Where analytic and creative thought collide and all kinds of weird stuff can happen.

This past weekend was probably the most eclectic I’ve had in a long time.

ToadMama the Motorcyclist

Friday was International Female Ride Day (IFRD). That may sound hokey to you non-riders. But fellow female motorcyclists are few. Our population is growing, but there are still lots of women who think they shouldn’t/can’t ride because it’s a “guy” thing. So IFRD (this was the 6th annual by the way) is about getting out there en masse and showing everyone, especially non-riding women, that we can do it, too!

Hubby and I did manage to get out for a sort ride. But then it rained, so we cut things short.

Take a look at the shot of me and you might notice how threatening the skies look.

It wasn’t an empty threat.

We have rain gear and are fully capable of riding in the rain if we have to. But it’s no fun. And it’s dangerous. Slippery roads and two-wheeled vehicles are not a happy mix.

After returning home, we decided to walk up to Molly’s Irish Pub for dinner. They’ve got really good burgers and fries. And the beer on tap is always cold and refreshing.

It was on our way to the restaurant that we discovered it was the first “Warrenton First Friday” of 2012.

The Partnership for Warrenton sponsors the event, which is described on their site as…

Stroll Historic Main Street Warrenton beginning in May, the First Friday night of each month. Main Street will be closed to traffic while shops remain open late with open houses and specials. There will be music, artists, entertainment for the children and dinner specials at our award winning restaurants. Main Street will be bustling with shoppers, diners and fun.

It’s a cool thing to do.

First "First Friday" of 2012

I shot the picture above after dinner while walking the dogs.

Dogs Just Before Our Walk

Speaking of dogs, Saturday was the  2012 annual American Brittany Rescue (ABR) picnic. That’s a nationwide event, which is usually held in the Midwest or somewhere else far away. Although I have been affiliated with ABR since late 2003, I’ve never been to one of their annual events.

I thought it would be fun to see some of the folks I hadn’t seen for a while, meet others I knew of but had never met, and see all the dogs.

There were a lot of dogs there.

Gatekeepers

I have no idea how many dogs, but it seemed like about 100! That lady in the royal blue shirt, is one of the organizers. At the moment I took this picture, she was acting as a gatekeeper. She is actually a regular follower of this blog, too. Her name is Michelle Falkinburg. She was Belle’s foster Mom.

Sorry I didn’t get a better picture to share here, Michelle! I was too busy taking dog pics as you requested.

The picnic was lots of fun. Hubby didn’t go, but the girls and I enjoyed it. We all had to wear name tags, which was especially helpful for the dogs.

Eating Was a Challenge

It was very cool seeing so many Brittanys in one place. There were dogs there of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Big Shirley's Dogs

Big Shirley, who is not big at all, brought her own dog Brittany (the liver and white female pictured sitting), and two fosters, Cooper (barely visible in the background) and Sam.

Here's my girl's with Ranger, Michelle's dog (and Belle's former foster brother).

K showing off her name tag.

Belle cooling off in the pool.

This next image is my favorite. You have to look closely to “get” the humor.

My Favorite Shot of the Day

How many times have you been at a picnic on a hot day, running around getting all sweaty, looking longingly at the cooler full of ice and beverages wishing you could climb in and cool off? That’s just what that big guy did!

I told you it was fun.  If you’d like to see all of the pictures from the picnic, they are on my Flickr site.

Sunday morning I ran some errands. Hubby finished washing the windows, which he’d already spent lots of time on Saturday doing while we were away.

When I got home, I made a huge pot of pasta sauce and some sangria. Then I planted a few flowers.

I didn’t manage to get all of them into the ground. Maybe this afternoon?

See what I mean by eclectic?

I hope your weekend was a good one.

I can’t remember if I ever revealed the destination we’ve settled on for our 2012 vacation. If I did, I know I didn’t say much about it. Because there’s not much to be said, yet, as far as details go.

The important stuff has been taken care of. We have purchased two airplane tickets and have made deposits to secure our rental motorcycles.

This next image is a hint. We’ll be in that country, but will not be traveling in a group. How’s that for adventure?

Some of you probably remember our 2010 trip to Europe. We did a week-long motorcycle tour in the Alps (with Austria as a base). We spent a few days in Switzerland with the Swiss Family Mac (who are now back living in the US). And we visited with Annelies and Yves in Belgium.

It was a great trip. It was actually during or shortly after that trip when we agreed to a routine with those Belgian friends of ours where we’ll alternate continents each year to do a joint vacation.

They started it by visiting us for a few days in 2009 while touring the Northeastern US. We reciprocated in 2010 by visiting them for a few days during our trip to Europe. In 2011, they came to the US and we explored a bunch of national parks out west. Now it’s our turn to go to Europe.

Annelies and Yves aren’t into the motorcycle touring thing. So the trick was to plan a destination where Hubby and I could ride for a few days and then meet up with Annelies and Yves for the rest of our time there.

Now, if you are not a motorcyclist, you might not “get” the allure of riding in Europe. Not only are the roads amazing, and the scenery spectacular, Europeans actually embrace motorcyclists.

No, that doesn’t mean they all hug you at every stop.  Wouldn’t that freak my bashful Hubby out?

