The World According To Guitarguy

Last night I spent some time viewing the weather channel , eyeing the radar imagery and plotting my next direction that could keep me both mobile, yet out of harms way .

The storm front , west of Attalla Alabama, was moving at a pretty good clip and seemed to form a comma like shape, fatter near the south and weaker towards the top .

My thought was to head right into it as far as I dared to , then hunker down and wait for the storms to pass over before starting out once again, sort of like rushing into the lion’s waiting jaws and hoping he won’t bite you . (ask Sigfreid & Roy all about that one)

Looking at my travel worn but trusty road atlas , I spied rural route 278 that headed due west , straight into the concave portion of the storm front .

The entrance ramp was right up the road a piece from where my motel was located , so this looked like a plan.

First thing in the morning , I opened the curtains to find blue skies, always a welcome sight .

I loaded up the bike before taking full advantage to the ever popular “continental breakfast” , which I ate next to a table full of laughing elderly ladies (one still in her bathrobe) and then I was on my way .

Nine thirty, I thought was a little late for a good start.

It dawned on me later that I had passed into the central time zone yesterday and neglected to reset my watch …………..POOF ! an instant hour gain !

No wonder Ma sounded surprised when I asked why she was up so early .

Once more I picked a winner for a rural travel route !

278 was even better than 11 was yesterday , woodlands covered in spanish moss with a roller coaster landscape, just enough populace to find food , gas and working toilettes , fulfilling all the necessary requirements a motorcyclist could want for .

The road conditions were great and I saw my first armadillo (dead unfortunately) .

I tried at one point, for the sake of my fellow motorcyclist in the forum, to use my Flip-cam to do a live motion moto-cam shot , but must have not pushed the record button hard enough .

Nothing showed up when I checked it later on .

In my defense , trying to pilot a fully loaded scooter, on twisty roads with one hand at 60 mph and not dropping your newest electronic gizmo to what would certainly be a shattering demise is not an easy venture .

How about I just run around the motel room with it and go….Vrrrroooom Vrooooom !!

My plan was to try and reach the town of Hamilton before the rains started falling and I did that , so I decided to push on past the border into Mississippi , to the city of Tupelo .

Speed limits jumped to 70 mph, so I did 80 .

I saw a billboard for a Motel 8 that read 25 miles, exit 81 and with the horizon getting darker , I really poured it on .

By exit 92 the clouds started to spit a little but luckily I made it to 81 with a big smile and still quite dry thank you very much .

As I rounded the rear of the motel to find my room ,I noticed an elderly gentelman walking a tiny dog with a Harley T-shirt on (the dog not the man) .

As it turned out , he has the room next to mine .

We struck up a conversation while I unloaded my bike and he his new two seater , SKY sports car .

I informed him of my plans to ride cross country , possibly to Arizona .

He said that he too was traveling across the states , but in the other direction .

He told me of his wife’s passing on from cancer recently and how they always wanted to do something like this , so now he and his half blind miniature Pomeranian are making the trip in style .

He , in his new car and “Gus” in his newly converted car seat , complete with bedding and a self watering dish . 

Here I am now watching the SUN shine and wondering if I should have dared to push through the front ?

Oh well……………….