Austin

Day 9
Destination: Austin, TX
Route: Highway 35
Miles ridden today: 99.3    Total Miles: 2,789

Points of Interest:

• Congress Bridge
• 6th Street
• Pete's Dueling Pianos

When we arrived at San Antonio yesterday, Ralph noticed his headlight was not working. Bobbie's had been taken out by a rock the day before, so we started the day knowing we'd be looking for yet another Harley dealership. Bob and Mike weren't in for the hunt and instead, for some reason unknown to us, sought the warm water of the gulf and a cold beer (probably more than one). So off they went to Galveston, and Bud and Ralph headed north to Alamo Harley-Davidson. There they found Mike, the mechanic, who 90 minutes later gave us the bad news. It was not simply a bulb or a fuse. The entire wiring block had worked loose, and had melted together. Worse, they didn't have the wiring harness. But Mike was able to use his magic and his skills and improvised a solution, and another 90 minutes later (and a little cash) we were out the door again heading to Austin. Our mojo with the ride god looked like it may be fading, despite our donations to it, but the weather continued to be great. It always looked like rain is a mile away, the cloud cover kept the temperature at the mid to high 80's.

6th Street in Austin is the area known for the best music in Texas. At dusk, we walked the 6 blocks to the Congress Bridge, the temporary home to some 750,000 bats passing thru from Mexico. We waited over an hour, with over 200 people on and around the bridge, for them to take off and feed on the insects. Just our luck on this night, they were apparently having union issues and stayed in. Too bad, since it is supposed to be quite a site. So we walked down to Pete's Dueling Pianos, and watched some great entertainment. Austin is a great place to visit. 

San Antonio

Day 8
Destination: San Antonio, TX
Miles Ridden: 308 Total Miles: 2,693
Route: Highway 77 to Kingsville, 141 east, 281 north, and 16 north

Points of Interest:

• Highway 16 (nice road, beautiful green farmlands)
• The Alamo
• Mengers
• Dirty Nellies

We were up early enough to take sunrise photos of the beach at South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico. We opted to avoid a swim in the gulf, since there were flag warns of "venomous" creatures in the water. That was enough for us to avoid the gulf waters. It didn't scare off the others, since there were others already enjoying the beautiful water. When we got to Kingsville, we noticed that Bob's headlight was broken. He and Mike decided to ride to Corpus Christi, about 30 miles east, and Bud and I decided to take the back roads to San Antonio, where we would later meet at the Alamo.

Waiting for Bob and Mike to arrive, we found an English pub called Mengers. It was built in the 1800's as an exact replica of the pub across from Parliament in London. Teddy Roosevelt had visited the pub in search of his Rough Riders. It is possible that David Crockett and the others are actually buried under the bar, since the remains have never been found and history reveals that they were buried alongside the Alamo shortly after Santa Ana was defeated. When the boys arrived, we crossed the street to visit the Alamo. For anyone who has not visited the Alamo, it truly is a shrine to heroism. People from all over the country met there to defend a small church from Santa Ana and a large army. They fought to the last man for freedom and the independence of Texas.

During the evening, we went to an Irish Pub called Dirty Nellies. The entertainment was outstanding.

Brownsville

Day 7
Destination: Brownsville, Tx
Route: Highway 83
Miles Ridden: 202 Total Miles: 2491

Points of Interest:

• Early morning lightening storm
• Rio Grande River

Second "Corner"

Divers believe that they are required to make sacrifices every now and then to appease the ocean god. A mask, a fin, or the ever popular dive knife dropping to the ocean floor is enough to guarantee calm seas, the lining up of fish for selection, and abalone which will respond to an ab whistle.

There must a ride god. We awoke at 4:30 a.m. to one of the most violent storms any of us had ever seen- Booming thunder which shook the hotel, flashes of lightening directly overhead, extremely high wind, and a down-pour of rain which flooded the parking lot and streets. But we had made our sacrifices to the ride god. A pair of chaps, a helmet, a gas cap, one GPS case and a weather cover all had been left somewhere alongside the highway. The rain was ahead of us to the south, heading to Brownsville, and we just followed the rain (and one tornado sighting) into town without a single drop hitting us. We went to the south end of town to the border crossing, and there took our second corner photo, and did our celebration dance. Yahoo! We then traveled to South Padre Island (thanks for the intel, Gil), to spend the night. A great day!

Laredo

Day 6
Destination: Laredo, Texas
Miles Ridden: 183  Total Miles: 2,118

Points of Interest:

• Not a damn thing!

Day 6 took us from Del Rio, where Judge Roy Bean is buried, to Laredo, Texas. Laredo is a large, industrial town which is a gateway to Mexico. The highway runs through the center of town, with frontage roads east and west of the highway. Hotels of every variety line the frontage roads, and numerous chain restaurants can be found. The trip getting here was the shortest, only 183 miles, and the most difficult. It was very hot, over 100 degrees, and the road is a two lane road. Generally, it had two major differences from the highways of California. First, it only had two lanes. Second, the road was in very good condition, with great markings. Like California highways used to be. While the road between El Paso to Del Rio was lined with abandoned and dilapidated buildings, this stretch of roadway had buildings in much better repair, and actually occupied (for the most part). In addition, we saw farmlands and orchards, so the smells traveling the road were pretty pleasant. There was the ever present threat of rain in the air, so you could smell the moisture all around us. We were hit with a mist when we first left, but rain never touched us.

