Timely Visit... Long, non-political, no pictures, PC, I think...

Timely Visit....

Do you have 'those' visits that simply have to be made from time to time? I do. I just made one of them recently, too... Not an obligatory visit like many we all have to make, but one that just seems to be the right thing to do. Nothing extravagant or particularly noteworthy necessarily, just something we do and we're always glad we did... Like what Jerry used to do...

My brother's late father-in-law lived in White House, Texas, in a Sears & Roebuck house his parents had bought through a catalog and had constructed back in the early 1900s. Jerry was a self-employed electrical contractor by trade, and a local good ol' boy through and through... He was naturally quite well known in that area and according to my brother very sociable...

My brother worked with Jerry for a couple of years, and he told me of one particular trait Jerry possessed that never ceased to amaze him... “Jerry was the master of the five minute visit...” Jerry made countless stops no matter where he was going just long enough to say hello and small-talk, for five minutes, then he'd be back on his way. A valuable trait to be sure for obvious reasons...

Now, there is this acquaintance of mine that lives in Yankee-land, and I try to drop by every few years... never for more than a few minutes, though, but... I still do it and will probably continue to do so. Truth be told I do it more for myself than for him, and I always go on a bike... Pretty selfish, I know, but there it is... My visits only occur during months of heat down this way, but still pleasant temps up there. He doesn't seem to mind or to be offended, and it is a good excuse for a road trip, so...

This guy is like many of us, only much more so... He is trapped in a life he didn't choose and is powerless to change... He doesn't work much at all by conventional standards, but he has achieved surprising notoriety and a certain celebrity status; plus, his opinion is eagerly sought and always carefully considered. He doesn't get out much, and he never travels.

He strikes me as having a quiet resolve to simply lead his most sedentary life and to exist following the path of least resistance. Not my cup of tea by a long stretch, but he is quite likable and I always enjoy the visit... especially the road trip... particularly the road trip, actually. I'd met him unexpectedly on a road trip long ago, and... well... It's like that for me...

I have other friends and acquaintances that I sometimes see while on one of these excursions... like this one for instance... I did make a couple of other stops on the way up to renew and refresh relationships, and to simply pass some time with those outside the Valk community that I seldom see otherwise... Nice break, too, from the heat and the self-imposed house-bound incarceration that accompanies it... Sometimes I think I should have become one of those 'Snowbirds' migrating seasonally to enjoy the best of all worlds... Oh well...

Making a road trip this time of year from down here is best accomplished, in my opinion, by departing very early in the morning... I seem to have good results when I put the kickstand up around 4am or a little earlier... I usually ride the super-slab most of the first day to hasten my arrival northward, while the perils of night driving are reduced... although not completely eliminated for sure! Yeah, I'd prefer the back roads all the way, of course, but critters abound around here, and the energy-sapping heat is a major turn-off... so... this compromise...

I do switch over to back roads as soon as weather and time permit. On most trips I can make that transition by the time I'm in the mountains, so I don't miss too much. Actually, I enjoy just being out and about on ALI, so all the rest is just so much detail anyway... OK, I do admit, naturally, to liking some details a little better than others... Life is an endless stream of compromises, though, isn't it?

My departure date was another of those endless compromises... I needed to have ALI 'serviced' before making another road trip... The trek to IZ-15 and the 'long cut' afterward had left her in need of an oil & filter change, clutch and brake fluid change, and tires replacement.

Troutdude had persuaded me to let him perform the next rear tire change following the work he had done replacing the drive shaft, pinion cup, and swing arm last Spring... The tires had had about 7K miles on them at the time, so neither of us anticipated it would be long before replacement would become necessary... just goes to show...

The Michelin Commander II on the rear lasted 30K miles! It still had a bit of tread left on it too, but it was starting to cup noticeably... and my confidence in it had pretty much run its course... Anyway, Dennis 'worked me in' to his schedule, so I made a little side trip down to Louisiana... Funny, MITCHO showed up for this little impromptu wrench party, too.

The work Dennis had performed previously was inspected and all he'd touched was in great shape! I think that 'problem' of recurring, frequent failures of those components has been resolved by replacement of the swing arm with the new one Punisher had donated to 'the cause' ... HALILUJAH! ALI and I are quite relieved with this development!!! Time now for the long overdue visit up north... not so fast there, sport...

I looked at my calender one fine morning after returning home... and there it was... DANG! A doctor's appointment, this time for an annual physical, was right there noted in plain sight where it had been since I'd rescheduled it last March! Not a good idea to postpone it again... at my age it's a good idea to get that finger-wave thingy periodically and I was already overdue... Mercifully my doctor has small fingers, so that isn't a deterrent of any major consequence... The 'visit' up yonder would need to be postponed yet another week... oh well...

