DDT (12)
Member
Posts: 4120
Sometimes ya just gotta go...
Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...
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« on: November 12, 2017, 07:45:41 PM » |
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What a difference a day can make! I awoke fairly early, as usual. I had coffee and did my other morning start-up rituals, as usual. I got a somewhat late start away from the motel... again, as usual! Nope, nothing changed about any of that...
However, the weather did change. I was traveling almost due north from New Iberia on my way towards Little Rock, AR. We put in a rather long day, and my buns were complaining much of the way! Yep, still no change... yet. However, the first thing I noticed... well, that wasn't actually the first thing to change that I noticed...
The venue had changed! No real news flash here, of course, but it was noticeable nonetheless. The scenery was changing as our distance from the Gulf of Mexico increased... the hills first appeared, then gradually increased in size. The vegetation also changed, so the view became very different from what had been seen over the last several days... a welcome change to one who likes to see dramatic change a lot!
Yes, the weather was also changing. It wasn't nearly as hot as it had been... It was still shirt-sleeve-comfortable weather, but gone were the temps in the high 80s to low 90s and the humidity in a similar range. Still warm, and still a bit muggy, but no longer causing any wilting of this writer... only aching buns... I'm thinking I may try that Russell Day Long pretty soon now...
Clouds increased the further north we ventured, too, and... that was not a promising change. The Weather Channel was now predicting a chance of rain all along that newly chosen, rather circuitous route, and I was less than sanguine about that... far less! Oh well, unless I rode a good bit further west, I couldn't avoid some interaction with moisture... and I couldn't work that out due to time limitations... Darned plans anyway!!!
Except for that nagging sting in my derriere, this was a fabulous day of riding! Nothing in particular truly noteworthy; but, like so many days in the saddle are, still the sort that brings a smile to your lips and a strong desire to just keep on going indefinitely... burning buns notwithstanding...
Reality eventually found me and broke the trance... The sun was approaching the western horizon, and I was not going to make Little Rock in time to find a room before dark... I took the exit for Caddo Valley, and right there where I needed a motel, there one was! Convenient to the slab, and nestled right in between that motel and a gas station was a McDonald's... Perfect! I could even stay another night if I wanted to…
The following morning, I awoke very early. I’d been really tired the evening before, so I’d turned in earlier than usual. Well, whenever I do that, I just accept the fact I’ll be getting up earlier too… and I did… no change. However, there was a huge change outside! Gone were the shirt-sleeve temps, and the big rigs out on the slab were all kicking up giant rooster tails as they sped by! Yep, TWC had gotten it right! Dang it!!!
I drank coffee, surfed the internet, wrote some… and periodically went outside to see if the rain might have passed. It hadn’t. Later, as checkout time was rapidly approaching, I needed to make the call. I wandered on down to the office and informed my host I needed to hang around another night… Not a problem.
Oh, here’s a significant change! I noticed that this motel offered biscuits and gravy… Yeah, many do, so that’s not it… But, the gravy they offered was the best motel gravy I’ve ever had! I would rank it right up there with my own personal best! Not as good as my mother, sister, or ex made, of course, but doggone good!!! I took full advantage of that, too.
The hours passed, but the rain persisted. Never very heavy and no thunder or lightning, but just a steady light rain to drizzle, then back again… and lots of fog. Dreary for sure, and the temp was dropping! Soon enough I had to don my jacket just to venture outside… McDonald’s provided coffee and apple pie that afternoon, then chicken nuggets later for dinner… Anybody know if that’s heart-healthy?
I’d had a great night’s sleep the first night, so it mildly surprised me that I had yet another one the second night! Often, when I sleep well one night, the second will be less so… not this time! Reckon it could be that clean-living and pure thoughts thing paying off again?
TWC was still calling for a high percentage chance of rain. However, the pavement was dry, and no rooster tails were seen out on the slab, when I went out for a look-see the first time the morning of the second day…
Hmmm, I went back in and checked the radar… The rain had moved on off to the east, as the cold front made its way southeastward… “I do believe this will be a ride day!” I muttered to myself… as I removed my Gerbings liner and gloves from the bag I’d been carrying them in… I later put them back, though, figuring it won't be all that cold, and it should warm some throughout the day…
Talk about change! I’d ridden-in in warmth and only wearing a long sleeve shirt. I departed with my leather jacket and chaps on! I even had to stop a bit later and zip up the jacket vents!
A good day in the saddle followed, but I never managed get comfortable with the temperature and its changes. I sometimes marvel at the way I can ignore facts staring me square in the face and still persistently hold onto my original thought!
Yes, I hadn't accepted the fact that it was really that cool, and that the temp was actually dropping throughout the day rather than warming, as I'd assumed it would... In riding, as in life, we sometimes must face the fact we just might be wrong, and that another way forward should be entertained...
A natural distraction was working in my favor, fortunately... Riding! Have I ever mentioned that I rather enjoy that pursuit? A mixture of two-lane and four-lane roads, all without any particular challenge, but all with their own special appeal.
I love it all: The desert, the swamp, the beach, and the mountains... and everything in between! It's all good to this intrepid trekker, and I'm just proud to be out here!!!
North America is so special... and it is so vast! One could quite literally spend an entire lifetime wandering about, yet still never see it all. Nope, no way for those who look to ever be bored or stuck in a rut... A thought about that...
We all spend time looking for adventure, happiness, whatever, but we expend our effort thinking we'll find them in all the wrong places... None of those desirable items can be found in other people, places, or things in and of themselves... Those things, of course, can help, and they are certainly wonderful features to aid in our search, but...
The truly essential aspects of joy are not 'out there' for us to go find at all. They can only be found deep within ourselves... How we 'choose' to see things determines to a very large extent our perception of how things really are. Is my life good or bad? YES! Choose one... We're much happier when we focus on what we have, not just on what we want... Find the luster in those things that are available to us, and make the most of them.
Although tempted many times, I never actually put on the Gerbings that day… I would have late that afternoon as the temperature continued to drop, but I was looking for a room by then, so I didn’t bother… However, …
I finally had decided to do that when I stopped soon to take a break, as a room had become rather hard to find… I turned off onto a road towards some lights and at least one gas station… and then I saw it! A motel!
I got a room, and it was a decent enough room, but that wasn’t its best feature… Nope, right next door and mere feet from my room door was a bar & grill! Things were really working out, so I soon enough forgot about not employing those electrics when I should have…
A ribeye, fries, salad, Texas toast, and a couple of cold, frosty brewskis were a fitting benediction to a cold, frosty day… albeit a very good day otherwise!
DDT
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