My husband, Clif’s, birthday was yesterday, and he took off the day from work in the hopes of going on another bike ride if the weather cooperated. The weather did indeed cooperate, and we decided to ride again along the Kennebec River from Hallowell to Richmond, but this time just to the town line, making this a trip of about 20 miles rather than the 30 miles we rode on my birthday. And what to do after the ride? Why, go to the Red Barn for some of their delicious fried food.

For my birthday, I wrote quite a bit about the ride from Hallowell to Richmond, so I won’t go too much into it here except to add that on the way back, we stopped at Reny’s in Gardiner for a little shopping—blue jeans for Clif, a shirt for me, and chocolate chips for cookies for some special Scorpios who will be having birthdays in the next couple of months. Knowing we were going to stop at Reny’s, Clif and I had come prepared with a knapsack, and between that and our bike packs, we had plenty of room. What fun to combine things and do errands on our bikes!

When we returned to our car in the parking lot in Hallowell in late afternoon, the sun was at a slant. The river was as smooth and as placid as a lake, and the reflection of trees shimmered on the calm surface. Not far from the parking lot, 5 ducks skimmed across the water and lifted off, flying down the river until they disappeared. Clif packed the bikes into the car, and talking about our ride and some of the scenes we loved best, off we went to the Red Barn, where we ate with the hearty appetite of those who had truly earned their supper.