Headin' South on Friday - Look out Texas

[RedRider]

In 44 hours I will be hitting the road to visit Texas for the first time on the bike. I have ridden through it a couple times, hence, coloring the state on my travel map. However, never have I actually ridden around the state to see what it has to offer.

 

Wheels up is scheduled at the end of the work day Friday (OK, hoping to hit the road by 2:00 - but don't tell the boss - especially you Scooter Bob 'cause you know who the boss is). I will be heading from Fond du Lac in the most expeditious manor with expectations of arriving in Keller, TX (in the DFW metroplex) by 6 or 7 am Saturday morning. If you see a red Venture parked in a rest area in the wee morning hours, don't wake the guy on the picnic table with the helmet on.

 

Upon arriving to my brother's house in Keller, I will greet my Bro, his wife and kids, my Dad, and his friend Tom. Dad and Tom are taking 2 days to ride down from Ft. Wayne, IN arriving Friday night. After the greeting, sleeping for 3 or 4 hours will be high on the agenda.

 

Dad, Tom, Scott (the Bro), and I will take off Saturday at about noon heading to San Antonio with a quick stop for a picture in front of W's ranch in Crawford. Should get to SA about 6:00 pm. I will try to call BuddyRich to join us for a beverage down on the Riverwalk Saturday night. Any one else in the neighborhood is also welcome. We are staying at the Crockett Hotel across the street from the Alamo.

 

A tour of the Alamo on Sunday morning and we are off for the hill country. Reservations are made for 2 nights in Leaky. We are all looking forward to riding the twisted sisters and other roads of the hill country. Have heard lots about it.

 

Tuesday morning, Scott will be heading back to Keller (not enough vacation) and Dad, Tom, and I will be heading to Big Bend National Park. We will be riding around there for 2 days until Thursday morning. Staying in a cabin just outside the park in an old ghost town (at least that's how it is billed).

 

Thursday morning, Dad and Tom are heading back north. They generally only ride 500 miles or so a day, so they want to take some extra time to get home.

 

However, that leaves me with 4 days to get to Wisconsin and only being 1 really long day away. HeeHeeHee. Where to go???

 

Thursday I don't really have any plans. Suggestions??

 

Friday, I figured heading over to Squidley and Sweetnothing's (if they will have me a bit early) and give them a hand setting up for the open house. I'm not very useful at anything other than making sure the beer is cold; however, I can be coached.

 

Come Saturday, I look forward to greating the wonderful VR folks from down south that arrive to share Brad and Lonna's joy of a new start in Texas. Will need to hit the road about noon to get home at a decent hour on Sunday.

 

I will try to keep this trip thread updated and to add some pics as internet access and time will allow. Give us a wave if you see us passing by. A red Venture, red BMW R1200GS, black Honda Shadow Aero 1100, and some other kind of BMW (don't know exactly what Tom rides).

 

Should be a great week. 5000 miles, 9 days, traveling with family, meeting new friends. What could be better.

 

RR

[hipshot]

RR, after you ride the three sisters, you may just want to stay here.

just be thankful we ain't got Arizona laws!

We WOULD be checking your citizenship papers!

lol

just jt

[MikeWa]

Have a very safe and enjoyable trip.

Mike

[Scooter Bob]

Have a safe and enjoyable ride Jeff.

 

I'll wave when you go by BD. Hopefully we'll be headin' to Iowa by 5 Friday night.

 

Looking forward to the pics, Scooter Bob

[wngrr]

The wife and I were in San antonio a few weeks ago. We always enjoy going to the market and if you have a chance check out the other Missions. Mexican food at Lafonda on Main is always good as well.. Have a safe trip and enjoy the sisters.

 

David

[Yammer Dan]

Every time I look at a thread lately seems somebody is going to texas???

[BradT]

Red, Enjoy the trip, nice haul from Wisconsin !

 

Dan must be the place to be, starting to think there something going on down there ?

 

Brad

[SC89Venture]

Man, saw that and brought back many memories. Been to G&L two or three times, had a blast every trip. Great town.

[Sweetnothing]

Jeff,

The door is always open, no matter when you get here! I hope you have a great time on your ride with the family....I know that there is some great riding in the hill country!! You will enjoy it a lot! Ride safe and we will see you next week!

By the way......that makes you the longest distance winner for the cheesecake award.......so far!!!

Boomer may have to take the long way here! LOL

[Zfrebird4]

... all of you embark on such a wonderful trip. And what a HOOOOOT, to do it with you Dad. He must be a young sprout compared to my 71. Course ... I S T I L L .... feel YOUNT! LOL

 

Ride safe, with 'the covering' ... and have a great time!

 

JackZ

 

[Kregerdoodle]

I don`t know about that...West " By God" Waller is a looonnngggg ways away from ya`ll...

 

 

 

Jeff,

The door is always open, no matter when you get here! I hope you have a great time on your ride with the family....I know that there is some great riding in the hill country!! You will enjoy it a lot! Ride safe and we will see you next week!

 

By the way......that makes you the longest distance winner for the cheesecake award.......so far!!!

 

Boomer may have to take the long way here! LOL

 

[RedRider]

... all of you embark on such a wonderful trip. And what a HOOOOOT, to do it with you Dad. He must be a young sprout compared to my 71. Course ... I S T I L L .... feel YOUNT! LOL

 

Ride safe, with 'the covering' ... and have a great time!

 

JackZ

 

Jack,

 

My Dad will be 71 this year. I cherish these rides because I don't know how many of them we will have left. He is in great health and takes care of himself. However, you never know. He still wants to do Alaska. We will see if next year will work for that (hopefully the economy will be in a little better shape so I can afford it - both time and money).

