Day 1 Monday the 26th started from my place in Moreno Valley. Dick and I waited until the streets were dry from the storm the night before. Got on the road around 10:00am.  Our route took us around the Salton Sea to Hwy 8 in San Diego County. We couldn't of asked for better weather. In the mid 70's and the roads were clear. Dick wanted to stop in Wellington AZ to visit an old high school friend. We meet at the Jack in the Box just off the fwy for a bite to eat and a visit with Sam for a while. He hadn't seen him since 1964. After lunch it was off again to our first night on the road. We stayed in Tucson AZ and were very tired.

Day 2 Tuesday the 27th woke up around 7:30am for a quick breakfast. It was our intention to make it to Big Bend NP but we just ran out of time. The 10 fwy in New Mexico and Texas has a speed limit of 80 mph. Although we were running hard it really sucked up the fuel so we had to make a few more stops. In El Paso Dick wanted to check out this boot store so we stopped there for a while. From the 10 we made our way to hwy 90 just past El Paso. We stopped to look at a map and talked to a fellow about how far we had to go and then decided not to push it to Big Bend NP.  90 is a great 2 lane road with a 70 mph speed limit. Boy you would never see those speed limits in California. Heading toward Big Bend NP we could see a bad storm up ahead. We stopped on the side of the road to put on our rain suits. Luckily the road turned east and we missed it. That night we stayed in Alpine TX. It was a nice room at the Hampton Inn and once again we were very tired. After a nice meal we got out the map to decide what route to take next.

Day 3 Wednesday the 28th we slept in. I guess we must of been really tired because we slept until 9:30am. That was ok because we didn't have a real hard ride to do that day. After breakfast we got on the road around 11:00am. We continued on hwy 90 and stopped in Langtry Texas and stopped at the Judge Roy Bean museum. Very small town with a lot of interesting things to see. You can Google Judge Roy Bean for more info on him. Then it was off to San Antonio and the New Brunsfels area to stay the night with Scott and Susan Haynes. They moved from SoCal about a year and a half ago to a better life in Texas. It is a very nice area with small town flavor. Scott bought Carl's Interstate last December and had it shipped to him. He couldn't make it to the BBQ but it was great to see them both again. We had a nice dinner together and visit that evening.

Day 4 Thursday the 29th it was up bright and early and although Susan had to work, Scott was kind enough to take us to see the Alamo. It was just a 25 minute ride in Scott's car and it gave us time to visit some more. The Alamo is very interesting and has a lot of history to see. It seemed weird to see it surrounded by all the tall buildings. We hit the road around 1:00pm for the 200 mile ride in. We were about 15 miles from our motel when we hit rain. It was the only rain we rode in for the whole trip. We met a few others that evening who came out for the BBQ as well, some even flew out. Later that evening I spent a few minutes cleaning my bike. It was really a mess with all cars slinging up dirt from the wet roads. 

Day 5 Friday the 30th we were up around 7:30 to get the continental breakfast. We met quite a few others and hooked up with Willow for the ride over to Hotglues to see what was going on. We hung out for a while and then I went back to the room for a bit. Dick went off to find a car wash to wash his bike. I later went back to Hotglues to help them set up tables and chairs. It was great to get to talk to  everyone and I wish I could remember all their names. Hotglue and Flamingo babe and other cooks made a great spaghetti dinner for us all. There were about a 100 or so for dinner on Friday night.

Day 6 Saturday the 31st was another fairly early start. We met up at the BBQ for a ride led by Wizard. He took us on a nice ride through the Texas country side to a biker hang out. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the place. Some had lunch and drinks but not me. I wanted to hold out for the BBQ. I think the humidity was getting to me and I wasn't feeling well. I took off early to get back to Hotglues and drank lots of water. After a while I felt much better. More and more people started to show up and got quite busy. We had a Spider club and a few from a Corvette club show up as well. Mark had been cooking the briskets for 20 hours and gave me a sample. I thought I died and went to heaven. I have never tasted meat like that ever. So tender and moist, I couldn't wait to eat. Dinner was served around 5:00pm and there was a long line. He had brisket, chicken, sausage, beans ,potato salad and more. Not to mention the desserts. They had a large 50/50 and other prizes with all the proceeds going to charity. The big 50/50 winner got over $900.00 bucks. He even auctioned off some pies and left over briskets as well. After a full day of hanging out and talking to everyone I could it was back to the room for a shower and a good nights sleep. 

