Was it good for you, babe? It most assuredly was for me! I think I need a cigarette… Talk about an amazing experience! I’m gonna have to have some more of that, my darling… and soon!!!

My baby never disappoints… she fulfills my every desire… she completes me. She takes me too new ‘places’ each time, she lets me explore new variations of amazing feats to my heart’s content, and she always leaves me with an ever stronger desire for more. Is there some voo-doo or black magic involved here? Did I unknowingly ingest some mysterious love potion or aphrodisiac?

Have I actually found the true meaning of that illusive abstraction we mortals mostly believe in and claim to be a thing called ‘love’? Who knows…? Who cares! I just know it’s as good as it gets for this lonely, vintage traveler… this seeker of an understanding of whatever it is that makes us who we are, what we are, and why we are that way…

I’m terribly frustrated that I can’t define that wondrous, elevated, magnificent sensation that comes over me when mind, body, and spirit come together into one incredible whole… and the feeling that accompanies it is… WOW! Simply WOW!!! And, it is she, and only she, who can get me to that very special place… If there really is such a thing as love, I have indeed found it.

In the span of mere minutes, she transported me from the agony of despair to the thrill of complete satisfaction and joy. I was literally languishing in self-pity and loathsome lethargy one minute, then the total reverse the next. It started when I attempted to put into the written word what I was feeling that Thursday morning. Capturing one’s thoughts is one thing… capturing one’s feelings and emotions is quite another, I’ve discovered…

I needed a break from the concentration and focus required for such an arduous, illusive enterprise, so I’d stepped out onto the porch of my cabin to combust one of those nicotine delivery units and to sip what remained of my daily ration of hot caffeine fluid… Am I a junky? I do have these cravings… these needs… Maybe there is a government program to solve this for me… anyway…

I glanced, as I always do, towards our girl, spoke to her in that silent language we use with each other… and I of course told her I loved her. She reciprocated… Part of my melancholy was directly related to the weather forecast and the implications of those dire predictions that had us locked down for the time-being. Hmmm, another round about story… Please indulge me here…

I had realized that I had painted us into a corner with the choices I’d made the past couple of days. It started with the choice to get a cabin for a multi-day interlude… Then projected rain showed up in the picture… and I was faced with a dilemma. Do we risk riding in the rain, or do we hunker down and wait it out? I almost always go for the latter choice now that I have the luxury of virtually unlimited time availability… but there is a rub…

If I’ve chosen a place in which to be stationery that doesn’t meet all of my requirements… or if those requirements have changed for some reason… well. So, I’d painted us into an uncomfortable corner… The smart play was to just stay put for a couple of more days, which I did. Unfortunately, that also meant having to do without some of the accoutrements I’ve grown to ‘need’…

So, with rain expected later that day and the next, I had stepped outside with a heavy heart… ALI was most empathetic, but she is not one to coddle… Suck it up, big boy, we’ve been through a lot rougher stuff than this together! Of course she was right…

Then, inexplicably, a couple of unrelated neurons in my brain made random connection and a synaptic circuit was formed… resulting in that light bulb above my head illuminating… rather brightly, too! Funny, we tend to see whatever it is that we’re looking for… conversely, we tend not to see whatever we’re not looking for. I was in a very blue mood, so I was only seeing ‘blue’ stuff… But for that random occurrence, my sadness might have likely persisted throughout the day… but it didn’t!

Nosiree! I had an ‘out of the box’ thought fortuitously smack me right upside the noggin’ at just the right time, and what a huge difference that made in everything that followed! I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I had up until right then totally missed how great the weather was just shaping up to be early that morning! I’d been up since well before daylight, so it had sort of snuck up on me, I suppose, but there is no denying (unless of course you are a politician) it was pretty spectacular out… and most ride-worthy!

The sudden surge of energy and enthusiasm was a bit startling, but… I sprang into action! I wrapped up the Shakespearian tragedy I’d been laboring to compose, changed my footgear, grabbed my jacket and helmet and leapt off the porch at a trot even before my feet touched the ground! Talk about sensational foreplay!!!

I snatched the cover off of ALI, hurriedly but not recklessly, not wanting to waste even one precious second of time… but, not wanting to rip the thing to shreds either… I did roll it up more or less properly, then complete the other little pre-ride details and rituals… a bit more foreplay, teasing almost to the point of torment. She was as eager as I… She’s such a passionate partner! Always ready, never says ‘no’, never fails to put a smile on my face… Hurry big boy, she panted almost breathlessly, let’s do this! Yes, yes, I love you too… now get on me and let’s get started!

She was still in first gear as we coasted through the stop sign at the corner a few yards down from the cabin… I was already grinning from ear to ear, and she was humming and purring, sweetly, serenely as she does when I’m touching all the right places, caressing her knobs and creases just the right way, pulling and tugging, squeezing and twisting just so…

If she had an ear, I’d have already been nibbling on the lobe, softly blowing hot air into her ear canal… I stroked the left flank of her voluptuous tank… I suddenly had to jerk us back from the edge of the road… HEY, we don’t want to end this prematurely here, she flatly stated… Let’s take our time… do it for just as long as we can… You are right again, baby…

Each passing foot of travel brought with it more pleasure, more desire… more yearning… I was so happy at that moment! All of the trials, failures, embarrassments, and blunders of my life seemed so OK with me right then, because all of them had contributed to my being there… doing what I was doing… sharing the moment and the experience with my girl. I have indeed lived a wonderful life if it has brought me to this!