 

RR

[RedRider]

I don`t know about that...West " By God" Waller is a looonnngggg ways away from ya`ll...

 

OK, I had to look it up. Good thing I'm from the NORTH side of Fond du Lac.

 

RR

[Squidley]

It will be good to have you here with us Jeff, looking forward to it

Be safe and enjoy your ride, see you on the 8th

[Kregerdoodle]

well thats all that saved ya on this one!!! LOL Have a safe trip and look forward to meeting you..

 

 

OK, I had to look it up. Good thing I'm from the NORTH side of Fond du Lac.

 

RR

[Iowawegian]

Have a wonderful, safe, exciting and memorabile trip from the Hanson's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RedRider]

All packed and ready to go. Got into the office a little early today since I am going to be skipping out a little early.

 

Looks like I will miss the rain locally. Not supposed to start until dinner time. Hope to be in southern Illinois by then.

 

Didn't get a very good night's sleep last night. Too many things to think about and not enough time to get them done. May have to stop more than once for a nap.

 

Be out of here in 6 hours and 15 minutes - not that I am counting.

 

RR

[dynodon]

RR, if you get this before you take off, you probably will be coming within a few miles of my place between Bloomington and Peoria, IL.

 

If you are taking I-39 South to I-55, then try to let me know what your schedule is, I can meet up and ride with you for a while.

 

In any case, have a great trip! Wife says there is a lot of construction near St. Louis on I-55, lots of cops too.

[GigaWhiskey]

Every time I look at a thread lately seems somebody is going to texas???

 

 

Well, don't feel so left out there bud! Ride UGLY or Brown Sugar down here.

[RedRider]

RR, if you get this before you take off, you probably will be coming within a few miles of my place between Bloomington and Peoria, IL.

 

If you are taking I-39 South to I-55, then try to let me know what your schedule is, I can meet up and ride with you for a while.

 

In any case, have a great trip! Wife says there is a lot of construction near St. Louis on I-55, lots of cops too.

 

I am FINALLY getting out of the office. The phones are dead all week, but light up like Christmas today when I am trying to sneak out early. Oh well, hopefully, I paid for some of the trip with the additional work.

 

Don, I think by the time I get to the Peoria area, you will want to stay inside. Expecting rain most of the way down. I appreciate the offer of company, but I will have the head down and making miles. Stopping only to get gas and to use the bathroom (hopefully at the same stop).

 

Keller, TX, here I come.

 

RR

[Scooter Bob]

I hope you got straight south in a hurry. If you did, you might not have taken you're shower yet. (just looking at when you posted and where the storms were)

 

Have a great trip, and keep us posted.

 

Me, I'll be workin OT to get that machine done by next weekend.

 

Later, Scooter Bob

[RedRider]

Got on the road Friday at 4:30pm after getting held in the office for about 3 hours longer than I was expected. Weather was looking a bit ominous, but I needed to get south by tomorrow.

 

It started raining at about the Fond du Lac border and continued all thru Wisconsin, Illinois, and most of Missouri. Heavy rain and high wind along with a great show of lightning. Great riding weather. However, I had to get south.

 

The wind was mostly right into my teeth so it hurt my gas mileage. But with the aux tank, I wasn't overly concerned. I still got 250+ miles between stops even while traveling into a heavy headwind and travelling at 75-80mph. Stopped to get a hotel somewhere in the middle of Missouri, but it was sold out. So I grabbed a roller dog from the gas station nearby, filled the tanks, and got back on the road. along with it being really wet, it was starting to get cold. Fortunately, I packed the electrics. Mmm, toasty.

 

I lost out on a lot of time by searching for gas in Illinois (don't 100% trust your GPS) and by dilly-dallying at some of the gas stops. The cold and wet kind of dampened the adrineline and enthusiasm for making quick pit stops.

 

Stopped at a really nice rest area in Missouri (I think) at about 3:30 am and grabbed an hour and a half nap on a picnic table. Back on the road as the sun was just starting to brighten the sky and the weather looked to be getting better.

 

At about 7 my brother called to check on my progress. Per the GPS, I wasn't going to get there until about 2:00. This was several hours behind the 7:00 am target. But getting out late (lost 2.5 hours), losing 45 minutes looking for gas in Illinois, and taking too long at stops killed my plan. Oh well.

 

The rest of the gang were heading out of Keller at noon and would meet me in San Antonio. So I set the new target in the GPS and kept going. The weather began to get really nice - 80's and sunny with mild winds. Took off the electrics, took the liners out of my jacket and pants, and switched back to my (soaked) summer gloves. They quickly dried out.

 

I arrived in San Antonio at 6:30 - at the same time as the rest of the group. They were taking a more leasurly time of getting there than I was. We met at the last traffic light before the hotel.

 

1418 miles in 26 hours. Not bad for a first day of vacation. I think my socks are still wet.

 

More later.

 

RR

[Squidley]

Thanks for the pics Jeff....we'll leave the lights on for you and are looking forward to your arrival

[Condor]

 

1418 miles in 26 hours. Not bad for a first day of vacation. I think my socks are still wet.

 

More later.

 

RR

 

In the rain no less.... Jeff you have the stamina of a horse...

[Scooter Bob]

That bike sure was lookin' clean and shiny before you left the house.

 

Glad ya missed all the armadillos and made it in safe. Enjoy the rest of your ride.

 

And keep the pics comin'.

 

Later, Scooter Bob