Ride to Jefferson and surrounding area

     It has been a while since I was able to take a ride that lasted more than a few hours.  The ride to Jefferson in East Texas had been planned for several months and was scheduled to leave on Friday morning and return on Sunday afternoon.

     As advertised, the group left College Station at the appointed time headed for East Texas.  I use the term “group” very loosely here…there were 3 motorcycles and 5 people…two couples and me.  Man, did I ever feel like a 5^th wheel. 

    Our first stop was in Madisonville at Buckee’s to fill up the tanks as the others had not done that in College Station.  Once that was done, we continued east on Hwy 21 towards Nacogdoches.  Not too far on the other side of Crockett, we stopped at a Biker Store.  The owner and his wife were very friendly even though we didn’t buy anything.  They took our picture for their wall and we continued on eastward. 

    We passed by the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site on to Alto where we turned north onto Hwy 69 headed north to Rusk.  We stopped for fuel in Rusk and continued on, north on Hwy 110, then Hwy 204 back down to Hwy 259.  We again turned north through Mt. Enterprise, skirted the southern edge of Kilgore and hit FM349 east over to FM322 which we followed on into Longview.  There we stopped at Dukes Fish Shack.  Sharon questioned the wisdom of eating sea food in the middle of East Texas but it was very good…mostly shrimp, catfish and frog legs…I had shrimp and it was delicious.

     After lunch…about 2pm, we jumped on I-20 for about 20 miles until we got to FM450 in Hallsville and headed north towards Jefferson.  The number of small creeks is too numerous to remember as is the small towns.  However, there were two interesting names that stood out…Good Springs and Pirtle Community.

     After a series of turns on other farm-to-market roads, we pulled into Jefferson around 3pm.  We parked in front of the Excelsior Hotel…our accommodations for the next two days…and checked in.  After cleaning up a bit, I did a little exploring while the others took a nap or something.  Jefferson is an interesting little town, with a population of only 2,100.  However, it seems a lot bigger with several good restaurants and antique shops.  

     The most interesting store I went into was The General Store.  This place still had a soda fountain in place…although it wasn’t active…and a lot of what looked like original signage.  Inside you could find a lot of things to buy.  It kind of reminded me of some of the tourist traps down in Galveston but there were also other items to buy, including a lot of throwback candy and gum and soda.  It was a lot of fun to roam around inside.

     That night we had dinner at The Cork Yard.  As the name implies, their specialty was wine but they also had a pretty good menu of appetizers and entrées.  After our rather large lunch, everyone decided on the appetizers so we orders 3-4 of them and shared.  It was a pleasant night to be outside and the group had a good time talking and eating.  Even thought we didn’t have dinner, we decided we should have dessert so we headed down the street to The Hamburger Store where we all had a piece of wonderful pie.

     Besides no cable or internet at the hotel that night, we all had a fairly restful evening.  Oh, did I forget to mention that my room only had a claw foot bath tub with a handheld shower thing.  It has been a long time since I took a bath and it took a few minutes for me to get the hang of it…but I managed.  My morning bath went a little quicker but I did manage to get the floor pretty wet washing my hair.  Oh well, I guess they’re used to that.

     On Saturday morning, we went next door to the Bayou Bakery and Café.  We ordered breakfast…I had a ham and cheese omelet which was amazing…and made plans for the day.  Our fearless leader was taking us west to Lake O’ the Pines, around it and back to Jefferson.  The after lunch we would head east to Caddo Lake.

     After breakfast, we headed west on Hwy 49, hit FM729, FM 726, across the Ferrells Bridge Dam, then Hwy 259 into Ore City on the shores of Lake O’ the Pines.  We followed Hwy 259 further north to the tip of the lake, skirted the town of Lone Star and then turned south on FM729 again.  FM729 offered a much better few of the lake as we crossed several bayous…that looked like part of the lake to me but what do I know.  When we got to the intersection of 729 and 726, we backtracked a bit and turned into the Buckhorn Creek Park where several fishermen were offloading their boats for an early start to the weekend.  We took the opportunity to do a little more planning.

     We decided that it was too early for lunch…considering the portions of breakfast we had consumed…so we decided to go to one of the nearby vineyards.  We had seen Enoch’s Stomp Vineyard the day before on the way into Jefferson but there was another one a bit closer to our current location.  We mounted up and headed to O’Farrell’s Country Vineyard.  We arrived at the entrance and 11:45 and noticed that they didn’t open until 12:00.  However, after a few pictures, it was time so we went in.

     The others went into the wine tasting and small sales office while I stayed outside talking to one of the visitors and the owner…both retired Air Force.  It was very interesting since both of them retired a few years before me.  The visitor, from eastern Oklahoma, had been stationed at Randolph and Travis during his career so we talked about those places and what they look like now.

     Following our visit, I sat in the shade with everyone for a while, soaking up the quite country ambiance.  After a while, we decided to head back to Jefferson for lunch.  Our destination was Kitt’s Kornbread Sandwich shop.  By the way, did you know there’s a Lodi, Texas?  Well, I do now.  It’s on the road north of Jefferson.

     A few minutes later, we pulled into town and found that it was very crowded.  It’s amazing how a town of only 2,100 can become so crowded with no event scheduled for this particular weekend.  However, Jefferson is the county seat and I guess between visitors, town folks and folks from the surrounding area, it can get crowded.  Kitt’s was crowded, even at 1:30 in the afternoon.  We found seats at the bar and perused the menu.  Right away we noticed some interesting items.  We also could not help noticing the pies in the display case when you entered.

We ordered our Kornbread sandwiches…I had the Redneck Special…bologna and cheese…followed by a slice of apple pie.  It was yummy.  I highly recommend it to anyone headed to Jefferson.

     With our bellies full, we headed east to Caddo Lake.  One of our riders grew up fishing at the lake so he was our fount of information once we got there.  One of the interesting things about Caddo Lake is the town of Uncertain.  It’s not much of a town but rather a collection of trailer parks, RV parks and cabins for people coming to Caddo Lake.  The lake itself, especially close to the shore, is a carpet of water lilies, so thick you would think a boat could not get through them.

