Waffle House for breakfast — carb loading for the long day ahead. We retraced our steps from Day 1. Opening 30 minutes riding was in rain close to the intensity of that which we experienced in Kansas two days ago. Thankfully it abated. Even light rain made West Virginia toll booth stops a dangerous slip and slide ride. No food stops today after breakfast meant lots of high protein snack bags — the 3rd and final trail mix sack consumed at a midday gas stop.

An act of trust: a tortoise family (mother and two tinies in trail) more than halfway across a West Virginia highway. Folks stopped to let ‘em pass in response.

Saw our first speed traps on US 211 less than 2 hours from home. Steve and I parted company on the Fairfax County Parkway. Arrived home ~ 730 PM. 8040 miles. Avoided until 40 miles remained the pain of numb butt complex. 10 minutes before I pulled into the South Lee Street parking pad, a neighbor returned home from 3+ weeks working in Nigeria. An impromptu stoop cocktail party ensued — displaying for all our new Yankee neighbors that here in the South we do not hide our crazy, we parade it on the front porch and give it a cocktail. Met our next-door neighbor’s Vietnam era USAF transport squadron mate & pilot, Ralphie. An endearing laugh, consisting of three long Heh’s separated by raspy exhalations with the last Heh being extra-long and under toned with the back notes from 35 years of Marlboros puffing.

Observation #15: see Idle Moment Roadtrip Thoughts. Various octane level cocktails at stoop party were followed by red and white wines and a home cooked meal of Italian sausage and pasta. The Maccallan 12 year capped the evening.

Why Roadtrip? On a Motorsickle?
-questions posed 3+ weeks ago in this journal
(see partial answer below)

And so it ended. Cue the music. Roll the credits.

. . . so glad we made it, so glad we made it
You gotta gimme some lovin’ (gimme-gimme some lovin’)
Gimme some lovin’ (gimme-gimme some lovin’)
Gimme some lovin’ every day

Well, I feel so good, ev’rything is getting high,
Better take it easy, ’cause the place is on fire
Been a hard day, not everything tuned out good
Now I’m gonna relax, ev’rbody should

So glad we made it, so glad we made it
You gotta give me some lovin;
Gimme some lovin’, gimme-gimme some lovin’
Gimme some lovin’ every day.

Daily Windshield Bug Smash Bingo Game winners: yellow

Query count as of the end of Day 23: (no change)

Where’re you going? – 23
What’s that? (Steve’s Valkyrie) – 9
Damsels in distress? – 9

A human being should be able to
palm an ace, pop a zit, annoy a bureaucrat,
raise a flag, bait a hook,
name all members of Frank Zappa’s last five bands,
slay the Jabberwocky, boot to DOS,
kite a check, repel most common household stains,
ignore a ringing telephone, change the channel,
burn rubber in all four+ gears, make a salad,
Do da Funky Chicken, re-primer the right front fender,
press khakis, open a beer bottle on 15 different parts of a car,
copy a videotape, start a recolution,
fake an orgasm, grow giant mushrooms in the basement,
understand general and special relativity,
quote the Bible, draft a Constitution,
use duct tape 117 different ways,
ride the tiger, hock loogies, buy low & sell high,
choke the chicken, smelt some bronze, change a diaper,
recite Fireside Theater and Saturday Night Live bits,
plan an invasion and bombing campaign, build a wall,
program a computer, BBQ a chicken, saddle a goat, set a bone,
lay some asphalt, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders.
cooperate, act alone, solve equations for “x,”
whack a mole, true a spoked bicycle wheel, pitch manure,
analyze a new problem, chip some rock, spit shine a boot,
play an accordion, butcher a hog, write a sonnet, and `
balance accounts and motorcycle flywheels.

If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.

A good pair of serviceable shoes can always be had at your local bowling alley for $1.85.

—————————————————–

Rear View Mirrors
March 2023

No matter how many road trips you take or journals you write, you want to ride and write more. To ride that rare air. Like on a spaceship. Breathing it changes you. Each new road is a new appraisal by the world of whether you the rider can still get it up or not, arrogance and self-esteem and deep breathing are all you got. But be careful, some roads are monsters with teeth. On the other hand, life’s pain is the entry ticket price into the palaces of sublime pleasure and knowledge.

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