Back in the stable

I rolled in to my garage at 1:58 p.m., some 6 hours and 56 minutes after I left the motel in Alexander City, Ala.

Of that time, 6 hours and 23 minutes were spent in motion as I hauled ass northwest toward home.

I have to credit the Garmin GPS with finding a short route that I probably would not have worked out if I’d been left to my own devices with a road atlas.

I saw parts of the South I would never have seen if I’d kept to the Interstate highway network. And I probably wouldn’t have experienced the acrophobic terror of that ridiculously high three- or four-level interchange in downtown Birmingham.

U.S 78 is a delight through northwest Alabama and northern Mississippi. It’s built to Interstate specs and is designated as the future I-22 corridor. Memphis was, well, Memphis, complete with a miles-long construction zone crawl along I-55 northbound.

I started my day with the free Comfort Inn breakfast bar, choosing strawberry yogurt, a bowl of oatmeal and coffee.

I had a very pleasant conversation with a retired ATF agent who used to ride a Kawasaki Concours. He tells me there’s as much backwoods moonshine making these days as there ever was. He also said he’d never touch the stuff after finding a dead squirrel in the mash at one still he raided.

I had another pleasant encounter at the Shell station at Winfield, Ala. when a BMW GS rider from Little Rock struck up a conversation. He said he’ll probably see me at the BMW MOA national rally this summer in Johnson City, Tenn.

The only really dicey part of today’s ride was the last leg from I-55 up U.S. 63 to Jonesboro. There was a very strong wind from the south, which I didn’t notice until the first time the road angled due west. I’ve ridden in much worse crosswinds, but I was glad then the Nestle Road exit showed up.

I’m writing this to kill time while Maria writes a column at the office and then we’re off to a movie.