6-17 The Life of a Turtle!?

To our musical friends, Ray and Gloria Laiwa. Keep Strumming Ray!

From Gordon to Valentine,Neb.

It was a warm nite and I slept very well. A dry camp at another historical site pull-out but it was nice. Every morning starts the same, I force my eyes open and look around to get my bearings and remember where I am and why I am out on these wide open spaces. Lady crawls out from under our bed and needs a good head rub and is ready to go out and do her duty. I bound, yea, right! out of bed and head for my duty post and then feed the starving mutt. The coffee is warming up and I start chomping on my banana to get the energy flowing.

As I check the weather and decide what to wear for the morning Gail starts to move around and asks,”what time is it?” and when I tell her she says a few words to her god and rolls over and keeps stacking wood. I proceed to pack my riding bags and get all the water, gator aid, power bars, camera, recorder, cell phone, cyclo, what if kind of gear, and etc, etc etc. By now I’m kinda waking up and start gearing my brain to the day. Go! Go! Go! Go! Stroke! Two, Three, Four, Hut, Two, Three, Four, something from the past I think, Ha! Ha! As I dress and drink my java, I can’t help but reflect on yesterday and then today. What’s up ahead? What will I see? Will the weather clear? Will the road be flat and the wind at my back? Will I ever get out of Nebraska? Can my legs actually move in circular motions? Will the tires hold up to that incessant pounding of them monstrous cracks along the road? Hay! Relax man, just take it as it comes. Whew! Had me going there for a moment. Check the bike over and load up. Ready to roll! Gail asks the same question every a.m. Where will I meet you? Down the road, dear, just pull over after you pass me at the next good pull out. Ok! ZZZZZZZZZ! Lady is getting hep to the daily routine because after she eats she just gets into her bed and starts’ doing the same thing that Gail is doing. Oh well, life is good! See Ya! Wings on your feet, be safe, I love you.

The first critter I saw on the road was a small turtle and I immediately thought about Marilyn and I lifted the critter and got him headed out in the field. A few miles later I saw the largest turtle I have ever seen in the wild. This grandpa of a guy must have weighed 60-80 lbs. on the hoof but he made one big mistake when he tried to outrun a big ol’ semi. Bless his heart he went to be with the maker! I decided not to take any pictures of this guy as I felt that it would mess with his journey to the next world. Sorry there big guy! I have seen several of them small guys since and each has made that one fatal mistake of trying to cross the hwy at the wrong time. I have also taken several that were speeding along and put them back into the fields. The beat goes on! It did clear and the afternoon got up to the mid 80’s and my tan is really looking good! Ha! Ha! Gail laughs at my raccoon eyes. Oh, well, the life of us hard core bikers.

Along about 1978(sounds like another song to me) there came into our lives, a guy that had a drafting business in Lakeport. In fact, he designed the layout for our room addition at home. Ray Laiwa became another life long friend and a great lead guitar player for me for several years. His wife, Gloria, has been a constant companion for Ray and has always taken the best of care of him. We have played many a tune over the years and they now live in Myrtle Creek, Ore. We stop by there and usually stay for a short time so that we can jam. Recently, Gloria found a new talent that she had that she had not known about. Painting! She can paint a very cool picture and enjoys it and it shows in each piece that she does. Ray is a veteran and has some health issues but I believe that is the music that keeps the beat going and to these great friends I thank each of you for all the great music and memories. Love You.


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