Picnic

 

   C and I were getting tired of eating in the same restaurants when we finish our longer bike rides. A couple of weeks ago we were planning a ride and discussing the post ride meal when C had an idea. Why don't we have a picnic?  I thought it was a great idea and we began to plan. C decided he would make egg salad. We would bring buns, chips and carrot sticks. We could put it in the big cooler and it would keep while we rode. Both of us were happy and excited.

   The next day we packed our cooler, loaded our bikes and headed out to ride. When we were almost to our starting point we realized that we had for gotten to being paper plates and utensils. Oh well, it just meant we would need to buy them along with our drinks. 

   After our ride we stopped at a local grocery store. I discovered that I had put some plastic forks in a pocket of the cooler. C bought paper plates and drinks. We found a table next to the old train depot in Red Wing with a view of the river and close enough to keep an eye on our bikes. We took out the food and ate. 

   I had forgotten how much I liked eating outside in good weather. Many years ago, I liked to take my breakfast and a cup of tea outside when it was nice. I liked the peace of sitting out on our deck and being outside.

   The next time we rode we better prepared for the post ride picnic. C had found my picnic backpack that I bought many many years ago. The pack had plates, flatware, a tablecloth and cloth napkins. There was also a cheese knife, cutting board, two plastic wine glasses a cork and place to keep the bottle. When I bought it, I must have had thoughts of romantic picnics with cheese, crackers, fruit and Kristian Regale. Even though this never happened, I was happy to have it. We packed the food in the cooler and packed everything in the trunk.

   We ate at a different park. We found a picnic shelter with a good river view near our car. There was confetti and chalk drawings on the cement surrounding the shelter. I'm guessing a child had a birthday party there recently. I spread the tablecloth on the end of the table. Then I laid out the plates and flatware. We felt pretty civilized as we ate our sandwiches, chips and carrot sticks. 

   Yesterday we did a spur of the moment ride. After the ride neither of us felt like eating in a restaurant. We decided we would get some deli sandwiches from the grocery store and find a place to eat. C went in and got two sandwiches along with a bag of cheese puffs and our drinks. We ate at near the depot again. C got out his small external speaker and played some music to enjoy with our food. The sandwiches were very good. 

   We'll probably keep doing this until it gets too cold out.