Back in the Saddle

Many may have noticed, I haven’t written or posted in a while. Well, life happened. While I am officially retired, I did return to “working” on campuses as an admin substitute. While the stress of running a school no longer exists, the return of the daily grind impacted my energy level.

My office!

Normally, riding is my outlet, my way of escaping the daily grind, but as a “backpack,” I am dependent upon my rider, my hubs! When life gets hard for him, riding isn’t an option because he travels for work… and riding a motorcycle to a job site is strictly forbidden.

Once we finished the 2025 twenty-two-day motorcycle trip, the bike was garaged for months. We made a reappearance during the holidays and took a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, with another couple. The Eureka Springs trip was a 5-day trip that included New Year’s Eve.

December rides in Texas are always interesting. For years, we have traveled to Big Bend National Park immediately following Christmas, and the majority of the time the weather is mild to hot! We left Texas on December 28, and within 3 hours the temperature dropped over 30 degrees, and during the last hour of our trip, the wind chill and the wind in general were intense. We arrived in our warm and toasty Airbnb that evening and the following morning woke up to 11-degree temperature. That day, we explored the town of Eureka Springs on foot...nope, not riding in that cold (even with heated gear).

Beaver Dam, Arkansas

The following morning, the temperature rose to above freezing around noon, and the sun was out, so our rides began. We rode over “the Little Golden Gate Bridge,” rode to Beaver Dam, and visited the Thorncrown Chapel. We had lunch at the War Eagle Mill and looped our way back to Eureka Springs.

The beauty of Thorncrown Chapel

After returning from the Eureka Springs trip, we didn’t ride again until March! Our objective was to find bluebonnets… and we found them! We took a small bike trip in May to Fredericksburg and then geared up for our annual summer motorcycle trip.

The summer of 2026 motorcycle trip was planned for 19 days, but later reduced to 10 days for health reasons. I told him we could cancel the trip entirely, but he wouldn’t have it. We did take out long days of riding and had a home base Airbnb in North Carolina so we could easily access the nearby rides of The Tail of the Dragon, Moonshiner’s 28, Cherohala Skyway, and more. Don’t worry, there will be a whole article on those rides.

Our mistake was scheduling the summer 2026 trip during August... never again! We had to break up our ride home into 3 days with early starts and mid-afternoon stops to beat the heat!

Our first professional pic AND while riding The Tail of The Dragon!

We have another trip/ride right around the corner. We will return to Arkansas for the Bikes, Blues, and BBQ Rally. As this will be my first rally (not his; he has been to Sturgis), I can guarantee an article on my experience.

Since the beginning of the school year, this is my first week not being attached to a school as an admin substitute. In three days, I have written three articles! I am also working on the dependency thing and am thinking about taking a motorcycle safety course and getting my own bike! If that occurs, long hauls will still be as a backpack princess. Either way, I am back in the saddle and look forward to sharing more of our riding experiences!

The Blonde Backpack