Mount Vernon, IL, was soon in a more pleasant place relative to this garrulous cruiser of back roads… in ALI’s mirrors! Nothing against that place, mind you, and I have stayed there many times over the years… Not as a destination, of course, but as a waypoint on my way to someplace else… as was the case with this latest visit.
We said farewell to Mitch, as he sped off in a direction different from the one we would pursue. We assumed the need for and involvement of that interesting little boat trailer of Dennis’ was no longer to be of relevance or concern until we were on our way home… Unknown to us, however, dark forces were at work here, and another awkward little surprise lay instore… not exactly the way we had expected things to go, but… a possible explanation would come to us in time, but not for a couple of days.
We later learned that Mitch pulled that quite cute but also practical little curiosity to within eighteen miles of his house, and then… the left rear wheel bearing on his Valk went out! The only reason he was pulling that item in the first place was because ALI’s left rear wheel bearing had gone out! Coincidence? Perhaps, but… could something more sinister be going on here? One doesn’t have to be superstitious to furrow a brow and scratch a noggin’ over this… sure seemed strange, for sure… A little ‘broken-field running’ and Mitch had the situation well in hand.
Any ride anywhere near Kickapoo, IL, at least for Dennis or yours truly, means a stop at the Jubilee Café. Mitch had led us there for our first visit five years ago, and I’ve stopped there since by myself, but this time I’d have Dennis with me… We enjoyed a wholesome, hardy snack to bolster our strength for the ardors ahead…
A relatively non-descript ride followed over the course of the next day or two as we rode through Iowa, clipped the corner of Minnesota and then crossed into South Dakota, doing our best to dodge the odd rain shower here and there. Not wanting to get tangled up in the frenzy building around Sturgis the week before the annual event, we rode on through that area and got a room in Sundance, WY, just beyond the famous Black Hills venue.
It was at the motel there, that I witnessed two particular deeds that spoke volumes about my companion and his enormous capacity for generosity… The first occurred the evening we arrived.
Dennis cleaning ALI… Another promising bug collection shot!
I have to admit, she sure looked good after he’d finished…
the closest chevron gas station
boa bank locations WHAT? I often overlook little details, but for some reason something caught my eye and set me aback. I looked closer, and sure enough… that really nice Gremlin Bell RDAbull had given us was gone!!! How would I explain that to Roger, who had so generously sent that one to us when the last one had suddenly disappeared? WHOA! I had another penetrating thought…
Could that esoteric yet essential entity falling off have had anything to do with the recent spate of left rear wheel bearing failures? In addition to our own hick-up and resultant inconvenience, had that inadvertently been responsible for Mitch having to call Laura to his own rescue… and to his having to ferry two vehicles from the roadside to his house? Gremlin Bells… don’t leave home without one!
The other noble act by my giving partner occurred the following morning… As usual, we were both up early… really early. Knowing this mutual tendency, we’ve long ago learned to inquire about coffee in the room, plus the earliest availability of such at the office. The kind lady who checked us in had informed us there was no coffee in the rooms… exactly. Since we’d asked, however, she would provide us with a pot and set-up fixings that we could use. Fab!
The next morning, Dennis and I were sitting outside sipping that vital fluid… what I call my ‘cardiac kick-starter’… admiring our girls, and jawing about initially unintelligible things, that did cross the threshold of comprehension by our second cup. We noticed an older couple walking around… It appeared they weren’t just getting exercise… It was as though they were looking for something important that had been lost… The purposeful gait, the fixed stare in their eyes, the look of near panic on their faces… Dennis figured it out right away…
They needed a caffeine fix the same way we would have, had we not taken precautions the evening before… The symptoms were unmistakable, but by my not being on top of my own game just yet, I’d missed it… Dennis called them over, offered them some elixir, and made life-long friends in the process… A true angel of mercy!
Bad photo, but the old lady on the balcony was still savoring the gift of love she’d just received from a fellow addict…
suntrust locations near me Speaking of needing a fix… I was really beginning to feel that the prairie, even though it is beautiful in its own way and on its own terms, had sated my appetite for such, and that I was now needing some mountain time! We pointed the front wheels westward and made haste towards the Big Horn Mountains just beyond Sheridan, WY… More seemingly endless, straight roads lay just ahead… but not for long!
DDT
