Somewhere Down In Texas...

9-22-2014...9-24-2014

Monday morning.....We left San Antonio and did an easy 80-some mile ride to Uvalde.  Another BEAUTIFUL day!  Nice, cool morning!  Uvalde is in Texas Hill Country, which offers some of the best roads to ride in Texas! We arrived early, around noon. Luckily, we were able to check in upon our arrival...we dumped our luggage in our room and went next door to grab some lunch at the Oasis Outback. 

The Oasis Outback is like a mini-Cabela's outdoor store.  They have guns, ammo, hunting & fishing gear, clothing, gifts, kinck-knacks, etc.  They also have a restaurant serving up some good BBQ and a huge salad bar!  Strange thing is...the whole place is only open for a few hours each afternoon around lunch time. On the weekends they open for dinner. Weird. Anyway, we got our fill of soup, salad, and BBQ!  We then played "Frogger" and crossed the busy Route 90 to the liquor store across the street to re-stock our provisions...then "Froggered" it back across to our hotel!  There isn't much around our hotel, which is just fine. We had to slow down for a bit and do some laundry!  So we spent the day sitting by the pool listening to tunes and sipping adult beverages while our laundry went for a spin in the machines!  (Damn small machines, too!  Ended up doing 3 loads!). The pool was was cold but soooooo refreshing!  It was mid-afternoon by now and the sun was HOT!!!  

We had to keep moving our table so the umbrella would shield us from it's scalding rays!  

There was a cotton field behind the hotel which was really coo!  Cotton as far as the eye can see!  Tom had plans to go pick himself some after dinner!

After our laundry was done and we couldn't move the umbrella anymore to protect us from the sun, we headed up to the room to get cleaned up for some dinner.  There were slim pickings within walking distance...an Applebee's to our left and a "Jack's" steakhouse to our right. We opted for Jack's because...well, it's not a chain!  Good call!  I had a fantastic rib-eye!  I ordered the 10 oz and, after inhaling it, was wishing I had ordered the 14 oz!  

After dinner we hoofed it back to the hotel, where we found HUGE Cotton-Picking machines in the process of picking all the cotton!!!!  Good thing I took a picture earlier!  Poor Tom didn't get to pick any!  (Actually, in the light of day the next morning we found there was plenty left behind!  There's now some in Tom's Tour-Pack!)

Here's the machines, doing their thing!  

They'd fill their bins, then dump it into a compactor for baling. Pretty neat to watch. 

We turned in early and woke early the next day, ready to explore Hill Country!  

We found some amazing, twisty, mountainous roads!  Nothing like I would ever imagine Texas could offer!  

 

Near the beginning of our ride we ran into 2 couples on bikes at a remote gas station. The kind with one old pump... One of the guys asked where we were from. "Cleveland, Ohio" I reply. "What?" He asks.... ( (I'm used to Southerners not being able to understand me...I talk too fast with my Cleveland accent!) ...so I repeat, "Cleveland, Ohio"!  His reply.."That's what I THOUGHT you said!  Damn!  That's a long ride!  We're from Fort Worth and I'm bitching about how long OUR trip is!" Hahahahhahaaaaa!  We chatted with the 4 of them for a while, telling them where we've been and where we're going. They told us about some of the great roads they've ridden in Arkansas that we should check out.  They asked how long our road trip is and we replied "a little more than 3 weeks"...

After wishing each other safe travels we parted ways...

Like I said....this area is beautiful!  

We ended up in Kerrville,TX for lunch. Home of Johnny Football!!!  Hooray!

After riding for about 150 miles we came across "The Motorcycle Stop" in Leakey, Texas.  This is a cool little bar & grill, (The Bent Rim Grill) with a store selling T-Shirts, souvenirs and motorcycle accessories. Most of the dining area is in an open "garage", with fantastic views of the mountains. 

