The ride....

.....I meet up with the "harley man" and we hop on his bike. This is only my second time on a bike (the first time being the night before) but I am not at all nervous. He asks where I would like to go and for the first time in my life I relinquish control....It is all up to him! With no schedule or particular destination in mind, I wrap my arms around him and we ride. Southwest Florida is an amazingly beautiful place and there is so much that I have not seen even though I have been here for 5 years. The view from where I sit takes my breath away as we drive through canopies of old-growth palm, pine and oak trees. Between the trunks of these massive trees you can catch glimpses of the Gulf of Mexico as well as a homes ranging from quaint little beach cottages to enormous sea side mansions. I am in awe...Riding on the back of a bike is a very intense experience!

We decide to pull into a tiki bar/restaurant on one of the beaches for something cold to drink. While he grabs us a seat, I head to the ladies room to brush the knots out of my hair. When I see myself in the mirror, I can't help but smile.....my face is flushed, my hair is wild and I have a strange look on my face. What is this look? I finally realize that I simply look happy.....something I haven't seen on my face in a while! Whether it was from the stimulating ride or the gentleman I am spending some time with, I don't know. It doesn't matter....It just feels good!

I head out to the tiki bar where harley man has found us a couple of seats and ordered us a couple of beers. We talk, laugh and enjoy the warm sun reflecting off the ocean. We grab a bite to eat and get back on the bike...time to find a place to watch some football!

I could go into great detail about the rest of the day but I would prefer to keep that to myself. I will say that when I got home later that evening the smile on my face was still there.....

Next post.....Why am I blogging??

~Annie