Funny how we become accustomed to certain things… We create expectations based upon the usual, our new ‘normalcy’, those recently recurring events and happenings, good or not-so-good… that always seem to be there… Things that have come to occupy way too much of our consciousness at the expense of more pleasant thoughts… My very first reaction was, “Huh?” Something was missing!
Yep, we’d departed TD’s repair emporium sometime in mid-afternoon, following the ‘final’ completion of treatments for ALI’s identity crisis and tummy growling. She was all straightened out again, we figured, and she seemed to be fully aware of her heritage with no doubts at all about her mission in life now… and, she also seemed to be wanting to fully display her re-discovered ‘scat’ features.
We needed to leave as soon as we could, because yet more wetness had us in the crosshairs, and if we didn’t get out in front of it and stay there, we would be forced into having to make some inconvenient choices… The timing of departure meant that we’d almost surely need to adjust our stop-place preference a bit, but we would still be able to make our final destination without much ‘stretch’ the following afternoon… maybe even manage a stop to dine on some ‘fine swine cuisine’… So…
Blast off! We jumped up onto I-12 at the Abita Springs/Mandeville Exit, and I rolled on the throttle… rather hard… Traffic was its usual heavy for that time of day, and we did need to ensure we weren’t run over while getting up to speed. A safety thing, you know… ALI was loving it, though, so I just gave her her head… You go, girl!!!
The ‘WOW! Factor’ was pegging the needle, my grin was wider than I remember it ever being, and the sensation of pure satisfaction was indescribably fantastic!!! We were in our natural element again, and life was so worthwhile… How we had come to this point, the circuitous, hazard-strewn path that had led us to this exact place and time had been difficult at times, but mostly it had been a great run… very much worth everything it had taken to get us there! DAYUM!!! If it can possibly get any better than it was right then, I surely wouldn’t know…
The mile makers whizzed by in a blur, the exits passed seemingly much sooner than I’d recalled from previous rides, and the state Welcome signs came and went in rapid succession… Almost before I realized it I had to switch to reserve just before blowing past the Florida greeting sign, and the trip log soon enough rolled over 200 miles! Holy crapola! We’d run out the tank already, and I hadn’t had a swollen bladder issue or elevated pooperosity warning or anything! OK, time to take care of some business…
My turn to be the stinker this time, I guess… There were several fellow travelers seeking fuel replenishment and all the pumps had customers next to them, plus there were a couple of vehicles meandering around slowly waiting for ‘the next available’… like buzzards slowly hovering, waiting for something to go ahead and die… I pulled in off the road, slowed to a near crawl, and prepared to join the other circling vultures… As luck would have it, the pump nearest to us came available first, and we were the closet one to it. I broke the line so to speak and topped off immediately.
I then pulled away and parked up close to the front door of the store, so I could go inside and take care of some other business… As I was removing my helmet and gloves, I heard my cell phone ringing in the saddle bag. Sure hope that ain’t no salesperson wanting to help me out with a time-share or anything, I thought to myself. Nope, it was Dr. Troutdude wanting to do a post-op follow-up consultation…
“Where you at?”, he inquired… Pensacola… “How’s our girl doing?” Fab, and all is well! We’d made really good time, and we were at our first stop just as it was getting dark. I fumbled around changing to my night glasses, as our conversation continued. “Y’all left just in the nick of time,” I was informed, as it had started to rain soon after our departure! Cloudy where we were, but no falling, slippery stuff… not yet, anyway.
I went inside to do what needed doing, then returned to continue that most pleasant ride we were on… That’s when habit kicked in and I glanced down at the area just below the left engine guard where… “Huh?” Something was missing! For a fleeting instant I was confused, then yet another broad grin crossed me face… No small oil or antifreeze puddles where usually there would have been! No, I didn’t miss them, but it did seem a little odd… Oh well, I can adjust to that, I reasoned with a bit of a wry smirk, and ride preparation resumed in earnest…
We slipped through the remainder of Pensacola carefully pacing ourselves behind our ‘front door’… An SUV had just passed us going about the speed I wanted to go, but one I was afraid to do without a sacrificial escort… I did spot a couple of ‘revenuers’ out gathering funds so more ‘free stuff’ could be paid for and votes bought… “Better thee than me”, I smugly thought to myself, as we passed a couple of naughty drivers receiving performance awards from the boys in blue…
Open road meant we could now follow other scoff-laws who were traveling faster, so I pushed the tachometer needle up just north of 4K and let it stay there for a couple of hours… Again, no stops, just hammer-down and boogie-on…
Exit 154 soon enough appeared, and I figured we were far enough ahead of the rain to risk an overnighter there… I’ve stayed in four different motels at that particular exit over the years, and I remembered there also just so happens to be a Sonny’s BBQ place close to three of those! Perfect!!! No hesitation…
I got a downstairs, park at the door room, hastily unloaded, and hurriedly scooted on over to Sonny’s for a mouth-watering, slobber-slinging, culinary treat… We arrived just in time before they closed for the night! The white whiskers around my smoked-swine intake orifice, for some reason, are always red whenever I exit a place like that… never fails… I won’t go into the effects a savory bowl of toot-fruit has upon me…
Perfect pre-slumber preparation for a splendid, unaccompanied evening between the sheets, so I proceeded to the next phase with mucho gusto… Before turning in, however, I did perform one more ‘puddle check’… I’d looked while at the gas stops both times after topping-off, and I took another gander when we got through checking in at the motel… One more look-see to confirm all was… yep, perfect! God bless Troutdude!
DDT
UPDATE:
We're just over two weeks downstream from our most recent visit to the bike infirmary, the one down yonder where Jambalia and crawfish are foods and 'grah-deaux' is definitely NOT! A few puddles are still appearing now, but those are not under our girl... they are beside her.
I did some investigation, and the source of that moisture is her companion and not her! Yep, all her leaks and oozings have been abated, but now there is that tell-tale sign of drooling by her rider whenever he stands near her admiring and fantasizing about her and all she has meant... and is about to soon!
DDT