So who do we find when we pull in?  Our friends from Ft Worth!  One of the first things they say to us...."That's it.  We wanna do a 3-week motorcycle trip, too!"  I tell them to go ahead and do it!!!  They won't regret it!  We chatted with them for a while more, then decided to head back to home base.  

Ya know...we never did get their names. :-(

Our route to and from the hotel consisted solely of secondary routes....county and ranch roads...2 lanes, 70 mph. 

On our way back, TWICE we approached vehicles that were going slower than us. BOTH TIMES they pulled over and rode the berm so that we could pass them!  How cool is that?!?!  We were a ways behind them, too...not like we were riding their asses or anything!  Just plain old courtesy!  

So I got to thinking...ya know what?  I do believe Texas has the best drivers out of all the states in which we've ridden!  Nobody hangs out in the passing lanes.  Nobody rides your ass. People move over if you're going faster.  Just plain ol' manners and awareness of what's going on around you!  (It helps that there's signs all over the interstates advising that "the left lane is for passing only"!

So all in all, we did about 200 miles exploring Texas Hill Country, but we spent about 8 hours doing it!  What a fantastic day!

Next stop... Austin!!!

Game Day in San Antonio! Here we go Brownies, Here we go!!!

Sunday morning ... Bright and early again!  Game day!!!!  Time to meet up with the Alamo Area Browns Backers to see our Browns take on the Ratbirds!

After another chaotic breakfast...Tom believes that all the locals show up their with all their friends & neighbors to hang out and eat all the food......

But I digress.....

We battled the breakfast crowd, saddled up, and headed for the Fox & Hound bar located about 20 minutes from our hotel. This is where the Alamo Area Browns Backers meet!  Luckily we got there as soon as they opened because the Browns crowd was already pouring in!  We introduced ourselves to someone who looked like an integral part of their chapter, grabbed our seats, and saved one for Chrissy. This is an awesome chapter!  I'd say it's just about as big as the Middle Tennessee Browns Backers! (Though not as "friendly". I didn't make any fast, lifelong friends as I did with Middle Tennessee!  I don't want to say they weren't cool...just not the same connection I felt with my pals Juli, Sissy, and Don from Tennessee!)

But I digress!  

Here's some game time pix.."

OK.....that's all I'll say about the game. Dammit it was a close one!  

We said goodbye to Chrissy...we'll see her back home at Christmas!

So back at the ranch.....we debated whether to stay in and do laundry or to head back out to visit the Riverwalk. Laundry can wait until Monday in Uvalde.  TO THE RIVERWALK!!!!  We stopped along the way at the Cadillac Bar, just a block or two from our hotel. I ordered a Bud Light and Tom ordered a Dos Equis. The bartender asked Tom something about how he wanted it.  I thought I heard him say "Do you want it dressed?"  Anyway, it was served with salt all over the neck and a lime sticking out....

Man! That looked refreshing. My Bud Light wasn't nearly as interesting!

After whetting our whistles at the Cadillac we continued on to the Riverwalk!  

We wandered for a short time, but "The Worm"...a tequila bar...was drawing me in again!  That's where we sat Friday night, enjoying the Blues band!

We sat there for a long time, chatting with the locals and the bartenders. 

One of the bartenders, Corey, was from Putnam County, Ohio. But he was a Bengals fan. Bah.

The other bartender, Sam, originally hailed from California. We talked a lot with Sam! When we found out he was from California, Tom asked if he was "Chicano". Lol!  Sam said, "No...I'm just Mexican-American"!  Immediately the Cheech & Chong song entered my mind.....but I didn't say anything.   But I guess it entered Tom & Sam's mind, too...because they both started singing it!  Like, every word!!!  OMG toooooooo funnnnny!!!  

And it goes like this......!!!

Cheech & Chong's "Mexican-American"!!!

