The weather man said it would be cloudy most of the day, but he neglected to look into the future well enough and did not predict the rain down in Alabama later in the day.
I was so confident from starting out with clear weather that I didn't don my all weather Darien overpants...and I wore my summer boots which aren't waterproof. That cooler on the back is a packaged container with 1/2 gallon of black walnut ice cream. My Dad loves the stuff but can never find it in his little town. So I took him a box.
Each time I stopped for gas or restroom break, the clouds had become more ominous.
On one stop I came across an old Big Boy hamburger statue sign, from days gone by. It stands right beside a new Burger King and I'm not sure if it is actually part of the Burger King lot or on the gas station lot where I stopped.
Not long after this stop I rain up against the wall of rain down near Greenville, Alabama. The last hour and half to my Dad's was in pouring rain and even though I was able to stop at an underpass and put on my overpants, my feet still got soaked.
Upon my arrival, and after changing clothes, I learned that my aunt has passed away the previous Friday and the funeral was scheduled for the next day, Monday.
On Monday I went with my Dad to his sister's funeral and then we feasted and visited with family at the gravesite located at a small church out in the country where I grew up. The country people do that. The local family members will prepare food to eat after the ceremony putting the dead relative in the ground. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
We then milled around, ate some lunch and talked about all the good times with her over the years, and how much we'll all miss her. It was really nice going back to my roots for a day. This old church is where I used to go to Sunday school with my Grandma when I was a small child. This is actually in Florida. The state line is about a quarter of a mile north.
My Dad and I rode around after the funeral to look at the old home places. The 6 inches of rain the previous day had soaked all the dirt roads and farm lands. I'm glad I was in his truck with him and not on the bike.
I had to head out the next morning so after taking my Dad over to a medical clinic to have some blood drawn we went for a big breakfast at the Huddle House. He was really hungry after starving all night for the blood test so we had the full compliment of eggs, grits, toast, bacon, ham and coffee.
Before I left, I convinced him to sit up on the bike for this photo. I got the idea from DJ's post a couple weeks ago where he got his Dad to sit on the bike.
I had mentioned it to him earlier but as I was packing to go I decided it may be too hard a climb up on the beast. He reminded me of the photo and wanted to sit on it a bit! So up he went. I had to help him climb on and get his leg over. He looks a little apprehensive because he was afraid it would fall off the stand.
The trip returning was mostly cloudy again but I managed to make it back home-a 5 hour 320 mile ride- before the rain hit me.[/img]
