Now That's Some Old School

*** continued from previous post ***

"Okay, as long as you promise you'll ride with me again once we are back home."

"Honey," she said, squeezing me tighter, "I'd ride with you to the far corners of the globe if that’s what you wanted.” She relaxed her arms and sat up, swiveling her head and looking in all directions. Oh wait," she said, "seems like I already have."

"Cute."

"Yes," she said, "yes I am."

After discussing your Mother's own 'adorability quotient', which, we discovered, was nearly off the chart, I managed to get the bike turned around in the gravel through a combination of prayer and threats. Mostly threats.

It seemed not only had the Elder Gods deserted me but also the more conventional deities. Except for Loki or Coyote. This whole escapade stunk of their work.

With the road conditions deteriorating rapidly in the weather I had to be extra careful on the way back to the warmth of the Lodge. Driving, or trying to keep the bike on such a narrow track for such a long distance was exhausting, so when I saw a sign for "Annaminga Picnic Area", and a fine looking blacktop road going to these mythical picnic grounds it was like a gigantic magnet for the Vision. Oh tarmac! Oh sweet, sweet blacktop! I didn't care if it only went a few hundred nanograms into the woods. For that brief time we would be cruising in the way we had become accustomed before entering these mountains, which is to say, full of sanity and hope. Why there was this lone blacktop road in a sea of crushed mountain didn't even register as a curiosity in my numbed cerebellum.

I leaned back my head and motioned for your mom to raise her visor.

"Look! Blacktop! Mind if I point her in that direction? Just for a bit? Wouldn't it be nice to feel solid asphalt under the tires even for a few minutes? I've had enough of this slip-n-slide."

Mom didn't say anything but she gave me the 'thumbs up'. So, off the gravel we went and onto that loverly, loverly flat-black ribbon.

The road followed a small ravine cut through a hill. Steep gravel banks with small scrub trees framing the road on either side. I hadn't noticed how steep the road climbed but I also didn't really care. A steep slope on blacktop was no big deal. The road rose for probably a quarter mile, or about 76,000 liters, then crested the top and presumably went down the other side. Or, it may have dropped into a parallel dimension which would be. . . AWESOME!

I came to a stop at the turnoff with both wheels on that rich, black path long enough to wipe some fog from my visor and to figure out what the heck was going on with the three cars that were parked hodge-podge at the bottom. It looked as if they'd been dumped out of a bag rather than parked with any thought, effectively creating a bottleneck to the picnic area. They had left just enough room to squeeze around them on the right side, and I was planning my path when I noticed something funny.

I leaned back and spoke to your mom. "Hey honey? Why do you think those cars are full of people? It looks like they are all just sitting there, waiting for something."

Mom peered around my shoulders. "That is kind of weird. Maybe they're hiking and sitting in the cars to warm up a bit?"

This made perfect sense. Although, why they were all waving frantically was beyond me. "They seem quite excited about something." I waved back at them with my gloved hand. "Probably never thought they'd see a bike like this up here in the middle of nowhere."

Mom said, "I'm not sure that's what's going on. They seem to be pointing at us, then somewhere to their right, then back to us."

"Well," I said, "I don't care how much I'd like to further international relations. I'm not going to amuse them by trying to climb a gravel hill on a touring bike. They can just forget that."

Although the thought flashed through my mind how cool this would actually be. Hill climbing on a Vision. Now that's old-school. I was positive I could make it. . . oh, ten feet or so before crashing spectacularly into a twisting ball of flame. The image was mighty appealing. At least I would be warm.

"I don't think that's it," Mom said, swiveling her head to look around.

"Then what the hell is. . . " And it was about that time I saw. . .

BEAR!

Big bear. Huge bear. Angry looking bear.



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*** the journey continues ***