Plan H

I haven’t posted in a while because I feel awful about the whole thing. Many people donated a bunch of money on my behalf to ride in the Harley-Davidson Daytona Women’s MDA ride. Dan and I gave it our best effort. Not one, not two, but three days of the most difficult riding I’ve ever done got us as far as Dallas, not even 1,000 miles from home. If the weather was going to cooperate after that, we could have pulled off a couple of 600 mile days and made it. As most people in the country are aware, the South got hit with one of those storms that happens like once every three billion years. If we had woken up in Dallas with a temperature above freezing and a forecast along the route of high 50’s and light winds, we would have gone for it. Nope. The television flashed images of snow accumulations throughout Alabama and Missouri. It was a very difficult decision to make, but at some point I had to admit defeat.

After setting the HOG touring atlas next to the computer, we perused the map for places that would be nice to visit and checked Weather Underground for current and forecast temperatures. Knowing that the weather on the way back to Denver could change in a moment, we decided to keep it within Texas, New Mexico, and possibly Arizona. We finally chose a destination: San Antonio. I decided that the ride from Dallas to San Antonio was my own private MDA ride, which was substantially longer than the one being held in Daytona.

Because it was still a bit chilly, I put on every shirt I brought with me – 5 of them – plus my new hoodie and leather jacket combination I picked up at Mile High Harley-Davidson back around Christmas. We stopped at Cabela’s on the way down and got some hand and body warmers. From there we got off the Interstate and headed south on a road that paralleled I-35. In Marble Falls, we stopped for gas and to change to night vision glasses. I also put my rain suit jacket on over my leather and adhered the body warmer to my innermost shirt. The rain jacket helped cut the wind, and I was able to press the warmer against my chest when I got really cold. It helped. However, it would be great to have those with the ability to stay pressed against the skin at all times. There’s something for you entrepreneurs to work on.

We finally made it to San Antonio and took the grand tour of the city trying to find a hotel room. After we got settled, we walked down to the Riverwalk, passing the Alamo on the way. The Riverwalk is really cool. I’ve taken a ton of pictures and will be posting those soon. Yesterday, Monday, we secured a campsite for two nights then went back to Riverwalk for the day, covering several miles on foot. The evening ended with dinner at the Hard Rock Café and a ride back to the tent.

Somewhere in there, I noticed that I have a leaking rocker box gasket. This is something that was new with all the work I got done last year. I put in a call to Thunder Mountain and really hope they’ll stand behind it. I know that warranties on work like that are only about 90 days or so, but I’ve had the bike for seven years before the work was done and haven’t had a leaky gasket yet. We’ll see. I just hope it doesn’t get any worse on the ride back home.

This morning I woke up to some really strange bird noises. One sounded like it was gurgling, like running water. At one point the bird made it’s gurgling noise while flying behind the tent and then farted. Well, it sounded like a fart anyway. Dan and I broke up in laughter and started the day. Just so happens that today is my birthday, so when I checked my phone to see what time it was, I also saw several “Happy Birthday” messages posted on my Facebook wall. To top off such a great start to the day, Dan gave me the earrings I’ve wanted for years – small gold bar and shield earrings with diamonds. They’re beautiful! They’re kind of hard for me to see in the mirror on my bike though. That convex configuration makes my earlobes go way back and I can’t see the earrings very well. I know they’re beautiful though.

We’re off to check out a Harley dealership or two and maybe some more touristy stuff in the city. We’ll be back in time to jump in the hot tub here at the campground. They’re also having Bingo tonight. We’re the only campers with a tent. Everyone else has a few decades on us and driving RVs. Not complaining. Some of my best friends are old and hang out in campgrounds in RVs - like my mother and her husband. I can see how this could be a decent way to live, assuming there is a place to haul the bikes around with you.

Thank you to everyone for expressing your concern and understanding for our radical change of plans. When you ride, you have to be flexible.