Steven Tyler kissed my cheek in Yellowstone National Park

I was going to title this blog post Back In The Saddle Again and all I could think about was how Steven Tyler kissed my cheek so I'm calling it that.

I'll get back to that in a minute...

Over the past few days I have biked every day and it feels like being REBORN.

I'm not sure if you know this about me but I was obsessed OB SESSED with mountain biking for many years.  I rode all over Montana, Utah, Pennsylvania, Maine, Tennessee, Arizona and Northern California.  Those were good days.  I miss that challenging single track where going over the bars and having a clipless moment was a happening on the reg.

But those days are long gone and I have some cell phone selfies somewhere- OH one DID pop up in my Facebook memories today...I'll have to go find that.

Last year at the REI garage sale we bought an older haul behind Thule trailer.  It's been just sitting collecting dust.  I didn't even bring a bike with us to Okinawa- I still have my 2003 Titus Racer X and it's not exactly a bike for hauling kids- it's full suspension with super knobby tires.

We bought a bike for Al the last time we were here on Oki- it's too small for him and I thought it was way too big for me. 

I've always had these visions of toting my girls around to beaches, parks, coffee shops, the library- instilling a love of cycling, they are sitting there watching mama do hard things- all the good stuff.

So I decided to make do with what we have.

And I'm so very happy I did!

I lowered the seat as far as it will go, packed up the girls and some stuff and away we went.

Totally in love again!  Just like the last time I rode...only a bit more of a heavy load...and no single track on the menu.

But so much better!

Seeing this beautiful island by bike with my girls in tow is the stuff dreams are made of.  My cup is overflowing with every single uphill and cruiser downhill!  

The only questions is this ...

WHY THE HELL DIDN'T I DO THIS SOONER?

Well maybe I thought I couldn't "go back" to the way I used to bike so I didn't want to bike at all?  Maybe I was afraid it would be too hard to haul them?  IDK but the important thing is this...

I identified something that I love.

Something that I miss.

And I modified it and made it fit in my life NOW.

oh and back to Steven Tyler...

He was touring around Yellowstone back in 2004 when I was a ranger there.  He was on a giant yellow Harley with that guy Mike from some motorcycle garage show.  I was driving my red Ford Ranger pick up truck right behind him.  He was intentionally swirving all over the road.  They pulled over in a pullout so I did too.  After a mustering up enough courage I went over to him and said-

Mr. Tyler I'm Annie I'm a law enforcement ranger here in Yellowstone. I want to thank you for your work and for being one of the most influential artists of our time.

He smiled and kissed me.

It was a kinda cool moment even though he was sooooo skinny and he had a giant dagger of a knife hanging off of his belt.  I was impressed and excited.

We chatted for a while and he asked me to be his personal tour guide.

I declined and said I had to get going because I was going for a bike ride.

 I'll try to dig up the old photos you'll love them!