Another Milestone

My father has always loved motorcycles about as much as I do and like me (at least until a few months ago) he never owned one either. Not that he didn't dream and look (because I've looked with him) but it just didn't happen for whatever reason. Daddy served in the army during WWII. He first drove a DUKW. The DUKW was developed quickly during World War II to meet the need for amphibious cargo transfer from ship to shore. The nomenclature DUKW was assigned by the manufacturer, General Motors Corporation, from:

D= First year of manufacture, 1942

U = Utility vehicle (amphibious)

K = All wheel drive

W = Rear tandem axle

Someone quickly noticed that DUKW could be pronounced "duck" and the "Army Duck" was born. The DUKW was based on the GMC “deuce and a half” CCKW, fitted with a watertight hull and propeller. Following the war, many of the versatile DUKWs were transferred for Coast Guard duty, river patrols or later Civil Defense work.

OK, back to the story. Daddy said that the army trained additional DUKW drivers very quickly and he found himself taken off the DUKW detail and assigned to the motor pool. The Sergeant of the motor pool came in one day and told Daddy he was going to send him to motorcycle school and the next day came in and said he couldn't go to the school because the Lieutenant wanted Daddy to drive jeep for him. So as he says he came that close to being trained and then missed out and if he had gone to the training would most likely be riding today. But alas, it wasn't to be.

When I was approaching retirement I told Daddy I wanted to get a three wheel motorcycle and he started looking for deals and he found a few but as you know now I waited on the Harley. I thought I would take delivery of the bike, immediately ride over to my father's house, surprise him with the bike, pick him up and ride off into the sunset. Well, when I got to my training class it suddenly dawned on me I had a lot to learn before I could just hop on and ride, much less have a passenger. So after taking delivery of the bike I set about the training process (oh such a difficult task :-) ). Jim took Daddy for a short ride shortly after we got the bike and while I was thrilled to have Daddy ride, it wasn't me with him on that bike. But finally today (10/18/2009) I was able to ride up to my father's house, pick him up and ride off into the sunset. Well, not exactly the sunset but into a most glorious afternoon. Today was one of the first "cold" days of Florida's fall. It was 43 degrees when I got up this morning and it didn't get much over 65 degrees all day. So Daddy and I both bundled up and he said I blocked enough wind off of him so that he didn't get uncomfortably cold and off we went on a ride of about 40 miles round trip. No where in particular just some pretty side roads.

I can't tell you what a thrill this ride was for me. To be giving my Daddy a ride on my bike is just too much for words. I think Daddy had a good time too. I wish we could ride everyday. I love you Daddy and hope we have many more rides.