 He mentioned that this parents are in Mexico.  Tom asked when he came over....Turns out that his parents immigrated here to California, had their family, and after all the kids flew the coop they retired back to Jalisco...where they now run a trinket gift shop!  He goes over to visit them regularly, and is ALWAYS sick for the first couple days. In his words "not as bad as Montezuma's revenge....more like Montezuma's just REALLY pissed off"!

OMG hahahahhahaaaaa!  Sam's toooooooo damn funny!  

We spent a little more time chatting with Sam the bartender, Earnest the local, and James the sax player.  Soon we started to get hungry. (Shocking, I know!). We asked Earnest for some dining advice. One of the places he suggested was Casa Rio!  Remember Mexican restaurant established in 1946 by German immigrants?  Yep!  Sold!!! Off to Casa Rio we went!  We enjoyed one of the best meals this trip!  And we were joined by the local ducks that the signs advised not to feed! 

But this duck couple was so cute, I couldn't resist! So I gave them a couple tortilla chips and said "OK.  That's all you get!  Now go away!"  And at that point I just realized that was my Dad's voice coming out, just as my Mom's voice came out at The Alamo!  

Back home, all our dogs know to beg off of "Grandpa". Nobody else gets bothered. Here's my Dad, giving them morsels, saying "OK. That's it!  Go away now!" 

What a great time we had in San Antonio!!!!l

With full bellies we hoofed it back to the hotel....where I promptly fell asleep!  Again!  

Next stop...Hill Country!

"There's No Basement in the Alamo"

The weekend in San Antonio!!!!!!

We awoke early once again and headed down the hall for our free Hampton Inn breakfast!  

We've been in bed well before midnight and up at the crack of Dawn almost EVERY day this trip!  I feel so old! Lol!

But I digress!

After breakfast in the chaotic breakfast area, we got ready to do some sightseeing.  

The plan for the day was to bop around the Riverwalk area, grab some lunch, then head over to see The Alamo. Our plans for later were dinner with my cousin and her girlfriend....but that wasn't until after 7 pm. It was before noon when we headed out so that left us plenty of time to be tourists!  

It was a BEAUTIFUL day so I opted to leave my umbrella on the bike. We hoofed it down to the Riverwalk area once again, stopping to take pix along the way of some of the great architecture!  I just love this area!  

The Tower Life Building.....

The Cathedral of San Fernando.....

The remains of Davy Crockett, William Travis, and Jim Bowie are allegedly entombed here. I've read conflicting stories, though...

After snapping pix we headed down to the Riverwalk for some lunch. (I know....it's sounds like we JUST ate breakfast but it was at LEAST 2 hours later!  Lol!). Since we've eaten nothing but Tex-Mex for 2 days, we decided to switch it up and try an Irish Pub called Waxy O'Connor's. I had Guinness, Tom had a Kilkenny and we split a Reuben.  A really good Reuben!  With really good fries!  Even though it was HOT I really enjoyed sitting outside, people-watching by the Riverwalk!  I so wish we had this in Cleveland!  After lunch we decided to take a boat tour!  These boats are constantly going up & down the river, loaded with tourists.  We bought our tickets and, after a short wait, we were on our way!  Our guide pointed out the great architecture, told us some factoids, and gave us a little history lesson!  Did you know that in the 30's and 40's, due to unrest in their homeland, a LARGE number of Germans immigrated to Galveston and San Antonio?  So many that Germans were the majority nationality in that region!  Our guide pointed out the oldest restaurant on the Riverwalk, Casa Rio.  It was founded in 1946 by....German immigrants!  True story! And to this day they're ALWAYS busy!  Must be doing something right!  Some of the buildings our guide pointed out was the NIX hospital which, thanks to an optical illusion, appears to be a thin wall ready to fall over. 

He also pointed out the Tower Life Building, with it's fantastic gothic detail, gargoyles, and grotesques. 

The Tower Life Building, originally the Smith-Young Building, was constructed to look like a ship heading into the river from a certain angle. 

