“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” [G.K. Chesterton]
It is late and my packing is only still on paper. Meaning I phone. My whole Life, the "memory path" anyhow, is here, contained in these few gigabytes of artificial intelligence. I say "intelligence" because it is smarter than me, my memory to even names and "where I put it" has been deliriously failing. We will be two nights out, then it is on luxury living with our own bedroom and even bathroom I do believe. Same on the return most likely unless we take a different route back. Traveling light, another new experience in the fact that I am not packing any cooking gear. Not even coffee! I have seen others do it, I want to experience cheap filling junk food and hunt with half closed lids for a resemblance of coffee. I might change my mind in the morning… I am planning only 200 miles a day and many stops for photos and chatting with anyone that cares to.
Fast forward. The first leg to Alpine was rough. I woke up around 2am hearing a strange and unfamiliar sound. Rain! Never thought about checking the weather. When day after day Paradise setting remains, one forgets. Cold, cloudy and as finally packed, the best nose wind prevailed dropping everything to a lower number which included only fourth gear most of the time, bad gas mileage and nothing above fifty. Heated gear set on high as we finally reached the 5300 feet mark a few miles before Alpine. That is where the fingers fall off and I operate the machine with only the palms of my hands. Magic. Since we eventually had to turn east I knew things would change. Picked up a missing prescription at the Dr as I will take advantage of the inexpensive prices at the Walmart Pharmacy in Houston, more fuel, topped the air in all three tires for black top warp speed riding and there we went again. The wind did change, suddenly we were in tenth gear purring and flying down the road, yet with murky skies ahead of us.
Marathon. Old Faithful decided to stop at the Burnt Biscuit, coincidentally they were open and I only had one deep fried peach pie! Breakfast on the road with much determination. Good winds have stayed with us till Del Rio, but the temps have dropped and this time it was Spirit’s decision to let go of the camping idea and treat ourselves to a $29 room at Motel 6. It was not dark yet but I think he knew they would leave the light on when we would go for a stroll later on. My Life is easy, I take no decisions… We have a Friend here that had actually invited us to stay with her, I just forgot her name as I looked and looked through my past received and saved emails. There goes the notion of even artificial intelligence helping me out. Maybe she will be reading this and make herself known again so we can visit on the way back. It is so embarrassing.
Dinner was just a few slices of a certain they said promising the best BBQ Brisquet from Rudy’s. To go. Nice decor, fun to photograph, not that much fun to eat. Isn’t anyone taking pride in their food anymore? I saved a couple slices to resole my moccasins soon. I don’t think leaving the cooking gear behind was a wise choice as I am already thinking what kind of concoction will coffee be in the morning. I don’t do fast food, it generally always has changed my physical appearance, but Mc Donald has pretty good coffee and their still on the menu forever Mc Muffin has never triggered any adverse situation.
There is a fair across the street, I could not pass that one up without walking through it with my camera. It is amazing how many of the workers avoided the lens… Hum… I left my wallet behind, my sweet tooth has a tendency to outgrow the rest of them at night. I did well by not even giving myself a choice. Now I am thinking since I am back maybe the vending machine around the corner must have something for sure, outdated maybe, that might even make me glow in the dark. This is when I say out loud, because it is the only way it will sound great, for no reason as one never needs one "Holy Jurassic Park, Batman". It is a comment from Carol, a reader, after watching the last video on the Mosasaurs! I just think it is the funniest expression I have heard in a long time. I mean what does Jurassic Park have to do with Batman! It just is. Of course "that" has nothing to do with the vending machine either. I must be tired.
One more day, one more night, we are now in Schulenburg. Mr. Spirit has his own seamstress. "Mary". An another reader of his. Custom fitting him with a winter coat. What can I say? Nothing really, I am only the "chauffeur" in this Life of his. He gets to wear it already tomorrow morning and he will need to stop here again on the return for more fittings. I personally think he is totally getting carried away in this relationship of ours, this needs to stop.
Strange weather has been happening both past days. Every afternoon we are headed toward dark cold clouds, the roads are wet, the fields have formed their own little ponds everywhere, we ourselves have yet to be even touched by one drop of rain. The days, the ride, all has been excellent. A bit above past rides, there is a mental calm knowing we are going to be amongst some Dear Friends. More later! We have arrived, we have to go “real food” shopping.
Till next time, you all be well, always, it is our best choice.
Ara & Spirit
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