Congratulations, Angela, Terry, and Valerie
– you’re going to have a baby! Angela is
due next March; and saved the news to tell Dad in person when they had dinner
together tonight. They’re very happy,
and while I’m totally out of the loop on that so far; I’m excited and happy for
them.
Next up, Grandma and Grandpa are on the way
to Japan now; and that would have been my top family story of the day if it
hadn’t been for the news from Crystal Springs.
They’ll have a rest and sightseeing day; and then get to work – though they’ll
be alternating between work and play during their entire trip.
Here at home, I’ve had an absolutely
amazing day; and everyone on our biking adventure would agree with that for
sure. I’ll skip the Tai Chi and
breakfast news; and get right to that part of my story. ‘We’ included Dawn, Jillian, Rowen, and me –
and Michael, Tim, Tommy, and Julian.
Jonathan and Jenny were invited along, but she wasn’t interested in
shooting for a sixty or seventy mile round-trip ride; so they stayed home and
did their own thing. Since Uncle Adam,
Aunt Leanne, and Christine were all out of the house for the day; I probably
don’t want any details about what they were doing. Rebecca didn’t want to go either; but that
was more of a fifth-wheel thing than anything else – though she’s not that big
on long bike rides either.
Our goal today was to bike east along the
Ridge River and attempt to reach the mouth of it at Rock Trout Lake. It probably seems shocking to some Magi
reading this in the future that I’ve lived here for four years and still not
gone there, or to the nearby town of Brookbridge; but I hadn’t been there
before today. It’s just in one of those
areas – kind of like Witch Falls is – where it just isn’t on the beaten
path. Brookbridge is closer to the
highway going up to Crystal Springs than we are; but that route is out of the
way for us compared to just taking Witch Falls road to the highway. Yeah, okay – anyone reading this and growing
up here would know that; so I’ll stop being obvious. Bottom line here is that nearly half of us
hadn’t been there before; and the others hadn’t been there in at least several
years – and more than that for most of them.
We left from my house by shortly before
nine; and it’s been a perfect day for that kind of ride – only into the high
seventies or low eighties. While Dawn
and Jillian in particular thought that covering thirty miles by lunchtime was
going to be tough; we really didn’t need to push ourselves all that hard – just
keep a steady pace. There aren’t really
even a lot of stop signs between Witch Falls and Rock Trout Lake or Brookbridge
– just a long, winding two-lane paved country road. There were quite a few stretches where there
wasn’t even much traffic.
Anyway, we biked straight out to the lake
with only one little rest break; toured part of the lakeshore once we were
there; and went for a swim at a little park where we were able to have our
picnic lunch too. From there, we biked
into Brookbridge; and Tim gave us the guided tour – along with some details
that included talking a lot about the rivalry between our two football teams. We may have had their teams’ number for the
past few years with Kyle on our team; but that apparently isn’t usually the
case; and Tim is sure they’re players and coaches are hoping to regain their
supremacy again this season.
Let’s not talk any more football tonight,
though; and move along. Brookbridge is
bigger than Witch Falls – more than double the size; and with a population of
around two thousand. The types of stores
are similar, but it didn’t feel the same – mostly because Brookbridge isn’t as
old as Witch Falls; and most of the buildings are newer by comparison. We wandered around a few stores; had ice
cream cones at their version of the Emporium; and then Tim took us on a tour
that included biking around their high school before it was time to head for
home again.
We stopped for another swim at that same
park on the way home; but then rode the rest of the way home with just two more
breaks that were mostly because Dawn and Jillian needed to take rests and they
were both getting sore from so many hours on their bike seats. Including the extra biking around at the lake
and Brookbridge, we hit a bit over seventy miles, so that isn’t surprising; but
I didn’t have any problems – and neither did Rowen, Michael, or Tim. We were all glad to be home once we were
there, and another swim was tops on our to-do list; but then we were put to
work helping out with getting a barbeque dinner ready for everyone in our
group; most of our cousins; and Michael’s family.
That was all pot luck, including a lot of
the grilled food options; and kept the fun going for another couple of hours
while we worked, ate, and then played for a couple of hours until it was
starting to get dark. Rowen’s staying
for a sleepover, and we’d decided to do that by dinnertime; but we also had all
four boys stay to watch a movie with us in the lounge again. Tommy and Julian needed to be home at eleven,
so Dawn and Jillian decided to take turns using my Jacuzzi instead of going for
another swim with Michael, Tim, Rowen, and me after the movie – which conveniently
gave the four of us some quiet time together.
It had cooled off again by then, but that just made the swim more
refreshing – and the water felt warmer than usual by comparison. We followed up the swim with some chat time
on the benches; and then Rowen decided to walk Tim home and leave Michael and I
to do our goodnight hugs and kisses in relative privacy.
That wasn’t the same as having some quality
alone time in the lounge or anything; but it was a nice way to end a really
great day. We stayed out until Rowen got
back, and then Michael went home and Rowen and I came up to my room and got
ready for bed. Dawn and Jillian were
already sleeping by then, and since Jillian was in the Jacuzzi first; I’ll
guess that was because she’d fallen asleep by the time that Dawn was finished
taking her turn in the tub. They were
both exhausted after the ride, though; so Rowen and I hadn’t expected them to
want to party all night.
We don’t want to do that either, but I did
some work on my computer and Rowen surfed YouTube for the strange and amusing
to keep us entertained while I worked. I’ve
finished my nightly computer checks too; so we’re pretty much ready to call it
a night. Michael, Rowen, and Tim are all
back to work tomorrow, so Dawn, Jillian, and I will probably spend more time
with Ethan and Ehlana while they’re busy.
The only thing we actually have on the agenda for tomorrow is Mom’s
co-ed baseball practice; so it should be another quiet day. We’ll be glad to have that to rest up and be
ready for another Thursday night camping adventure; but I’m sure that we’ll
have fun too – since every day of Dawn and Jillian’s holiday here has been fun
so far.
That is it for tonight, though, and I’m
ready for some quality nap time; so, until next time...
...Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of
the Light!