This building really caught my eye from a distance...I had already taken a ton of pictures of it...so I was reeeeeeaaaally happy to see it up close and get a little description of it!  Our guide also told us about 2 hotels that made the Guiness book of world records....  And I can't remember which they were and why they made it now...!!!

He also pointed out the Tower of the Americas, constructed for the 1968 World's fair. It has a viewing area and a restaurant up top that makes a full rotation every hour. It was the tallest observation tower until 1996, when the Starosphere in Vegas bumped it. I wish I could remember everything he told us!  There was so much to take in!  

Nearing the end of our tour, we were passed by another tour boat.  The driver was giving our driver the "slicing throat" sign...you know...  The index finger slicing across the throat. Our driver explained to us that....no, she didn't want to kill him, but instead was letting him know that a storm was moving in so the tours would be suspended for a bit.  Boy did we get lucky!  Our tour was over, so we disembarked and headed for a gift shop to buy an umbrella!  Because remember...I left mine on my bike at the hotel!  Dammit!  The sky was still beautiful....no signs of any storm, but we weren't chancing it and decided to head for one of the the restaurants with outdoor seating that was sheltered.  We ended up at Rio Rio..the Naked Iguana Cantina. After perusing the beer list, I opted to continue sampling local brews that I've never had before. I ordered a Lone Star light. It was good! I'm not a huge fan of light beers anymore but on a sweltering hot day I don't want a "big beer"!  Shortly after we were seated and had our beer in front of us, the sky opened!  Everyone was scrambling for cover!  We were dry and comfy, watching it all unfold!  Good thing we took that boat ride!  If not for the tour guide's warning, we would've never figured a storm was coming!  We split an order of Chalupas and an order of street tacos. Decent food there!  Nothing amazing, just pretty good!  After the rain subsided, we walked around the Riverwalk a bit more, stopping at the Harley shop to buy some T-shirts. I'm trying to ration my t-shirt buying!  I'm not sure how much more I can carry in my bike!  

Time to find the Alamo!  The streets of San Antonio are very well marked with signs pointing out where to find the major attractions. We found the Alamo very easily. We stopped outside to take some pix before heading inside....

Near the entrance and once inside, there were signs letting us know that cell phones were prohibited, as were cameras.  It told us not to touch the walls. It also instructed men to remove their hats and for everyone to keep their conversations quiet and to a minimum. Basically, think about where you are and show some respect!  

There was a line formed near the back and people were filing past the plaques that listed the names of those that perished there, and what States or Countries they represented. Tom & I got in line, and right behind us were 3 girls...late teens, maybe early 20's. They proceeded to laugh, gossip, and giggle LOUDLY the whole time as we approached the plaques. Good grief, girls!  Why are you even HERE?!?!  You obviously have no interest or concept about anything that happened here!  I glared at them a couple times. They didn't take the hint. Finally I leaned over to the loudest giggler and said "Do me a favor and lower your voices. Show some respect for where you are". I don't think she meant for me to hear it, but as I turned back around Tom overheard her say to her friends in a most juvenile, smartass tone... "I thought we were in America"   Tom told her, "yes we are, and you're free to leave!"  Then she mumbled something to her friends about "these military people...."  Tom showed great restraint in ignoring that comment and not putting her through the wall!  What an ignorant group of girls. I believe there's no hope for them!  Luckily they kept their distance and kept their traps shut the rest of our visit there. 

PS: when I scolded them, as soon as the words came out of my mouth I realized it was my Mom talking!

Idiots aside, I'm so glad we got to see the Alamo. I learned more about it than I had previously known, I realized where the term "Bowie Knife" came from and I also learned that no, there's no basement in The Alamo!  (Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure?  Yes, those words were going through my mind throughout the day!)

What I found really disappointing about the area is that across the street there's a Ripley's Believe it or Not and a bunch of other tacky tourist traps. It reminded me of a cheap boardwalk scene. So out of place considering the history in that area. 

