It’s strange. As a kid, I was awake bright and early Christmas morning to go open my presents. Now, I enjoy sleeping in, snuggling with Lister, and don’t care about receiving presents (though I certainly appreciate the ones I do get). That’s exactly how the day began, and it was wonderful. I watched the new Doctor Who episode while Carolyn slept in. Even Lister seemed content to curl up in bed instead of harassing me to go outside. I did let him explore the backyard when I did get up, though.
It’s become Christmas tradition for me to take a motorcycle ride, mainly because I can in the places where I spend this time of year, unlike New England where I lived most of my life. Carolyn expressed interest in the idea, so we decided to go together, the first time we’d ridden together in two years. We took the freeways across to west Los Angeles, with a front row seat to CHP blocking traffic and clearing a disabled car off the road. We hopped off the 405 onto Sunset Boulevard and took it all the way to the coast. It wasn’t canyon carving, but a relaxing cruise, which was exactly what I was looking for. It was still quite curvy, which kept it fun.
After a brief hop down the Pacific Coast Highway, we turned away from the coast on Topanga Canyon Road and followed it all the way back to the 101 freeway. Carolyn had me take the lead so I could enjoy the curves, but slow traffic prevented any kind of speed run, even on Christmas. It was okay, since that’s not why I was there. A BMW GS pulled up next to us at a red light and exchanged greetings. The rider really liked Carolyn’s Sportster, while she really wants an adventure bike like the GS.
Carolyn took the lead again at the 101. Instead of leading us back to her house, she took us to Reuben’s, where we had leftover Christmas dinner. They had eaten around midnight following El Salvador tradition, and Reuben was happy to have some company besides family. We rode back to Carolyn’s place around dusk. We took a walk around her neighborhood, delivered some Christmas cookies she made, then negated any health benefits from the walk by eating Christmas cookies. We also discussed places we want to visit during the week while she’s off work and we can hang out together.
I missed a pretty huge, hopping gathering at the Lit Cactus yesterday, but that’s okay. I liked it quiet, peaceful, and with a few friends instead of a huge group. And motorcycles, but that would’ve been a part of the day regardless! While I’m looking forward to adventures with Carolyn this week, I’m also starting to get itchy feet, and looking forward to reuniting with my desert friends for adventures there, too.
Smokey Da Van 