Surprise!

A year ago May, Pete and I bought the Harley. When he was looking at bikes, we talked a lot about what we wanted to do with the bike. Where we wanted to go, things to see and whether or not to join a club. Initially I was resistant to joining a motorcycle club. All those images of bad biker dudes played out in my head and that's just not me and frankly not Pete any more. He knew of a few clubs in our area that would be ok and we talked about them.

Pete put a deposit on the bike and we ended up at the dealer for one of their fundraising events. While there, Pete notices a guy walking around with a Dry Riders patch. He stopped him and started talking to him. Within a few minutes though he was whisked away to talk about his bike and I listened and chatted with this Dry Rider guy and his wife. Honestly I don't remember what we talked about. Other than the fact that they said they did a lot of camping. I kept thinking that it couldn't be much fun if he was riding his bike to camp outs and she had to drive a car with all the stuff (naive, huh?)

Anyway we exchanged numbers and went our separate ways. I couldn't tell if Pete was more excited about the bike or the club. Pete got the bike and I encouraged him to call the guy about joining. We were invited to the range ride at the end of May. And I can tell you that it was the most fun I had in a long time. The people were interesting, fun and so welcoming! It was amazing.

So Pete and I asked to prospect for the club. And we jumped in whole heartedly. We attended everything, every event even though the summer was filled with other obligations and planning our wedding. We met lots of new people, saw more of the state than I had ever seen and made new friends.

When I think about it, I tell Pete and we are lucky. Lucky that fate or God or something placed us in the dealer that day to meet these people. They have supported us in hard sad times, celebrated with us in joyful times and welcomed us into their lives. We are lucky. Very lucky.

Last night Pete and I were at the monthly meeting for the club. The full members were out of the room for quite a long time discussing the membership of someone who had completed the year of prospecting. When they came back they shocked Pete and I by having voted us in a little early. We are Dry Riders!!! I'm sure my face was all colors of red and my smile was all teeth. But mostly, my heart was full from the people in our lives.