When we arrived at Laredo, we rode into the old part of town along the border, and next to the border station. I know what you are thinking. If over a 100 degrees, why did we ride to the far end of town instead of finding a cold beer and floating in a pool? We're adventurers. We have never been accused of being overly bright! But the town is old, and the buildings pretty well maintained and occupied. We thought about staying in an old hotel in old town, but we changed our minds when we noticed the lack of air conditioning, lack of a place to park the bikes, and, did I mention, no pool? We're not that adventurous!

We met some very nice people along the way, and in Laredo. All of us were wearing our "ride shirts," so it was easy to start conversations. A good day for a ride!

Del Rio

Day 5
Destination: Del Rio, Texas
Miles: 469    Total Miles:  1,928
Route: Highway 10, east to 90, then south

Points of Interest:

• Judge Roy Bean's Museum

Del Rio is a small town along the border with Mexico. To get there from El Paso, one spends 40 minutes or so on Highway 10, and the balance of their lives on Highway 90, a two lane highway which seems to run almost forever. This may be an exaggeration, but only a small one. You travel through many, many small towns, some on the map, some not on the map. The distances between gas stations is great, and often GPS reports a station or other supplier of gas which has long since (LONG SINCE) been closed. Most of the buildings along the route are unoccupied and dilapidated, and it is obvious that the Obama stimulus money never got this far south. There are few farms, and most of the land is brush. There is no shortage of border patrol officers, however, and we got stopped several times at check points. I know...we got stopped without any probable cause. We didn't look like illegals. We didn't act like illegals. We weren't violating any laws, but they stopped us anyway! But really, we didn't complain, whine, cry, bellyache, or act like a better-than-thou democrat about the conduct of these brave men and women.  Instead, we thanked them for their service and went about our business.

The last two hundred miles was a challenge, since it was hot, sultry, and we were running out of gas. We found the Judge Roy Bean Museum, and spent some time there in the town of Langtry. Turns out the town was not named after Lilly Langtry, the actress, but some dude. Who knew? Our first taste of rain didn't help, but it didn't dampen our spirits and made the trip more memorable and the lightening off to the west was also cool.

El Paso

Day 4
Destination:  El Paso, TX

Miles Ridden:  358    Total Miles:  1,458

Points Of Interest:

• Tombstone (O.K. Corral)
• Corando National Forest (along Highway 9)
• Monument where Geronimo surrendered, ending the Indian conflicts

We were joined earlier in the day by Tony Garcia, who rode in this morning from Phoenix.  We arrived at Tombstone, the site of one of the most famous gun battles in the so-called "Wild West."  We went to the O.K. Corral, where the gun battle took place.  We ate lunch at Big Nose Kates, and had the "Town Marshall" photograph us behind the bar.  This was the saloon where Morgan Earp was shot and killed.  We also spent some time at the courthouse, now a museum, and then headed south and east.   We rode for 250 miles or so through the beautiful, rolling hills with the foothills in the background on both sides.  The temperature was warm, the sky blue, with only white puffy clouds over the foothills.  There was no shortage of border patrol, and twice we were stopped.  And no, we didn't whine, cry, whimper, complain or object to these unwarranted intrusions on our freedom.  Instead, we thanked them for their service and went about our business.

Arizona is rich in history, and we also stopped at the monument commemorating the final surrender of Geronimo.  An outstanding day!

Tucson

Day 3

Miles today: 486 miles

Total Miles: Approximately 1,100
Route: Highway 5 to San Ysidro, Highway 8 to 10, eastbound, to Tucson.

Points of interest:

• Pacific Ocean
• Gas light District
• Old Downtown, San Diego
• Beautiful rock formations and desert along Highway 8 (4,100 foot elevation)

Day 3 was indeed interesting. It began with our traveling from Old town San Diego to San Ysidro, the southernmost town in California. Other than those coming into the US (presumably legal), and those leaving the US, there wasn't much to see. But we did our Five Corners dance for YouTube, and we hit the road. A long road trip is not without its mishaps. Mike left a gas cap, and Bud lost his chaps and helmet. But we finally arrived in Tucson almost 500 miles later, despite the heat and the wind. Sunscreen is a must.

We got stopped twice by the Border Patrol, and met a Minuteman. A very interesting man who was only concerned about protecting Arizona from the threat from the south. I thanked them for their service, and was not concerned for a moment that we were being stopped. It's easy to talk about "freedom" when you get on a motorcycle to travel through 30 states. But true "freedom" is not experienced simply because one can travel from one state to another. Freedom doesn't exist simply because one can vote a socialist into office if the majority is of a mind to do so. True freedom is in the heart. To ensure freedom, people must be willing to risk it all to stand up against enemies, whether outside or inside the government. That spirit exists today in Arizona. Rather than blame the people of Arizona, how about blaming those truly responsible: (1) the Mexican citizens who enter this country illegally, regardless of their reason; (2) the American employers who provide the incentive for them to ignore our laws; (3) the safe harbor cities, such as San Francisco, who ignore the law and encourage the illegals to come here; (4) Western Union, which makes huge profits from the transferring of money from the US and Mexico; and (5) an administration which has no desire to stop the flood of illegals into this country. Arizona is only the start.

First Thousand Miles

Toasting the First Thousand Miles