My dad loves to ride motorcycles and he's owned one ever since I was in elementary school. We've been on lots of beautiful rides and made some wonderful memories together all over the southeast on his bikes. Creation is so much more breathtaking from the back of a motorcycle. We've driven the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Outer Banks of NC, down to Daytona, up to Gatlinburg, and countless trips to Charleston. My dad now has one of those really big interstate bikes that are pretty much similar in size to a convertible car. The seats are so comfortable, but it hasn't always been that way. He started off with a really small Suzuki 650 which would vibrate your butt to sleep in 30 minutes or less.
One day when I was young he said, "Hey Stacie, you wanna ride to Daytona?" (on the back of his Suzuki)
"Sure! Where's Daytona?"
No idea it was 6 hours away! I walked like a cowboy for two days after that ride. Another time we got stuck in Atlanta's rush hour traffic in triple digit heat. I thought my insides might bake as the heat radiated off of that asphalt making it 15 degrees hotter. More than once we got caught in rain storms so we'd typically just put on our bright yellow rain suits and keep truckin'. It's good to be completely covered when it's raining, not just so you stay dry, but because rain feels like little needles at 70 miles an hour! One time we almost ran out of gas somewhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We coasted down the mountain at least 20 miles on 'E' before we found a gas station. I would sometimes get so cold on the back of that bike that I would put on every layer of clothing that we had packed as well as the rain suit and I would still shiver uncontrollably on the way home.
Before I got married it was really important to my dad and me that we take one more ride together. We've ridden the motorcycle together since then, but that ride was really special for both of us. I'm thankful that I had a dad that found creative ways to invest meaningful time into his kids! That has shaped my life more than I even know. Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you!
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