Two Wheels On the Road

My husband has been wanting to take a motorcycle trip for some time.  He’s tried to make this happened but things have gotten in the way, including children, school, schedules and most annoyingly, weather.  He has almost taken this day-and-a-half trip more than a handful of times, only to have to cancel.   Today, after asking me for the fifth or sixth time if I was sure it was okay to abandon me to the management of the children, he left after lunch. 

This type of thing has always mystified me.  I love my car.  I love driving my car.   But I’ve never once wanted to just “go for a ride.”  A lot of people do this.  They get enjoyment from just driving with no particular destination in mind.   The ride in and of itself is the goal.   Some people drive around to cool off when angry or have a think about something.   

It’s just never happened to me, not once, even on the first day I got a new car.   I wanted to drive around, certainly, but my thoughts were who could I go see or did I need to go any place that I could do right then so I could spend more time in the car. 

My husband has arrived at his overnight destination and tomorrow will be riding through many, many switchbacks in the mountains.   Then, after a hopefully enjoyable ride, he’ll ride some more on the highway, getting home before dark.  

The Explanation Update:  The children and I talked about why it’s fun to do a motorcycle ride like my husband will be doing tomorrow on the way home from school today.   They have no experience on a motorcycle so I had to do some comparisons to when they turned corners on their bicycles, but said it was more leaning and to the extreme where they would fall over if they tried it.   It’s hard to explain something they can’t experience because they’re not allowed to ride on a motorcycle at their age, but in this case, I’m glad it’s nothing they’ll be doing.   A startled or scared child going fast on a motorcycle is a recipe for disaster.   My husband is a very defensive, conservative and safe rider.   It makes us all feel better knowing so, including the children.