It's April 30th. This means that tomorrow, May 1, is the start of the 2010 Southern Tour. The bikers 3 will leave from here, after a truly magnificent breakfast, and head for the twisty roads of the Southern Appalachians. The only real plans so far are the first night in PA and the second at my son's, and his wife's, house in Manassas.

We used to do a lot of planning for this trip, but after many years, most of the pre-planning has disappeared. Now, we're lucky if we discuss the leave date. I got an email from JVD yesterday asking me to confirm if we were going tomorrow. It's become pretty loose.

This annual chance to laugh with and at good friends is a much anticipated experience. I often wonder "why me?". The world of circumstance has blessed me with many things that I deeply appreciate. Good home, best friend wife, time to enjoy, time for music. I worked at a company for 32 years, during a time that it felt like one big family, and now they are paying me for the rest of my life for doing it.

It's almost scary to write this down. I really don't want to upset the apple cart here. But when I see the ordeals to which others must submit, I consider myself pretty lucky. So far, I have food, health and a great family. Something must be being done right.

I plan to write a trip report of this year's tour, much like last year. This year, I have a netbook computer to bring with me, and if I can, I'll post frequently. You'll be able to find it here: http://www.playa.info

Click on the forum tab at the top of the page, and scroll down to Trip Reports: Us and Canada and click on it. The thread title will be Southern Tour 2010. (You can see Southern Tour 2009 here also.)

Anyway, I gotta go now. Need to finish packing. There's an unbelievable amount of stuff that is carried by the bike: tent, mattress, pillow, clothes, guitar. It looks like a Barcolounger when I'm done.

Talk atcha later

It's been awhile. A fairly long while.

No reason, really, just a total lack of ambition, or some such. I keep seeing the blog icon on my desktop and thinking "maybe tomorrow".

Well, tomorrow finally arrived.

We survived New Years, a short and mild winter, and a trip to Playa del Carmen in MX. The later was more enjoyment than survival.

There is always a massive workload caused by winter here. Plowing, shoveling, de-icing, thawing-- it seems to be endless. This makes the short sojourn to sunnier and milder climes such a necessary and pleasant occasion. Every year, when we are asked how it was, my wife exclaims "best trip ever!".

I generally agree with this. Whether or not there is really a measurable difference between one year and the next is inconsequential. The fact is that additional years on the life-span calendar seem to add to the pleasure of a winter's respite. Just the fact that we can sit on a warm beach in paradise and read worthless mystery novels without feeling guilty about not being more productive becomes more and more valuable each year. So, best trip ever becomes almost automatic.

Spring has arrived so early this year that fears of a late frost destroying tender blossoms and the efforts of our bee population are at the forefront. Our forsythia has already bloomed and is going by, though this is normally reserved for the second week of May. Day lilies are 10" tall and there are lawns that have been mowed. The appearance of lawn care service trucks is pervasive, and loads of scrap metal exposed by the melted snow and going to the local scrap yard are abundant. Mud season is already over, that's a biggy, and I expect black flies any day now. The peeper frogs in the river have been singing for 2 weeks!

We view all this with mixed emotions. It's wonderful to have early spring, but is it global warming related? Personally, I suspect not. It's too much of a change all at once to be attributed to such a long term problem, but who am I to say?

The motorcycle gang will go on yet another southern tour this year, starting on May 1 for about 2 weeks. In the middle of the month, I will have about a week free, when I will again go so south for a 4 day cruise around the Chesapeake Bay with my 2 brothers and "Uncle" Bill, who has a 55 foot shallow water cruiser. I don't know which experience I am looking forward to more. The cruise will be followed immediately by our now annual Memorial Day excursion to our son and daughter-in-law's home in Manassas, VA to see them and Garrison Keillor and Prairie Home Companion at Wolf Trap. My Wife's cousin and her husband will be there also.

I've said it before, will say it now, and will again later. Family and friends are the ultimate experience. We may think other things matter, but in the end, they don't. It's the relationships that make us happy, or sad, or both-- Everyone knows this, it's just that it gets lost now and then. Nothing like an occasional refresher to keep us honest.