The Flagstaff 7 went to Cottonweird today. When we left Flagstaff it was 26 degrees. Below zero. I had on a turtleneck, a pullover shirt, my thick Harley sweater (thank you Linnea!)my leathers (with the fringe) and my leather coat. (Without fringe.) It was still cold. I was glad we were heading south, off the mountain. As the journey began I wondered if it would be worth the cold. It only took a few minutes on the freeway to make me know that it was. The feeling is just unexplainable. The only way to make a person know the feeling is to make them experience it. If you really want to know what it feels like come and take a ride.

I took both of my helmets with me; the full face and the 1/2 helmet. The full face covers all the way down past my chin. The 1/2 only to just above my ears. I keep my Ipod on full blast and scoot along to the likes of Steppenwolf and George Thorogood. Of course when I hear "Bad To The bone" I have to sing along. With the full face helmet I can hear myself sing. I've discovered that I'm a much better singer with the 1/2 helmet on.

We had to have an excuse to ride, so ostensibly we went down to Laurie's dad's house to talk to him about his trike. He and his wife Carrol, have been riding trikes for quite some time. Lin and I are thinking that maybe it would be more comfortable for her if we had a trike. I'm having trouble with the thought of giving up the two wheels. There are some alternatives but we don't know about the compromise it would take to do those. If I could afford it I would get Lin a Goldwing trike in a heartbeat but I can't. In any event, Lin and Lela both got a ride on Dan's nice machine. They loved it, to say the least. The picture at the top of this entry shows the rear of Dan's machine. As we are currently discussing it they both say that they would jump on a trike for trips to the store. I may have to give up both The Beast and Frankenbike to get a trike. As an aside but not of lesser importance: We weren't at Dan and Carrol's for more than 10 minutes when Carrol went into her house and returned with a really nice leather jacket for Lela. It was very nice of them to think of Lela as a recipient of the jacket and Lela is thrilled with it. She didn't want to take it off.

Sometimes the absurd just gets more absurd. Today I had a little time to stop at Burger King for a snack. I'd been having a good day and I thought a small chocolate shake would top things off. Before getting my shake I went in to the restroom to wash my hands. I walked in and turned right around and walked out. There's a guy in there taking a shower in the sink in the Burger King. I've worked in bus stations, camped, been deer hunting, had cars break down where there were no facilities for many miles around, but I've NEVER seen someone taking a shower in the sink at the Burger King. I've seen things in the restrooms at the bus station which were shocking, really shocking. But taking a shower? Not a sponge bath mind you, but a full blown shower. He was standing at the sink, filling a large spray bottle with water and then spraying himself all over. He had already soaped up and was in the rinse phase when I walked in. He didn't seem surprised or startled when I walked in; in fact he didn't even acknowledge me. I certainly didn't acknowledge him. I just backed out slowly and tried to erase the image from my mind. So far unsuccessful. I had to get on "The Beast" to help clear things.