Friends...

After sharing a good portion of my weekend with the Relief Society sisters, I was priviledged to spend Monday and Tuesday with dear friends. Fred and Bevy came to see us from Pennsylvania. They arrived a little earlier than I anticipated but it was just great to see them again. We met Fred many years ago when we started riding a Gold Wing. Fred was single at the time. Riding with us were Phyllis and Dave Ayers. We all belonged to Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA). Fred also belonged to the Maryland Gold Wings. Soon Phyllis and Dave and Claude and I also joined Maryland Gold Wings. This just gave us many more riding opportunities and the chance to make many more friends. As the friendships developed Phyllis and Dave determined that Fred should meet Bevy. Bevy is Dave's cousin. She lived in Virginia. One of the events was dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Germantown, Maryland. Bevy came and met Fred at this event. What can I say...they clicked. Eventually Fred proposed. I had the privilege of playing the piano at their wedding. We spent many years riding together. Our riding styles fit each other. Anyone who rides motorcycles can tell you that is important when you are traveling. Some bikers just fill their gas tank and don't stop until it needs to be refilled. Others like to stop every hour or so for a 'butt break'. It makes riding a lot more fun when you find people that enjoy riding like you do. Fred and Bevy were just perfect riding and touring friends. One ride we took was from a rally and coming back to our homes. Fred picked a road on the map none of us had ever driven. The color of the road on the map indicated it would be a great road and the road 'should have been' good. We were each pulling a trailer behind our bikes. Claude and I had cans of soda pop in our trailer. BIG mistake!! The road started out paved and in good shape, narrow but a good road. Eventually it wasn't paved and it was going through some country we really were praying we wouldn't break down in. After a while it became apparent we should just keep going and not turn back because we were that far into the ride. When we finally came out of this road at an intersection, Claude and Fred pulled their bikes side-by-side at the intersection and we all flipped the covers up on our helmets and had a good laugh at ourselves. Someone made the comment that we could see why people in that particular state married others in their family, they couldn't find their way out!! After finding a better road, we found a pit stop and, it should be noted, realized that some of our cans of soda pop had burst open. Once we were going to a rally in West Virginia. Jake, our son, often came with us. I had to go in my car because I didn't have the vacation time Claude did. He went earlier on the bike with Fred and Bevy. On the way home I had Jake do some of the driving. He was learning and preparing to get his driver's license. He was at that place where you have the learner's so you can practice driving with a licensed driver. This was in the days of the CB's. We had one on the bikes, Fred & Bevy had one on theirs, and we had a portable unit in my car. Jake was driving and he picked up the CB to talk to Claude and Fred and Bevy. He said, "This is Raging Stallion!" We all burst out laughing. Fred called Jake "Raging Stallion" after that. When Claude and I had our 25th anniversary we wanted to do a short cruise to see if we liked that form of travel. We picked a cruise to the Bahamas. Fred and Bevy came along. Let me assure you that you don't take friends on an anniversary cruise unless they are very good friends. We had lots of fun and I have the pictures to prove it. It was great to catch up on our families and how they were doing. It was so good to just have conversation like none of the years had past since we saw each other. I'm grateful for those fun years of biking together, for all the stories and memories, and for being able to visit with Fred and Bevy and renew old friendships.