Tourist time was over. We were HOT!  It was in the lower 90's.  The walk to the Riverwalk from our hotel was 15 to 20 minutes, then we spent more time walking around the river walk...then walked to the Alamo, then walked about another 1/2 hour back to the hotel!  Good Lord!!!!  Time for a cold shower and some relaxation before dinner!  

Our dinner plans were to meet my cousin Chrissy and her girlfriend Angela at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Yummo!  I haven't had Italian food in forever!  (Again, we had a worldly cuisine day....Irish lunch, Tex-Mex snack, and Italian dinner!) 

Tom discovered an app called "Hail A Cab" which is fantastic!  Hardly any wait!  It shows exactly where the cabs are close by and gives you the cab number of the one coming to get you. Before he even picks you up, the cab driver knows your name and destination. It's awesome! So, we used "Hail A Cab" and soon we were at the Spaghetti Warehouse!

We met Angela for the first time and had a phenominal pasta dinner!  I ordered the Pepperoni Baked Spaghetti, which had bits of pepperoni in the sauce and mozzarella baked over the top!  Angela ordered the same thing....

This is Angela's serving.  I was jealous because she got more cheese than I did!  😆😋

We had so much fun getting to know Angela and catching up with Chrissy!  It was much quieter than when we met the night before at Taco Haven!  

Yay!  Pasta!!!

Unfortunately it was another early night for us!  Angela was working 7a-7p all weekend and we were exhausted from our tourist-y adventures!  We said farewell and used good old Hail a Cab to take us "home".  Where I promptly fell asleep!

The next day...Sunday....brought more fun and good times!  But I'm gonna make a whole new blog entry for that one!!!

 Stay tuned!!!!

San Antonio Rose

Here we are in San Antonio!!!

Luckily the trip from Dallas wasn't a long one.....mileage-wise, because the weather and the traffic made it a much longer trip than anticipated, time-wise!  The traffic through Austin was horrendous!  We crawled along at 20 mph for about 20 miles or so. Sometimes even coming to a complete stop. For nothing! Just a ton of cars on roads not designed to move so many all at once!  And this was 2:30 in the afternoon!  I can't even imagine what rush hour would be like!  

It was another pissy-drizzly-foggy day so we put the full-facers back on, once again! We opted not to get fully suited up though...which was a good call because it really warmed up!  Even in parts where it was full-on rain I didn't mind!  It felt pretty good!  

We stopped at the Central Texas Harley dealership in Round Rock. Super nice folks there!  We asked for some lunch recommendations and he salesmen said there was Chuy's nearby! We like Chuy's!  He was surprised to hear that there's one in Nashville. It's an Austin area chain. (Yes, we ate at a chain!  But this isn't the usual chain type restaurant!)  The saleslady there was really nice, too!  We were picking out some shirts and she pointed out some shirts they carried that had a pile of donuts pictured on the back!  What the...?!?!?  I guess there's a famous donut shop nearby.  Only it's not THAT  famous.....and the dealership ordered a shit-ton of these shirts with the donuts on the back...and nobody wants to buy them because they don't look macho enough and/or nobody knows why there's a pile of donuts pictured on the back of the Harley dealer shirt!  Hahahaaaa!  Tom made a joke about being a cop so he really can't wear that shirt for fear of ridicule...then the saleslady tried to get us to buy about 40 off these shirts to take back home for the guys at work!!!  Hahahha!  We explained to her that the new generation of cops prefer bagels anyway!  Donuts are old-school!  So we found some shirts we liked (I found one on the clearance rack!  Hooooooray!  I LOVE the clearance rack!). And...as a bonus, the nice lady gave us a 10% law-enforcement discount because Tom mentioned he's a cop!  Good thing we struck up a conversation about the silly donut shirts or it would've never come up!  We said goodbye to the nice people at the Dealership and headed for Chuy's!  There was a ton of people waiting to be seated but there we're some empty spots at the bar!  Hooooray!  So in we slid!  Chuy's serves this creamy greenish sauce with their chips. I think it might be a jalapeño-ranch thing. Anyway....this stuff is soooooooo freaking delicious!  I just wanna drink it!  Hell....I wanna bathe in it!  Their regular red salsa rocks too!  I was going to order something light, as is usually try to do while on the road.....but their special was the Frito Pie Enchilada!  2 enchiladas loaded with chilis, sauce, cheese, ground beef, and Fritos!  Served with rice and beans!  Ugh!  I must have this!  But there's still 100 miles to go!  Screw it!  I'm getting it!  And order it I did!  As did Tom!  Looking back, we should've just ordered one and split it but....oh well!   

