I grew up in a very small town; growing up, I could hardly wait to get out into the big world.

Of course, now that I’m older and wiser (well, at least I’m older) I’ve discovered that living in a small town can be a wonderful blessing. I no longer live in the town I grew up in, but I do love living where I am.  Not nearly as much excitement as some folks would like, I’m sure; but I think excitement is highly overrated.

So, a couple weeks ago, a friend from high school came home from her big city, and a few of us got together. I went back to my little hometown, and we had supper at a really nice Italian place. The food and service were both wonderful, and of course, the company was great!

To think that such a nice little place would be in our little home town… well, when we were growing up, there were two little ice cream places and a local cafe, whose specialties were home made pies.

Of course, we all had to check out the ladies’ room- and how cute it was!  I know this is a ‘girlie’ thing, but the whole decor was wonderful. I told my friends I should have taken the camera in!

It was so nice to be able to ‘go home again’ and see that things are still quiet, but are growing just the same.

We’d been planning on going to Thunder Beach for several weeks; our reservations were made at a nice cottage; Randy’s time off was scheduled and we were ready to go. Then a week before time to go, Randy’s bike started giving him trouble.  He checked everything he could: changed the coils;  found some wires that had rubbed until the coverings were gone and fixed them; checked the battery; did everything he could, and still the bike wouldn’t crank and run right.

Since we were going to try to leave out early Thursday morning, I tried to have everything packed, but since he was having trouble, we weren’t sure if we’d trailer his bike down, or just go on the Santa Fe.  Most venues have parking for bikes only, so that was going to cause a problem.

And then, our friend Phil stepped up- at church Wednesday night, he told Randy just to come on to the house and get his bike and use it.  So that’s what we did.

It says a lot about Phil and his friendship for us that he’d let us use his bike all weekend – of course he knew we’d take care of it; but because we used his bike, he didn’t have it to ride. That’s saying a lot- he loves to ride as much as anybody I know. This may not seem like a big deal to someone who doesn’t ride, but it really meant a lot to us.  I’m glad to know I’ve got friends like Phil that I can count on.

What a great weekend! Randy and I left out around lunch on Friday, trailering his bike with us. (I wasn’t sure I could handle riding mine that far yet.) While I helped with the registration table, Randy went with the group to the state capitol to hear Gov. Riley proclaim Friday as Patriot Guard Day in Alabama. Here’s the story in the Montgomery Advertiser.
That night we all broke for supper- some went to the American Legion hut for steaks; Randy and I sneaked away for supper at O’Charleys; we had southwestern twisted chips, which were awesome!
Saturday morning, we rode to the Prattville Walmart to ride in the Relay for Life poker run. The run was done in memory of Officer Darryl Mangrum, who died of cancer last year. Before we started the run, Mayor Byard greeted the riders and thanked us for all we do. He told us we were always welcome in Prattville and called us American heroes – not a dry eye in the place. Imagine big ol’ bikers, made of hair, leather and chrome, being called heroes… Wow.
Before we started the ride, the police officers escorted us to Officer Mangrum’s grave, where the family laid a wreath in his honor. Then we started the ride, which was great! About a hundred miles long, we saw all kinds of beautiful country. Since I was riding behind Randy I was able to get some good pictures of some of the ride.
We finished up at Pratt Park – lunch was served by Moe’s, and it was delicious! A band was performing some very good music and we rocked while we ate.
Saturday night we all met up at one of the local members’ home, who graciously opened his house up to us. We had burgers, hot dogs, chips and all the fixings. Great food and GREAT fellowship.
Sunday morning some of the members of the Christian Motorcycle Association hosted a bike blessing; everyone there received a book of Bible promises and a blessing sticker.
All in all, it was a great weekend- we met some new friends, who quickly turned into ‘old buddies’ – one in particular was Papa Bonehead. He was constantly carrying on some foolishness, which fit right in with Randy and I. I can tell he’s going to be great fun to get to know. We also saw some old friends that we don’t get to see often.
It was a great way to spend a weekend – riding funeral missions is an awesome privilege, but it’s also very stressful, so this was so good for all of us. We were able to relax, cut loose, and just be ourselves without worrying whether someone would misunderstand.
I can’t wait to see these folks again; the Georgia folks will host next year’s regional gathering and I know they’ll do it up right.