Day 7 Sunday the 1st it was an early start so we could get over to Atlanta Texas. It was going to be a 450 mile day with Atlanta the midway point. Dick wanted to find the grave site for his great, great, great, great grandfather and grandmother. We met a 85 year old black fellow who tried to show us a few of the white grave yards. Yes that's right, white grave yards. I didn't know that grave yards are still segregated to this day. And yes it is still legal which surprised me. Finally we stopped at a mortuary that was open and talked to the owners. He is the one who told us about the segregation. His wife found the grave yard on the internet for us and after about a half an hour of talking we rode out and found it. We did find the grave sites and Dick was glad to find them. It took us about 3 hours to find it so after we had some Chinese food and took off toward Oklahoma. Durant OK was our next stop for a room and rest. Dick has wanted to visit his cousin but she never got a hold of him after leaving a few messages for her.

Day 8 Monday the 2nd a fairly early start with breakfast at the local waffle shop. Today are destination was Enid Ok. I have an old friend that lives there and he opened his home to us to stay the night. We got in about 2:00 but had to wait until 3:30 for my friend to get home from work. We stopped at Macdonald for a drink and internet while we waited.  I've known DeWayne since 1977 from my days a Stater Bros. It was great to stay in a nice house again since Scott and Susan's. We had a nice dinner and visit and headed for bed. It was also nice not to hear Dick's snoring as well for a few nights. (LOL).

Day 9 Tuesday the 3rd we had wanted to hit the road and make our way to Taos NM. But the weather had moved in so we decided to sit the day out and wait for it to pass. I must admit it was good to take a day of rest before the long ride home. Also it was nice to visit one more day with my friend and his wife. Dick and I did a lot of napping this day while they worked. We cleaned up the bikes a bit and planned our route home. We decided to take the direct route home which is about 1400 miles for me and over 2000 for Dick I believe.

Day 10 Wednesday the 4th we hit the road and wanted to get to Gallup NM for the night. It was very chilly for us this day with it not getting much over 50 degrees most the way. It was mostly cloudy until we got to Amarillo TX. Once we hit the 40 it was 75mph most the way into Gallup. We got in around 7:00pm mountain time. We gain an hour coming from Central time which was nice. It was about a 650 mile day I think.

Day 11 Thursday the 5th it was a cold morning in Gallup. 32 degrees when we started out at around 7:00am. I had my heated liner and gloves which help a lot for me. Dick was well bundled up and did well. Stayed pretty cold until Flagstaff when we could finally pull off some clothes. Also the wind started to pick up in Flagstaff as well. It was coming at us from our left and kept us on our toes. In Needles we gassed up for the ride into Barstow. This is where the wind really got bad. I got 23mpg from Needles to Barstow with the head wind and speed of around 75mph. In Barstow is where Dick and I split up for home. I only had 85 miles to go while Dick had another full day of riding. The wind was really bad for him going through Tehachapi  He made it all the way up to Madera before he stopped for the night. He said he rode until 9:00 pm before calling it a day. I got in around 5:30pm on Thursday while Dick didn't get home until Friday around 2:00pm.

It was a great ride although a bit tiring sometimes trying to push it. I would like to take more time next time if possible. 400 miles days are easy but the 650 days are a little rough for me. Especially when they are back to back. I am going to try and make it next year. Believe me the food is worth the trip, even if I had to fly into Houston. I met so many nice people but I just can't remember all their names. Willow, Hotglue, Flamingo Babe, Jimmy, Wizard, and so many more. 

Many thanks to Hotglue and Flamingo Babe for their Texas Hospitality.

Dave