That Inner Voice...

[DDT (12)]

 
Well, that ain’t usual… The sun was already up when I took that first peek outside… “What the heck time is it, anyway?” Man, I felt a bit… lethargic, I suppose, would be the best term… I started recalling recent events seeking a clue to this apparent malaise. An answer didn’t come easily or quickly… Nope, no recollections of any partying lately… No emotional trauma or anything either, since I’ve long ago given up on following national ‘news’ on TV to any extent… However, something was definitely going on…
 
After exhausting the provided in-room coffee packets, I stumbled my way down to the office to see what might be available there… On the way, I passed the laundry room I’ve used before, and it occurred to me this might be a good day for that… overdue, for sure! OK, I stopped off at the front desk and signed up for another night there… Even though it was a cloudless morning and the weather appeared to be the best it had been on this entire outing so far, I opted to take the day off… Mighty peculiar, indeed!
 
I peeked at the ‘breakfast’ offered there, not expecting to be drawn to anything at all; however… In addition to scrambled eggs, there was a container of what I figured to be kielbasa sausage sliced and grilled with onions and peppers… Dang! I decided to have a taste… A tiny bit spicy, but nothing alarming to this tenderfoot…
 
A mile or two from there just across the Rio Grande food is much spicier than here, and it is way spicier than anything I’d grown up with in north Alabama! Heck, back then Tabasco, Texas Pete, and Louisiana Hot Sause had all seemed off-the-charts ridiculous to this unsophisticated rube, with salt ‘n black pepper being plenty good enough for just about everything except pancakes and ice cream!!! I was pleasantly surprised with what passed between my lips and down my gullet… My taste buds gave this a thumbs up, too… Some coffee to go and off I went to continue my deliberations and search for answers…
 
In time it came to me… My inner voice was communicating and letting me know I’d fallen into a rut. Yep, I was in Del Rio… again; and, as usual I was thinking about the ride to Alpine, then Van Horn, and later around El Paso… yadda, yadda… just like usual… I ain’t in to usual! I like variety, novelty, the unusual, and… well, I do like discovery and trying new things. My sub-conscious had picked up on a distinct pattern unfolding, and I was simply being informed… I resolved right then and there to find a different path!
 
I raised the cover on our girl sufficiently to retrieve my atlas from the saddle bag… Serious navigation work requires serious tools! No job for MapQuest here, I needed the expansive view afforded by the large pages with good detail. Now, I admit this, too, could be considered a pattern of sorts, but… sometimes it pays to just grin and bear it.
 
When one has no particular destination in mind, choosing routes can be… both incredibly easy and enormously challenging all at once! All options were open, but… only one could be selected… meaning all others would have to be forgone, at least for the immediate future! The pressure was on...

OK, I made matters infinitely simpler… I consulted the weather forecast and looked at what was available… and how patterns appeared to be shaping up to see if a route possibility might be suggested… It worked! Oh what a relief that was!!!
 
I did the much-needed laundry, I caught up on napping, I wrote a bit about this adventure… and I watched some reruns of shows that in simpler times were new and all the rage… I also later dined next door at the ‘Sirloin Stockade’, a steakhouse buffet…

Not a high-class place with linen table clothes and violin or harp music in the background, but not bad either… plus, the portions were… endless! I dined lavishly but shamelessly! A just reward for having figured things out and setting an exciting course of action in place… I was feeling much better already!
 
DDT

[Valkorado]

"A just reward for having figured things out and setting an exciting course of action in place..."

I'd say you've figured things out pretty doggone good, Bruce!. Dan Millman wrote a good book, Way of The Peaceful Warrior, kinda centering around this mystical old dude he met and dubbed Socrates.  I think you are he.

[The emperor has no clothes]

A steakhouse buffet ? Damn, that sounds like my kind of place ! May the road ahead bring you variety, novelty, and the unusual. 

[DDT (12)]

"A just reward for having figured things out and setting an exciting course of action in place..."

I'd say you've figured things out pretty doggone good, Bruce!. Dan Millman wrote a good book, Way of The Peaceful Warrior, kinda centering around this mystical old dude he met and dubbed Socrates.  I think you are he.

