MILEstones

I'll take a milestone anywhere I can find one, in this case with five of a kind showing on the old odometer.

I was about a mile and a half away from rolling over onto this display when I noticed the odometer so I calculated the next minute or so of riding in order to pull into a safe spot to get the picture. As it turned out I found a parking lot just as 6/10 was showing and after a spin around its perimeter and a bit of a coast into a space the eights were all lined up and ready to say cheese.
8,888!
The diameter of the earth is roughly 7900 miles.
It's 8080 miles from New York, NY to Bethlehem, South Africa - as the crow flies.
Yeah, I've gone quite a way, though never much farther out than about 50 miles from the house.

Today's Sunday afternoon ride rolled me to where I took the motorcycle safety course to get the motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license two years ago. There was my instructor, Marty, still at it. With a hearty chuckle, a rich spirit, and a face that combines an amiable grin with twinkling eyes he was going as strong as ever. When I think about how many great weekend rides he's given up to conduct the classes from spring through autumn - there's one of the good guys!

I was thrilled to see a scooter in the mix of riders going through the paces. That bike looks an awful lot like mine, but I'm kind of a scooter racist; they all look the same to me some days. I didn't stay to watch the riders do their qualifying runs for their endorsements, but I hope this young lady scored hers easily.

If the slugs stay away it should be a great year for my hot peppers in the garden. I have nine different varieties planted - one of each kind that the farmer was selling the day I got them. I went nuts and got 72 plants to take advantage of the discount on a dozen flats of six plants each. If only I had counted instead of being lured into that bulk purchase mentality, but they won't go to waste.

When the peppers start to ripen I'll pluck them and dehydrate them for future use in Joe's not so famous but very hot and delicious wing sauce. My best moment with said sauce was when my friend Lou visited and was looking forward to some hot wings. He took one bite of his first wing slathered with my sauce and screamed, "This is crazy! How do you eat this?"
"I thought you like hot wings," I replied as Lou ran for the sink with the illusion that water might somehow quench the burn.
"Yeah! But not like THIS!" he exclaimed while gulping a huge glass of water and refilling.
I can eat the stuff with a spoon - as long as I have the day off the next day to tend to the cramps which are SO worth it!
Happy riding, and eating, and everything else that's good!