Still Hunkering…
Arden came by after work and picked me up in her van. We rode to the Kingfisher Roadhouse, and sure enough the Honky-Tonk bus was parked right outside. We entered, and my celebrity hostess got the royal treatment from just about everybody there! Mario was giving the keyboard a serious work out, and lots of happy folks were celebrating life…
The Kingfisher Roadhouse
The lake as seen from Kingfisher Roadhouse
‘Honky-Tonk Man’ doing his thing
We joined a group of Arden's friends at a table, ordered refreshments, then introductions followed. I must say these are some of the friendliest folks I’ve ever been around!
It didn’t seem to matter that I was a total stranger on his first visit ever to this small town, I was treated like I’d been there for years! It felt so good to be right there right then… For a solitary gypsy biker dude, this is some pretty heady stuff!
The entourage nucleus
Sally joined us a short time later, plus a couple of others moved over to our table, and our entourage became complete. Couples were dancing, and soon enough all the ladies at our table were ‘occupied’, so I never had to actually get out on the floor and embarrass myself… much to my delight. A few hours passed and a good time was had by all… especially this mildly but most pleasantly surprised trekker…
Sometimes it just happens this way. Not all the time of course, but occasionally I just stumble into an amazing situation. It seems to me that we are all alike in that we’re all searching for something of substance in our lives… for real connections with real people, some place where we ‘belong’, and a place where we find acceptance and respect. All the folks I met that night were from ‘somewhere else’… They all had come there looking for whatever it is that we seek, and they all had found some magic. I felt it too…
The evening passed rather quickly, then we headed back ‘home’. I really enjoyed chatting with Arden… A fascinating person who is very intelligent, articulate, well-traveled, and full of stories of daring-do.
She even rides her own Harley! In fact, the 'Fat Boy' she rides now she got in Philadelphia, PA. She flew there to pick it up, then rode up here… solo. She’s done mountain climbing in Nepal, and some wandering around in Africa, central and south America… She even worked as a cook in a logging camp in northern Yukon Territory while in college for the 'big pay'... (She was born in British Columbia.)
So far, the rain I’d been warned about hadn’t materialized. I did notice a few drops on ALI’s cover yesterday afternoon, otherwise I wouldn’t have known there had been any precip at all. I’m not complaining, mind you! Were it not for that dire forecast, I would not have found serendipity… a little magic in the woods by a lake on the Kenai…
I may get a chance to see Homer after all… My new Harley bud and I are talking about doing a ride together, and Homer would be an easy day trip down and back. We’ve also discussed the possibility of riding over to Whittier, taking the ferry to Valdez, then riding back here. Yet another possibility would be to ride over to Seward.
She’s very busy this time of year, though, and it would be most difficult for her to get away for more than a day at most, so… I’d say right now Homer is more likely, if she can even get away at all… Oh well, I just may haul off and do all of that myself solo… It ain’t like I can't ride alone, or that I’m in a hurry or anything…
DDT
