Looking back on it now, I really should have seen it coming… I had postponed a decision on attending InZane ‘until sometime later’, when I would know for sure if I really wanted to go. The venue certainly wasn’t causing my decision delay, though… Montana is one of my very favorite places to tour!

Think about it: Montana is the fourth largest U.S. state geographically, yet it’s official population is still less than one million humans! A lone wolf’s paradise!!! Also, it is much further north latitudinally speaking than most of our country, therefore it is typically quite cooler than many of the of the other choices available to us, Florida and the southeast in particular… Not an ideal place to ride a scooter during winter, of course, but otherwise it is really hard to beat!

That’s not to say it can’t get hot up there! I recall a ride through Missoula one year the weekend just before the fourth of July… A heat wave was predicted, so I did the only sensible thing I could think of (well, besides going up into Canada), and I got a motel room for several days… On July 5th that year, a new record was established: 107*F!!!

Luck was on my side, as is often the case, and this motel was just across a side road from a local watering hole… And, right next door and only a very short walk from my room was… ummmm… an exotic dancing establishment which featured topless ladies and adult beverages… OK, and what passed for dancing on a stage was also included, but I didn’t actually notice that too much… you do believe me, right? Beer was served really cold in 24 OZ. cans. Yep, I stopped by for a couple or three on several occasions…

Anyway, it certainly can get hot up there, but for the most part I’ve found it always to be more desirable than the neck of the woods I hail from… during the warmer months… The scenery is top-notch, too! Besides the dancing establishments, Western Montana has some spectacular mountains, raging rivers and streams, plus an assortment of colorful characters… It truly is one of my favorite destinations, and I almost never miss visiting that amazing state at least once every year…

No, the venue was a draw, a major perk if anything, but still I just couldn’t pull the trigger on making the call to commit to attending the annual gathering of Valks. In my heart of hearts, I suppose I knew all along I would be going, but… There is just something about me that causes delay whenever possible… Congenital procrastination, perhaps…?

Then the call went out for donations of items for auction… Well, this organization has become very important to this usually solitary rider, who prefers isolation and remoteness to crowds and group activities, and I wanted to contribute.

Coincidentally, I’d been on a ride in Arkansas a couple of months before with Punisher, and he’d shown me a gee-whiz gadget he had picked up and carried on his steed… I’d ordered one for myself as soon as I got ‘home’.

It is a rechargeable power unit that can be used, with different attachments, to recharge cell phones and computers, to jump-start a car or bike, or to pump up tires… WOW! Handy for sure, and it didn’t take up too much room, as far as I was concerned…

I contacted Misfit and told him about it, and I also informed him I’d provide one for the auction… I’d just have it shipped to him and he could carry it up along with all the other stuff he’d be transporting…

Long story shortened, Damon talked me into delivering it up there myself… This, of course, necessitated my signing-up and reserving a room… He had me, and I’d never even seen it coming! I did sign up, get a room, and start to think about which way I might wander out there…