And Just Like That...
I was sitting in the motel room in Montgomery following my second doctor's visit while idly pondering what we might do next... and my phone rang... It was Trout Dude letting me know that Mitch was on his way to help with some needed repairs to our girl we'd sort of talked about lately... And just like that, from no plan at all to a definite destination, specific time, and activity arrangement all within... the brief tingling of a phone. Sometimes it appears, an actual plan is never far away after all...
One more night at Jan's, then the return of Sam's bug to his place, and finally preparations for departure. We'd be on our way to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain at that special Valk Oasis with close friends who do seem to enjoy getting their hands on our girl. She really enjoys that, too... Could it be they have some special gentle caress or something?
The crafty couple began working on our girl as soon as we all were there that afternoon... finishing the following morning...
The dynamic duo just ‘forking’ around...
The ‘Most’… one of the several faces prominently appearing on the ‘Heroes Wall’ of our girl’s Hall of Fame… The ‘rescuer-in-chief’… My very good friend, Dennis Scott…
A crusty fisherman seated next to his best catch ever… Water Bug & Trout Dude…
We had a fine meal at Vera's Restaurant after the job was done, and we idly chatted about this 'n that with two of Dennis’ other ‘clients’…. However, ... I was unable, regrettably, to tempt either of them into joining our girl and her rider for a lengthy cruise someplace. Oh well, I can go it alone, ya know... Nope, I ain't skeert one little bit!
We couldn't have done any sort of proper ride right away anyhow, unfortunately, because I now had yet another doctor's visit the following week! The keen-eyed 'sharpies' among us will quickly observe that great efficiency could be gained, and inconvenience avoided by a bit of tighter scheduling of those. Well, I did have all three separate visits this time all neatly lined up, but just because 'planning' makes sense, things often don't go the way they’re supposed to.
My annual follow-up visit with the radiation oncology folks had to be rescheduled when the Nurse Practitioner I was to have seen left the practice, making it necessary to hastily reschedule her appointments... I was now going to see the doctor himself instead, and HIS schedule mandated the selection made... After that, however… the FCR was the next important thing potentially looming on my horizon… three plus weeks from then… Not much time to do anything truly major but still a lot of time to kill…
In the meantime, we had a full week to kill until the next doctor’s appointment… We meandered hither and yon doing short days on backroads; we even stayed in a couple of motels two nights each… One of those had a BBQ place next door, the other a Waffle House… Yep, that was downright handy indeed! We finally arrived in Montgomery early… contacted the posse, and repeated our time-honored rituals… That didn’t take long once the doc visit was made, though, so now what to do for the next couple of weeks or so, assuming we did attend the FCR?
I decided to just scoot ‘home’ for a visit, since I was sort of in the ‘hood’ anyway. Hmmm, along the way, we could also visit a place Hot Tub Johnny and I had stumbled across a few months back on his ‘shake-down mini-womple’ after acquiring his new to him ’98 Valk Tourer from Trout Dude. In Florida’s panhandle along US 98 east of Newport a few miles but well west of Perry, is a lone store/gas station with an eat-in arrangement. They just so happen to serve sensational local smoked sausage links, too... but no bacon at the time we’d stopped, because ‘normal breakfast time’ was over…
After departing Montgomery yet again, we traveled via back roads to Marianna, FL, for the night… This would position us nicely for the morning sausage stop on our way to Ocala the following day… I was only able to handle one of those ‘sausage dogs’, though, so the second one I’d naively also ordered had to be wrapped in foil and stored aboard our girl… with sincere hopes I didn’t forget it! I reminded myself of the time we’d put some left-over grilled shrimp and pasta in the trunk of my car one summer’s eve… and absent-mindedly left it there to ‘season’ for a few days… Now there was a ‘fragrance’ not easily forgotten!
Sign over the sausage stop cash register…
A nice visit was had with family and friends… and a check of Airbnb had also proven productive… I found a cabin in the forest near Cabot, AR, and we could still reserve it for an entire week even on such short notice! We proceeded to take a very nice meander on all back roads to our little ‘pause place’ in the middle of nowhere… It was a really nice place and a great layover generally… There was that one disappointment and a wee challenge or two, though…
We easily found the place with only one U-turn being necessary. The driveway was paved all the way, but it was also a tad narrow, had a couple of sharp turns, and a steep grade. The parking area also had some odd-angled surface grades, so thoughtful, careful handling was required. Nothing overly difficult, just an easy place for a boo-boo if close attention was not paid. But that other thing…
I’d experienced some genuine success making biscuits ‘n gravy a couple of months back near Yadkinville, NC. My confidence had been elevated to previously unknown levels, so I’d expected that this stop-over would include more of those breakfast delights… Instead, I learned that the trajectory of progress is not steadily upward all the time! Nope, setbacks do occur, and humility must be relearned… I still have some work to do in my quest for mastery… No cussing or snorting, but I was quite disappointed.
The week quickly passed, so thoughts about what might come next rapidly returned to the conscious level of my ponderings… Would we be making the FCR this time? Hmmm… I did feel obligated to go… Punisher was going to spread some of Jackie’s ashes on that ride, and I had told him I’d be there. Besides, I always enjoy hanging with the Kewl Kids, so… Yeah, I reckon so…
A brilliant spark of light in the VRCC constellation… Jackie…
Another easy, slow, all short-days ride with multiple stops to sop up some of the excess time still available before the FCR event. We even stopped in Selmer, TN, for a ‘planned’ upon meal at Smokey Joe’s BBQ. Trout Dude and I had dined there a couple of years ago, and it had been muy delicioso! Our SmokinJoe claims no connection to that place…
Another example of how plans don’t always work out… Upon arrival at the motel, I heard of a great catfish place, so… that choice got the nod… I reckon I’ll just have to return to Selmer again sometime to complete some unfinished business there… In time, Robbinsville, NC, appeared before us… and the next chapter began…
Some photos just strike a chord! We shouldn't spend our time regretting what might have been but wasn’t, or fretting about what might yet be but most likely won't... Instead, we should just enjoy opportunities as they arise and be content with that...
DDT