     In fact, the guy who had spent some of his youth fishing on the lake said that in addition to the water lilies there are many submerged stumps and/or trees that if you don’t stick to the marked “highways” in the lake, you could find yourself bailing fast to keep afloat.  We did not take the opportunity to rent a boat this time…maybe later.

     On the western end of the lake sits the little town of Karnack.  Once again, not much of a town but it did have a nice restaurant, the River Bend restaurant, which used to be a large boat dock, and a nicer place called Big Pines Lodge.  Along the road between the two places there were a couple of very nice homes…or should I say estates.  It’s amazing where people will spend $500K or more to build a home.

     By the time we had made the circuit on the south side of Caddo Lake, the weather appeared to be coming in from the west so we decided it was time to head back.  We arrived back at the hotel about 4pm, cleaned up and rested and met in the lobby at 5:30 to head to the local sports bar and grill, The Franchise, for dinner and the Aggie game.

     It had been a good day with good riding.  The roads around Jefferson are mostly smooth and those that need a little work appear to be prepped for a new surface.  We went through several small towns…the largest of which had a population of 500.  We also crossed numerous creeks and bayous once again…the largest of which were Hurricane Bayou, Black Cypress Bayou, Big Cypress Bayou and Little Cypress Bayou.  Needless to say, the area has some cypress trees.

     We had a nice dinner at The Franchise, milking our appetizers, drinks and dinner to manage to see the whole game that night while it rained heavily outside.  Fortunately, we caught a break in the heavier rain and managed to get back to the hotel without getting very wet.  Our landlord had graciously allowed us to park our bikes up on their porch for the night so we were able to make some preparations for Sunday morning’s departure.

     I slept much better on Saturday night as I managed to get a room with a shower and a working television…although the weather knocked out the cable so once again I went to bed before 10pm…probably a new record, two nights in a row.

     On Sunday, we ate breakfast in the hotel dining room…a very good country breakfast.  It was not raining, although it looked like it could at any moment.  Our leader, after looking at the radar picture on his phone determined that we were on the backside of the front that had passed through the night before and he didn’t think we’d need our rain suits all day.  Of course, as luck would have it, we had not even gone a mile down the road when it started raining.  We pulled over to the side of the road and everyone put on their jackets and we continued on.  As it rained harder and longer, we got wetter and wetter.

     We pulled into a gas station in Marshall to top off the tanks and everyone got fully dressed in rain gear.  I learned several things that morning:  1) when you put on the jacket, put on the pants too; 2) my boots are not waterproof…my socks and inside the boots got wet in a hurry; and 3) always wear the full-face helmet when inclement weather is anticipated…this one I had done.

     Leaving Marshall, we took Hwy 59 south towards Carthage, looped around the northern edge of the city and took FM315 through Clayton into Mt. Enterprise.  There we got on Hwy 259 south towards Nacogdoches.  Once again, we skirted the edge of town on their loop to Hwy 7 and turned west towards Crockett and home.

     On Hwy 7 we went through several small towns like Pollock, Redtown and Ratcliff, plus over the Angelina River and Neches River and through the Davy Crockett National Forest.  We took the loop around the eastern edge of Crockett until we came to Don Rafa’s Mexican Food…the only kind of food we had not had on the trip.

     After a good meal, we hit Hwy 7 headed towards Centerville, passing through the little of towns of Eunice.  We continued on 7 through Concord, Redland and Marquez where we got on Hwy 79 through Franklin and into Hearne…only 30 more miles to home.  We arrived back in the Bryan/College Station are about 4pm, definitely ready to be home…although my house was empty save for two little Cocker Spaniel dogs, eager to play and get into trouble.

     Overall, the ride through East Texas and Jefferson was very good.  We had some good food and good fellowship and I rarely felt like the 5^th wheel I was.  We had sun and hot weather, cloudy and muggy weather and rain…sounds like Texas…and covered just over 700 miles.  This trip was a bit expensive…probably why there weren’t many takers…but it was worth it.  There might not be too many more for this old guy so I’ve got to take advantage of these types of rides when I can.  I have my dear wife to thank for encouraging me to go.

     Nothing much on the horizon for future rides, other than a dinner ride here or there.  I need to get back to my ABC’s of Texas tour soon but hopefully the colder weather and holidays will be here so there might not be too much more riding until spring.  Until then, thanks for visiting my blog.

ABC's of Texas Touring

Once again, it's been a while since I posted anything.  I have taken some interesting trips in the last few months but unfortunately I got too busy upon my return to post anything.  Last Fall, I took 2 trips...one to the Hill Country and another to the Lone Star Rally in Galveston.  Both were enjoyable and if you're interested in pictures I can share them with you later.

This post involves traveling around Texas...mostly Central and East Texas...West Texas is too hot so I won't be venturing too far out that way...at least not until it cools down a bit.

Sharon and I had this idea that it might be fun to travel around the State finding city and towns with interesting and/or unique names, or in some cases some history that not everyone knows.  The idea came from a contest Harley Davidson National is doing but we thought it would be more interesting for our grandkids to keep it local.  The idea is to use the alphabet and find 26 or more places starting with one of the letters.  At some point down the road, once I collect all the locations I need, I'll put them in book form.  Perhaps the grandkids...and others...will find it interesting.

This blog will be mostly about the trips I take to gather the information for the ABC's of Texas Touring Book.

The first time out was only for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon and it involved cities and towns in the local area that are familiar names to the bikers around Brazos County.  On that ride I visited Anderson, Bedias, Carlos.  I may not use all of them in the final product because only Anderson is interesting with it's old historic Court House.

The second trip was much more extensive.  After visiting Baylor College of Dentistry on a Thursday for business, I spent the night at a hotel close to I-20 so that on Friday morning I could get an early start.  I had worked out a route through some of the lesser known East Texas towns within a reasonable area.  The route would take me as far east as Jacksonville before heading back toward the DFW area and my final destination in Arlington for a 1-yr old's birthday party.

On my way to Dallas, I decided to follow old Hwy 75 as long as possible.  I was surprised to find it was still in excellent condition, probably because the locals still use it extensively.  Along the route between Madisonville and Streetman...where 75 merges with I-45...there are numerous little towns with populations ranging from 110 up to 5800 or so.  There are houses, ranches, farms and all manner of commercial buildings along the route, but on this Thursday morning, I had the highway almost to myself. 

