Mo’ Shine…
Well, the shine from the party that night at Tia Juanita's may have been what coaxed out the long absent star at the gravitational center of our solar system, because it was absolutely brilliant in that cloudless, deep blue sky the following morning! That was the only 'bright spot' however, as the temperature and windspeed were both in the mid-twenties! Not just cold, but danged cold! That icy north wind cut right through whatever garment was being worn and chilled us right down to the marrow in our bones!
There was at least this much sunshine, though, and it wasn't being measured in a drift... Strangely, no solar heat seemed to be radiating...
HTJ had decided he needed to return home to look after his dearly beloved... I'd decided to linger another day and wait for calmer winds and warmer temps before heading west! I laid around and watched as 'Tubby" packed his gear and loaded his new mistress. Each time he returned to the room for another load, predictably, one could easily spot the tell-tale signs of weakening resolve... Good news from home and reported great progress towards recovery had hugely contributed, but the weather itself was clearly a dominate factor in his ultimate decision to join his ride partner in taking lazy another day... Nap time already!
In case you ever wondered how I traveled before I discovered motorcycles...
No visit with 'Tia' that evening, as the almost certain ride on the morrow would be better undertaken sans hangover. A couple of visits to the 'Casa Waffle' would suffice for people fuel needs. OK, and a visit to the nearby convenience store for a recharge of junk food for snacking, too.
No Texas women to carry-on with that night...
The following morning the temp had grudgingly eased up into the mid-thirties, and the wind had mercifully calmed down to a modest and much more tolerable ten mph or so. Ride time for sure! Tubby was still determined to head for home, though, and now it was my resolve that was being tested. Eighteen degrees that morning out in Alpine, TX, and another approaching front promised more moisture between Winnie and Big Bend... Maybe I should go check-in on Pam, myself... I wondered...?
After the shortcut Tubby had shown me on the way there, we'd retraced our steps and returned to the slab in Orange, TX, for the more 'work' type of ride of barreling eastward to cover as many miles as possible... We slid right through Baton Rouge in what unexpectedly seemed to be the absolute ideal time, as we didn't even have to slow down! We did have to travel a bit faster in the hammer lane than we'd have preferred to avoid being stuck behind big rigs and motor homes traveling slower than we desired... A break soon after we'd completed the gauntlet run included a call to Troutdude...
We chatted with Dennis and decided to briefly stop by his place to give him a check for the Russel Daylong saddle Johnny had taken for a 'test ride'. Dennis knew that would happen, of course, as Water Bug and I had also figured... Tubby's old Mustang seat just didn't compare... especially on a long ride. A brief chat with our super bud, then we hit the slab again to make more miles. Biloxi was our target and a Best Western Motel with a great C&W lounge I'd visited many years ago became our target...
It was the eve before 'Fat Tuesday' and Mardi Gras was in full swing along the 'former French coast', we soon learned! No rooms at all at the motel we'd sort of selected, and traffic was so thick it took no effort at all to persuade Tubby we should mosey on and look elsewhere for better odds on a room for the night. Moss Point, MS, became our next target as the sun began to set... Traffic had been increasing with each town we'd passed ever since returning to the slab... Things were not looking very promising at all...
No room at the inn I've stayed at before in Moss Point, but the nice lady there recommended another place down the road in nearby Pascagoula about ten miles south of the slab. We headed off in the darkness... and I, of course, missed a turn. That ten miles mysteriously doubled, but we did find the motel; however, ... no vacancies! We retraced our steps back to Moss Point and tried another motel north of the slab. We did secure an entirely mediocre place to rest our weary bones at a grossly inflated price... Oh well, at least there was a Waffle House a couple of hundred yards away... Sometimes you simply must settle for whatever is available...
One more night out found us taking our last room in Marianna, FL. Dinner at Sonny’s BBQ just up the road a quarter mile or so, followed by a good night's sleep. There was no major Mardi Gras celebration there, so normal prices and typical traffic combined for a rather peaceful stopover... It was also a good place for us, because this was the exit where we returned to the back roads for the remainder of the ride home.
Not exactly a longcut that last day, but we did deliberately take a longer route than necessary... so Tubby could see some of the 'Emerald Coast' he'd never seen before. South to Port St. Joe, then east to Perry. Naturally, we stopped at the 'out in the boondocks' place for the sausage-dog breakfast treat that has now become a regular feature of this simple rider's passage through those parts. Tubby had been to that place before, though; in fact, he'd been with me the very first time I'd ever tried their dogs... Sweet Cheeks had been with me the last time I'd stopped.
As we cruised up to the underpass of I-75 in Ocala, we couldn't help but notice the traffic moving at a snail's pace up there on the slab... and we gave thanks for our selection of a different route that day!!! I'm convinced that Florida's weather this time of year is NOT a very well-kept secret... As for ol' Sol, it'd continued to shine brightly throughout our return all the way back to the homestead... Yes, a wee bit of solar warmth could also finally be detected.
At least this has been my experience...
DDT (12)
