Day 10 Excellent Adventure

Sequin Tx to Natchez Mississippi (525 miles)

Today gets mixed reviews. The first 1/2 of the day today was spent on I-10 from Sequin past Beaumont, Tx. This includes getting through Houston, the city from hell. Now I remember why I avoided Houston the entire time I lived in Texas!! Most of the riding time was spent dodging crazy drivers who, we were certain, were trying to kill us. This stretch of I-10 is plagued with construction and lane shifts. The truckers were actually the best drivers on the road...the rest of 'em were nuts....and in a BIG hurry to get somewhere.

The second 1/2 of the day was spent on back roads in Texas, Louisiana and just over the border into Mississippi. It was immediately apparent when we left Texas and crossed over the Louisiana line....we didn't even need a sign! The roads immediately changed from smooth and freshly paved to old, cracked and chronically pot holed. I think I rattled all my fillings loose in the 150 miles of Louisiana back roads. These were probably the worst roads I've been on in any state.....someone needs to tell Gov. Bobby Jindal to get some of those Obama dollars and fix his %$#@ roads.

At the end of the day, we crossed the Mississippi river.....something I always enjoy. We finally got off the bikes around 8:15 p.m. Unfortunately, there are no pics from today. Tomorrow: The Natchez Trace!!!

Day 9 Excellent Adventure

Alpine Tx to Sequin Tx (495 miles)

Today we spent most of the day on Hwy 90. The ride from Alpine to Del Rio was nothing but spectacular open roads, gentle sweeping curves and rolling hills.....motorcyclists' paradise! Again today we saw very few others on the road. The morning was overcast, rainy and cool.....much needed since we knew the forecast was for temps over 100 degrees.

Road side picnic area between Alpine and Marathon

Desert foliage & Bloomin' cactus

From here you can see the mouth of the Pecos River, the Rio Grande, and the mountains of Old Mexico.

The highest bridge in Texas...273 feet above the Pecos River

Another view of the Pecos

Skipper checking out the bridge

We got caught up in all the scenery and realized we were running on fumes with 40 miles to go until Del Rio. There are few (or one!) gas stations between Marathon and Del Rio. We happened upon this one little ole pump all by its lonesome out in the middle of nowhere. It seemed odd to see a modern gas pump this far out. The owner told us it was only three months old! In any case...we were extremely thankful for the fuel!

Another view of the lone gas pump

Things heated up between Del Rio and San Antonio to about 105 degrees. There are no pics of this stretch since it took all we had to just ride and drink silly amounts of gatorade and water. This is a stretch of 90 that is not scenic in any sense of the word and I'd recommend saving it for cooler months of the year! The good news? No crazy storms today!!! :)

Tomorrow: Seguin to ????? points east!

Day 8 Excellent Adventure

Alamogordo, NM to Alpine, Tx

Our intent today was to ride to Del Rio on Hwy 90. The weather had different plans for us. The day started out with gorgeous weather....fairly cool, clear and sunny.

East of El Paso on Hwy 90

Cactus!! Very exciting for a NC girl!

More Cactus

The ride was going along just fine until we ran into this on Rt 90 at Van Horn. We decided that we'd keep going and see if we could get a bit closer to this mess...then re-assess. We rode about 12 miles down the road when we began to see little twisters reaching from the ground up to the clouds. Winds were gusting to 50 mph and the sky got very black...dirty rain drops began pelting us and the whole scene started looking a lot like the Wizard of Oz....so we made a u-turn and headed like wildfire back to Van Horn. I don't think I've ever experienced Skipper riding like it was track day....she definitely won.

The route to Marfa ....not looking promising

So we parked the bikes and popped in Papa's Pantry for lunch....and shelter from the approaching storm. As we ran from the storm, we realized that it was heading right for us. It tailed us closely back to Van Horn despite the fact we made the speed limit look like just a suggestion.

Really cute little cafe.....specializing in Mexican cuisine. Lucky us!

Hands down the best fajitas with home made tortillas I've ever had

The bikes shortly after arrival at Papa's Pantry

And.....20 minutes later

Big puddles all around us..........waited out the storm for a couple hours. It finally began to move past us and we decided to ride even thought it was still raining. The severe part of the storm had passed and the radar looked favorable for reaching Alpine. Unfortunately, we were delayed long enough to have to abort plans to reach Del Rio today.

