"Out of Kendall I'm riding
along at 65 mph some 50 yards behind an eighteen wheeler listening to my
stereo when another tractor-trailer who had been gaining on us pulls out
to pass me. I think to myself, "He sure is anxious!" He is about half way
around me when the road curves and I notice a car coming toward us.
It immediately becomes apparent that there is
no way this rig will make it and he can't slow down fast enough to pull
back in behind me. He will either hit the on-coming car or run us off the
road. I quickly hit the brakes, the trucker realizes his predicament and
as I thought, cuts in.
Thankfully my CB is not on as I loudly expound
upon his ancestry, IQ, after life destination, personal proclivities, and
what he must have a lot of after lunch. I think, "there is no way
I'm staying behind him!" (though rationally I should have) so I pass him
going 90. It takes all my restraint not to gesture my rating of his driving
ability. Fortunately, he doesn't try and pass again and I ride in the rocker
until Lakin, Kansas."
"Noticing a small sporting
goods store opening for business [in Wilmer, Alabama] I go in and talk
to the sales lady. Asking her about the local fishin' and huntin' she says,
"it's excellent!" and the displayed photos collaborate her statement. As
this area appears, from my perception, to be archetype of the deep South
and being aware of the rift between Northerners and Southerners I naively
ask her, "How far north does one have to live to be considered a Northerner?"
She says, "As far as those in these parts are concerned, any place north
of here."
"It's extremely difficult
to keep 'B' upright, dodge pedestrians, view the sights, stay out of the
way of other vehicles, try to find the most expedient route around stalled
traffic, and worry about the increasing temperature of 'B's coolant let
alone know where you are, where you want to go and how to get there. Most
of the time I am on Manhattan Island I simply don't know where I am."
"Mount Rushmore! As we all
have, I'd seen pictures of the Monument since childhood but it is
something else to view it in person. I felt awed by the sight of the 60
foot faces of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. What a task
for Gutzon Borglum to direct the sculpturing of those granite gazes. Truly
a must-see sight!"
Copyright © 1991. Reprinted by permission.
All rights reserved.
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