Not a Total Loss

This past weekend we were supposed to attend our annual family picnic at Devil's Hopyard. I haven't missed one of these picnics in a decade and it's become part of our Labor Day tradition. This year was to be a special one because one of our relatives from Florida was coming up and, for the first time in 10 years, my brother agreed to attend. Trust me, this was a big deal! I know my brother was still dreading it, and he was only doing this for my father. Getting my Dad out and about to visit with his family would have been the highlight of his year - especially seeing his favorite cousin from Florida. I was so very much looking forward to this day, to spend time with my father outside of a hospital, or blood clinic, or a depressing old folks home, and to see him really enjoying himself.

But unfortunately things did not go as planned. Karlo and I rolled into Devil's Hopyard right at noon, just like we planned, but I had a bad feeling as soon as we pulled in. I'm not even sure why I got the feeling that things weren't right, but they weren't. When we got to the area that my family always reserves we found signs for a different party. No familiar faces in sight. We drove all over the park, but couldn't find anybody we knew. My heart sank. My brother was going to KILL me! With my complete inability to keep track of my life, I must have screwed up and got the wrong day. I grabbed my trusty Droid and checked back through my emails . . . there it was - the email telling me that the picnic was the Sunday before Labor Day and it was indeed Sunday. Karlo and I actually started to wonder if this was really Labor Day weekend. Maybe we got so lost in time we confused our entire weekend! No, that wasn't it either.

I was terrified to call my brother with the news that Karlo and I were standing all alone in the park. Come to find out my family decided to cancel the picnic, but never bothered to contact me. Gee, that was nice! I thought my heart would break when my brother arrived with his family and my father (who just couldn't understand what was going on) and we just stood there shaking our heads. We both drove an hour to get there and for nothing. We said hello and goodbye and that was that. I wanted to cry.


The only thing that kept me from tears was the fact that we drove the motorcycle down and this was my first real ride since my neck injury. I tried once two weeks ago, but it didn't go so well. This time I was able to ride (mostly) pain-free and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the scenary, the signs of Fall in the air, and the simple fact that I WAS ON A MOTORCYCLE again. It was great. This was my test drive to see if we could actually take our scheduled (motorcycle tour) vacation next week and I think I passed the test.

One of the biggest highlights of the day was stopping at a little farm to visit with the adorable animals. I just can't get enough of petting goats!