In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Commonly called Mormons) we have a program for visiting each other in our homes to fellowship and strengthen each other, and help each other out when possible. We call it Home Teaching.
Jacque and I were recently assigned to visit a young family not far from where we live, consisting of the Mom, Dad, 6 sons, and 1 daughter. We have bonded with them as friends almost immediately, after our first visit a couple months ago. This Sunday afternoon, after church meetings were over, it was a BEAUTIFUL day, warm and bright and sunny. We had warned the family we might try to ride our trike over for our scheduled visit today, and we could not resist getting in the miles on the trike as well as visiting with a very enjoyable family. The weather was absolutely calm and balmy when we unsaddled the trike off the rooftop carrier and we worried a bit we might actually get overheated during the ride, but a mild breeze arose which kept us at almost perfect temperatures. Sweet.
It was only about 4 miles to their place so it didn't take us too long to arrive in their front driveway. We could see a couple of their older boys frolicking in the front yard as we approached, and the younger ones were watching us intently through the front windows as we pulled up and dismounted. It turned out they had been feverishly watching for us for the previous half hour or more, and had even spotted us with binoculars as we made the turn off Frost Road on their street and made the last half mile to their house. They had never seen a recumbent trike before so we were a big hit for family excitement. We visited with them, as usual enjoying the heck out of them, for over an hour and then finally forced ourselves to leave so they could get on with their own family activities for the rest of the evening. They all followed us out to the trike, wanting to watch us load up and taking lots of pictures. The next-to-youngest son couldn't seem to back away and let us go; he kept climbing up in Jacque's seat on the trike. Jacque asked him if he wanted to go for a ride and OF COURSE he did. He was much too short to reach the pedals so Jacque coached him how to sit scrunched up on the seat so his legs and feet wouldn't get caught in the pedals while riding, and off we went. We only rode a couple hundred yards or so down their driveway and up the road, then turned around and came back. I asked "OK, Who's Next?" and all lined up to take their turn. I didn't keep count but it seemed all lined up and took rides with me, even the sole girl of the family who is only 3 or 4 years old, who had to ride in Jacque's lap since she was so small. Their youngest, the baby boy, was asleep so we didn't get to give him the cheap thrill. What a hoot. The 2 oldest boys were the only ones tall enough to help pedal.
Trip Started: 3:21 PM Trip Ended: 5:42 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.5 Ending Voltage: 13.1
Lowest Temp 55 F Highest Temp: 65 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 7.82
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.8 MPH 7.4 MPH 27.7 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 20 mins 1 hour 3 mins 1 hour 22 mins
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