We got a dirt bike a couple weeks ago. I knew it would happen and I'm resigned to it, but it makes me so nervous. When we first moved out here four years ago, my cousin gave us his quad and dirt bike. That bike is still too big for any of us novices to ride, but the quad won't flip over on you (if you go slow) so we do ride that. I don't. I have...once...I'm just not interested in riding something for the pleasure of riding. I would ride it out to the mines at Old Dale so that I could get farther back into the lonesome places, but not around the driveway. But my boys are different, maybe because they are boys or maybe because they are young and testing their wings.
For Christmas my parents gave them a "mini-bike". They were thrilled. It's a small bike, no gears, low to the ground, kinda like a scooter. It really isn't made for what they do with it. But it was fun to watch them ride it though. "Hey Mom! Watch this!" was heard hourly. They would ride by standing up. Stand next to it and spin it in circles. Try to do wheelies. Then they started working on it to make it go faster. Within a month, they wanted more.
Tom has a stash of cash. He's been hording it for years. It's his "first car" money, he says. But now he started looking at motorcycles. For a month we have had to listen to him go on and on about different makes and models, who says what about which bikes, and what's better on this one or that one. He begged us to call people who were advertising bikes for sale. He didn't know what to say and was afraid they wouldn't take him seriously. The bummer about Craigslist and such is that many times no one answers when you call, or it's the wrong number. It's very frustrating. Finally, I put an add on a local Facebook page to see if anyone had one to sell. I got an email!
It's a Honda 80, 2003. And he only wanted $500 for it. AND he had it right down the street. Talked to the boys about it. Jake was all for it but Tom was a little worried. He only had $500 and if he spent it on a bike that wasn't exactly what he wanted it would be years before he could get the money up and buy another one. He had a specific bike in mind. Dad thought this bike would be perfect, so offered to pay half and they split the other half. This was deal maker. So we went down and took a look at it. Of course we brought it home and they haven't been off it since.
It does need work and they've been repairing it between rides, reading the manual, and ordering parts. They work on it in the garage and get Dad to help them between work calls (part of the glory of home employment). It's really amazing to watch them work. Tom was thrilled because he figured out what was wrong with it. Jake did the same thing for the mini-bike. Keeping him from applying the fix he found online was almost impossible. He actually wanted to come home from Knott's early to work on it.
Last weekend, they met another boy with a dirt bike that lives up the road. He knew of a track they could ride across the paved road south of us. So they all packed up some water bottles and my cell phone, gassed up, and went over. I followed them the first time so that I knew where they were. Seems legit. The new friend has been over there a lot. His Grandma lives at the top of the hill and he's talked to police there and they say it is fine. I'm still nervous. I told them to take it easy because if anyone breaks a leg, we can't go on a road trip!
They went back and forth all day on Monday. Dan let them ride the quad over there, but I think we need to get another small dirt bike. They can't resist going fast and that thing is going to kill them or someone else. Jake already came home limping with bruises all over his legs.
They love those bikes. I know it's dangerous, but I can't help but let them do it. They take such great joy in it.
We went up to play in the snow yesterday! The drive to Big Bear is about an hour and a half for us and I was a little worried that it may be icy on the road up, but we did it anyway. It's Southern California, for cryin' out loud. The only real snow we see around here is up on the mountain tops and Big Bear depends on skiers being able to get up to the slopes ASAP, so the roads are good and clear right after a snow storm. I'm just a big baby when it comes to getting stuck. Snow and sand are my worst enemies!
We've been meaning to go up and go tubing at this place for years now. Something always has gotten in the way of making it up there but this year I was determined. I even invited as many people as I knew to come up and join us, but only one was brave enough. We had a great time anyway. It was so nice and warm the boys came back and dropped off their jackets after a while. They got hot with all the running around. I just sat at the deck in a nice chair with my book and a cup of coffee. We took a break for a bit and had KFC for lunch and came back for another hour. We were all sun burned and happy when we left. I even got to watch a Bald Eagle fly around over us awhile.
This morning I found this when I walked out to the trash cans. What is it? It's a Joshua Tree bloom budding out! I hope this means an early Spring. I can't wait for the cactus to start blooming. Things are starting to grow around here already. There are lots of tiny green plants growing across the sand. My lilacs are starting to get leaves. And I found some pretty paper white daffodils in my garden. My strawberry plants from last year are starting to get green again. I may even have to go pull some weeds later this week!
Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons in the desert. The days are warm (sometimes hot) but the nights are cool. The sky is the most beautiful blue. Sunsets and sunrises are awe inspiring. It makes me want to go for long walks around the neighborhood.