As we were approaching Marfa, Tx, out in the middle of nowhere, a Prada store sat on the side of Rt. 90. I had to get a closer look at this. In fact it is not a store, but a permanent land art display by Elmgreen and Dragset. Inside the store was merchandise from the Fall 2005 Prada catalogue. Crazy eh??

The Prada goods

Now we are a tad bit behind schedule, so we will be changing the route for the last four days. Stay tuned for Day 9!!

Day 7 Excellent Adventure

Amarillo Texas to Alamagordo, NM

Day seven was heaven. It was a day of back roads through most of the state of New Mexico. The weather was cool and dry and the miles flew by. We spent very little time on I 40 leaving Amarillo, then wove our way to Hwy 54 and followed it all the way Alamogordo. The scenery was really spectacular....desert outlined by mountains. The pictures will speak for themselves. Great weather all day, except we had to quickly (read haul arse) skirt a very big thunder cell with lots of cloud-to-ground lightening. Since we were the tallest things around, we wasted no time hightailing it around and past the storm.

Getting our kicks on old Route 66

You can see that all the traffic was overwhelming. New Mexico must be the best kept motorcycling secret because we saw very few bikers on these fantastic roads. Most of them we had all to ourselves!

Desert and mesa..

Hwy 54 winding near Corona, NM

We had to run under the edge of this cell to get past it. Lots and lots of lightening all around us...and me praying out loud! Once we got past it....had to stop and snap a pic.

All in all a great day!

Day 6 Excellent Adventure

To The Big Texan! (370 ish miles)

Today, after a great big Texas breakfast prepared by Skip's sister, we started to wind our way to the Big Texan (are you getting the idea that everything is bigger in Texas?). From Bowie, the logical route would be to shoot straight up 287 and be in Amarillo lickety split. Since we rarely choose our route based on anything that resembles logic....we decided we would retrace our tracks from two years ago, when we were re-routed off of a flooded I-40 in Oklahoma. At that time, we decided it would be best to head back down through Texas in hopes of picking up I20 and getting back home. We found Rt 6, which was not on any of our maps, but this didn't stop us from taking it because at the very least it was heading south away from the flooding and we were lost anyway. It brought us right past the Quartz Mountains, a completely unexpected treat since the landscape had until then been rather desolate. Since that adventure, we've wondered if we could find Rt 6 again.....or if it really even existed.....the whole event of the flood and being re-routed, and getting lost was a whole lot like being in the Twilight Zone.

As luck would have it, we did find Rt 6 and it was just a beautiful as we remembered. And we were nearly the only ones on this road, much as it was two years ago.

Eventually (and sadly) Rt 6 ran into I 40 in Oklahoma. We then slabbed it the rest of the way (130 miles) to the Big Texan. Just as we arrived at our hotel....the skies opened up and rain flooded the streets. Most of Amarillo lost power....so we thought our trip from the La Quinta to the Big Texan wouldn't happen. Big Texan Limo to the rescue! The 'limo' was a big ole station wagon with a set of long horns tied to the hood. But it got us to the restaurant in the deluge. Unfortunately, we did not get many pics due to weather.....but here's the big Texan that drove us to the Big Texan.

Yummy!

Again....with the Big thing...Skip and the Big Boot

And last..........on the way out of Amarillo, I found this t-shirt just for the youngest of Apple users.....

Tomorrow: Amarillo to Alamogordo, New Mexico

Excellent Adventure Day 2-5

Well......sorry for the major blogging delay. Two things happened to prevent any blogging. First, I had internet access on Day 2, but not enough energy after a long hot day of riding to even think about opening the laptop. I know, I know......sorry, pathetic excuse. The rest of the time my excuse is a lack of internet access. That's my story and I'm stickin to it!

