Chapter 11: Traveling Again

Dave carefully unwrapped the motorcycle that he’d stored in a large tool crib at Dallas’ Love Field – the 1988 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail that had starred in the movie Road Trip along with Dave’s wife Scarlett Johansson. He’d tightly wrapped the bike in plastic sheeting as a dust cover after winterizing it, including the addition of a stabilizing additive to the gasoline in the tank and several containers of damp-rid to keep moisture at bay.

After wheeling the bike out of the hangar where it had been stored, he gave the starter a try. To his surprise, the battery had remained charged enough to start the bike after a minor hesitation. The motorcycle roared to life, the sound echoing around behind him in the large open hangar.

Several of the mechanics and linemen came over to him and to marvel at the motorcycle. The ownership of the motorcycle in storage had become widely known by everyone at the aircraft service station. Some of the people made favorable comments to Dave about liking his singing and hoping to see him live soon at a concert.

One asked for a picture. Dave gathered all of them together and got some who didn’t want to be in the photo to take a collective picture of all of them standing behind the Harley. As he stood there, he sent the photo by email to each of them.

One of the women in the group, a pretty auburn haired fox and an office worker who’d come out to see what the commotion was, asked, “Need someone to ride with you the rest of your journey?”

Dave teased, “Hop on, although that pencil skirt might be a problem.”

She laughed and said, “I really would go with you ... but I have a ton of other commitments ... and a husband who just wouldn’t understand.” She sighed in regret. Dave hugged her and kissed her forehead.

Dave rode the bike back to the motel at the outskirts of the airport where he’d stayed last night with Alice. He stopped to put air in the tires. Alice had flown him to Dallas to restart his journey and stayed overnight. She’d left early that morning after they made love to fly back to Sarasota and return to work as the CFO of EneRG.

Dave had gotten more economical about what he needed on his trip. Well he allowed for camping out, he opted to dispense with the cookware and tent. All food was eatable without cooking such as energy bars, and the tarp he carried was large enough to fold over his down sleeping bag and keep him dry. He planned to use aluminum tarp poles to prop up the tarp as a cover, if he needed to tent.

The one thing he had bought, patterning himself after Jim Mellon – the main character in the book Cricket wrote entitled Road Trip – was a travel guitar in a waterproof case. He also had a couple of practice music books his instructor had given him. He’d packed those in waterproof bags.

Dave admitted to himself that at his advanced age he’d become addicted to creature comforts such as a nice bed, an air-conditioned room, and good meals that he didn’t have to worry about preparing. He’d take his chances as he traveled regarding room and meal availability, but those were his preferences.

Dave took the time to set up his carefully programmed iPad Mini onto the handle bars of the Harley on a special mount. The device would charge off of the bike’s electrical system, and show him micro and macro views of his route.

Dave headed out from the motel after packing and stowing all his gear, again with about twenty bungee cords. He did use the Interstate and some of the freeways to get from Dallas to Fort Worth, and then to head west along some of the U.S. and state routes. He rapidly concluded that Texas was (a) large, (b) spacious, and© often desolate. Flying over the state, which he’d done many times, rapidly became his preferred method of traversing.

He headed for Abilene, Texas as an overnight stop. A quick telephone call and he had a room at the Hilton Garden Inn. He poked along the route and was rarely the fastest vehicle on the road. He noted that even some of the local roads had seventy miles per hour speed limits.

Dave chuckled as he drove through the sprawling community as he remembered a story from his younger days called the Abilene Paradox. It was about some family that ended up driving to Abilene even though none of them really wanted to go. They all thought they were doing what the others wanted to do, when in fact Abilene was the farthest from any of their individual’s wishes. One moral to the story was about honesty in communications with others.

Dave had a nice dinner at the motel and then spent the evening working on some of his song lyrics, and then practicing his guitar and even trying to work out fitting the music to the words he’d written, often modifying one or the other. He wasn’t impressed by his work, but thought the effort was useful as practice. One day he might just hit the right combination of words and music to that he had something he really liked.

He’d gotten several ideas for new songs driving to Abilene, so he made some extensive notes about those. The next day, as he got on the road heading for New Mexico, he’d work at refining the ideas in his mind.