I crossed several creeks...Bliss, Keechi, Iron...and one river, the Navasota.  I also passed Fort Boggy State Park, which is just south of Centerville between I-45 and Hwy 75.  I made such good time that it appeared I would be too early for my meeting in Dallas so I stopped in Corsicana for lunch and to walk around Gander Mountain...no ammo there either!  I arrived at my destination with 5 minutes to spare.

On Friday morning, I got up early, had a little breakfast at the hotel...muffin and juice...and hit the road headed east at 7am.  My first stop was Van...about 55 miles down the road.  The weatherman predicted that the temperature would peak out near 102-103 by the end of the day but this early it was about 85 and the sun was hidden by a light cloud cover...at this point, the weather was excellent for riding.

In the interest of time, I stopped short of my original destination in Van to take a picture of a sign welcoming visitors to the city of Van...and then I was off to Jacksonville.  I decided, whenever possible, I needed to save a few minutes.  The Google map routing said that I was already going to have a six hour day, and that's without stops.  I figured it was going to take eight hours, at least.

The route to Jacksonville took me to the outskirts of Tyler and then out Hwy 79, a 4-lane highway, nice and smooth.  There was probably a shorter route available but perhaps not a faster one.  The area around Tyler is very pretty...looked like they have received a lot of rain so far this summer because everything was green.  I passed several estates that might be considered plantations...roses I guess...and the houses might be considered mansions...they were quite nice.

I pulled into Jacksonville at 9:30am, took my picture in front of their police station and hit the road again headed for Athens...about 50 miles away.  Unfortunately, those 50 miles took a little longer as Hwy 175 was under considerable repair...looked like they were resurfacing it.  At one point, the line being held by a flagman was over a mile long and the stretch of one-way highway was at least that long, if not longer...and it was getting hot!

Between Van and Athens I once again crossed several creeks, the Neches River twice and passed through some villages...too little to call towns or cities.  One such location, about 10 miles outside Jacksonville had two liquor stores, a car repair place and another abandoned-looking building...no gas station, no restaurants....the only housing I could see was mobile homes.  The name of the village was Cuney...my apologies if you're from there.

My next stop was Athens.  Already I felt pressed for time so I took a picture of the city limits sign and pressed on.  I stopped long enough for the picture, take a drink and reprogram my GPS for Canton...not on my route originally but I thought I should add it as almost everyone I know has been there at sometime in their life...it was only 25 miles up the road so I added a total of 50 miles to the trip.

One thing I had not considered was that this particular Friday is First Monday weekend...that's when hoards of people typically descend on Canton to shop the huge flea market and sample the great treats that are everywhere.  Fortunately, the traffic had not picked up much and I was able to get a picture of the market entrance and get out of the way without much trouble.  By this time, it was getting close to lunch and I was hungry so I stopped at a little place on the town square and had a very good hamburger.  The air-conditioned shop was really the best thing about the stop but the burger was good too.

After an hour of eating and relaxing, it was time to head on down the road...next stop, Gun Barrel City.  I plugged the location into my GPS and headed out, not caring what highway I was on but knowing the GPS would get me there by the quickest route.  I passed through several small towns with names such as Tundra, Jackson and Phalba...no, I didn't misspell it.

As I arrived in Gun Barrel City, it had a familiar ring to it, although I had never been there.  It reminded me of the Conroe area near Lake Conroe.  Gun Barrel City is also on the shores around a popular boating area...Cedar Creek Reservoir...a very large body of water.  As I drove along the road, there were restaurants, convenience stores, boating and fishing supplies and all manner of other places, just like Conroe.

I took my picture in front of city hall and headed on down the road across the bridge that divides the reservoir.  I don't know how many square miles the reservoir covers but it is quite large and appears to be a very popular destination.

My next stop was Tool, a small town on the western shores of the same reservoir.  I never found the post office...my original destination...so I took a picture of the volunteer fire department.  Tool wasn't much of a town, or should I say there wasn't much of a town present.  It appeared all the housing was between the road and the water....definitely a water loving folk.  I noticed a sign for the turn off to the Auxillary Coast Guard station but I never could find it either.  However, it gave me an opportunity to see some of the houses better.  Some of them were nice and just about all

of them had some sort of boat in the driveway or in the carport.

At this point, I was still at least 2 hours away from the end of my day and I could tell that the weather forecast was right on...it was at least 100 at 2pm.  As long as I could keep moving it wasn't too bad.  I also stopped occassionally to take a drink out of my thermos.

My next stop was Eureka...once again a tiny village along Hwy 287 on the way to Corsicana.  The map showed the town being on the shores...or near anyway...of Richland-Chambers Reservoir but I never saw the water.  I also couldn't find the post office so I took a picture in front of a church and got back on the road.  Hwy 287 merges with I-45 at Corsicana up to a point just south of Ennis...a section of highway that I had been on just the day before.  Traffic was fairly light on the interstate so I made good time safely.

I exited on Hwy 287 headed west towards Waxahachie...my last stop for the day.  The road is pretty good but the closer I got to Waxahachie, the more crowded the road became.  I hit the city limits about 3pm and the traffic was terrible...you would have thought it was a Saturday and everyone was out shopping.

My destination was supposed to be the city hall building, about 2 miles down the road, but the traffic was so heavy and slow moving and I was so ready to be in Arlington that when I saw the high school sign, I pulled in and got a picture.  The good news was that this was only 2 blocks off 287 so I got back on the highway relatively quickly and continued to Arlington.

I pulled into the driveway in Arlington at 4pm...nine hours after leaving the hotel in Mesquite...tired, hot and thirsty.  After unloading everything, and taking a shower, I tanked up on water and cooled down.

Sitting there relaxing, I was able to reflect back on the day's journey and I realized that Texas is full of people spread out all over the place...big cities to tiny villages, many of them having less than 100 citizens.  I passed over so many creeks that there was no way I could remember the names...although I did manage to remember Fish Creek, Aligator Creek and Hog Creek.  There is also an abundance of cemetaries spread out around the State...most of them named after the town nearby or some person I never heard of.  Most of them are very small but probably have very old headstones from the town's ancestors.  In addition, there are lakes everywhere...some not very big, but others just the opposite.  They may be called reservoirs or something else, but for all intents and purposes, they're lakes.

