Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Lagoon Day!


For my little brother Jeff's birthday Chris and I promised him a visit to a local funspot called Boondocks. As it is now the end of June and we still haven't paid up Chris and I decided to upgrade Jeff's gift to a visit to that place that has always held a special place in his heart: Lagoon. In just a few hours Jeff will enter his own personal nirvanna as he passes through the entrance of this famous Utah funpark. In preparation for the day he spent his time yesterday either planning his ride strategy, making a list of things to bring or analyzing the weather (there was a 20% chance of showers but overnight the reports have returned to partly cloudy with a high of 93 degrees.) Jeff rarely likes to talk on the phone but because of the this spectacular outing I was priviledged to receive three separate phone calls from him throughout the day. Each call included a strategy update, weather report and several acclamations of "this is going to be awesome!" I will be sure to post some fun pictures of our day, until then have a happy Tuesday!

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Jonny's doom...or delight?

Jonny Maloney, my brother, recently purchased an extremely dangerous death machine. Against the wishes and advice of just about every woman in his life (and some of the men), Jonny bought his personal version of doom at the end of May. Also known as a motorcycle, this perilous contraption actually gets great gas mileage! This is one of the many reasons that Jon has taken the plunge and entered into the realm of bikerdom.

His new baby, the Virago, is not an extremely powerful bike but it has already provided hours of enjoyment for the whole family! Her sleek, amazonian, black body and sparkling chrome seem to be winning over everyone. Just look how happy I am in the picture to the left!

I took my first ride on the Virago (or any motorcycle for that matter, last week. I both loved and hated the ride. I liked feeling the wind in my hair and the raw power of the machine smoothly rolling over the pavement, but the lack of barrier between me and the ground was a little disconcerting. I don't think that I will be repeating my experience for a while but I feel as though I have caught a glimmer of understanding the "why" behind a bike versus a car.

There is something innately sexy about motorcycles. Even fat, old men can have a kind of allure atop a powerful hog. I am still against the beefheaded nerds that ride around neighborhoods on noisy bullet bikes, talking about how much Star Wars sucks, what weirdos! Anyway I am happy for Jon and I hope that he has many many safe and happy rides with his new love. Here's to the open road! xoxo