They respect motorbikes and happily share the road. That is totally not the case in the US. The US is the land of “I can’t let a motorcycle pass me, I have to be in front.”  People will actually go to great lengths so you can’t pass them here. They’ll even try to run you off the road when you do finally get an opportunity to go around them. Really. I am not exaggerating.

Anyway, we can’t go to Europe and not squeeze some riding in. After a little bit of back and forth between Annelies and I, who are each the vacation planners for our respective units, we decided on Italy. Northern Italy to be exact.

Hubby and I will fly into Milan, where we’ll pick up our motorcycles, and then explore Northern Italy’s Dolomites. Maybe even a little bit of the Swiss Alps. Our rental period is only five days. Meanwhile Annelies and Yves will drive down from Belgium. We’ll meet up with them for sure at the end of our rental period. We may even hook up during those first few days for overnights as they might rent an apartment or something near Lake Como.

View Amazing Passes in a larger map

If you look at that handy-dandy map I have embedded for you, the pink pin in the center is Milan, Italy. Directly above Milan are some lakes, the two largest being Como (above and to the right of Milan) and Maggiore (above and to the left of Milan). Maggiore is actually in Switzerland. That gray squiggly line is the border.

You may have to zoom in on the map to see that detail. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll call that the Lake Region. They may rent accommodations in that general area. So if we plan right, we may be able to meet up mid-week.

Back to the map… all the green motorcycles indicate passes we may want to traverse. The blue “P” symbols are towns we may want to overnight in. And that yellow suitcase to the left is Tammi’s town.

Hah, I forgot to mention one of the coolest aspects of this trip. Annelies and I met while working together. That was a couple employers ago for me. Tammi worked for that company, too. So we all got to know each other. They are both lovely people. Tammi, who used to live in North Carolina, just recently (April 23) moved to Switzerland. So we are all going to visit Tammi and her husband, too!

Whenever Tammi talked about moving to Switzerland “one day,” I always said I’d come and visit.  How cool is it that the timing worked out just right? Especially since Annelies knows her, too?

We’re all very excited.

We still have lots of planning to do. I can’t decide if I want to make hotel reservations for the bike-rental part of the trip or just wing it. Winging it is attractive as the bike segment is all about the ride, not the destination. If we reserve rooms, we’ll have a stricter schedule. I think it would be cool to ride until we are either too exhausted to go another kilometer or find a town we just have to see more of. The only problem with that is the language thing.

In smaller towns, not as many people speak English. They don’t need to. And neither of us speak a lick of German or Italian. German is actually the official language of the region in Italy where we’ll be spending most of our riding time. More on that later. (Maybe.)

I have plenty of time to figure it all out. We’re not actually going until September. We’re hoping to miss the tourist crowds. And beat the snow in the passes.

Let the planning continue…

I really enjoyed this past weekend.

First, there was Saturday’s wine tour. It was a great time. Then on Sunday, for the first time in a long time, we got to visit the WV Place.

Spring in West Virginia

Our little house in the woods has been neglected of late. There’s just so much stuff to do and/or discover here at the new place. Honestly, the only reason we went on Sunday was because we had to. My car has been parked there, in that very spot you see pictured, for a couple of months.

Being a one-car family has been different. It’s not like we don’t have other modes of transport available. If I take off with the truck for a weekend, Hubby still has the bikes at his disposal. But cargo space is pretty limited.

So now we got the car back. I am happy. I’ve missed my car.

The dogs were happy, too. They really enjoyed the visit, however brief.

K and Belle, soon after arrival.

See how nice and clean they both look in that image I posted above? That did NOT last long at all.

Hunting

Meg went off to visit the neighbors while the younguns set out for a hunt.

Hunting

This wood pile sits at the bottom of the hill near the turn in our driveway. It’s a very boggy area.

And More Hunting

Can you see K in the last shot? You have to look closely as she blends in and there’s not much to be seen.

I swear K is part mountain goat.

Part mountain goat?

She is the most sure-footed dog I have ever seen.

Belle

Belle did her share of climbing, too. But K’s climbing abilities are unsurpassed. At least among our three.

Bog Dogs

When they weren’t on the woodpile, they were running around it. Through the bog.

Belle may be our little princess, but she loves her some mud.

Happy as a Pig in Mud

Really. The ground where’s she is laying is a spongy, muddy mess. She was happy as could be. Click on that image of Belle to get a close look at her back feet.

Speaking of happy… check out the smile on Meg’s face.

Happy Meg

Yes, dogs can smile. The WV place is her favorite place in the whole world.

I guess you could say she’s a country dog at heart.

Trees are still not quite full.

I was surprised to see that the trees are still rather bare.  I guess most are about half filled-out? Quite a few others still have a ways to go.

Sparse Canopy

See what I mean? There just aren’t many leaves yet. Maybe it’s because of the weird, cold weather we’ve had. Last weekend, it snowed a bit at the WV place!

Meg was pooped.

Meg is a bit out of shape, I guess. She hadn’t been out long, but looked exhausted.

The young girls were still raring to go. K, especially, was still showing some spunk.

That's My K!

How was your weekend?