By JB “Papa” Brostrom, MWAi

After a great night’s sleep I woke to finish the Day 4 blog. Our hotel is not supposed to be haunted like the Lodge in Cloudcroft, NM. As I am typing on the laptop on my… lap, the hotel TV is switched on and I am watching the movie preview loop. I hadn’t touched the remote our the TV and I believe I am alone in this room…

News from Dallas: Rick Taylor, CEO of Konica Minolta (KMBS), presided over the KMBS dealer advisory council. Jenna Stramaglio was invited to present FORZA to those in attendance. The wonderful and startling news is that Rick presented Jenna with a check for $27,000.00 to the Jillian Fund. As was reported this was a direct donation from the dealers and a matching gift from KMBS. WOW! We are well over our$100k goal! We need to stop and raise it up for our entire industry!!!!! This is simply amazing. WE THANK YOU ALL.

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We began the day with the short ride to Memphis Communications Corp (MCC). Scot Berry and team were waiting to provide us with a wonderful reception. We were given full $9.00 tours of their operation in a building that began its life as a GM training facility. It was a great morning watching the success of FORZA in action.

Scot and the MCC team graciously presented us with a donation to the Jillian fund. We are lucky to be part of a larger team of clients and business partners with heart and soul like the Berrys.

Next stop… a Harley dealership just out of town on our way to Atlanta. Gordito needed to replace his rear speakers. Putting up with blown speakers is not something Gordito will do. Not to worry as this should be a 20 minute fix and we like to stop at dealerships along the way. At the hour mark Slaw headed to Walgreens to get his favorite spray sunscreen. One cannot live on slather alone. Bert used the time to lighten his load and ship some of his belongings home from the FedEx store.

At about the 90 minute mark it Gordito was informed the dealership didn’t have, in stock, the speakers he needed. 90 minutes?! Papa and Paco did manage to adjust Paco’s suspension to make for a smoother ride. This was needed because a day earlier Paco suffered an “asseurism” and we could not have that happen again.

Now this particular asseurism manifested itself in both an animate and inanimate way. Paco got off his bike after a long day of riding to find his fluffy jell seat add-on to have blown…. Literally blown out. The slimy sticky residue could only have occurred as the direct result of his asseurism.

We also met a lovely young dealership reception woman. She proudly showed us her adult coloring book.

We left the dealership with everyone having accomplished their goal with the exception of Gordito. Thus we won’t say we lost two hours because of…

We shoved off and headed southeast into Mississippi on US 72. We rode hard as we wanted to arrive in Atlanta early enough for Gordito to get his failing speakers repaired. Those screaming eagles tend to squawk with their speakers blown. Getting off the interstate system allows for some of the most beautiful scenery coupled with interesting people at the fuel and hydration stops.

The downside is that timing your arrival is more difficult especially on a day when hydration stops were essential. We occasionally will run into drivers who don’t always appreciate a line of 7 bikers. We did pass, twice, two trucks each hauling one half of Maureen’s future retirement home. We think it was being hauled to a lake in northern Alabama. For all the completely true stereotypes from Alabama I must report they have some of the most beautiful roads.

We wee on US highways as well as county roads and were delighted with great scenery and smooth roads. The closer we get to Georgia the more mountainous the terrain becomes. We stopped for hydration in Gadsden Alabama. Gadsden is where Papa and his new bride had their first home as newlyweds in 1980.

Along the way we ran into a little detour. Seems a very wide load was unable to navigate small country road. This may have been Maureen’s future retirement home causing the detour. While the engineers tried to figure out the problem we were detoured on a small farming access road. It was lovely.

Lined up at the fence watching the newly formed traffic and low rumble of bikes was a herd of rib-eye steaks. We had a glorious winding, shaded, well paved road out of Alabama and into Georgia. With all of Gordito’s well planned “short cuts” we were able to navigate right into Marrietta but long after the dealership was closed. If you have ever gotten on I 75 south and quickly onto I 285 east and then onto I 85 north in the evening you will understand we went from life changing riding to life threatening! My apologies to the Gleason’s, I will be back for a short time next week.

We arrived at our hotel looking for something about which to bicker. Let me pause and coin the term Biker-bicker. The reality is we had a long successful day or riding. We were all kickstands down at the intended destination without any bike or human road rash. There was no cause for biker-bicker. We ordered pizza and fix’ns… thank you Bert and Oki. We sat in the comfy lobby couches to rehash our day. Bert also ordered cocktails from the bar… triple shot!? As we relaxed a cleaned up GQ sat down telling a story about a “guy” who makes moonshine. He promptly sat shot glasses down along with a chilled container and proceeded to pour us some shots. These were cold, smooth and easy on the way down. Paco thought he would pour another and GQ stopped him. Even the most experienced white lightening connoisseur must wait 20 to 30 minutes between shots due to the elevated spirits content. We all decided one was enough. The pizza was delivered and devoured. We all retired and collapsed. It was not a good day… it was a great one!