Into the Sunset

It's amazing how much freedom one seems to have when you own a motorcycle.  A perfect example was this past Tuesday evening.  After a long day at the office, an office I might add without any windows, I came home and fell into our normal after work routine.

I come through the door and announce my presence with authority, give Kate a kiss, check on the boy and greet the dog.  With my rounds complete I hang my workout clothes up to dry, change into some shorts and a t-shirt, since it was warm on Tuesday, and spend thirty minutes or so decompressing on the XBOX One.

Once I've asserted my dominance on the digital battlefield, the boy and I set the table and get dinner going.  We end up grilling fairly often so that task falls to the men in the family.  You know..... cooking meat over fire and all that.  With Daylight Savings Time upon us it doesn't get dark until around 8:30 so we still have plenty of time to do something after dinner.

This night, Kate and I decided to go for a ride.  It was gloriously warm..... and dry, especially after our last outing which I described in the previous post. So we donned our gear and headed out of town on Highway 16 West towards Lake Wedington.  A few miles out of town the road changed from four lanes to two and that's when things really became enjoyable.

The pavement was smooth with plenty of gentle curves and elevation changes.  Since we were out a little later in the evening, traffic was light and we had the roads to ourselves for the most part. The plan was to stop somewhere on the lake and enjoy the sunset, but once we got there it seemed the hills and trees were blocking the view.

Searching for the perfect spot to watch the sunset, we stayed on Highway 16 and continued our ride toward the giant fireball.  A few miles past the lake the highway turned north so we continued straight onto Country Road 244 which offered a perfectly flat landscape with cattle ranches on either side of the road.  I pulled over to let Kate hop off and start snapping photos.

After a minute some curious cows wandered over, looking for some type of treat, no doubt, or just checking out the couple of strangers and their odd machine.  While all this was going on, a young man out on his evening jog stops to talk.  It turns out this is his farm and the cows we'd been socializing with are his as well.  After a short chat, he continues on his run and Kate goes back to taking pictures.

We took a few more minutes to admire the sunset before I turned our behemoth around and pointed it back in the direction of home.  The ride back to the house was no less enjoyable than the one out to the farm, and on a warm evening, the cool air in the lower elevations was pretty refreshing.

Any stress that I brought home from the office was blown away and left on Highway 16.  I'm curious to explore a little more of Country Road 244. On the map it looks like the road turns into dirt or gravel and continues west to the border with Oklahoma.  According to the map, the road takes you to a Lake Francis which I'm excited to explore.

Just one more unpaved road for our 1200 GS Adventure to experience.