Nov. 2 – Back to the Frat House Days

I was up early, had a quick breakfast at the hotel and was on the road just after nine – it was chilly, but my friend Bob and I were meeting 30+ miles down the road in Emerson, so I just had to tough it out. The gloves I bought the day before really helped. There was also a bit of a headwind blowing today, so it’s a good thing I left early. My timing was good as I pulled up to Dougs Place in Emerson right after Bob and his wife Lynn had arrived. Lynn was working, so she dropped Bob and his bike off and had to head back. We locked the bikes up and went in to Dougs for lunch – it is a massive country cooking restaurant pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it was packed with people coming and going. And there was no question that you were in the Deep South:

Anyway, the food and service was good and Bob and I were able to catch up. We were fraternity brothers and close friends in college and afterwards, when I lived in Atlanta back in the late 80’s, we would ride together and also ran in the Atlanta Hash running/drinking club. We even worked together briefly. It was a lot of fun. Then I moved away and we had only seen each other sporadically over the years. Bob has recently retired from a career in sales and is starting a second career as a flight instructor! He even recently bought his own plane. Sounds like fun.

After a few hours we realized that our bikes weren’t going to ride themselves the 30+ miles to his home in Marrieta…..so we got going.

I felt like a heavy, slow freighter being led by a nimble tugboat as Bob patiently waited for me at the top of every hill. But he was a good guide and we survived the crazy Atlanta traffic to make it to his home around 5 or so. We took a quick shower and then headed out to an Irish pub where we met another college friend, Chip Reid, for dinner and a beer. It was a real treat to see Chip, as we hadn’t crossed paths since college graduation.

We re-hashed old stories and told new ones until late in the evening and I was able to get caught up on what a bunch of my old frat brothers were up to. When Bob and I got back to his place, Lynn was still up and the three of us stayed up late talking about life. I had previously only met Lynn briefly when we were in Knoxville for a football game, so it was really nice to get to know her better. I think I was able to talk her and Bob into coming out to New Mexico for a visit next year. I sure hope so.