Today's ride was horrible. I mean who could possibly enjoy a ride when there's no rain, lots of sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. Even the temperature was bearable, starting around 30 degrees when we pulled out of Brookshire and climbing into the high 50's by mid-day.
I left the house at 4:40am so I'd have time to gas up and visit before we rolled out. When I got to Brookshire I stopped at the Exxon on the opposite side of the freeway. While their pumps may have been 24 hour service, they certainly weren't running very fast. It took over 10 minutes to fill 7.5 gallons of fuel. The pressure was so low at the pump that it didn't even click off when the tank was full. Thus I spilled about 1/3 of gallon all over the bike and ground. I decided this wasn't going to ruin my day so I carefully pulled away from the station and went to the Flyin' J to meet the guys. Shortly after pulling up, we all mounted up and headed west.
The plan was to stop in Seguin for breakfast at the Kettle. We arrived around 7:15 and fueled up before sitting down to eat. The waitress was good and took care of everyone. After a casual meal and a little visiting we suited up and headed back out on to I-10 west.
The next stop was west of Hondo at a rest area. We seemed to be making good time so it was decided that we would grab some snacks in Bracketville while fueling up and then eat at the Pecos River lookout. Lunch was great, good temps, good scenery, and good people... it was such a horrible ride....
With lunch done we continued on to Sanderson where we stopped for fuel one more time. Upon leaving the station, Fred had a little problem with his wallet falling off the bike, so he had to make a quick u-turn to pick it up. But once that was taken care off we continued on toward Alpine and then headed north on 118 into Ft. Davis. We arrived at the motel around 4:30 and checked in without any problems.
About 6:30 Dick pulls in, he had gotten a late start from New Waverly and he made good time. After a little visiting we get on the bikes to go down the road for dinner. As I'm pulling away and trying to turn the bike in the gravel parking lot.... you guessed it, I fell down. No damage to the bike or me. Fortunately Randy and Bill were still there so they come over to help me lift the bike and make sure I'm OK. I thumb the starter and try to go straight out of the parking lot without further incident.
We have dinner at a new BBQ/Grill which turned out to be pretty good. Looking at the menu it's more of a grill than a BBQ joint. Since I'm on my diet this weekend I opted for the Crispy Chicken salad. No one ordered the BBQ but beans and coleslaw were ordered and the general consenses was that the slaw was good and the beans were too sweet.
So besides the gas spill and the gravel nap, the trip is really going well. Considering the time of the year, the weather is outstanding and looks like it will be staying this way for the duration of the trip. Tomorrow we are heading down to the river road. There's talk about a few miles being gravel. I just have to remember to keep the bike up-right if I have to make any curves. I know that.
Total miles traveled today was a little over 550.
I left the house at 4:40am so I'd have time to gas up and visit before we rolled out. When I got to Brookshire I stopped at the Exxon on the opposite side of the freeway. While their pumps may have been 24 hour service, they certainly weren't running very fast. It took over 10 minutes to fill 7.5 gallons of fuel. The pressure was so low at the pump that it didn't even click off when the tank was full. Thus I spilled about 1/3 of gallon all over the bike and ground. I decided this wasn't going to ruin my day so I carefully pulled away from the station and went to the Flyin' J to meet the guys. Shortly after pulling up, we all mounted up and headed west.
The plan was to stop in Seguin for breakfast at the Kettle. We arrived around 7:15 and fueled up before sitting down to eat. The waitress was good and took care of everyone. After a casual meal and a little visiting we suited up and headed back out on to I-10 west.
The next stop was west of Hondo at a rest area. We seemed to be making good time so it was decided that we would grab some snacks in Bracketville while fueling up and then eat at the Pecos River lookout. Lunch was great, good temps, good scenery, and good people... it was such a horrible ride....
With lunch done we continued on to Sanderson where we stopped for fuel one more time. Upon leaving the station, Fred had a little problem with his wallet falling off the bike, so he had to make a quick u-turn to pick it up. But once that was taken care off we continued on toward Alpine and then headed north on 118 into Ft. Davis. We arrived at the motel around 4:30 and checked in without any problems.
About 6:30 Dick pulls in, he had gotten a late start from New Waverly and he made good time. After a little visiting we get on the bikes to go down the road for dinner. As I'm pulling away and trying to turn the bike in the gravel parking lot.... you guessed it, I fell down. No damage to the bike or me. Fortunately Randy and Bill were still there so they come over to help me lift the bike and make sure I'm OK. I thumb the starter and try to go straight out of the parking lot without further incident.
We have dinner at a new BBQ/Grill which turned out to be pretty good. Looking at the menu it's more of a grill than a BBQ joint. Since I'm on my diet this weekend I opted for the Crispy Chicken salad. No one ordered the BBQ but beans and coleslaw were ordered and the general consenses was that the slaw was good and the beans were too sweet.
So besides the gas spill and the gravel nap, the trip is really going well. Considering the time of the year, the weather is outstanding and looks like it will be staying this way for the duration of the trip. Tomorrow we are heading down to the river road. There's talk about a few miles being gravel. I just have to remember to keep the bike up-right if I have to make any curves. I know that.
Total miles traveled today was a little over 550.
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