I don't know when my next trip will be or where but I have a quite a few towns to visit before I'm done so stay tuned.

Hill Country Ride

It's been a while since I posted anything interesting, mostly because I haven't done anything interesting, unless you count the Texas Honor Ride fundraiser in Conroe last month.  However, I had been waiting on this ride with the H.O.G. folks to Fredericksburg this past weekend.  The leader always makes the trip interesting...never travel on "real highways" very long and there are always good places to eat.

Considering the nice weather forecast and the fact that LSU was coming to College Station, it was a perfect weekend to head out of town.  Everyone met at the Kettle...some came early for breakfast...and we headed out of town, already having to deal with game day traffic.  We left town on Hwy 60 and followed it for quite a while, past Lyons and Hwy 36 until the leader found some farm roads.  He actually knew where he was going and had the whole route programmed into his GPS.

Our first stop was in Giddings after about an hour to allow everyone to rid themselves of all the coffee consumed earlier.  We found a Dairy Queen that was open and everyone was in and out quickly...without stopping for ice cream...it was too early anyway.

We continued on back roads and headed towards the New Braunfels area.  We passed through little towns with names like Roskany, Winchester, Staley and Fentress.  Fentress was having a fall festival type affair and the town was full of locals, all dressed up in period costumes and having a good time.  We made our way over to Lockhart and stopped for gas.  After topping off, we headed west and hopefully better landscape.

Our lunch plans included stopping in Greune and eating at the Grist Mill...always a treat.  The weather was excellent...on the chilly side actually...and the roads were more or less deserted except for us.  We arrived in Greune to discover that this weekend was when everyone else had decided to visit.  After trolling for parking, we decided to go somewhere else for lunch.  We ate at the New Braunfels Smokehouse...not bad.

With full bellies and rested behinds we headed off towards the Hill Country via the River Road.  I had never been on this road before but it was very interesting and very pretty.  Due to the winding nature of the road and some traffic, I couldn't make any pictures so you will just have to take my word for how nice it was...or you can go over to New Braunfels and take a ride on the River Road yourself.

All along the road there are campsites, houses, vacation homes/cabins, places to rent boats and tubes and hotels...and I use the word "hotel" very loosely.  However, the river was full in most places and the road allowed a very good view of it.  The road crossed back and forth across the river (the Guadalupe River by the way) using little concrete bridges...nothing more than a slab of concrete actually.  These bridges had names...1st Crossing, 2nd Crossing, 3rd Crossing and 4th Crossing...very imaginative don't you think.  The houses near the end of the road, on the opposite side of the river, were very nice.  Each one of them was built 25-30 feet off the water up the hill and had stairways leading down to a dock on the river.

The water must have been too cold for tubing because I didn't see anyone doing so.  We did see a hand full of folks in canoes or Kayaks but that was it.  Many of the campgrounds were closed for the winter but a few had campers.  It was a good weekend for it.

We eventually hit another back road and started seeing the Hill Country type of landscape...rolling hills, twisting roads and the typical vegetation...scrub brush, mesquite trees, cactus and some oak trees.  Although it had rained recently, everything looked a little brown.  In the spring you can see wildflowers everywhere but October isn't the time for that.

We passed through towns like Comfort and Kendalia and went through many low lying areas that would most likely flood with heavy rains.  Getting around this part of the State during a rainy period might bring several obstacles.  We passed through 1st and 2nd Coffee Hollow and over Dry Creek, Hickory Creek and Honey Bear Creek.   Some had a little trickle of water and some had none. 

By mid-afternoon we were ready for a stop and just happened to come to Sisterdale...due south of Fredericksburg and north of Boerne...where we found the Sister Creek Winery.  It was a very small building...actually built in an old cotton gin...but made specialty wines.  They had a small tasting room...actually a wooden table that sat 8-10 people in a little alcove off the main room.  Two or three of the group purchased a bottle of wine while the rest of us walked across the road to the Sisterdale Market to get a soda.  Both places were small but fairly popular with bikers as they were on the small, twisty type of roads bikers like.

Following the stop in Sisterdale, we wound around a little and headed in a northerly direction to Fredericksburg, arriving at the hotel about 4:30 in the afternoon...just enough time to take a shower and watch a little football before dinner.

A little before 6 everyone walked down the street, some stopping at certain stores...like the Christmas store for the women and Just For Men for the guys.  I didn't find anything I had to have.  After looking around some we walked down the street to a nice German Restaurant...very popular based on the crowd gathering at 6pm.  As it turned out the crowd got worse as we ate.

We got a table for 8...three couples and 2 class B bachelors...that's guys without their wives.  We were the odd man out all weekend too.  Anyway, I order Jäger-Schnitzel and potato pancakes while others tried the various sausages...everyone seemed to enjoy their dining experience.

After dinner we were supposed to drive out to Luckenbach but everyone was too full to move so we all retired to our rooms and watched television...football games were plentiful so I watched Texas Tech and TCU...good game.

On Sunday morning we skipped church...that's a joke by the way...ate the continental breakfast at the hotel...terrible!...and hit the road about 8:30.  We headed north out of Fredericksburg...I thought it was west or south...on Hwy 16 and turned on the Willow City Loop...about 40 miles of twisting and turning ranch roads...small two lane road without any substantial shoulder.  After about 30 miles we pulled off in to a makeshift scenic overlook...the ground was way too rough for it to be planned...and got a beautiful panoramic view of the Hill Country.

Leaving the loop we went through Willow City and headed towards Marble Falls on the shores of Lake LBJ to the east of us.  We found yet another farm road and followed its twists and turns until we hit Hwy 281, which we followed into Marble Falls.  As we crossed over the bridge into the downtown section of Marble Falls, we came to the Blue Bonnet Cafe.  According to the leader, eating there was only going to be a possibility if we arrived early enough and if the crowd was not too large.

