Motorcycle Mama

Back in my Mom Days, I sewed these matching dresses for Olivia and me. I've come many miles from  being that domesticated housewife, but I'll always be her Mom. 

I am a poser. I posed as a "normal suburban wife and mother" for 15 long years. The fate of most posers also befell me; the "real" people in that category could sense my inauthenticity and ousted me from all of their groups; some quickly and some over time.

I never fit in and I always knew it.

After my divorce I found my real self again. But this was a very difficult time in my relationship with my daughter Olivia. She felt confused about who I was, where she fit in, and why I had been inauthentic all of those years. We've since come to understand one another in a new way, as most mothers and daughters do.

Olivia has since married her sweetheart David and had a son Jackson, who is a happy and smart little guy. She's a stay-at-home Mom who does a little writing on the side and doesn't get out of the house much. Like most young couples, money is very tight, so they don't get many excursions together.

"Why don't you go with me to San Francisco?" I asked her on the phone.

"What, you mean on the motorcycle?" she gasped.

"Yes! Just the two of us. We can ship our clothes ahead and ride up in one day. It's only 230 miles. As long as you pay attention, follow my instructions, and we take a few breaks along the way, we can do it!"

"SQUEEEEEEEE!!! David! David! My Mom is taking me to San Francisco!!"

I've ridden my daughter on my motorcycle only 2 short trips, each about 15 miles, so I'm rather nervous about how I'll do. But I'm willing to give it a try. I've done so many miles with all of that gear on my bike and while I know the gear is different than a floppy passenger, I believe in myself enough to try.

Just to be on the safe side, we'll be gearing her up pretty well,  helmet to boots, just as we had done for her last two rides.

During my daughter's childhood I always planned every detail of any event with lists, checklists and schedules. Olivia has picked up that habit as an adult. Ironically, since I met Steve, we plan very little and fly by the seat of our pants most of the time. But suddenly, I've actually slipped into my old habit by over planning, this time utilizing Pinterest to create our own Board to share ideas with Olivia. We've already had two arguments about her lack of interest in my Pinterest!

Even though my daughter and I have some pretty loud arguments, heated and hurtful, we have never had a single disagreeable word on an excursion together. When she was a kid we always had the best times on our little Mother/Daughter trips.

We settled on the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndam in Alameda for our stay and Steve scored an affordable room for us with his Wyndam points. We'll be staying 3 nights and seeing the city.

Coincidentally, we'll have another passenger along with us. ScooterBob arrived here in San Diego just in time to join us. Read about ScooterBob and his remarkable story here.

I have to wonder if my impulse to over plan this short trip has something to do with the spirit of Bob Skoot coming along. Hey, I guess three makes it a party, huh?