After opening gifts on Sunday morning, we celebrated Father's Day by participating in our first Trail Trek bike ride. Our goal was to complete a ten-mile ride. The start at 9:00 was signaled by the ringing of bicycle bells in unison. As a parent, it was a somewhat nerve-wracking event, because everyone was riding slowly and packed close together on the Rock Island Trail. Kept waiting for someone to crash or bump another rider and cause a pile-up. We made it to Highway 2 where the riders split up and thinned out depending on the route they chose. We continued south and eventually connected to the Jamaica Trail. Our route tallied up ten miles, plus another mile each way to and from our home to the Antelope Park start. Twelve miles total . . . not bad for Evan's first "distance" ride. It was Evan's first bonk, too. He was not very happy on the return trip. There was quite a bit of complaining, but a tailwind and Dad's occasional pushes kept him moving along. Unfortunately, Evan had a small crash when his wheel caught after going off and trying to get back on the paved trail.
However, everything was good once we returned to Antelope Park and enjoyed a BBQ lunch. Nothing like several bags of chips and some Pepsi to rejuvenate a tired young cyclist. After the ride, Evan and his dad cooled off with a swim at a local city pool. After insuring that Evan was completely tired out, we dropped him off at his Aunt Carla's for dinner and a sleepover while his parents had tickets to see Tortoise at the Waiting Room Lounge in Benson. Greg, who is the husband of Evan's cousin, Bridget, was in town for the weekend, so Evan was excited to see him along with his aunt.
In Benson, prior to the show, we discovered the restaurant, Espana Tapas Bar, was just down the street from the show venue at 60th and Maple. The staff was genial and informed, the ambiance charming, and the food was wonderful.
We dined on scallops, carpaccio, cerviche, mozzarella with tomatoes and basil, spinach with pine nuts and raisins, and refreshing mojitos. On Sunday evenings they feature a flamenco guitar player. An older woman, presumably the owner, came around offering drinks of wine from a glass carafe with a spigot. She demonstrated the art of hoisting the carafe above her mouth several times. Neither of us felt coordinated enough to imbibe, but we watched a few other diners try. It's the sort of place where you have a leisurely meal and enjoy the experience as much as the food. And we weren't in a rush, because the members of Tortoise were dining there as well, so we knew we wouldn't miss the show.We met a couple of friends at the Waiting Room, enjoyed an excellent performance, and dragged ourselves back down the interstate to hit the hay at 1:00 AM. Whew! Now we need some time off to recover from what was a really great weekend.
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