This has been a very nice ‘tune-up’ for things to come. Yep, I ain’t through by a long stretch, but I still have things to take care of back in Florida… I suppose none of us can ever totally abandon our responsibilities… Anyway, while I was in no hurry and I didn’t have to do it right then, I still wound up letting the stay in Lincoln, MT, be the ‘turning point’ of this ride. I’m now headed back to my new ‘home’.

When I left Lincoln, I was headed at the time back to southwestern Montana. I remembered how special that area is, and how I’d easily found adventure in several locations. It’s particularly scenic, yet it doesn’t have any large concentrations of people once you get south of Missoula.

Small towns, twisty roads, friendly folks (for the most part – however… it is possible to raise the ire of local guys when you make a move on one of their women!), and everything just seems perfect for somebody like this guy. Well, as long as one behaves himself, of course…

I was figuring on just wandering around, then maybe moseying down into Wyoming, and later perhaps Colorado… I hadn’t ruled out Utah either. I noticed that ALI’s front tire was finally beginning to show signs of its own mortality, and that in all likelihood it wouldn’t make it back to Florida. Dang, now I had to keep a close eye on that and attempt to position us so we could address that little detail should the need come sooner rather than a little later.

It seemed a more direct route to Florida might be wise, plus rain was forecast for Wyoming anyway… We just headed east and began the ride downhill towards the hacienda… Interstates, mostly, with little detours when needed to miss cities and/or potential traffic hairballs in known construction zones. Geeeez, it sure had been more fun on the way out!

Each evening I would closely eyeball that front tire, and again each morning I would repeat that inspection just to confirm my previous diagnosis. Know this, I ain’t gonna risk my priceless derriere over trying to ring-out a few extra miles from a $200. tire! If in doubt, I replace it… But, what was going on here?

It seemed that tire was actually ‘growing’ new tread on this leg of the journey! Now, everybody knows that isn’t possible, but I swear by the time I’d reached Illinois, it looked like there was actually more life left in that tire than it had seemed back in Montana! Has wishful thinking totally replaced rational thinking? Is it really possible socialism can actually work after all? I suppose if you can believe the one, it would be easy to believe the other, too…

During all of this, my dear ol’ bud, Sam, called to check in and see how things were going… “You are coming through here, right?” Well, I hadn’t actually planned on that, but… Hmmmm, that would afford an opportunity to party with some of my pals there, and I could also have that tire replaced where I’ve had so many changed before… I am known at that shop!

I would need to pick up the pace of my travels, however… Most Honda shops, and the one in Montgomery, AL, is one of those, don’t open their service departments on Saturdays, and nearly all Honda shops everywhere are closed on Mondays… Meaning, either I arrive in time to have the work done on Friday, or I’d have to wait until the following Tuesday… I extended and stretched the rides some each day, and I twisted the throttle a wee bit more than I had been, too.

Several long days in the saddle resulted in my arrival at Sam’s place on Thursday afternoon. I’d already called the shop a couple of days before and scheduled an appointment for first thing Friday morning, and to have them set aside a Bridgestone Excedra for me.

You know, that doggone front tire still looked serviceable for some more miles, but I ain’t gonna take a chance on it. The best I could hope for would be few hundred more miles, perhaps even a thousand, but the increased risk of the various things that could happen simply weren’t worth gambling on to me… After all, ALI’s tires do haul precious cargo, you know…

Anyhow, I’m now ready to go to Ocala and take care of the chores waiting on me there, then I can move out again. I have a date in Morehead City, NC, to celebrate our birthdays with my cousin, then I have another date for the FCR. After that, there ain’t no plan, just ride somewhere. ALI’s already ready for those rides now, so all I have to do is do all I have to do… then we’ll wander off again to parts unknown… It’s been a major hoot being out again! I think I’ll just haul off and do another road trip in a couple of weeks…