Well, I’d made that risky tee shirt run up to Winslow, AZ, a week or so ago… with high hopes it might pay off… it did… I think. Some of you on here expressed the hope that it would be beneficial for me, so I thought I’d provide y’all with an update… Here goes… Naturally, it’s a long story…

My last post left off in Blythe, CA, when I’d returned from a ride around the Salton Sea. I departed Blythe for the last time the following morning and headed for Joshua Tree NP. Rode westward on I-10 to the cut-off with the sun behind me and the wind in my face. It was cool, brisk more accurately, but not cold enough for Gerbings, I’d concluded.

Although those heating miracles would have felt really good early on, I knew they’d be way too much in only an hour or two, so as usual, I just toughed it out. Soon, I’m going to be forced to rethink this whole macho tough-it-out thing… Either I’m not nearly as tough as I used to be, or my climate calculator skills have atrophied considerably!

We made it to the turn-off exit, and immediately things began to improve. Nope, didn’t warm up any, but then we were on a two lane, twisty road that had some pretty awesome scenery to distract the unwary trekker… WOW! Things were definitely looking up…

I just love this sort of riding, and we had the road all to ourselves… practically… Yep, even this time of year you can find the occasional Winnebago and a few rental sedans with tourists doing pretty much what we were doing… Hard for this guy to find any fault with that.

We stopped at the visitor center for info, brochures, and maps… and to take a break, perhaps even warm-up a bit… I also showed my Geezer Card (Golden National Park Pass for seniors) to a ranger, so I’d be legal to proceed. I have no idea how much money I’ve saved by using that card over the years, but this has been among my wisest purchases ever!

One of the many WOW events one finds in this area is that things are so radically different from anything we see in the east. Enormous barren rock piles (mountains) jutting upward from the sandy, lunar landscape floor with sparse vegetation that appears to be something from another planet. Joshua Trees being a prime example…

Ordinary looking tree trucks with clumps of Spanish Bayonets growing from the branches instead of typical leaves like we’re used to seeing… Incidentally, these are technically not trees at all, but a member of the Yucca family of plants. There are also many varieties of cactus growing in clusters on the sandy ground, and plenty of space between these things with no grass or weeds…

We exited the park onto another highway near Twenty-Nine Palms, that eventually became a two-lane road over to Parker, AZ. It was too early to get a room, so I elected to just ride on and see what Parker might have to offer…

What an amazing ride that was! More interesting scenery composed of long, straight stretches of asphalt ribbon extending out for miles in the same direction across more sandy desert, but this time with unusual color variations and flanking this broad valley were mountains whose crests appeared more jagged and sculpted than what I’d been seeing. ‘Otherworldly’ is not an exaggeration!

Parker is a smallish town on the eastern bank of the Colorado River, which forms the boundary between California and Arizona. Like so many small towns across our nation, Parker also relies upon ‘events’ to boost the local business activity and bring in more money to the local economy… Such an annual event was in-progress in Parker as we crossed the bridge and into heavier than expected traffic.

This, of course, also affords local inn-keepers the opportunity to ‘enhance cash flow’ by charging ‘premium’ rates… No thanks, I told the very nice lady at the motel, I think I’ll just try someplace else… Premium is one thing, double is another… I not only didn’t know what sort of event was in progress, I was also definitely not there because of it.

We still had some daylight left, so we proceeded to ride north towards Lake Havasu City… and we continued to not find a place to stop for the evening… Later, in that unique city with the famous, actual London Bridge, we didn’t have any better luck… we rode on, northward again to see what might be up that way…

We took a much-needed relief break at a truck stop at I-40, and paused to consider our situation… I finally decided to just ride on to Kingman, even though it would be after dark before we arrived. Finally, there was room at the inn, at a motel I’d stayed in before… and one that also had a restaurant and lounge on site… No dancing, though, and even though there was a DJ, no crowd and no available ladies were ever spotted by this now dance-deprived dude… another brief but wholesome, uneventful evening… sigh…

The weather forecast (I’m really starting to not like those) indicated a spate of foul weather for the high country where I’d thought I was headed… I’d dodged the bullet on my last pass through there, but this time it appeared my chances would be much less in my favor. Shoot, looked like south was the better choice, so I set my sights on Sierra Vista again… We did ride back though Prescott, avoiding Flagstaff naturally, and we did have a rather nice trek… But, now we were back-tracking and things were beginning to seem luster-less… what to do?

In Sierra Vista, we did another round of laundry while I contemplated our next course of action… No bath for ALI this time, however, as she still appeared to be doing quite well… Can’t go north, already been west, tired of riding the same roads around here… Maybe it’s time to head east… Yep, that became the plan…

(Note to Britman: I did ride down southeast of Tucson on HWY 83 to 82 and across to Sierra Vista, as you’d suggested… Great ride! Thanks!!!)

Three very long days and one very short day later, I arrived in Montgomery, AL, for an approved visitation with Napper… I delivered the tee shirts I’d acquired along the way for her, including one from ‘the corner’ in Winslow… and they were a hit! In fact, … well, I’m now experiencing a bit of confusion… Did I get lucky because of those tees, or was it simply because of timing?

I stood in awe as she approached me, her arms extended in front of her towards me… invitingly, seductively, a look of eager anticipation and wanton desire in her eyes… The strap on her top slid down off her right shoulder, exposing bare flesh and my heart skipped a beat… I noticed the label on the box she held in her hands, and my knees weakened! Krispy Kreme!!! I thought I knew what was inside that very familiar looking container, but I was only partially correct…

My heart now racing wildly, I discovered they were indeed the light and fluffy original glazed alright, but there were no holes… Nope, solid pastries in a clever heart shape… Tasted just like the regular doughnuts, though, they just looked different… Either way, those are among my most favorite treats of all time, and I felt mighty lucky to have them!

But, that haunting question lingers… Did I get so lucky because of those thoughtful tee shirt purchases, or was it simply because I happened to arrive on the occasion of Valentine’s Day…? I’ll probably never know the real answer to this genuine mystery …