(Published Monday, February 19, 2007 11:00:37 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Carla McCann Gazette Staff
Shopiere
With warmer weather on the way, David Dwyer thinks he may have taken his last snowmobile ride of the season Sunday.
And while the Roscoe, Ill., man had his snowmobile out only twice this winter, he wouldn't trade it for anything.
"It's good times," he said.
Dwyer has been riding snowmobiles since he was a child. He believes most people have never experienced the serenity of nature that is found gliding across snow-covered fields, along rivers and streams and through the quiet of a wood.
"They just don't know what nature is all about," he said.
Dwyer stopped at a Shopiere tavern for lunch Sunday with two riding buddies, who chose to remain anonymous.
None of the three was drinking.
"I don't know how people can get hammered and drive," Dwyer said. "It's unsafe. Some people do go bar hopping and get liquored up and bulletproof."
Considering how unpredictable winter can be, snowmobiling can be a costly hobby. But Dwyer doesn't see it as a big investment, just something he loves to do.
"It all depends on what it means to you," Dwyer said.
One of his riding buddies remarked that once the machine is paid for, it's yours-and next winter is always just around the corner.
For Dwyer, much of the joy of snowmobiling lies in the unexpected encounters with wildlife.
One night last week, while returning from Whitewater, he drove up on four or five deer on the trail.
