Well, I\u2019d made that risky tee shirt run up to Winslow, AZ, a week or so ago\u2026 with high hopes it might pay off\u2026 it did\u2026 I think. Some of you on here expressed the hope that it would be beneficial for me, so I thought I\u2019d provide y\u2019all with an update\u2026 Here goes\u2026 Naturally, it\u2019s a long story\u2026<\/p>\n
My last post left off in Blythe, CA, when I\u2019d 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\u2019d concluded.<\/p>\n
Although those heating miracles would have felt really good early on, I knew they\u2019d be way too much in only an hour or two, so as usual, I just toughed it out. Soon, I\u2019m going to be forced to rethink this whole macho tough-it-out thing\u2026 Either I\u2019m not nearly as tough as I used to be, or my climate calculator skills have atrophied considerably!<\/p>\n
We made it to the turn-off exit, and immediately things began to improve. Nope, didn\u2019t warm up any, but then we were on a two lane, twisty road that had some pretty awesome scenery to distract the unwary trekker\u2026 WOW! Things were definitely looking up\u2026<\/p>\n
I just love this sort of riding, and we had the road all to ourselves\u2026 practically\u2026 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\u2026 Hard for this guy to find any fault with that.<\/p>\n
We stopped at the visitor center for info, brochures, and maps\u2026 and to take a break, perhaps even warm-up a bit\u2026 I also showed my Geezer Card (Golden National Park Pass for seniors) to a ranger, so I\u2019d be legal to proceed. I have no idea how much money I\u2019ve saved by using that card over the years, but this has been among my wisest purchases ever!<\/p>\n
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\u2026<\/p>\n
Ordinary looking tree trucks with clumps of Spanish Bayonets growing from the branches instead of typical leaves like we\u2019re used to seeing\u2026 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\u2026<\/p>\n
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\u2026<\/p>\n
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\u2019d been seeing. \u2018Otherworldly\u2019 is not an exaggeration!<\/p>\n
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 \u2018events\u2019 to boost the local business activity and bring in more money to the local economy\u2026 Such an annual event was in-progress in Parker as we crossed the bridge and into heavier than expected traffic.<\/p>\n
This, of course, also affords local inn-keepers the opportunity to \u2018enhance cash flow\u2019 by charging \u2018premium\u2019 rates\u2026 No thanks, I told the very nice lady at the motel, I think I\u2019ll just try someplace else\u2026 Premium is one thing, double is another\u2026 I not only didn\u2019t know what sort of event was in progress, I was also definitely not there because of it.<\/p>\n
We still had some daylight left, so we proceeded to ride north towards Lake Havasu City\u2026 and we continued to not find a place to stop for the evening\u2026 Later, in that unique city with the famous, actual London Bridge, we didn\u2019t have any better luck\u2026 we rode on, northward again to see what might be up that way\u2026<\/p>\n
We took a much-needed relief break at a truck stop at I-40, and paused to consider our situation\u2026 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\u2019d stayed in before\u2026 and one that also had a restaurant and lounge on site\u2026 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\u2026 another brief but wholesome, uneventful evening\u2026 sigh\u2026<\/p>\n
The weather forecast (I\u2019m really starting to not like those) indicated a spate of foul weather for the high country where I\u2019d thought I was headed\u2026 I\u2019d 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\u2026 We did ride back though Prescott, avoiding Flagstaff naturally, and we did have a rather nice trek\u2026 But, now we were back-tracking and things were beginning to seem luster-less\u2026 what to do?<\/p>\n
In Sierra Vista, we did another round of laundry while I contemplated our next course of action\u2026 No bath for ALI this time, however, as she still appeared to be doing quite well\u2026 Can\u2019t go north, already been west, tired of riding the same roads around here\u2026 Maybe it\u2019s time to head east\u2026 Yep, that became the plan\u2026<\/p>\n
(Note to Britman: I did ride down southeast of Tucson on HWY 83 to 82 and across to Sierra Vista, as you\u2019d suggested\u2026 Great ride! Thanks!!!)<\/p>\n
Three very long days and one very short day later, I arrived in Montgomery, AL, for an approved visitation with Napper\u2026 I delivered the tee shirts I\u2019d acquired along the way for her, including one from \u2018the corner\u2019 in Winslow\u2026 and they were a hit! In fact, \u2026 well, I\u2019m now experiencing a bit of confusion\u2026 Did I get lucky because of those tees, or was it simply because of timing?<\/p>\n
I stood in awe as she approached me, her arms extended in front of her towards me\u2026 invitingly, seductively, a look of eager anticipation and wanton desire in her eyes\u2026 The strap on her top slid down off her right shoulder, exposing bare flesh and my heart skipped a beat\u2026 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\u2026<\/p>\n
My heart now racing wildly, I discovered they were indeed the light and fluffy original glazed alright, but there were no holes\u2026 Nope, solid pastries in a clever heart shape\u2026 Tasted just like the regular doughnuts, though, they just looked different\u2026 Either way, those are among my most favorite treats of all time, and I felt mighty lucky to have them!<\/p>\n
But, that haunting question lingers\u2026 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\u2019s Day\u2026? I\u2019ll probably never know the real answer to this genuine mystery \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, I\u2019d made that risky tee shirt run up to Winslow, AZ, a week or so ago\u2026 with high hopes it might pay off\u2026 it did\u2026 I think. Some of you on here expressed the hope that it would be …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meanderings-by-ddt-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":821,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820\/revisions\/821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}