Back in the Saddle Again

Couldn't help but think of that old Gene Autrey tune as Bob and I were finally able to resume our bike riding excursions.  Our Jeep has been out of commission for a month and it is the only means we have of transporting our bikes... but finally....we're back!!!

Though we missed September, a great month, perhaps even the best month for bike riding, we still should have a few good weeks left to enjoy the great outdoors before the temperatures become too cold to bear.  And enjoy them, we will!  Today we took  to one of our favorite walking trails in Frenchtown and went north toward Milford following the Delaware River.  Leaves have not gotten far in their brilliant fall process, just a few dried brown early birds littering the path.  Looking forward to the spectacle of fall.

The sun felt glorious after a full week of rain and temps in the 50's and 60's. The ride was pure bliss. Afterward, we prolonged the day by sipping some coffees on a bench outside a local shop on Main Street.   We love these quaint little river towns that adorn the Delaware. We watched the local pizza maker walk from his shop to the bank, deposit bag in hand. Two minutes later, another shop owner made the same trek.  How wonderful it must be to be able to walk from home to work, from work to errands, and back home again at the end of the day. The peacefulness of that scene was so enticing. It made me long for a simpler, slower world.

 Looking at the town's architecture too can make you easily envision  what life was like a hundred years ago.  I can almost picture the horse drawn wagons, the ladies in floor length dresses and bonnets and the friendliness that pervades a community where everyone knows everyone by name.  River towns have such history.  You can almost feel the history in the air.  You just know that Washington or some of his cohorts very likely passed through or maybe even slept in a local's home or the town's inn .  And the river, always the river, gives testament to the immigrants, the laborers, the tradesmen who toiled so hard to build the canals that gave birth to the commerce that sustained these towns.  Frenchtown honors this heritage through the sculptures of the barge mules. It's fun to see how various artists decked out their mules which are proudly displayed outside of area businesses.

The peace of our little coffee respite was disrupted by the awful and noisy Stem brothers!  More on them in a future post.  Until then, get out there and enjoy the weeks of autumn.  Snow, Ice, Nor'easters are commin' all too soon!!!!!