Bessie and Me: Shifting Gears

June 27, 2013 Summer Road Trip 2013_Day Seven Canadian Rockies_SummerRoadTrip2012 “Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere; and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.” Home; the place I grew up, the place where my immediate family live....”....the dark ancestral cave, the womb from which mankind emerged into the light, forever pulls one back - but...you can’t go home again...you can’t go...back home to the escapes of Time and Memory. You Can’t Go Home Again.”  Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again Can I just say, I love my family.  And in terms of the Dysfunctional Meter, my family pegs just slightly right of ‘Average.’ There was a time, especially when Debi drank alcohol in copious quantities, that my family’s Dysfunctional Meter was always pegging strongly to the right - ‘Extreme.’  Those were good times; sobriety and age has its merits I suppose....I sit here in my Dad’s kitchen (not the home of my youth; when my Dad ...

June 27, 2013 Summer Road Trip 2013_Day Six SE Alberta Canada_SummerRoadTrip2012 “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it’s about learning to ride in the rain.” Day six was probably my least favorite part of the trip so far; the jaunt from south of Lexington Kentucky to Muncie Indiana was fraught with rain. I awoke at 4am (Yikes! its summer!) thinking I could ‘beat the bad weather’ but alas, it was raining just five miles down the road from the hotel. There were two things I was NOT looking forward to today; rain and Interstate traffic. After five days of mountain roads and very little traffic (except the metric bikes screaming around the curves ahead of me), I was reluctant to hit the Super Slab. Let me take a moment to say something about ‘rain gear,’ it sucks. But, this is the kind of weather day that separates the fair-weather bikers from the hard-core bikers. If you are fair-weather (and understand I’m not passing judgment, I get it), you do...

June 25, 2013 Summer Road Trip 2013_Day Five “Always go with the choice that scares you the most. Take the road that has more curves, because these are the choices that are going to require the most from you. Never stop challenging yourself.”  Check. I tackled The Gauntlet and Slayed (or is it Slew??) the Dragon ....all before noon today.  Since leaving home on Friday, Bessie2 and I have racked up 1200 miles, and its all good.  My anticipated partner for the ride in Georgia today just wasn’t an early enough riser....sorry, its daylight, Bessie2 and I are rollin....we will catch you on the trip back South Curt. Gray clouds were heavy in the Georgia mountains this a.m. as I packed Bessie2; I needed  to complete the ‘other half’ of The Gauntlet before I left though. I said ‘goodbye’ to the group from Louisiana, checked the room twice for any ‘leave behinds,’ and bid farewell to the Copperhead Lodge early. My ONLY complaint with the accommodations her...

June 24, 2013 Curt Dempsey: Straight Count Choppers First I felt the gas splash in my face - not good - then I saw the transmission ‘smoking,’ - not a good thing either...and so the morning progressed from there. The BMW group invited me to join them for breakfast this a.m., what a great group of people! and there was a GIRL with them....you go Maria! We chatted amiably about usually being the only girl in the group. After a wonderful breakfast and even better company (one of the riders had been on the North Shore of Lake Superior and we compared ride conditions in that area and the few hotels available); Bob voiced a desire to ride the Gauntlet with Michelle and I ...so we bid ‘adieu’ to the rest of the crew and Bob and I headed back to the lodge.   I was REALLY looking forward to the Gauntlet today! Once I felt the gas splash in my face, I turned into a parking area; bless Bob’s heart, he was all over the problem for me trying to determine if the gas splash...

June 23, 2013 Summer Road Trip 2013_Day Three   To quote my friend Maxine, ‘I haven’t had this much fun since my pager got stuck on vibrate!’   I left Highlands NC this morning (not even sure when - that’s when you know you’re really not in a hurry) headed for Blairsville Georgia and I just never got over 50 mph; one curve after another! It’s like an adult theme park in this area if you have two wheels! Not for the timid rider though; more than once I found myself uttering - Holy Shit! - under my breath.  And I only heard, ‘are you riding by yourself?’  twice today. Bessie2 and I took 106 South/West out of Highlands NC - known as Dillard Road - and it was a beautifully chilly morning! There’s just nothin like crisp, mountain air to clear the head. I was astounded at the homes along this route - talk about mountain retreats - opulent. And those were the ones I could actually SEE. Highlands is the kind of ritzy summer retreat area where they display ‘y...

June 22nd, 2013 I spent most of my life with the attitude of ‘how fast can I get there?’ or worse, ‘how fast can I get away?’ Ironically, it took a big, fast, powerful motorcycle to slow me down. I never understood the phrase, ‘its about the journey, not the destination’ until I climbed aboard my first Harley Davidson.  The last several years that I have had my bike, I’ve never been in a hurry to get anywhere; I told my Dad last night, ‘I might get there on Wednesday....I’ll call.’  I stayed just off 28 last night in North Augusta; 28 is the Savannah River Scenic Byway (mostly in South Carolina) - there are these wonder Scenic Byways all over the country. Its how travel used to be, before mega Interstates were built and ushered in the ‘how fast can I get there’ mentality. I cruised at a leisurely pace along gently curving asphalt; slowing down every so often for a little wide spot in the road - someones home town.  A couple of hours and I hit Interstate 85...

June 21, 2013 Summer Road Trip - Day One I went through endless mental masturbation trying to leave for this jaunt; lots of reasons ‘why,’ none of which I have any control over. Doesn’t matter if I’m sitting in Winter Haven or cruising on Bessie2 - I still don’t have any control over circumstances - it’s not inside my hula hoop. The weather Gods were with me today; looks like hell in many other parts of the country, but they smiled on Bessie2 and I today. Left Winter Haven at oh-dark-thirty, just as the sun was coming up. I don’t have to tell you about my trip across I-4 ....if you read my blog on a regular basis (which virtually no one does), you know I loathe I-4. After clearing the endless construction, I connected with 95 only to be immersed in ‘pea soup-like’ fog. Just north of St. Augustine it finally cleared up and it was smooth sailing until we hit rain south of Savannah.  I stopped in time to cover the pack and reluctantly pull my gators and slicker from th...

“Table for One” This is for all the women in my circle who are alone by choice - Divas of Uniqueness, Sisters in Solitude, Queens of Incomparable - strong, independent women who not only embrace our Aloneness, but Celebrate in it. “Is it just you this morning?, ” the waitress inquires, as I take a seat - by myself -  at a table for four in the not-so-crowded restaurant.   “Yes, it is,” I say, more than a little defensively.  “Alone.” (I hear George Carlin’s distinctive voice, low and soothing,  saying the word and emphasizing the sound with about six extra syllables..... ”Allllloooooonnnne”) As I travel around the country on Bessie, there are two comments I hear frequently: “Did you ride that all the way from Florida?” which I will address in another chapter, and “Are you by yourself?,” which is code for ‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE IS NO MAN WITH YOU??’ The word ‘alone,’ in this context of course means without the accompaniment of a man; without a ...