My daughter asked me a shocking question Saturday evening, " Dad, take me riding to these places you always talk about". :eek1 Let me expand this somewhat. My daughter has never had a great interest in motorcycles, and I have never pushed the issue. Sometimes she gets a little curious when I am in the garage working on one of the old bikes, but that is usually the extent of it. Erica is now becoming a teenager, and sometimes Dad feels a little left out, so I seized the opportunity to spend some with her on the bike. Since the divorce eight years ago, and 50/50 custody, my weekends are usually filled with cheerleading, softball, and sleepovers. Add to this the rigors of teen blossoming, boys, cell phone, etc., I was very excited ! BTW- Some of the pics will be blurry to you, but very clear to me. The true love of my life, Erica Plenty of these signs during the day Unique river rock abandoned store, that Erica thought was "neat" Erica: "Will this bike go down beside that river ?" Dad: "Sure it will" We then headed towards an area called Mortimer, NC. Mortimer was a logging town around the turn of the century that was washed away by a large flood (in the 1920's/). A few buildings remain, including an old factory that was supposed ly one of the largest cotton mills in the southeast. Concrete remnants can be seen all along the river bottom where it stood. Part of the boiler room and some of the boilers are still intact, if you know where they are. The Mortimer store, still in use Erica:"can we see some waterfalls ?" More gravel roads to waterfalls, in fact, the rest of the day was spent on gravel seeing waterfalls. Time for a lunch break, MRE's under a rock ledge, in the rain. Best lunch ever ! Granfather Mountain & BRP Viaduct bridges From Grandfather Mountain on to Linville falls Down Old NC 105 to Wisemans View, these are all in the general area where the movie "Last of The Mohicans" was filmed. Linville Gorge Daddy's girl (last one, I promise) Erica's back was hurting after six hours of riding, and it was one and a half hours home, so off we go ! When we arrived home she stumbled to her bed and stayed for the next four hours, back to typical teen life again. This was the best ride a father could ever ask for ! So dad's, hang in there you might get lucky too !
Kids are fun to travel with and once you get them involved in the ride they come up with some pretty interesting ideas. Enjoy them while they are young because they wont be kids forever.
Mine's 8...promised her a trip to AK before she graduates from high school...hopefully I'm as lucky as you and she still wants to get on the back when she's that age. Great report!
Rides with my daughter have been limited to short jaunts around town, but I'm looking forward to a few years from now (and a bit more gear) to allow for some longer rides! (Darkrider, you putz! You're daughter is nine, too!)
Mines still cooking in the oven, but I'm counting on her tiny fingers to get bolts out of small places my hamfinger wont get to. I hope I'm doing stuff like that when she grows up, DL. That look great. J
Fantastic! Que preciosa! I have two daughters (9 & 7) and a little boy (10 mo.) My first daughter could care less about bikes, but my second one is really interested. I finally convinced my wife to let me get her a bike, so she now is the proud owner of a used Honda 50. I have to get her some gear (I am waiting for the desert season to start before I waste any money on a growing girl), and then we are going to be in Ocotillo Wells and Baja every chance we get. I can't wait. You are a lucky man, which I think you already know!
Nice report!! My daughter will be 15 next month. How did that happen? We've had some great times on motorcycles together. From the time she was in diapers sitting in the sidecar coloring while we rode around, to her first time on the seat of a new bike(way to young at the time, I thought for sure she'd fall off), day trip to Yosemite on the KLR (she hasn't forgiven for that one yet), the time we rode to Mt. Tam was another good one. We're talking about riding to SF for a concert on thursday, not really sure how we'll lock all our gear up? We're going cross country together next summer, she want's to see the ducks come into that hotel in Little Rock.
Me & My girl Bridgit.... By the time mine girl started riding at 8 yrs old she had already rebuilt three sets of carbs and two clutches. She has since replaced the pistons on one RD400 and one Kawasaki H2 triple. This pic was taken when she was 8 yrs old I think. She's tall for her age and is the top basketball player at her school, St. Johns Perish. She's now 12 going on 18 and is the "IT' girl at school as seen in the bottom picture. She now wants to start learning to drive on the street so she can get her motorcycle license at 14. Ain't gonna happen !!!
Oh and.....my wife, Bridgit's mom, also ditched her promise before God....when Bridgit was 10. Commiting adultery and as she put, "I'm just not hhhaaapppy" I made sure my daughter wasn't taken from me because her mom was "Just not hhhaaapppy". I have my girl every day after school and Thursday night until Tuesday night every other weekend. (does my bitterness show ?)
dads and daughters... such a special bond... here's mine last week: Thanks for sharing your pics with your pride and joy
I know where you are coming from ! When I was suprised with the "I'm just not happy, I'm moving out thursday", I SWORE that I would not be a weekeend dad. We have a 50/50 deal, but I wish I had went for full custody, since I pull all the load anyway. It took four years for Erica to stop crying at night, and she still asks questions about why mom isn't around all the time. I don't want to get started on the "bitterness issue", it will never go away ! Erica has been my "rock" for eight years, and getting stronger all the time !
Hey Don, What a great thread!!! So wonderful when you see a dad and his daughter having fun together. I'll never forget my dad---got me my first bike at 10 years old! Erica is a lovely young lady and has a great dad to spend time with her like that. Hats off! Don't know if you've ever seen this web page, but it has some good info and old pics from the Mortimer area.... Mel http://web.utk.edu/~jeparks/history.htm
