Texas
Sat May 7
Leaving Louisiana and we stop at Cajun Harley Davidson outside Lafayette before heading out on I-10 to Texas.
Today’s ride was tough. The wind and road conditions were extreme and difficult for travel on a bike. The winds blowing east to west and knocking us around especially on the open roads and bridges. The roads themselves were lined with tractor trailers that filled the air with plumes of black smoke and the smell of diesel fuel. We hit Texas about an hour and a half into the ride and the road turns to concrete covered with cracks and tar and bumps and grooves. A lot to have to think about compared to the smooth easy roads we’ve gotten used to. The mental part of this ride is draining as we have to concentrate on the roads and trucks more than ususal. We make a second stop at Cowboy Harley Davidson in Texas. Still no shirts worth buying.
We make it to Seaford Texas where we have friends and a home to stay in for the next two days. This is where we get to settle in like normal people. Room to roam, friends to hang with, hot showers and washers/dryers. We settle in quick then head out by CAR to a restaurant on the water where we partake in in the local seafood and Vodka! Having a designated driver is great! We eat, we drink, we smoke cigars then we go home and pass out.
Saturday morning we wake to home made breakfast and hot coffee. In need of supplies we head out to Walmart then make our way to a gun range and fire off some ammo in a friends Carbine. Texas is right up there with Florida when it comes to gun laws. Everyone around has a carry permit and no one feels in danger in spite of it. They love their firearms here and there are plenty of places to buy them.
Seaford area is surrounded by water with plenty of boaters and fisherman, its heaven for water recreation. Its great being with my friends and they couldn’t be more hospitable. Good news is they are moving back north this year cause they miss me so much. Well maybe not me but they are coming back.
Tomorrow, San Antonio!!!
Sunday May 8
Mothers Day today and we are on the road to San Antonio after another homemade breakfast. Pancakes, French toast, sausage, coffee, I like this B and B! What a crazy laughter filled time we had here. It was a great stay over and we are sorry to leave but we need to get going.
We head out on 90w and the days weather looks bad. Lucky, we ride half the day without getting wet, but our time has come and we need the rain gear. With tornado and lightning storms raging all around Oklahoma and Texas, we are lucky to only get a little wet before we get the
THE ALAMO
gear on. Riding in these nylon suits on hot days can be horrible but today is cool and its not a problem, although when the air gets under the suit it makes you look like the Michelin Man!
We make it into San Antonio by 3pm, unpack , hit the heated Jacuzzi and pool, then shower and head into town for dinner. Steak tonight for the first time since we hit the road. I gorged on seafood for the last week every chance I got since it was all caught and served fresh from local waters. Tonight we eat like the carnivores that we are!
THE RIVERWALK
The river-walk is alive with many of the restaurants serving up families for Mothers Day, but we find our steakhouse and indulge ourselves. Walking off dinner is easy to do around the river-walk which stretches for 15-20 blocks, upper and lower levels and also at the street. We stop by the Harley store on the walk and finally get some T-shirts!
We head over to Coyote ugly for a beer and to watch the girls dance on the bar. Not so crazy a scene as its a Sunday night and pretty quiet but they do abuse you there. Better buy booze and tip or you will get an earful from the girls and they aren’t shy about letting everyone in the bar how they feel. How about Uber. Gotta love this app. They respond to requests for a ride within 5 mins. I don’t know why anyone calls cabs anymore. We ride by The ALAMO and grab a pic!
Dallas
Monday May 9
We travel to Dallas and along the way we pass thru Austin where Jesse James has his Austin Speed shop. Well we tried for an hour to find it and then gave up. Hope we have better luck with Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas.
In the hotel parking lot we meet up with three other guys who are riding cross country from LA and happen to be doing a lot of the same roads we are so we exchange stories and ideas to help each other out. Going in opposite directions so we won’t be riding with them at all but its always cool to meet up with other riders on a long trip.
Dallas is dead tonight. Now I know why people say New York is the city that never sleeps. This is a ghost town and its spread out all over the place. Walk up a street and there can be a restaurant then nothing for blocks. Trolley stops running at 930p. No ice cream. I gotta have an ice cream when I go on vacation and I can’t catch a break. Last night Ben and Jerry’s was closed ’cause their A/C went down and tonight nothing. Not a ice cream shop anywhere.
Tuesday May 11
This is Dealy Square. JFK died here. We go to the Book Depository and take pictures, walk the grounds, ask questions and fight off the guys trying to sell souvenirs. When you see where it all happened you know that there was a cover up. Its impossible that Lee Harvey killed JFK. The angles don’t add up to that fatal bullet coming from the building. This place looks very different when walking around in person compared to what I have seen on television.
After Dealy Square We head out to Strokers Dallas, where custom bikes are built and reality shows are filmed and meet up with the owner, Rick Fearless who gives us a tour of the grounds including his office, the build shop, the machine shop and the rest of the business. He treats us like family and we talk about people we both know and the places we’ve been to on our trip. This becomes the highlight of the trip as we never expected to meet a legend and then to be treated so well after just showing up and requesting a photo with Rick. Man this was definitely cool. Later we stop at Strokers Icebox adjacent to the shop, where they have cold beers and food. We meet up with some locals who we compare notes with about motorcycles. Great end to our stay in Dallas!
Just One Mans Opinion
The Regular Guy
This sounds like a great trip.