The weather is nigh on perfect here today...for being a few days short of December anyway. Mid day highs in the mid fifties, light wind, and not a cloud in a big blue sky.
So I dutifully gear up, ignite the Triumph, fill it with 91 octane dinosaur juice, and head the thirty-five miles up the road to Deadwood for coffee and a scone out on the patio of The Pump House Cafe.
Just as I was going to ride across the intersection and pull into the cafe's tiny parking lot, a bright red Vespa rolled through the intersection right in front of me.
I sat there at the stoplight for several seconds in utter disbelief, then realized that it hadn't been just a cruel trick of my imagination, and it really was a Vespa.
So, instead of going straight ahead to the cafe, I turned left in pursuit of the little red Unicorn, and within a half block fell in behind it, knowing that the rider was almost certain to soon stop someplace, because it wasn't likely that he'd continue on another mile in town and then head on out on the open highway.
After following the rider about a half mile, he signaled a left turn and went into the lot of Cadillac Jack's hotel/casino and parked.
I immediately pulled into the spot next to him as he was taking off his helmet, shut off my bike, and started to tell him how rare a sight another Vespa was in this part of the country, and that I also owned one. So we had a little chat, he shook my hand, he went inside the casino, and I headed back to the cafe, still a bit light-headed for the experience.
I took a photo of his GTS as evidence of the super-rare encounter, and offer it up here so others won't think I was delusional and perhaps having one of those late 1960's 'flashback' things that I've heard about.
No, it was as real as I'm sitting here mere feet from the Wasp-a-torium, while feverishly typing my thoughts on today's occurrence before it's details fade into the geriatric fog of what remains of my crystalizing mind.
Behold! A local Vespa GTS300 other than the one I own...