Harley Shocks and Alki Beach

I had been dreading it. As much heartache as I've had in the several times I had the shocks off of my Harley, I had been dreading doing it yet again, but yesterday I finally got it done. It went much smoother than previous times--Partly due to the fact that I've done it so many times, and partly because Suz was here to give me a hand a couple times when I needed it. The whole thing only took me about 3 hours. During the time I was doing that she did my dishes and bagged the pile of trimmings that I had heaped on my patio. I was so happy to have the original shocks back on the bike! I bounced up and down on it and was overjoyed with the smooth feeling and the lack of squeaks and squawks. I was very happy at that point, and in a mock ceremonial manner I dropped the "new" shocks right into the garbage can. A lovely waste of $200 bucks, but it was a learning experience. Add to my glee the fact that the day ended up being much nicer and warmer than "they" had predicted, and there was only one thing to do: Take a ride!

We took a meandering ride up the Puget Sound, going from Des Moines to Alki Beach, where we stopped and enjoyed a beer along the walkway. Neither of us had ever experienced a Bud Light in an aluminum "bottle" before. That was quite the strange thing. Who knows, that may be the wave of the future. Frankly, I don't get it--It's the same thing as a can only you can wrap your lips around it. What's the point?

There was some sort of big art fair going on all along the waterfront there, and we spent some time investigating all of the offerings there.

At one point we came across a lady sitting by herself on a bench. She sat quietly facing the water, taking in all the activity and the surroundings. She had kind of a regal quality about her--Kind of an air of smug indifference. At times she seemed to have a sort of a smile and other times not. Sitting there enjoying the weather and the people she didn't seem to have a care in the world. I would have loved to have captured a better picture of her, but I didn't want to bother her.

Suz took a couple from the side though. Here's one of them:

We finished our ride with a stop off for dinner at a local sports bar. By then it was getting to be early evening. We managed to get home just as it started to sprinkle a bit of rain on us.

The Harley rode like a new bike. It's funny how you think you're "trading up" when you change something. It's new so you figure it's going to be better for whatever reason. When you have problems as I have and finally end up returning it to what it had previously you realize you should have left it alone to begin with.

Anyhow, it was a great day!