We arrived at 1100 and although the parking lot looked packed, the line wasn't wrapped around the building as it tends to be at certain times of the day and year.  As it was, we waited in line in the exit hallway for about 20-30 minutes until we got a table for 8.  After looking at the menu and talking to the folks around us for suggestions, we ordered.  Some ordered breakfast and some lunch...ranging from hamburgers to chicken fried steak...all ordered pie following.  The meal was pretty good but the pie was excellent...turns out pie is one of the attractions of the cafe...I'd have to agree.

Following lunch a nap would have been nice but since we were on motorcycles and there wasn't a handy park or picnic table nearby, we continued our trek home.  At some point we hit a ranch road...1431 I believe...hand headed in a northerly direction...I think.  I've got to get a compass for my bike or start using my GPS more because I never knew which direction I was headed unless the sun was in my eyes, then I had a pretty good idea.

We passed through little towns like Travis Peak and Jonestown and bigger ones like Lago Vista and Cedar Park.  We stopped in Cedar Park for gas before heading east through Round Rock, Hutto, Taylor, Noack and Lexington, where we stopped once more...last time.  By this time, everyone was ready to be home so upon leaving Lexington we hit Hwy 77 down to Hwy 36 to Caldwell then Hwy 21 to College Station.  We finally were able to maintain a descent speed and made it home rather quickly.

After two days of riding and 515 miles, everyone was glad to be home, safe and sound.  Nobody had maintenance problems or any other problem for that matter.  It was a good trip and I got to know several folks better than before...it was definitely worth the trip.  Unfortunately, I missed the dedication of my youngest grandchild...Caraline Kate...so I hope neither her or her mother thinks less of me.  As my wife always reminds me, "you're not getting any younger so you should ride whenever you get the chance"...thanks Sharon.

Next month I'm off again to the Lone Star Rally in Galveston.  I've never been to a large rally like this so it ought to be interesting.  Come back and see my blog after that trip.  I'll try to get some good pictures.

First H.O.G. Rally

This weekend was the State-wide H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) rally in Fort Worth.  It began on Thursday and went through Saturday night, however I decided to only go up on Friday afternoon and go to the rally on Saturday morning.

As it turned out, some friends were headed that way on Friday afternoon as well so I decided to tag along with them.  A group was going from the local Harley dealership on Saturday morning but since I had plans to spend the night with Ellasyn, Courtney and Ethan, I opted to go Friday.

The plan was to leave from a gas station on the north side of Bryan at 1:30pm but we were delayed a bit due to some minor work being done on the other motorcycle.  We hit the road at 2:00, which was going to get us to Fort Worth just in time to hit rush hour.  We made a couple of quick water breaks on the way, but made good time.  As anticipated, we arrived on the south side of town at 5:15.  Going in to town went pretty smoothly but the traffic was going to pick up ten fold north of town.  Except for dodging a few trucks on I-35, our trip north was uneventful.

I broke off from the other bike and took I-20 east to Arlington and the traffic wasn't too bad.  Only one truck tried to hit me but I saw him coming over into my lane in plenty of time to get out of his way.  The other couple decided to go by the rally in the stockyards before continuing their trip to Denton where they were staying with friends.  As far as I know their plan allowed them to avoid most of the bad traffic.

I arrived at Courtney's house about 5:45 where was just getting up from a nap.  After unpacking the bike and taking a shower, we all went out for dinner.  After finding the first couple of places packed with customers, we drove downtown and went to Babe's...always a good place.  We thought the place was going to be packed to the gills, judging by the parking lot, but we walked right in and were seated.  Apparently, the packed parking lots were for the other restaurants in the area, plus there was an outdoor concert and the nearby pavilion.

Arriving home after dinner, Ellasyn went to bed, followed very closely by everyone else.  Ellasyn let me sleep in her "big girl bed" while she slept in her sleeping bed at the foot of the bed.

Saturday morning I was awakened by Ellasyn talking about things in her room...pointing them out one by one.  Ethan was already out garage saleing so the rest of us got dressed to go get donuts...a Saturday morning ritual with the McDaniels.  I followed Courtney on my motorcycle as I was planning on heading down to the stockyards after eating.

Ellasyn had her normal single donut...orange icing with sprinkles.  By the time her father arrived, she had eaten most of the donut and downed some juice from home...and she was wired.  The sugar from the donut and the juice hit her system very quickly.  I was glad I wasn't going home with them.  We parted ways...Courtney and Ellasyn headed home, Ethan out for more garage saleing and I headed towards Fort Worth.

I wasn't positive on where exactly the stockyards were, although I had been there a couple of times and had a general idea how to get there.  In addition, the other guy I rode up with told me which exit to take.  Once I was in the general area, it wasn't too hard to find...just follow all the other motorcycles.

The signs led me right down the main street...people everywhere.  There were bikers in all kinds of attire as well as the normal tourists.  I followed the signs to the parking area, although there were bikes parked all along the street.  I ended up parking at the far end of the parking area...which turned out to be close to the exit.  The bike rodeo had been set up next to the parking area so I watched a few guys trying their luck with the slalom course.  It looked really difficult...in fact, the first guy laid his bike over in one of the turns.  The last part of the course was a 20 foot section and the object was to see how slow you could cover the distance without having to put their feet down.

After watching for a while, I headed for the vendor area.  As I walked up the steps a woman approached me and asked if I had registered yet.  As I did not have a pretty green arm band on, it was pretty obvious that I had not but she gave me the benefit of the doubt anyway.  She directed me to the registration area when I promptly found out it was going to cost me $40.  Since this was the first rally I had been to I figured I had to register to participate...whatever that meant.

As I discovered later, the good vendors did not require me to register.  The dealerships from the Dallas and Fort Worth areas had tents displaying their wares in a completely different area and that did require registration.  I later found out that you had to register to attend the concert each night...which I had no intention of doing this time around...although I heard the Friday night one was pretty good.

I found the "real" vendor area and casually walked through, checking out what everyone had to offer...there wasn't anything I needed bad enough this time.  After I finished the vendor tour I noticed a lot of folks standing or sitting on the sidewalk across the street.  I went over to see what was going on.  One of the men said they were waiting for the 11:30 Stockyard parade.  I only had 10 minutes to wait...so I did.