Dave headed out early the next morning aiming for Albuquerque – a five-hundred-mile day. He made his first stop a coffee shop across from a small park in Lubbock, Texas. He walked around the park to get the blood flowing in his body after sitting on the bike part of the morning. He figured he was about a third of the way to Albuquerque at that point.

Dave had a concert to give in Albuquerque on the University of New Mexico campus at the Dreamstyle Arena. Kyle had emailed him that the arena was a sellout crowd. He also said he wasn’t sure whether he’d have Shiloh Gentry there to join in or not. Since Dave would have several days before the event, he’d have time to adjust and work things out with the band ahead of time.

Dave groaned as he got off his bike in front of the hotel in Albuquerque. He expected his back to hurt a little. It hurt a lot. He hoped the pool area had a Jacuzzi.

Without unloading the bike, he registered for the room that had been arranged for him. As in a few other cities, the concert entourage had taken over the entire top floor of the hotel, occupying all of their suites. Dave got a few items of luggage from the bike and went up to the room.

To his immense pleasure, Shiloh was sitting in the room with her feet up on the bed. She was wearing a bikini.

“Oh, goody. My lover is here,” she hummed as she ran to meet him and kiss him. “I’ve missed you.”

Dave struggled to straighten up, “I’m sore from riding. You don’t happen to do massages, do you?”

Shiloh lit up, “I do. I know all the muscle groups and everything. Remember, I was studying to be a physician’s assistant before you discovered me. Come and lie down.”

Dave hobbled over to the bed and fell face first in one of the pillows. “When did you get here?” She started to pull his clothes from his body as he rolled around to help.

“I flew in from Tulsa this morning. The only flight. I found out from Kyle that you’d likely be here today, and I wanted to be with you.”

As they talked, she stripped Dave’s clothes away until he was naked. She pushed him down and started feeling along his spinal column, just about digging her fingers into his back around every vertebra. She massaged each area and tested its tenderness.

“You shouldn’t ride so far in one day. I can tell there’s some swelling back here.”

“You’re telling me. I did this distance a few times last year without any problem.” “Ouch! You’re killing me.”

“I’m trying to relax all the muscles that you’ve been holding in tension all day.”

Dave looked back at her. She’d become naked. The bikini had been tossed aside. After another painful series of pulses, he asked, “Do they have a Jacuzzi here?”

“In the bathroom. We have the premier suite. It’s got everything except hot and cold running maids. I’ll handle that part of things for you. There’s a fruit tray in the living room. Can I get you something?”

Dave thought and groaned as she worked his shoulder muscles, “White wine over ice. Did you eat?”

“No, I was waiting for you. I learned that a few of your wives track your location with their phones. Cricket let me know that you were on your way this morning, and then when I checked in with her at lunch, you were obviously in downtown Nowhere, Texas, aiming for Albuquerque.”

“I assume we’re singing together? There anything I should know?”

“We are, and I think we’re in good shape. I hope it’s all right, but I also made arrangements to stay with you for a week.”

“I was going to hang around New Mexico,” Dave muttered almost into the pillow. “I want to see Santa Fe and Taos. I’d love your company. After two nights alone, I’m already lonely.”

“You won’t be with me around. I love you. You can fuck my lights out around the clock, too. Come on. Get up and move around. Before you do that, it’s Jacuzzi time. Take some Tylenol, too.” She pulled him to his feet and pushed him in the direction of the suite’s luxurious bathroom. On the way, he washed down two of the aspirin with some wine.

After filling the tub, Dave lay back in Shiloh’s arms as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. He could feel her breasts and rigid nipples against his wet back. She often kissed him and kept running her hands over his body. Bubbles and warm water swirled all around them. Several times she had him sit forward so she could massage his back again.

“I’m feeling much better thanks to you.”

“Almost Dr. Gentry at your service.”

“Why not continue and get the MD? Go beyond the PA degree.” he asked.

“And sing? That’s an unlikely combination, given the time to do both. The singing thing is a blast and a surprise to myself. I want to see what this turns into and then maybe take a long sabbatical from the singing and try to finish the MD, residency, and what not. You motivated me to think big about myself. As it is, I’ll just squeak out of school with the PA degree.”