Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Twenty-one

a calming cycle
on a rails-to-trails flat path:
way to start the day

more history learned 
at a medieval castle 
built, burned, lost, rebuilt

my man boating us
back down the river, towards home
our heritage left

Silver Anniversary Trip, Day Nineteen

a castle day trip
cycling on sketchy roads
yet worth the visit

hidden Irish gems:
four hundred years of earls
residing in stone

science surprises:
this telescope discovered 
distant galaxies

and Bruce got to stand
in the largest redwood grove
outside the U.S.

night ends with laughter
in a 1500s pub
kindness in their blood

a magical place:
the only way to describe 
these teenage smiles

even pup loves it 
cycling past wildlife
below the Smokies

where can you see bears
and collect salamanders 
under the same sun?

this mountain-framed pic
taken on the same soil
twenty-three years past

we’re fatter, older
while the mountains are hotter;
such is life—sad changes

yet look at our girls
fearlessly taking this on
one moon-wing a time

a magical place:
the only way to describe 
these teenage smiles

even pup loves it 
cycling past wildlife
below the Smokies

where can you see bears
and collect salamanders 
under the same sun?

this mountain-framed pic
taken on the same soil
twenty-three years past

we’re fatter, older
while the mountains are hotter;
such is life—sad changes

yet look at our girls
fearlessly taking this on
one moon-wing a time

cycling through hills
of perfectly green horse farms 
before paddling

bucket lists are short
but should include Kentucky 
for its soft beauty

this “bike path” presents:
sea-level cycling; beach
(rode on Rhode Island)

there’s seafood here, too.
and family filled with smiles
and gardening goals

cycle to the wine
a trail along Keuka Lake
and these sweet smiles

a morning cycle
finished with a lakeside day
breezy adventure

packed up and ready
with the bikes fully secured
for our summer trip

a packed-up cooler
electric, adaptable:
symbol of planning

itinerary
revised, rewritten, reread,
printed for Plan Z

(there is no Plan Z)
there is just the dream, the trip
on these four tires