In a few minutes, here came the "parade"...half-dozen longhorn cattle and a hand full of riders.  The group ambled down the street while everyone took pictures, and then it was over.  I'm told they make the trip twice daily....going each way once.  Even though it was a bit anti-climatic, the kids seemed to like it.

About the time the parade started, someone patted me on the shoulder, which was a bit of a surprise.  As I turned, I found one of the guys from the College Station Harley group who had driven up on Friday, taking the long way through Stephenville.  He was meeting the rest of the group when they showed up.

We walked around, eventually finding our way back to the bike rodeo area where they were starting another competition...called Pony Express.  The idea was for a rider with passenger to drive slowly between two white lines...which appeared to be about 24 inches apart...while the passenger put mail in the mail boxes...there were 3 of them.  Most of the participants appeared to have done this before.  Most of the riders were able to drive very slowly and several of the passengers were able to put mail in the boxes.  Before long there was a 6 way tie for first place.  The next run became more difficult, by having the passenger open the box, put the mail in and then close the door.  I think all 6 of the couples scored a perfect run.  The next run, the passenger had to open the door, put the mail in, close the door and put the flag up.  At the end of everyone's runs, there were still 6 participants in the competition.

For the next tie-breaker, they moved one of the mailboxes over to the other side so that the passenger had to switch from one side to the other while putting the mail in and putting up the flag.  I guess I should have mentioned that if the motorcycle's tires hit or crossed over a line, the couple was disqualified.  On this particular run, only one couple made it through successfully.  As it turned out, the winning driver was a motorcycle cop and he was very good...as was his passenger.

Following the Pony Express competition, we strolled through the vendor area once more, grabbed a corn dog and some lemonade and then I hit the road back to Courtney's house.

I'm sure the concert on Saturday night would have been good...perhaps next time I attend a rally I'll participate.  However, this time I wanted to spend time with my granddaughter.  

I left Arlington Sunday morning and headed to Richardson to visit my mother for a while, then hit the road home.   The traffic wasn't too bad and the weather cooperated most of the way home...except for the gusty wind.  I could see it getting dark to the east and south of my position and eventually I got a little bit of rain, but it wasn't even enough to get me wet.

All in all it was a pretty good trip...all 490 miles of it.  I was ready to get home and take a shower...as usual.  Next trip is scheduled for Memorial Day when a group of riders will ride up to Kaufman for a visit to their Vietnam Wall erected last year.

Last Passport Road Trip

Last Saturday, November 12, was the last phase in my quest to visit all 41 of the Texas Harley Davidson dealerships participating in the Passport program. I started the 2nd week of the program in August and ends on November 20. Before I go any further, I would like to express my appreciation to my loving wife who was totally supportive in my efforts to go all over the State to get silly stamp in my passport. Perhaps she merely wanted me to spend more time out of town, but I choose to think it was just because she loves me.

Of course, as I have mentioned before, much of my dealership visits were made in conjunction with my business travels, but there were two or three trips made just for this purpose. Either way, Sharon was always behind me. I only had to endure a bit on good natured ribbing over the t-shirts I kept coming home with...I had to have a souvenir of my visits didn't I? Well, now I have a shirt for all occasions!

Now to the road trip. I started my day with three objectives in mind...1) be in Beaumont by the time the dealer there opened; 2) drive to Nacogdoches and have lunch after visiting there dealership; and 3) be home by early afternoon To go out on a date.

I left town at 6:20am headed south on Hwy 6...a road I have taken many times. I made good time in the dark and before long I was on the other side of Houston on I-10. The last time...and perhaps the only time in recent memory...I was on this stretch on interstate I was on my motorcycle coming home from Florida. The road definitely looks different from a car. Either way, there isn't much to see between Houston and Beaumont except miles and miles of open land...perhaps much of it low, marsh land.

 

 

It is 180 miles from College Station to Beaumont but it isn't a bad drive.  I crossed several rivers and creeks with names such as Goose Creek, Lost River (not sure where it went), Old River, Trinity River, Turtle Bayou and Taylors Bayou.  I also went through or by several interesting towns with names like Winnie, Wallisville, Anahuac (famous from the days of Texas fighting for their independence), Gator Junction and Hankamer.  Once I arrived in Beaumont, it was fairly easy to find the dealership. 

 

 

I arrived shortly after opening, did my thing and headed up Hwy 69 towards Nacogdoches.  Mostly there wasn't much to see that you can't see in most large cities in Texas, except for one establishment that I had seen advertised for several miles prior to hitting town...Starvin Marvin's.  Sounded like a good place to eat but I didn't have time to find out.

 

 

Hwy 69 between Beaumont and Nacogdoches is a part of Texas that I had never traveled before.  The 120 miles was much different than the road inbound to Beaumont...tree s, water, etc.  Again, it is so obvious to see the differences between east and west Texas.  I passed over several creeks and rivers like Cypress Creek, Sour Lake (that may be a town versus a lake...or both), Village Creek, Hickory Creek, Big Cypress Creek, Little Turkey Creek, Big Turkey Creek, Wolf Creek, Neches River, Angelina River and Shawnee Switch (anyone know what a switch is?).  I also went through some towns with interesting names, such as Woodville, Chester, Douchette, Colmesneil, Zavala (sounds like it should be in south Texas doesn't it), Jasper, Huntington (where the high school's teams are the Devils and the Devilettes), Shawnee Prairie and Lufkin. 

 

 

I also drove through some beautiful wooded areas, such as the Angelina Forest.  Logging is big business in this part of the state and I saw several small saw mills and  I passed the Woodville location of the Texas Forest Service...didn't even know there was one.

As I entered Nacogdoches from the south, the traffic began to get heavy.  I figured the relatively narrow street that goes by the SFA campus is always busy, especially around lunch time on a Saturday, but this was a little heavier than I anticipated.  I decided to go to the dealership in town and then hit the campus for a little reminiscing.  I drove around the loop a few miles and shortly after I passed over Hwy 21 I found the dealership...nothing exciting but adequate for my purposes.  The weather was pretty good and there were quite a few riders coming and going.

