During the
warmer months I love to go for a Saturday morning bicycle ride and stop by the
square in my hometown. I visit our farmers
market and have a cup of tea at The Vanilla Bean, our wonderful local coffee
shop. It’s gotten to be a highlight of
the week that I really look forward to. As
much as I enjoy this routine, I discovered today that it’s even more fun when
Robert goes with me. Today’s adventure
was extra special because it was also his birthday and the beginning of the 100th
Tour de France!
I planned
our cycling route to include a particular point of interest. A Little Free Library has just opened on one
of the rural roads in our county, not far from where we often ride anyway. A Little Free Library is a small structure
built for public access that holds a small collection of books. People can give a book and take a book at no
charge. Bikes and books – two of my
favorite things! I brought a book to
swap with one at the Little Free Library:
This one
looks like a real treasure:
However, I
opted for a smaller paperback that would fit in my jersey pocket. This one seemed apropos for several reasons:
Robert and I
rode together for about 25 miles and then reached the square. At The Vanilla Bean I ordered some white
orchard tea (a nice floral, fruity tea for a summer day) and a morning glory
muffin, which had carrots, apples, coconut, and raisins in it. This muffin looked and tasted delicious
anyway, but it also reminded me of the morning glories I had seen earlier on our
ride, commenting to Robert that they have the perfect name. By the way, one time I made some morning glory
muffins. Mine weren’t nearly as good as
The Vanilla Bean’s anyway, but a weird phenomenon occurred. I used some pre-shredded carrots that I had
on hand. Cooked inside the muffins, the
pieces of carrot turned green at the edges.
I made a note on the recipe to shred the carrots myself next time.
Robert had
waited to eat breakfast until we got to The Vanilla Bean, and so he ordered
plenty to fuel himself for the rest of his ride: a latte, a shot of espresso, a
ham and cheese scone, and a strawberry cupcake to celebrate his birthday:
This espresso cup has special significance. It's one of a pair that came from a time trial that we did. There were all kinds of great raffle items following the race, and Robert had his eye on these espresso cups. They were made by Assos, a high-end cycling equipment company. Words on the inside of the cups read, "Have a great ride!" Robert's number wasn't called at the raffle, but our friend Jeff Licciardello's was. Jeff picked the cups and then generously gave them to Robert! Robert donated the cups to The Vanilla Bean and made a special arrangement with them. Any cyclist who comes by the coffee shop can get a free shot of espresso in one of the Assos cups, and Robert will pay for it with his monthly tab. That almost makes me wish I liked coffee!
Robert
planned to ride a while longer, but I needed to get on home. I stopped at the farmers market briefly to
get a watermelon. I thought about trying
to balance it on my helmet for the ride home but decided it would be better to
leave it at Jordan Engineering and pick it up later in the car when I went
grocery shopping.
Speaking of
grocery shopping, there wasn’t much in the cupboard for lunch. I did scrounge around and put together this
rather European lunch of cheese, crackers, fresh peach, and leftover wine:
Vive le
Tour!
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