Road Trip Day Ten

 8/19/2012

"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go.  But no matter, the road is life."

~Jack Kerouac~

I woke up around 9am this morning.  Not too bad after a late night.  I visit with my friends over coffee, then set out for a bike ride as they leave for a church event.  I had an easy ride today on paved trails around a park and a lake.  I shower and head out to find my friends and tell them goodbye.  I can't find them at the church, or get ahold of them, so I head to Starbucks for coffee and writing.  I'm posting on my blog when I catch the eye of a guy sitting on the patio a couple tables away.  I had seen him ride up on a very different looking bike.  He starts to stand up from his table, so I catch his attention and ask him about his bike.  He starts telling me about how they fold up so they travel well.  I tell him my name, shake his hand, and we start swapping stories.  

His name is Chris Ralles, and it turns out he's currently the drummer on tour with Pat Benetar!  He drummed for Kenny Loggins for 23 years previously.  He has also played for other artists like Madonna, The Eagles, and Hootie and the Blowfish!  You can check out his bio here.

He pulls up a chair across from me, and we end up visiting for about 2 hours.  I talked about my adventures, and he talked about life on the road.  We actually covered a lot more ground than that, but the theme of all of our conversing wrapped around experiences and lessons learned in life.  Talk about someone who takes life in stride.  We talked about the journey of life, how we choose to face it, and what it looks like when we have to pull back sometimes.  He is currently touring with Journey and Loverboy, and he says they are both amazing bands to be touring with, as the people are just good, kind individuals.   

He's the second guy I've met on this trip who has a passion for bicycling, so of course this was a big topic of conversation for us as well.  When I mentioned that I thought I had possibly bent the front rim on my bike, he offered to take a look at it.  He came over and solved the problem immediately; not a bent rim after all, just some simple adjustments.  We start talking about tune ups and bike care, and he explains to me how I can fix the gears on my bike that haven't been working properly.  Chris, you rock!  I couldn't have picked a better way to end my trip than visiting with such a kind soul at Starbucks over coffee and bikes!

We head our separate ways, and I get back on the interstate towards home.  I'm passing through Oklahoma when it starts raining.  I see a biker pulled over under a bridge trying to seek cover, so I think, "Poor guy!  That would suck to be on a bike in the rain!"  I feel a kinship with him now, after all, I ride a bike too. Not so different; except mine has pedals.  

 I pull over on the shoulder, put it in reverse, and back up to ask him if he wants to sit in a dry car while he waits out the storm.  He comes over, hops in, we exchange names, and I make a new friend!  He had spent the weekend riding in Harrison, AR.  I asked him if he was there for the bluegrass fest, and he said he came just to ride, but he did get to enjoy some bluegrass.  I started telling him about my travels, and he says, "Well, when I saw a young lady stopping to let an old biker sit in the car out of the rain, I knew you were some kind of something!" We chatted on about the things of life, and soon the rain let up.  I told him I needed a photo for my scrapbook, so we snapped a shot together, shook hands, and set off on the road again.  

I stopped to pick up my daughter and her friend up from my mother's house, and we set out on the last 3 hour leg of the trip.  My daughter's friend was sitting in the backseat listening to the radio on her mp3 player.  She has stations set that she listens to at home.  She obviously doesn't realize when you travel across the state you have to change stations.  So, she exclaims, "I'm listening to my regular station and they are playing Mexican music!  And guess what?  All the words are in Spanish!"  Bahahahaha!

Kids.....you gotta love'em.  I drop her off at home, head to my own house, and sigh as I pull up in my driveway.  When I get in my cat is right there waiting for us.  Oh boy.  Sammie is needy.  Really needy.  I can already tell that after 10 days of no attention, he's going to be glued to my side for days to try and make up for it.  So much for anymore solitude....I'm home...