Back on the road again.  Someone REALLY turned up the heat outside while we were eating lunch!  We bought those "CoolMax" things...as seen on TV!  Add water, put them around your neck, and stay cool for hours!  And they really do work!!  Hooray!  

As we riding through Waco on I-35 I noticed a man up on one of the overpasses. He was dressed in an orange robe, had a turban-type thing on his head, and had 2 large staffs, one in each hand.  He was slowly waving these staffs around...putting them together in front of him and slowly separating them and pulling them back together...as if to part the Red Sea or something.  He really got my attention!  Who is he?  What is he doing?  Is he blessing us?  Is he CURSING us?  The whole scene was a little surreal!  

After crawling through more slow traffic thanks to a couple accidents near San Antonio, we finally arrived!  We checked into our hotel, decompressed, got cleaned up, and headed out to meet my cousin Chrissy at Taco Haven!  Our hotel doesn't have a shuttle so we called a cab. No biggie!  

Taco Haven was hoppin'!  We got the last available table!  This place was loud!  Lots of excitement!  

There was a band setting up,  preparing to play. Our waiter was super nice! Tom and I ordered a bucket of Dos Equis Amber. As he was delivering it to our table and older gentleman....apparently the manager, came over and started yelling at him...."why aren't you taking care of that table over there?" Referring to the table behind us. Really?!?!  You're gonna yell at this poor guy as he's serving us?  Our waiter looked embarrassed and apologized for the cranky man's behavior. I observed Mr. Cranky-Pants afterward.  He generally just made his rounds amongst the restaurant staff, yelling at everyone  and generally being an obnoxious jerk. It turns out Mr. Cranky-Pants is our waiter's Dad. This is a famiily-run operation and Mr Cranky-Pants' father was the founder of Taco Haven. When he wasn't yelling at the staff he would sit there looking like King Shit of Turd Island. All puffed-up and full of himself!  I found the whole scene to be quite amusing!  My cousin Chrissy arrived shortly after all the yelling!  Hooooray!  I haven't seen Chrissy in forever!  She's been living in San Antonio for a few years, employed by the San Antonio Silver Stars as a strength coach.  It was kinda hard to talk because it was so loud in there but we caught up as best as we could!  The food there was reeeeeally good!  We ordered an appetizer that consisted of a bowl of melted cheese with chorizo, served with warm tortillas. Calories don't count while on vacation, right?  

Here we are......

Chrissy had to take off early but we made plans to meet for dinner tonight....Saturday.

One thing I gotta say......I didn't feel like I was in the United States anymore in this place!  After Chrissy left us Tom and I were the only gringos left!

After finishing what we could, paying our bill, and tipping our waiter VERY well....(so well that he came over to thank us and shook Tom's hand!  He was awesome!  He was slammed with customers...getting yelled at by Cranky-Pants...and still served us with a smile!). Anyway, from there we ordered a cab and had him dump us off at the Riverwalk!  

How cool this Riverwalk area is!  

Lots of restaurants, bars, shops......with no railings!  This could never happen in Cleveland!  There'd be people jumping...or falling...into the water daily!