The evening before departure, I loaded my tour bag and mounted it on ALI... she just smiled demurely knowing what would come next... I did two of the three 'Ss', set the alarm for 3am, and turned-in early... I'm always excited just before a ride, but I still managed to cruise into slumber-land normally. It has not always been so with me, but I'm sure most of you know all about that, too...

I awoke fifteen minutes before the alarm was to sound, so I turned it off and proceeded to put the finishing touches on things... like drinking a Pepsi... I didn't want to bother with making coffee and cleaning up afterward, but I still needed a little caffeine jolt to get the ol' eyelids lubricated and such... By 3:30 the garage door was descending and ALI was responding to the throttle... we were finally off!

Now, it helps that I'd spent most of my life living in Florida (45+ years), so that I could appreciate the early morning 'chill' of an August Alabama predawn ride... I'd taken the precaution of packing a sweatshirt someplace in my travel bag, but at the time I was wearing only the denim jacket I'd figured would be sufficient for this leg of the trek... Another modest miscalculation...

I stopped in Ft. Payne for fuel and my first cup of coffee... and I did seriously consider searching out that sweatshirt! I decided that soon enough it wouldn't be necessary, so no real need to go to the trouble... I know, the sweatshirt should have been where it could have been easily gotten to, but... Hey, I am just a man, after all, and I had been in a distracted state of euphoria when packing my bag... It did occupy such a place the remainder of the trip, however... whenever it wasn't already being worn... And, that turned out to be most of every day!

My goal that first day (a Saturday) was to arrive in Marion, VA, and I made it... I stayed at the motel where the Hillbilly Ride had begun two years before, and I planned to ride HWY 16 from there the following morning up into West Virginia... I didn't know if 'Scooter Dogs' would be open on a Sunday, but I figured on saying Hi to Don & Tracey if it was... and to sampling some of their offerings. Well, plans have a way of changing... even when they are ad hoc, spur of the moment plans...

Weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable, but they do once in a while come close... The problem is we never know in advance when those will be spot on or not... Rain did get mention for a day or so ahead, and I was planning to meet up with another non-Valk person of my acquaintance on the way north, and... I reluctantly decided to head more directly towards the rendezvous, and possibly catch a Scooter Dog and howdy-session on the home-bound leg... That didn't happen either... Oh well, I reckon I'll just have to ride back up there and take care of that... I just hate to leave unfinished business dangling...

I was consulting my atlas following a brief stop at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center, when an older guy, about my vintage with just about an equal amount of salt and pepper on top of his head and wearing a Harley tee shirt, walked up and began chatting with me...

A really nice guy and most helpful, too. He recommended a motel just up the road, and that's where I ended up spending the night... Just in time, it turned out, as the rain that had been forecast began less than an hour after I got all settled in... Good fortune compensates for so much, ya know...

Riding back roads long neglected due to other factors now became the order of the day. Ahhh, and it was so good to be relaxed and in the groove... Just following the front wheel generally in the direction of my next 'visit'... Not caring if a turn was missed, because a stop for directions can often turn into an adventure itself...

With no particular time constraint and only the weather to consider, the luxury of time and inclination in an inspiring locale can be fully indulged! The forecast for the next several days was somewhere between fantastic and stupendous, so even that was now working in my favor!

Cruising along on some mostly smooth roads with only infrequent, inconsequential rural traffic to impede progress... The air was crisp in the mornings requiring that sweatshirt to be worn, and even producing a modest regret now and then at not having brought along my chaps too! No complaints, though, as the temp range was one of the major reasons for being there in the first place.

I stopped whenever I felt like it or saw something interesting. I read a couple of historical plaques, chatted with some locals, and sometimes just stood off to the side of a road and let my mind wander to whatever subject popped up. I reveled in the beautiful sights and scenery in every direction that only require one to open his/her eyes to behold. Life can be so incredibly good!

I had not bothered to try to warn Phil that I would be dropping by, but that had never seemed to matter before. If I did miss him, I had a ready made excuse for another road trip, so no worries at all...

I cruised into Punxsutawney, but I had to make a detour to get around some construction work on a bridge being redone... No sweat, as this is a small hamlet and I don't think even I could get lost there.

He was in his den dining, as is so often the case, and as usual he was totally oblivious to my presence... I suppose he has long ago learned that the plexiglass that separates him from his visitors protects him nicely, so he just does what cooped-up groundhogs do... while we curious spectators take our pictures, and all is well in the cosmos...

The return leg of this trip was a repeat of the previous few days... back roads, wonderful weather, spiritual nirvana... Until I passed back into the hot zone... Then it was down to business: Early morning departures, long super-slab hauls, and then home.

It was so great being out yonder again, doing the things I used to do more or less daily... I do miss that life. Nowadays I have to content myself with rides that are all necessarily round-trips, and fiscal considerations force me to stay home some and to make use the investment I've made here. Again, no regrets, but I do miss 'what was' once... Darned compromises!

DDT (488K)