After getting my last passport stamp, I headed toward the university.  I wanted to see if I could find a nice polo shirt or something similar and then I would find a place to eat lunch...perhaps at one of the historic BBQ joints that Sharon and I used to eat at back in the '60's.  As I entered the campus, I noticed that almost every parking place was taken and that's when it hit me...it must be their annual preview days and probably a football game as well.  I was right on both counts as it turned out.

I found a parking place about 200 yards from the student center and hiked back to find the bookstore.  The student center is quite a bit different than it was when I was attending...even different than when Courtney graduated in '06.  There were several nice fast food restaurants...all totally filled with parents and prospective students.  I blocked out the hunger pains and headed for the bookstore...I assumed it was still in the same place...and it was. 

I was on the road home by 1:00pm...140 miles on pretty nice road that I had driven many times.  I passed through several very familiar towns like Douglas, Alto, Crockett, Madisonville and North Zulch, but then I noticed for the first time towns with not so familiar names, like Salem, Cold Springs, Weeping Mary, Grapeland, Mapletown and Sand Ridge.   As with the first two legs of the trip, I crossed several creeks and/or rivers, such as McLean Creek, Bracken Creek, Cedar Creek, Big Creek, Trinity River (again), Ivey Creek, Pooles Creek and the Navasota River.  Once past this river, I knew I was almost home.

 

 

Two very unique areas of interest were on this particular stretch of road.  First, the Davy Crockett National Forest...a beautiful piece of land with a nice lake near Crockett.  Second, the Caddo Indian Mound historic site.  If you haven't been to either, they are worth a day's drive to East Texas.

 

 

I made only one stop on the way home...Buckee's.  It's hard to resist stopping, especially if you're thirsty or need gas.  I hit the little boy's room, bought a coke and got back on Hwy 21 to home...only 30 more miles.

 

 

Once again, I offer my thanks to my beautiful wife for her understanding and encouragement for me to enter into the passport program...and to get all 41 of the participating Harley Davidson dealerships in this year's program.  I don't know if I'll ever do it again...unless next time I do it on my motorcycle...which I regret wasn't possible this time.

 

 

Well, until the next road trip, this is Papa Jax signing off.  Thanks for listening.

Road Trip - North Texas, etc.

After "passing through" College Station to drop off dirty clothes and get some fresh ones...and warmer ones...I hit the road to Richardson.  My plan was to spend the night there and leave early on Saturday morning, early enough to be in Paris by the time that dealership opened at 8am.

I arrived in Dallas around 5:30pm, just in time to catch the brunt of Friday afternoon's rush hour traffic.  Thinking I would miss the bulk of the traffic on Hwy 75, I took the exit for the Woodall Freeway to get over to I-35 and the Dallas North Toll road...big mistake!  The Woodall Freeway is under construction and packed cars.  I slowly made my way over to the right lane to be in position to exit onto I-35.  Fortunately for me, most of the traffic wanted over to the left lanes to go south on I-35, and most likely on to I-30 towards Fort Worth.

The traffic on I-35 was relatively light and I had no trouble getting on the toll road headed north...along with most of the traffic headed north for home.  I don't think I've ever seen that much, slow moving traffic.  I even had to come to a complete stop 3-4 times before I got north of I-635 and to an exit.  I eventually made it to Richardson and made myself comfortable for the night. 

I left the house on Saturday morning around 6am for the two hour drive to Paris...which I made in 1 1/2 hours.  I found a McDonald's close to the dealership and walked in to have a little breakfast while I waited for them to open.  I think the entire senior citizen population of Paris, Texas was there having breakfast.  It was definitely the place to be at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.

Driving over to Paris in the dark didn't allow much sightseeing...probably not much to look at anyway.  I could definitely tell I wasn't in West and/or South Texas anymore by the number of creeks I crossed going to Paris...Sister Grove Creek, Pilot Grove Creek, Desert Creek, Bos 'd Arc Creek, Bullard Creek and South Branch Pine Creek.  I also passed through or near several towns that I recognized and many that I had never heard of, such as, Melissa, Westminster, Desert, Trenton, Edhube, Bonham, Dodd City, Honey Grove, Maxey, Clarksville and Hugo to name a few.

After an exciting breakfast of oatmeal and sweet tea, I drove down to the Paris H-D dealership where they were still moving motorcycles and 4-wheelers out to the street for display, however, they were open for business.  One of the interesting things about this particular dealership was that it was not a Harley Davidson dealership by itself...they also had Honda's and Yamaha's...that was interesting.  I don't think I had ever seen that before.  It turns out that the dealership started out as a Honda dealership, then expanded to Harley's and Yamaha's later.  I did my business, looked around a little and headed to my second stop of the day...Wichita Falls.

Having lived in Wichita Falls many years ago, I was looking forward to visiting the base and some of the old familiar places...if they even still existed.  The road into town looked familiar, although there were several new things.  One of the places I wanted to get a picture of was the Scotland Park Motel...the place Sharon and I lived with our first Cocker Spaniel for a few weeks while house hunting.  It was cheap and fairly clean and close to a park where the dog could run.  I remember taking her out for a run...which she enjoyed immensely...after which we had to take her into the shower because she was so muddy...that was not an enjoyable shower for either of us.

Well, as you can tell from the picture, the motel has seen better days.  It looked to be abandoned and will probably be totally gone the next time I'm through.  I drove on to the front gate of Shepherd AFB and although it has been spruced up quite a bit, it was still familiar.  However, once past the gate, I recognized very little.  I made a quick stop at the BX and Clothing Sales and then drove out to the 80th Flying Training Wing...which I had to really look for.  The original building is still being used...and I recognized that...but there have been several new additions around it.  The most interesting change is that all the aircraft on the flight line are covered with shade structures.  Wish we could have had those back when I was an instructor there.

Following a tour of the base, I plugged the address on Lenore...our first house...into the GPS and drove off to see what the house/neighborhood looked like.  I probably could have found my way but it was much easier with the GPS.    In a few minutes, I was cruising down our old street and there on the left was 4118.  It didn't look that much different than it did back in 1974...perhaps a little more worn down...but the neighborhood has not fared well.  Either that or I just don't remember how bad it was when we lived there.  It was a good house at the time and easily met our needs.

