Picking up Tess2

We flew to Boston for Sheila’s annual volunteer commitment to the PPMI Parkinson’s Study. This includes all the cognitive, balance, etc done on Wednesday but we had to stay for the Lumbar Puncture this afternoon. Hence the Red Sox game on Thursday.
On the walk over to Fenway we found the oldest continuously operating Victory Garden. The basin is shaped like a catcher’s mitt in an area of town called the fens.

You’d never guess what is on the other side of that building. The gardens cover 500 acres!

Getting the starting lineup from outside the stadium! There are pictures of the starters on the wall opposite me. At least, the Boston starters!

It was a sunny day, but still cool in the shade. After the game any school kid could run the bases. There were tons of them in the stands since it is spring break here.

A thunderous win for the Sox. Boston scored 6 runs in the 3rd. They were pounding the Big Green Monster with doubles. Final score was 11-4. The Twins starter had to leave after the last play in the second inning. He was hit in the leg by the ball, but still ran to it, and fired to first for the out. Then he collapsed. His replacement didn’t do so well.

Nothing much planned for Friday so after the procedure and lunch we took a sunny but brisk walk to Boston Commons where we stumbled on an early Earth Day event. We were drawn by the sound of the marching band. I was intrigued by the massive sculpture in the middle of the crowd. It seemed like disembodied arms until we walked around it and discovered the story. Called The Embrace it is based on a photo of MLK and Coretta embracing.  This sculpture had so many different looks. From one angle, it could have been a pregnant woman holding her belly. Another look suggested a runner massaging their leg, With the information on the sign, we could see the arms of MLK and Coretta in an embrace. Check out the Embrace Boston website for more details.

Originally we were to leave Boston early Thursday morning. Due to the Friday afternoon Lumbar Puncture we ended up not arriving at House of Tandems to meet Tess2 until after lunchtime on Saturday! It was an amazing 80 degrees. We had a brief introduction from Ric and Marcia and a short ride around the block. They had an issue with the Shimano Steps Computer failing and they weren’t sure if they’d be able to find one over a weekend. But they’d try.

Meanwhile we were off in our rental van to drive 3 hours to Austin. The plan had been to ride with another tandem couple we know who live in Austin but sadly they had to cancel at the last minute. We had a fabulous kale salad with our longtime friend Stacey and a lovely visit all evening. In the morning after smoothies we decided we wouldn’t ride given the temperature and rain. We didn’t have our Seattle rain gear with us. Just as we were about to set off for the Farmer’s Market together we got a text that Marcia had located the needed computer and could we be there by 3. It was nearly noon. So we said a quick goodbye to Stacey and headed out. About two hours into the ride there was stop and go traffic and while we were stopped the person behind us failed to! Yes, we were rear-ended. No one was seriously hurt. However the back of the rental van was squished. And we both are still thinking we have some whiplash two weeks later. Fortunately she stopped and her insurance will cover everything. That delayed our return by at least 30 minutes.

Once we were back to Houston Ric was all set to install the computer. We left Tess with them and headed off to our WarmShowers hosts Pete and Gina. The first night they had two cyclists from Ontario Canada and Gina fixed spaghetti for everyone. In the morning they rode off. And we drove back to House of Tandems where we did one more swing around the block to be sure the new computer worked correctly. Then Ric and Spencer packed Tess2 into the two suitcases, Spencer learning as he went. That night we fixed massaged kale salad for Pete & Gina and left bright and early to return the van and catch our flight home. All in all an exhausting week for us both, compounded by the stress of being rear-ended AND some security dramas going on back home. Yes, more bicycles were stolen. But that’s another story.

Marcia & Ric at House of Tandems

Stacey’s kale salad

Rear end damage!

Pete (in white) with Canadians

Gina with Kale Salad