Thoughts from the Highway

It is March 1st and another beautiful day in the Ozarks.
I am spending much of the day out on the motorcycle.

I didn't have any particular destination or route in mind when I started out today. I just filled up the tank and headed west on State Hwy 14. Near the small community of Boaz, I saw a sign for a rural baptist church that I just heard about yesterday and decided to turn off and ride by it. I ended up on rural county highways and rode past several small churches, numerous horse or cattle farms, many hay fields, rivers, forested hills, and over Table Rock Lake several times. I live in a beautiful area of the country!

I checked the odometer before starting out today, 49,500 miles. That's exactly 15,000 miles since March 1st of 2017. It's also 700 fewer miles than I rode in my first year of riding. I think that I rode on fewer days last year. My first year of riding, I rode nearly every day -- sometimes only a few miles, sometimes more. This past year, there were a lot of days that I didn't ride.
I imagine that this coming year will be the same, but I do hope to make several long trips.

Currently, I am stopped for lunch at a Pizza Hut in Shell Knob. I've been riding rural roads for about two hours and am ready for lunch and a little break. I suppose I'll end up at around 200 miles for the day and the first day of year three of owning this bike.

Last week I spoke with a couple of local bikers when I stopped for coffee in Branson. It's an interesting fellowship that bikers feel towards one another. People would rarely stop to talk to a stranger because they are driving a car, even if it's the same make they drive. Bikers will talk to each other no matter what kind of motorcycle they ride. These particular bikers rode HD Road Kings and had Christian patches on their jackets.
We talked for 10-15 minutes before they got back on their bikes and on the road while I enjoyed my coffee in the sun.

No conversations today -- just some quiet to go along with my pizza and diet soda.
Be safe out there and keep an eye out for retired guys on motorcycles!

John <><