We wandered around and were drawn to the sound of some great live blues!  This guy sounded a LOT like Austin Walkin' Cane, a fantastic blues singer-guitarist from back home in CLE.  He and his band (a bass player and drummer) were set up outside at a place called "The Worm". A tequila bar!  Hooray!  There was an open table right in front of the band so we took it...and spent the evening sitting outside, sipping tequila, and enjoying this guy's awesome sounds!  At the end of the night the singer came over and gave us a CD and button. Sweet!  I guess their band is called "Step Aside"?  You should check them out!  

After the band packed it up, the crowds started to thin, and we decided to hoof it back to the hotel. It's only a 15 minute walk from the Riverwalk to our hotel. Very do-able!  

After we got back, the image of the guy on the overpass was still in my head. I asked Tom if he saw him. Tom had not. I tried describing him the best I could...  Perhaps I just imagined seeing him!

So then I Googled "man in robe on overpass"!  I didn't think I'd get any hits. But hey!  Check this out!!!!

Click here to read about the "Praying Man"!!!!

He does exist!  His name is Virgil Bell and he spends most of his time praying for the motorists!!!  

Here's some pictures I borrowed off the site....

See?!?! Wouldn't that image stick with you if you saw him!?!? 

So our first night in San Antonio was awesome!  Today we're gonna do some more sightseeing, perhaps see the Alamo, and probably head back to the Riverwalk!  

Talk to ya soon! 

Arriving in the Lone Star State!

Hi again!  

I last left you in Tulsa, Oklahoma!  Nothing fancy there!  Just a nice pass-through city!  

We awoke yesterday to a BEAUTIFUL morning!  High-60's and sunny!  Wooho!  No helmets, no chaps, no gloves!  Hell, not even my leather!  HOOORAY!  The best thing? I finally got to hear my music again!  I rode all the way to Tulsa and only listened to ONE song because the stupid full face helmet distorts the sound!

So off we went!  We had a great start!  Light traffic, zero jackasses!  One bad thing....route 69 in Oklahoma was insanely rough in spots!  I felt like Charlie & Ewan going down the Road of Bones!  (those of you who've seen the Long Way Round series will know what I'm talking about!  Those that haven't should watch it!). I had to pee so bad for about 150 miles and the kidney-jarring bumps didn't help my dilemma at all!  I took in what scenery there was.  A lot of places selling storm shelters....one place sold storm shelters AND septic tanks!  I hope one doesn't jump in the wrong one when the shit hits the fan!  Hahahahaaaahahahahhahaaaaa!  (I wish I could record my mind's soundtrack when I'm riding!  I crack myself up!). At one point we came up up fast on what appears to by a large tree in the roadway, taking up the whole right lane!  As we pass I see that it's being dragged on a trailer, leaving a trail of leaves and twigs in its wake!  Strange stuff out there on the roadways!  

Before long we arrived in Texas!  Hooray!  And boy did someone turn up the heat!  Whew!  We originally planned on meeting a friend of Tom's for lunch at Babe's Fried Chicken. Unfortunately, Tom's GPS had other plans and would not show us the proper route to get there!  The damn thing told us to get off at the wrong exit. Then we got back on the highway, I assumed to find the chicken place...but before long we were in downtown Dallas!  Dammit!  By now I'm starving, hot, crabby....

The last 40 miles were no fun for MB. 

So I had some Planters nuts before I chewed my arm off!

After a much-needed shower, we grabbed some sub sandwiches from a local sub shop, relaxed in our sweet suite at the Homewood Suites, then got ready and cabbed it across town to meet our friend Don and Tom's cousin Diana at the Mercy Wine Bar!  We got to the area pretty early, so we stopped in an Irish pub/restaurant first.  SMOKEY!!  Holy cow!  I'm so not used to cigarette smoke anymore!  Especially where food is served!  Ick!  On a side note, it seems a lot of people smoke here in Dallas. Just an observation!  

