When we went to bed Saturday night it was raining like crazy. Lightning everywhere. I just knew we would start for home soaking wet. To my surprise the rain had moved a couple miles to the north when daylight arrived. We packed out bikes, said our goodbye's and hit the road.
Let me start the story of our ride home by explaining our physical condition. We were exhausted and sore. Many hours had already been spent in the saddle and our last night sleeping in the cabin was hot and humid. This made for a rough night sleep. Either way we needed to make it back to San Antonio on Monday. Time to tough up and ride.
We headed south on 54 as quickly as we could to stay ahead of the storm. It worked. The skies were clearing to the south. 54 lead into 5 which took us to Lebanon. In Lebanon we picked up the interstate and headed to Springfield. Breakfast in Springfield gave us a few minutes break from the saddle.
Back on the highway...headed to Oklahoma. We make it to Joplin in no time. From Joplin it's a short ride to Oklahoma and our turn off at Big Cabin.
Small problem...at Big Cabin I was riding in the left lane next to an 18 wheeler and didn't see the exit. John was behind the truck and was able to exit but Ken and I did not. At first we thought John was having bike problems and got off the highway. Then we looked over and saw the huge Indian at Big Cabin. The problem at this point is that the next exit is Tulsa. No way we are going to Tulsa. We turned our bikes onto the grass and backtracked to the exit. Presto...we are back on track.
A quick stop at Big Cabin and we were heading south on 69. 69 was a pretty uneventful ride. It turns into 75 at somepoint which is the yellow brick road into Dallas.
We managed to skirt another rainstorm in Central Oklahoma. Our luck is holding. Blasting south we make it to Durant just in time for Dinner. Durant is not far from Richardson, TX (where we are staying the night).
We pull into Aaron's place at 9pm. Tired, sweaty, and ready for some sleep. We knew that traffic through Dallas on a Monday morning would be a nightmare. This means a 5 am start to beat Traffic.
We get much needed sleep and hit the road at O'way too early. Let me tell you...traffic in Dallas at 5:30 am is horrible. I can only imagine what it's like at 7am. Put Dallas on the list of places I never want to live.
We roll south after stopping to put some warm riding gear on. Somewhere around Waxahachie we stop for breakfast. It's warming up a bit so we ditch the warm gear and prepare for a haul into Austin.
Screeeeech! That's the sound of all traffic just as we get into Temple. A tanker truck and a couple of cars were in an accident and the tanker apparenlty burned. North and south bound I-35 were shut down. Time to find an alternate route.
Oh yeah, just prior to this my bike decided to shut down while we are cruising at 75 mph in the hammer lane. The ignition fuse had smoked. I couldn't find anything that would have done it and assumed that maybe the wiring going into the handle bars had a short. I moved the wiring around, replaced the fuse and we were on the road.
We reroute through downtown Belton and connect back onto 35. My bike shut down again. And again I couldn't find anything. New fuse and were heading south. We make it to the 130 toll road where Ken breaks off and heads for home.
John and I are ready to get home and cruise on through Austin. Just when we think we are on the last stretch my bike shuts down again. This time a new fuse doesn't help. I pulled the seat, tank and side covers looking for a chaffed wire. No such luck. By now I am exhausted and my mouth is starting to bother me where I had the teeth extracted. I call UNCLE!
My Mom and my sister Karen come to the rescue. They arrive with a trailer and we load both bikes (John is too tired to ride back). I think that was a good call on John's part.
The truck ride home was uneventful with the exception of periods of unconsciousness. So tired I can't think straight. Thank you Mom and Karen for saving us.
Once home it was a hot shower followed by a soak in the tub.
I am tired, sore, exhausted, hungry, tired and sore but grateful for the fun time I have had with my brothers out on the road.
I want to thank my lovey wife for supporting me on my "Wild Hog" adventure. Also want to thank all of the supporting cast.
Justin, Bobbi and Family, Stephen and Elaine, Aaron, Allen (for the Ducati), and most of all Ken and John for putting up with me through 2000+ miles on the open road.
What an adventure:)
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