Leaving the old neighborhood behind, I set off to find the Harley dealership...the reason I was in town, remember.  The address was on the Northeast Freeway...a name I never heard before...but I finally figured out it must be Hwy 287 and sure enough, shortly after I got on the highway heading west I saw the H-D sign.  The dealership was a nice new place...not the original location according to the girl behind the counter...with an interesting winged horse sculpture out front, perhaps paying homage to the air base.  I looked around, found a t-shirt and got my passport stamped and headed south to Abilene.

As far as I can remember, I have never traveled on that particular stretch of highway, but I found it easy driving...not too much traffic, just a few cops and fairly smooth road conditions.  There were few, if any, turns so I just set the cruise control, turned up the volume on the radio and let the car eat up the miles.

I neglected to mention that the highway between Paris and Wichita Falls was somewhat familiar and I saw a fair number of creeks...being in North Texas, but soon I would see very few, if any.  I crossed over creeks with names like Caney Creek, Choctaw Creek, Post Oak Creek, Elba Creek, Beaver Creek and  Mustang Creek and i crossed over 2 Tri's...whatever that is...Opossum Tri and Shawnee Tri.  I saw names of towns/cities that I had heard before, such as Sadler, Southmayd (where Sharon had her first real job teaching), Gainesville, Nocona and Muenster, as well as towns I have never heard of before, such as Savoy, Roxton, Tigertown, Ector, Ethel, Moss Lake, Illinois Bend, Spanish Fort, Petrolia and Myra.  Sad looking Nocona Boot Factory!

On the leg between Wichita Falls and Abilene, I rarely saw any creek/river and passed through or near some interestingly named cities, such as Kamay, Electra, Olney, Goree, Aspermont and Roby.  I did cross the Brazos River, however, that was it...I was definitely in West Texas again.  I also saw a lot of examples of Texas' two biggest cash crops...cotton and oil.

I arrived in Abilene about 3:45pm, plenty of time to find the dealership there, do my business and get to Arlington by dinner time.

I found the dealership without too much trouble...only had to double back on the highway once...and found a relatively new dealership, partially hidden on the corner of a shopping center.  No telling which came first, the dealership or the other shopping.  However, I accomplished my business quickly and was back on the road by 4:15pm.

As I headed east towards Arlington, I started noticing more creeks and green fields...leaving West Texas again.  I was making good time until I passed through Baird...not too far from Abilene...when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw an unmarked DPS car with all his lights on.  I recognized it as the car I had just passed so he got a good look at me coming and going.  I hit my turn signal and pulled over to the shoulder, really wondering if he was going to give me a speeding ticket for going 2 mph over the limit.  As it turned out, he had noticed that my front license plate was on the dashboard and not on the front of the car and the rear plate was partially covered by the license plate holder.  I suspected that the former was illegal and I knew the latter was.

I apologized profusely, told him I didn't know about the front license plate requirement and he only gave me a warning.  I promised him I'd take care of both problems that night in Arlington...which I did...and then we started discussing his possible future job with TEEX or one of the university police departments.  It will be really interesting some day if I should run into officer or Mr. Gary Hooper.

The rest of the trip to Arlington was uneventful...if you don't count the many miles of construction and lane closures...and the crazy people going 20-30 mph over the speed limit that kept trying to cut me off or hit me.  I finally...and safely...arrived at my destination and had a nice dinner with my oldest daughter, Courtney, her husband Ethan and my beautiful granddaughter, Ellasyn.

There are 41 dealerships participating in the passport program...I have now visited 39 of them...only 2 more to go!

Road Trip - South Texas

Once again, my trip to South Texas...Laredo and San Antonio...was not planned as a road trip, but rather a business trip to visit the university police departments at both locations.  Of course, why not visit some Harley dealerships if they're on the way. 

With that in mind, my first stop was in Victoria.  I had made a stop there only a week before I found out about the passport program and had not been back until now.  I couldn't very well bypass the opportunity since it wasn't that far out of the way.

I didn't need a t-shirt so I looked around a little and then got my passport signed...then hit Hwy 59 headed to Laredo.  I opted to skip lunch so I could have a nice dinner in Laredo...and to save a little time.  As it turned out, the detour to Victoria only cost me an extra 30 minutes over a normal drive to Laredo...not bad.

I had made the drive down to Victoria many times, but thinking about writing this blog I paid more attention to points of interest along the way...as sparse as that may be.  As I have found in my other road trips around the State, Texans are very creative when it comes to naming their towns, waterways and roads.  On the road to Victoria I passed through or near towns with names such as Ezzell, Schulenberg, Carmine, Roundtop, Yoakum and Inez.  I saw a lot of fertile green farmland...a drastically different sight than in West Texas.

The leg to Laredo wasn't much different, except the fertile farm land quickly gave way to acres and acres of ranch land covered with mesquite trees and scrub brush.  I only know much of the area was ranch land because I saw several large, gated entrances to ranches.  I'm not sure what they're "ranching" as I never saw any cattle or horses...or any other livestock for that matter. 

I crossed over the Guadalupe River, Munnehulla Creek, the San Antonio River, Medio Creek and the Nueces River.  The names of towns and roads were no less unique than those seen earlier in the day...Raisin, Colonge, Berclair, Deaf Smith Road, Third Road (and Second and First), Beeville, George West, Goynes Junction and Freer.  I also passed through the historic town of Goliad...population about 1,900. 

I took a short detour through the historic downtown of Goliad to see some interesting old buildings and the county courthouse...then back on the highway to my last stop of the day...Laredo H-D.

I hit the Laredo city limits at 3:30pm and followed Hwy 59 Business until I intercepted I-35 and turned north.  The dealership was about two miles further up the highway.  The dealership looks like it has been there a long time...the building is old and the sign is small...not like Odessa or Big Spring, but not like new dealerships either.  However, inside there was ample space for showroom, merchandise and parts.  The dealership's personnel were very friendly as well.

After getting my passport stamped, I drove on to my hotel near the university.  Tomorrow, I will visit the university police and saftey officer before headed to San Antonio.  On Friday, the plan is to take a short detour up I-10 to Boerne before heading home to College Station.  Once I get home, I will quickly switch cars, go by the house for fresh clothes...as necessary...and then drive to Richardson.