Home again, Home again.....

Today was a very nice day. The weather was pretty chilly, but we had our cold gear. Basically, it was a quick loop through the hill country, and then the long way home. I will post a bit more detail after I get some sleep, here are some pics to distract you till then.

Stonehenge II:



Finally got around to getting a picture of Mike and I next to our bikes:



Here is the nice couple that took the picture for us. Opus and Rebecca. They are on a road trip from Seattle to North Carolina on an R100RS. Yes, two up.




Finally, here is our route:


View Larger Map


TTFN

Dave

Surfing the cold front.

The goal today was to make it to Kerrville. Nothing fancy just get there before the cold front catches us. We ended up leaving Stephenville about 9:00 this morning. The weather wasn't bad, but we could see the front moving toward us. as long as we were moving, everything went smoothly. When we stopped for gas, or just to stretch our legs, we could see it catch up. We managed to keep ahead of the front all the way to Fredericksburg. We stopped and had lunch at Hondo's. When we came out, the sky was dark and the wind had picked up a lot. The 22 mile stretch of TX-16 to Kerrville was hell. We hit during the topsoil rotation period. 40+ mph winds blowing the dirt from one field , across the highway, to another. The wind was bad enough that the trucks were staying below 60 mph. In the end, we made it, we are alive.

Here is today's route:


View Larger Map


TTFN

Dave

An exercise in random stupidity.

Today we ran from the nasty cold front coming in from the north. Originally, the plan was to go up to pops, then a bit of riding on Route 66. The nasty cold front is beating the hell out of OKC, and we are heading southwest. We made it into Stephenville, TX this evening.

Before we left Paris, we had to go and take a look at the Mini Eiffel Tower. It was a tower...of steel tubing.......and it was very Eiffel-ey.

Here is the pic of the bikes in front of the tower.



We also had to stop at the Paris Cemetery to see "Cowboy Boot Jesus". It turns out it was not exactly what I was expecting. If anyone has the urge to go see it, you kind of have to search for it. Enter the Cemetery from evergreen street, follow that gravel road past 3 intersections, and the grave is on the left. It turns out that the statue is actually a very large grave marker with a statue of Jesus carrying a cross. It just so happens that his robe is riding up on one side to show his cowboy boots.

Here is a shot of the statue:



The leg of the trip to Denton was actually not bad. Quite a bit more traffic than we would have liked, but survivable. The leg out to Jacksboro was horrible. The leading edge of the front was coming in, so we had about 25-30 mph cross winds the whole way. Once we made the turn onto 281 and headed south, it was actually kind of nice. The only real excitement was the rock that was thrown up by a truck in front of me. It hit my fairing hard enough to crack it, and then hit my left bicep hard enough to leave a small bruise.

Here is a shot of the crack in the fairing:



Looks like tomorrow, we will make the run to Kerrville, then spend the rest of the trip playing around in the spagetti bowl.

Here is today's route:


View Larger Map


TTFN

Dave

The mid-life rideout......

My midlife crisis present to myself is a road trip. Like I need an excuse...... Dragging Mike along with me on this one. He is a road trip virgin. This is gonna be fun. Since this was the first day, I decided to make it a grind. We pushed a little over 300 miles today. I have to say, there is some gorgeous scenery out in east Texas. We have made the first leg of the Texas World Tour. Today we went through Palestine, Athens, and Paris.

I have to say, if you ever find yourself in Paris,TX the Hampton Inn is a very nice hotel. Mike and I actually got to meet the desk clerk that Vern and Glenn met when they stayed here back in June, and she remembered them. Like any self respecting Parisian woman, she wasted no time tempting Mike and I into a world of vice by giving us cigarettes while listening to stories about riding. I will not mention her name here, but if you happen to stay there, you can ask the desk clerk if she is the one.

It looks like the weather is not going to agree with us on the original plans to go up to pops 66. There is a massive cold front with rain and 30mph winds headed into Oklahoma on Wed. We could still make it to pops ok, but we would end up having to burn a day in Edmond, and delay our arrival back in Austin. We have a couple different ideas about where to go from here. We still have no idea where we are going to end up, you will find out tomorrow.....about 6 hours after we do. We are actually planning on being back in Austin Thursday night, or Friday morning. Still don't know which.

During the day you can click the "Where is Dave...." link on the right.....


Here is the route for the day:


View Larger Map


Have fun,

Dave