Sunday Afternoon

Sundays are made for rides and naps, and today was a perfect day for a Sunday afternoon ride at the nap's expense. I stopped at one of the local Sheetz stations to fill the Bubba Keg with French vanilla cappuccino (Apparently I'm hooked on them now.) and an old timer approached me to talk about the scooter. We talked for nearly a half hour with me answering his questions about the Piaggio and him telling me about riding a Cushman in '53 when he was in the Army. Before we said our goodbyes he told me about a road parallel to the one I was on. In spite of my having lived here all my life and having traveled the familiar road so many times, I never knew about the other one he told me about. Of course, I had to take it to where it doubled back to the familiar one a few miles up the line.

I found this lovely pair of what I assumed were his and her scooters parked in a driveway along the new road.

I paused at this familiar place later. The foliage still has something to be desired and I'm not sure if I'm being impatient this year or if the fall colors are deliberately waiting to emerge for some reason.

When I stopped here to get this pretty shot I felt an awful pang of missing my baby. The week before she left for school we rode down this road together and I remembered hunkering down in my seat so she could experience the wind in her face and the unobstructed view. She's doing well, though, so in spite of missing her, I'm glad she's having a great college experience so far.

All good rides must come to an end, and mine generally wind down with some view of the valley spread out before me as I ride back into it. Here's one I don't get too often because it's on the other side of the river, a little farther south than I typically venture over there. The railroad bridge is, unfortunately, out of use or I'd likely camp out there now and then to catch a big freight train coming across the Susquehanna.

Another work week looms. The rain which had been predicted for tomorrow is off so I can take the cycle to the all day inservice I have to attend. I hope it's a short week (Okay, they're all the same length, but you know what I mean.) because on Friday I'll be heading to Altoona to visit the famous Horseshoe Curve again. No, I won't be taking the bike out because getting there via the back roads would take too long, but I'm looking forward to the trip just the same.