linguist, single father, and a true lover of humanity… the world is a better place because of him having been such an active participant in it.

Noon - Lunch and quality time with Jim's children.

3:00pm - Back at Mimi's.

3:45pm - Took Peter to see the new 'Star Trek' movie.

7:00pm - Very good curry chicken, courtesy of Mimi.

9:00pm - Bed