Seth,

Thanks for the comments! I'd like to think I was smart enough to figure things out... but... I'll settle for being incredibly fortunate!

DDT

A steakhouse buffet ? Damn, that sounds like my kind of place ! May the road ahead bring you variety, novelty, and the unusual. 

Rob,

Well sir, you do indeed get what you pay for! Not the best I've ever had, but plenty good enough for this guy who'd rather walk next door than go out in traffic searching for something better. Actually, it was just fine, and I have zero complaints! I will go there again when the opportunity arises... And, thanks for the good wishes! So far this trek has been amazing! Lots of challenges this time dodging rain mostly, but... Again, zero complaints!!! I be livin' large and lovin' life... to the max!!!

DDT

[Rams]

That whole processed Bruce described in the initial post seems awfully close to “planning”.  Although, not long range, fairly resembling short term planning.   I can see this developing into a habit.   

If this keeps up, Bruce will end up as a Tour Director leading groups of elderly bikers! 

Rams

[DDT (12)]

Ron,

Funny how life frequently challenges our concepts of 'reality' and exposes us to contradictions... It helps keep our whims and preferences from leading us to develop unreal perceptions of life itself... it also mitigates the ill effects of wishful thinking and excess... I do revel in the carefree path I seek to pursue; however, actual events force me to accede to reality most of the time! Tour guide leader...? I think not! Besides, who'd wanna follow anybody who could get lost in a closet?    

DDT

[Rams]

Ron,

Tour guide leader...? I think not! Besides, who'd wanna follow anybody who could get lost in a closet?    

DDT

Precisely why so many would be willing to follow.   Every trip is an adventure!

Rams

[Bigwolf]

Bruce,

That was a pleasant thing to read.  Thanks for posting it.


 In time it came to me… My inner voice was communicating and letting me know I’d fallen into a rut.     
The comfort of familiarity sneaks up on me too.  Maybe it sneaks up on the best of us.  But a great pleasure it is when we leave it behind and seek out the new and unknown, or even the long since visited.  It’s good to hear that you have once again kicked that “familiarity” rascal off your tour.  I look for more interesting and enlightening posts from your ride through a less traveled path.

By the way, some of my best adventures have come from wrong turns and misdirections.  I hesitate to say “lost” as I almost always have a general sense of where I am even if I am not exactly where I meant to be.

Keep traveling and exploring my friend.

[DDT (12)]

Bruce,

That was a pleasant thing to read.  Thanks for posting it.


 In time it came to me… My inner voice was communicating and letting me know I’d fallen into a rut.     
The comfort of familiarity sneaks up on me too.  Maybe it sneaks up on the best of us.  But a great pleasure it is when we leave it behind and seek out the new and unknown, or even the long since visited.  It’s good to hear that you have once again kicked that “familiarity” rascal off your tour.  I look for more interesting and enlightening posts from your ride through a less traveled path.

By the way, some of my best adventures have come from wrong turns and misdirections.  I hesitate to say “lost” as I almost always have a general sense of where I am even if I am not exactly where I meant to be.

Keep traveling and exploring my friend.

Jerry,

Thanks, my friend... Reading your reply, I'm reminded of how my opinion of you has evolved over time... I liked you from the git-go, and the words you uttered seemed very similar to the things I toy around with and/or believe... Making an extended road trip with you, however, replaced speculation, assumptions, and guesses with fact, and I now consider you a certifiable kindred spirit! Wanna do another trek later this year?

DDT

[Bigwolf]

[/quote]



Jerry,

Thanks, my friend... Reading your reply, I'm reminded of how my opinion of you has evolved over time... I liked you from the git-go, and the words you uttered seemed very similar to the things I toy around with and/or believe... Making an extended road trip with you, however, replaced speculation, assumptions, and guesses with fact, and I now consider you a certifiable kindred spirit! Wanna do another trek later this year?

DDT
[/quote]

Thank you my friend.

I would love to do another trek!  Right now I am hemorrhaging money though.......so can’t say for sure.  I do have a couple of thoughts in mind though.  Maybe a short 5 to 8 day trek following Inzane.

I am hoping to be able to do another long ride about of several weeks in the year 2021.

Bigwolf