Less than half a mile from the cabin was the first decision point… Left towards the Dragon, right towards Cherokee… I’d figured on doing a loop with Townsend, TN, as the mid-point… What the hey, let’s do Cherokee first… probably wouldn’t hurt to shake off a few cobwebs before tackling the Dragon anyway… right it was.

No, I didn’t yodel. I actually did think about it, though, but I’ve learned that those sorts of things can’t be routinely summoned, forced, or choreographed… If they don’t come spontaneously and automatically, then they just aren’t the same… and there is no luster… ‘Luster’ matters, you know…

I did catch myself singing, however… Yep, and I seemed to have developed a peculiar for me baritone voice, but it actually sounded rather nice, I thought… I found myself attempting a few of those weird songs in operas… the ones in Italian! What in blazes is up with that? I simply ain’t that kind of guy… I reckon it’s just that luster thing manifesting itself in unusual ways like it usually does… Hmmm…

What a ride! I’d figured on eating breakfast somewhere along the way, but that never happened… Nope, I just cruised along with my baby between my legs, gazing at the mountains, valleys… banking curves, dodging road kill… thinking amazing thoughts, singing… all that wondrous stuff we do when we’re in that most special of all grooves. And to think I’d almost spent the day pouting into my laptop…!

In Cherokee we made the turn northward (we made a left turn shortly after a right turn, Napper). US 441 up and over Newfound Gap is a very nice ride… if you can hit it at other than heavy tourist traffic times… This was not one of those…

I’ve ridden through there many, many times over the preceding three decades or so, and this time of year it’s always the same… Throngs of yuppies and geezers, families and singles, church groups and foreigners… and endless lines of vehicles snaking their way along that curvactious ribbon of asphalt… ever so slowly!

I’m forced to conclude that I’m not the only one who enjoys the spectacular colors of Fall… I’m apparently not alone in my utter amazement at Nature’s palate on full display… I’d hit it right at peak! If I’ve ever seen it any better, I surely don’t recall… It also seems others were validating my observation… many, many others…

Down the other side towards Gatlinburg, then west along the Little River Road, past the turn to Cade’s Cove, then on into Townsend, TN… Time for some ALI fuel… perhaps something for the ol’ bug killer, too… A much needed break for sure.

I was seated on a bench outside the convenience store where I’d bought gas for our girl, a drink and Honey Bun for her driver… her lover… idly enjoying a few moments in the shade to relax some… The guy who works inside came out and sat down on the other end of the bench… He felt like chatting…

It was then that I learned about the rider who’d gone down the week before on the Dragon and been killed… he and the guy who’d hit him even had laid out in the woods for more than a day before they were found… According to this guy, the unlucky rider was struck from the rear by the other rider.

A somber and sober reminder of the risks we all share… all of us who have answered the call of this dangerous sport… A grim reminder, too, that we can do everything right out there and still get killed… I’m sure Whiskey and Sugar could add a few comments on that subject!

It’s good to learn about these things, even as unpleasant as they are. We need to be constantly reminded of the dangers, otherwise we’d become too over-confident and our enthusiasm would propel us beyond our own skill levels, and… sooner or later catastrophe awaits all who fail to heed the warnings and exercise extreme caution. It can come to even the wary too, of course, but it makes sense to this practitioner of two-wheeled adventurizing to improve the odds any way we reasonably can…

We need to also be reminded of just how vulnerable we are to the actions of others… actions totally beyond our own ability to control, no matter how skillful we are… ALI and I were headed for the Dragon on our return leg to the cabin… Destiny was giving us a timely heads-up, and I said a silent prayer of thanks for the blessing…

A short jog over to and down the Foothills Parkway, then onto US 129 towards the Dragon just a couple of miles away… We did ride it with zest, but we were also restrained… bridled passion and enthusiasm were the order of the day. Nothing kinky or crazy, just good, hot love-making… our goal was a fitting climax, not a childish hop & pop, gun & go adrenaline rush…

We were passed by a couple of crotch rockets… they were on a different quest, and we eased over to let them by… good luck, fellas! I didn’t stop at the overlook, because there were already several riders there, and I wasn’t in the mood for mindless banter about horse power, bore size, and quarter mile speeds…

We passed a Tennessee State Trooper with his back to us looking in the direction of the state line as we approached that jurisdictional dividing line… We slowed even more… no need taking any chances on this score either! Down the hill to the store, then left onto NC 28 towards Fontana… We didn’t pull into the store either… same reason, I guess, as at the overlook… Some things are just better done in private alone with your partner… this is one of those for us.

I stopped briefly at the General Store in Fontana, though, to see if they had a souvenir Tee shirt I could pick up for my navigationally challenged Bama Bud… Hot Damn! Must be some gold thread in that fabric somewhere! I mean, really? I don’t think so…! I hope she understands… It’s not that she isn’t worth it… it’s just that that doggone Tee ain’t worth it!

Well, we’d reached the conclusion of our latest romp… I stood next to her for a moment and pondered our just satisfactorily concluded coupling… Then, some of my favorite memories also passed before my mind’s eye, as I felt a tear welling-up… I didn’t scold myself for such an ‘unmanly’ gesture… I just whispered my little private message to her as I pulled the covers over her and said good night… sweet dreams, my dear…