Day 2-- 503 miles

Day two was a sh&% and git kind of day. Our goal was to get to Shreveport, La, where we'd get a good nights sleep and the following day would be a short ride into Tyler, Tx. Tyler is where my X inlaws live. I'm not allowed to call them X........but for the purpose of clarity I'll stick with the X's. The day was an uneventful, unexciting, steamy hot run on the superslab kinda day. The only excitement we had was when I tried to give Mr. Happy a bath. He was very dirty from his day in saddle bag.....and he smelled a little like stale beer...probably due to last years explosion of a Corona bottle in the 110 degree heat. (note to self....no more beer in saddle bags)

Skipper complained that I was water boarding poor little Mr. Happy.....but REALLY I was just cleaning him up. I have him a nice shampoo........and spa treatment. I often get falsely accused of trying to injure Mr. Happy.

I asked Skip if there was anything interesting to see on I 20 between Birmingham, Al and Shreveport, La. She reported that there was nothing. Of course, she often says this sort of thing...but this time she really meant NOTHING! Lots of heat....for which we drank ridiculous amounts of water and gatorade.......and doused ourselves regularly. The cooling vests skipper got for us are working fabulously.

Days 3-5

These days were spent visiting friends and family in the Tyler and DFW area. We even had a special treat....meeting up with our friend and fellow motorcyclist Stormy. One thing we did learn is that a Harley Davidson motorcycle CAN pass the nickel test.

J. first demonstrated the nickel test on his awesome Valkyrie. He stood a nickel on its side, started the motorcycle and the nickel stood upright. Now whether this is a good thing has to do with the taste of the motorcyclist. Myself........I like a little rumble in my ride. So we decided to see is Skipper's Road Glide could pass the nickel test.

Get your motor running...........

Success!!!!

The nickel actually stood......we're still not sure how......but we have witnesses!

Tomorrow...Day 6 to Amarillo and the Big Texan......Yeeehaaawwww!!

Excellent Adventure Day 1

Day One of the Third Annual Skip and CJ's Excellent Adventure

Day one is never much of an adventure....which is really a good thing. There are no tales of tornadoes, floods, or pestilence to tell this early in the game. Nary even one drop of rain for that matter. Day One is always a meeting day. Since we are both starting from different states, we meet at some sort of central location in the general direction that we are heading. This year it's Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham, Alabama, you say.....yuck! Well, yuck yes, but it worked in terms of logistics. Skip rode a toasty 472 miles, complete with her very cool cooling vest, (she said she did in in a mere 4 hours on her super sonic Silver Bullet Road Glide.....) and for me....a measly 350. I got the easy ride because I was relegated (or harangued) into working 1/2 a day today. But that's another story.

In any case....Skip and her buddy Mr. Happy were here waiting for me when I arrived. Mr Happy ALWAYS attends the excellent adventure, if for nothing else, to annoy me. This time, he tried to win me over early by greeting me with a yummy, ice cold Corona.

Tomorrow is a long (ish) day heading for east Texas! The great state of Texas is usually on our travel agenda, first, because Skip is from the United States of Texas, and second, because I have a strange fixation for The Big Texan. http://www.bigtexan.com/ If my feet land in Texas.....they immediately point to the Big Texan in Amarillo. We'll be there later this week.......more on my Big Texan fetish then.

For now, the bikes are settled outside and we're settled inside. Happy Day One!!

CJ

Blackberry Season

They're here!!!

Blackberries season is in full swing. I've been watching the plants since spring.....waiting patiently for berries...well, not really patiently. But their finally here and its time to pick!! This year the berries are really huge. Seems that the tons of rain we've had has made for very happy blackberry plants. Of course, harvesting them is not always as easy thing. Here, blackberries have close neighbors with sharp pointy things on them otherwise know as stickers. Now these stickers probably all have different botanical names, but we just lump them all into the category of #$*%$ stickers. Here's an example: these stickers grab you and won't let go. If they grab your hair, forget it. You might as well break out the scissors.

These stickers are like security guards for the blackberries. They generally grow longer than the branches of the blackberry bushes, so you have to get past these little devils before you get to the good stuff. That's where the weaponry comes in.....branch cutters!

So we cleared the stickers and got to the good stuff.

Like any good blackberry pickin' Tarheel fan.......we used the appropriate collection buckets

Was a great day-minus a few sticker injuries. The end result was definitely worth a few poke holes!!!