Time to Ride

Fort Donelson, TN




Bison Range in the Land Between the Lakes National Park


Of Course my ride for today.




I was lucky to have nice weather this weekend. I have not had many of those. Many of you know that I have been here since Oct. Since then, I have not had my bike out very much due to weather. It was always raining, I had to go to the store, had to haul gear, or something that just kept me from riding. Today was not the case. I was able to get online last night and plot out a path that I wanted to take today. The thing that I did not take into consideration was wind speeds today. I started on my trek to Land Between the Lakes National Park at about 1pm. Over 100 miles and three and a half hours later, I was back home.

The ride getting there was nice. It was mostly 2 lane highways with little traffic with the exception of several other bikes that had the same idea I did. On the way there I came across Fort Donelson, a Civil War battleground. I took the time to stop there and check a few things out. It had a short loop to ride around and stop to read and learn a little about the area. I only stopped a few times for a few minutes. The pictures above are on the river where a defense was set up for ships and boats that would come towards Fort Donelson.

I continued on after that to the National Park. The ride was really nice with a lot country to see. I came up on the Bison and had to take some pictures for my daughter. Of course I also had to take a picture of my bike with the Bison in the background.

The wind was blowing pretty hard today and it was not much of a problem until the ride back. I was on a lot of highways with open fields on either side so the wind was able to really blow me around. Once I made it to the interstate (remember I made a circle so that I did not see the same thing twice), the wind was even worse. I was worried for a little while due to the wind.

Riding for that long with no radio and only the wind blowing on you gives you a lot of time to think about the things going on in your life and gives you time to think about the future. I was able to think about missing my daughter, Christina, and mom and dad. I also got to think about Jeremy and how things are going for him.

I realized that I really need to get my rear in gear and start packing my bags and apartment. I am glad that Mom and Dad are coming for my last weekend. Not only to help me, but to also spend that last little bit of time together. I wanted to go home and see my daughter and Christina and friends, but I decided that I can't do the goodbyes again. I know that mom and dad want to come up here again. They have not been since they helped me move in Oct or Nov.

I am hoping that they give me time Friday off to spend with them. I just wish that there was time for me to go home again. I keep wanting to go home one more time, but I have came to grips with the fact that I am gone and going home and saying goodbye again would just make it hurt worse.

I did talk to Jeremy again on Friday night. I feel bad because he has some pretty bad hearing loss in one of his ears due to me. I stopped him one day while I he was trying to leave work and made him shoot my new gun. We were in a hurry and did not use hearing protection, and he is paying for it. He is hearing loss is so bad that it is causing him issues with the Army. I really hope that he is OK because this partially my fault.

Another weekend is almost over and I have not completed anything. I guess next weekend while Mom, Dad, and Johnny are here I will be working my butt off packing this place up and packing my bags. I have been making a list of things to do and things I need to go buy and it keeps getting longer and not shorter.

I ask that you all keep Jeremy and I in your prayers while we face new challenges in our life. Please also keep Mom and Dad in your prayers because both sons will be gone and in harms way. Oh, and stop asking my parents how it feels to have both sons gone. How would you feel? Think about it. She is proud, but it also not easy. She tells me all the time that people keep asking how she is. It is a no-brainer. You could email mom and dad and just let them know that you are thinking about them. Mom: acoke4me@aol.com and Dad: deryd@aol.com. This does not mean that you can add them to your junk mail list.

This is enough for now. I miss everyone.

One more thing, if you read this, please some comments for Jeremy and I. I know that he is not on here much, but that is because his internet time is so limited that he does not have time to be on here. Leave a comment and he will get it. When I talk to him, I try to update you all on everything that I know.