DDT (12)
Member
Posts: 4120
Sometimes ya just gotta go...
Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...
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« on: August 29, 2017, 09:56:53 AM » |
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Heeding advice…
I'd received advice from Big BF to add some oil to ALI’s engine, but I didn't heed it... right off. Once that temp light came on, though, I took care of that item muy pronto! I was also advised by troutdude to get a new battery, and, as is apparently my custom, I failed to heed that admonition, as well... at least right away...
I was hoping the old battery could be saved by running it up and down the highways a few days… It did work fine after relatively brief stops, but when I spent two nights and all day in between parked, it apparently was sending me a strong message when it went down again. Still, I persisted in the notion we could keep her longer…
Dennis and I had chatted on the phone a couple of times since we’d returned to wandering, and each time he’d said I should replace that battery. Each time I did not… Each time, however, my resolve weakened, as the thought of having to deal with another issue on the side of the road someplace nagged at me…
All my recent experiences were weighing heavily on my mind, and it was troubling me that I had sort of shot myself in the foot on some of these issues... And, then, as if on que, fate got my attention but in a very positive and painless way! A stop light caught us, so I pulled up to the line like the good little citizen I am... and I patiently waited for the light to change...
I was idly looking around at stuff in the smallish town of Logan, WV, and there plain as day and big as life was a Walmart store... That was it! I made the slightly, technically illegal turn from the wrong lane (nobody was coming from any direction), so no harm, no foul... I'd seen no revenuers around to 'protect and serve' me either...
I found a parking spot back at the Auto Service area, and proceeded to go inside and inquire if they had one... they did! I returned to our girl and removed the 'suspect' battery and took it in for exchange. Got it! I went back and then installed the brand, spanking new one, and felt rather good about the whole thing. Should I call Dennis and tell him, or should I just wait and nonchalantly mention it when he tells me ‘I oughta’ next time? Won’t he be surprised!
As I was finishing up, an older guy several years my senior approached and asked if he could help me out in any way... Dayum! A really nice guy just being neighborly... We chatted for a little while, then he took his leave and I mounted up for whatever came next. Hard to describe the emotions one feels in situations like that... but it seemed as if that gesture of good will was a fitting source of feedback on my decision to take care of business... finally...
Back out there ambling along, generally heading southeast towards the rendezvous either Thursday evening or Friday morning… depending upon a couple of variables… I didn’t have a destination or timeframe in mind right then, because it was only Monday, therefore I actually had a couple of days to kill.
Would I ease over towards Roanoke, VA, for a possible hook-up with 3fan4life and ‘Ginger’, or would I aim more towards Clinton, TN, and a link with the ‘Wild Bunch’…? Dang! Some decisions are just so doggone tough!!!
Whatever I decided ‘Harvey’ and ‘that other booger’ forming up off the coast of the Carolinas seemed determined to add their two cents to the mix of variables in this riddle yet to be solved… Have I ever mentioned that I don’t care to ride in rain? Well, both of those formidable storms were poised to make a significant dump on us in the next few days, starting the next afternoon, according to the forecast.
Dang! I resigned myself to our apparent fate… we’d be hunkering down someplace to ride it all out… but where? By and by, we crossed over into Kentucky, then Virginia, and I soon spotted a sign that gave the distance to Kingsport, TN. Hmmm, if my recollector is anywhere near in-sync today, I figured, that would get us very close to Bulls Gap, TN, and the rendezvous place for Friday morning with SmokinJoe and the southern group… I could get a room there and see what happens, I finally concluded… I did just that.
I paid the nice lady for two nights on account of the forecast for rain to begin the following day (Tuesday), and I got a tentative option to stay another night or two… weather dependent… Well, I arose Tuesday morning to a glorious day! Dang! I had been there barely 12 hours, and I already had a raging case of cabin fever!!! Three more days? I don’t think so…
I’m going to tough it out today, but I’m packing up and going someplace else tomorrow! Most likely Clinton, TN, though… It ain’t far at all, and at least there I know some folks I can visit with and perhaps do a little pre-party practice and such… Gotta stay in shape, ya know! Oh, if anybody has any advice for me… chances are I might not heed it, but you never know… once in a while I surprise even myself!
DDT
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