A somewhat delayed departure from Winslow, due mostly to the cool temps, but partially due to the protracted conversation I’d had with the motel owner. I don’t regret either reason! I’d been a bit concerned about the well below freezing temps the night before and the effect those might have had on the day-time run-off water flows of melted snow across the road up top over the pass… Would there be ice this time across?

I’d also gotten a glimpse of Winslow never ‘seen’ before on any of my previous visits. What I’d thought to be just a dusty, boring wide spot along the old Route 66 in a not particularly scenic area of the high desert had turned out to be a fascinating place to explore and contemplate.

Probably due to my own mental state, but more likely I was just able to get to know some locals and hear what they had to tell me. Whatever the reason, I’m mighty glad to have had the chance to ‘see’ what I had previously missed. Thanks again, Napper!

The long straight ride to the accent to the pass gave me time to reflect… WOW! What an adventure this trek is turning out to be! A week or so before I had actually made the call to abandon this amazing journey and return to Florida.

I would have missed so much had I done so, but I had made the call based upon how I had felt at the moment… not on faith in how things tend to unfold out on the road… Attitude is everything, or at least it’s a major component! I will forever think of Winslow differently from now on… thanks to that unplanned visit on a ride that was almost aborted before the opportunity even arose…

Fortunately, I encountered no ice on the ride to retrace my route back to the cut-off to Camp Verde and Cottonwood. I did leave a wee bit more yellow snow in my wake, though… Uneventful, but most enjoyable ride just banking the many curves, feeling the temperature change with changes in elevation, devouring the incredible scenery… extending the grove! Another important discovery…

I stopped for a late brunch, then continued on through Prescott. I’d thought I might land there for the evening, but even though it has some qualities, it just isn’t the sort of place that grabs me… Am I too finicky? Anyway, nothing caught my eye, so we just rode on thinking something would turn up further down the road… It didn’t… One or two motels were spotted out in the boondocks, but… not the sort of places I would be interested in…

Maybe if we could make it to Quartzite we’d find something… Again, disappointment… I then decided to just boogie on to Blythe, CA. Since that last stretch of road would be on the Interstate, it didn’t matter that it was getting late and it could be after dark before we arrived… We made it just at sundown…

The trusty Gerbings had been turned off by the time we’d stopped for brunch… removed and packed somewhere southwest of Prescott. Yep, it was definitely warming up down in the low country… Lots and lots of RVs thereabouts! Must be some sort of gathering beyond the usual migration of snowbirds… Whatever, it sort of surprised me.

I stopped along the route before Quartzite for something to drink and to rest my nagging posterior.  I was just standing outside in the shade when a nicely accessorized Black & Silver ‘99 Valkyrie Standard pulled in… it did have a familiar look to it!!! I don’t think he was actually going to stop, but when I whistled, he looked around then did a loop back around to where I was… I pointed to ALI, and he got a big ol’ grin on his face!

We chatted for a while, and he revealed that he hasn’t had his very long nor had he done any major trips on it… He also was not familiar with the VRCC, but he made it clear he was not interested in organizations or group activity beyond his own circle of friends…

He lives in Parker, AZ, and is semi-retired… Apparently one of those for whom the time had come to stop working, but he just couldn’t give it up entirely… A surprisingly large number of folks like that, it seems to me… Oh well, I just know I ain’t one of them!

Back on the road and time for more contemplation… Why is it some of us eagerly embrace retirement and still can’t find enough time for all we want to do, while others try it and are bored out of their skulls? Many times, I’ve met guys who’ve retired, some even early, only to find they needed to return to work to maintain the luster of life… A couple of thoughts came to mind…

Early in my career I was working with an older gent who was approaching the mandatory retirement age then in place at our company. He seemed really excited about the coming end to the grind, and he had a broad smile on his face and excitement in his voice anytime someone asked him about it… right up until a couple of months before his departure date…

He’d lost that excitement and seemingly joyous anticipation somewhere in the final stage… I thought at the time it was because he had given little to no thought about what he would be doing, and the thought of nothing had sunken in and frightened him… He’d just assumed it would be bliss and pleasure, and things would take care of themselves. Whether or not I was correct, I took from that a lesson to think about that major shift in life that hopefully was in my own future.

Over the ensuing decades, I observed similar situations as other more senior colleagues went through the same process. I knew at a tender age that I wanted to be able to retire early, should that be my choice. As my ex-wife said, “We don’t have to retire early, but we should be ready in case we do want to… We should prepare to have that option.” We set about doing what we could to get ready!

In time, it occurred to me that proper preparation included much more than simply squirreling away enough funds to support such a decision would be needed… I needed to prepare myself mentally, as well. I’d learned already that ‘going to something’ is always preferable to ‘going from something’… Simply leaving work was not enough… I needed a carrot in front of me, too.

I thought of all the possible activities I could pursue… Volunteer work for a charity or Chamber of Commerce, for example. Neither of those had huge appeal, however, as they didn’t seem to offer much fulfillment beyond ‘busy-work’ activity…

A serious consideration was to return to college for personal enrichment. I’d always been interested in history, but I’d never pursued it seriously because practicality had required the taking of other courses to further my career in business. Now I could study for myself, for personal enjoyment… perhaps grow as a person in new and far deeper ways. Philosophy was also another area of interest.

I even visited several campuses and spoke with admissions folks about doing precisely that. In the end, I didn’t really want to make the financial commitment, but the time commitment was the most unappealing aspect to this prospective scholar, who was still uncertain about how to occupy his time.

Unplanned events actually determined what I would end up doing… The meat of this line of thought, however, is that by being mentally prepared to find other outlets for energy and effort besides employment, I was prepared for ‘retirement’… the cessation of one’s career… unlike so many I have observed… I owe a debt to all those who preceded me for the lessons they provided. And, I also owe a huge debt to my ex for her understanding and participation in all the preparation.

We cruised into Blythe and got a room… Now it was time for some map work and route selection… Not to ‘plan’, per se, but to find a broad outline for the next couple of day’s riding… In other words, I was planning, but I just didn’t want to admit it!