After a beer at the pub, we headed to the wine bar. What a great place!  The wine selection was outstanding and the menu was delightful!  I ordered a glass of Cabernet and Tom & I shared a cheese plate. After that we ordered the bruschetta with shrimp. We sat in comfy couches right by the stage to get a good view of Don and his friend performing later.  The did an acoustical set. Quite awesome!  Don is an old friend of my Brother-in-Law's. We just met for the first time earlier this year when he was visiting Cleveland.  Super nice guy!  Lots of fun!  I got to meet Tom's cousin as well! They haven't seen each other since they were 6 years old!  

What a great night!  Great wine, great food, great music!  It certainly balanced out the hellish afternoon! 

After much fun, it was getting late, so we said our goodbyes and cabbed it back to the hotel, where I promptly fell alsleep!  

This morning we woke up fairly early to another sunshiny day!  After breakfast at the hotel, we set out to visit Dealey Plaza. That's where JFK was assassinated. We wandered around, read the historical markers, took some pictures, then went in search of food!  After consulting the Yelp and still not making a decision on where to eat, we opted to consult with a Dallas Motor cop who happened to be parked nearby!  HE'LL know where to eat around here!  After he & Tom shared assassination theories, he directed to a place calle Hoffbrau Steaks. It's not at all German-themed!  Just a steakhouse bar & restaurant!  I ordered a local brew....Rahr & Sons Texas Red. I'm really liking Red lagers lately!

And then I ordered the bacon cream cheese chicken sandwich!  Holy yum!!!!  This was the most JUICY chicken I've ever tasted!  Just WOW!  I felt bad ordering chicken at a steak place but what a good call it turned out to be!  While we were waiting for our food a gentlemen walked in, dripping wet, and ordered a beer. I mean DRIPPING wet!  Tom and I both looked outside to see if it was raining!  Nope. Just sweat!  Turns out he just got into town and his room wasn't ready yet, so he decided to walk around and sightsee. But, he was wearing black slacks, a long sleeved black shirt, and a black sport coat!  AND it turns out he's from Calgary, British Columbia!  Those Canadians aren't used to this weather. Hell, I'M not used to this weather!  We chatted with him for a long time!  He was great fun!  His name is Darryl and he travels a lot for work. He's in the oil business. We chatted about sports a lot. He played rugby for years. He's also a football & baseball fan. This is the best part...when Tom mentioned LeBron James....Darryl had NO IDEA who that is!  I loved it!  I'm so sick of hearing that name! ,it was refreshing to find someone who honestly didn't recognize it!

After eating, drinking, and chatting with our new Canadian friend, we wandered back to our sweet suite, where we chilled out and waited to meet Don for happy hour!  

Nice place here at the Homewood Suites!  Definitely my favorite place so far this trip!  

Here is Tom pouring a beer in our Sweet Suite! 

So we met up with Don and enjoyed some adult beverages at the City Tavern. Nothing fancy!  Just my style!  

After chatting and laughing and having a grand time, we bid adieu to Don and went to grab dinner...at the Hoffbrau Steak place!  Lunch was so good we opted to have dinner there, too!  

After dinner we wandered back to our hotel pool and played baseball with the noodles and balls they provided!  Hahaaaa!  

We're so weird!

 

Anyhow...it was another good day!  

Tomorrow we head for San Antonio!  I get to see my cousin Chrissy!!!  Hooray!!!

Weeeeeee!  

See ya'all tomorrow!

A Big Arch, then a ride to Sooner country!

Hi again!  We're now on day 4 of this year's road trip!  I missed posting yesterday as we were busy running around in St Louis!  I apologize because the more fun we're having, the less time I have for blogging!  

So we left Indy....another cold morning!  Good thing for those full-face helmets!  My helmet, along with my gloves, chaps, and a couple sweatshirts under my leather kept me comfy!  The one bad thing about the full-face?  I can't hear my music!  Everything sounds like it's underwater...muffled and amplified. It sucks!  Even my bike sounds funny.  So I haven't even turned on my iPod yet. I saw "The Weight" by The Band scrolling across my screen as we were leaving Indy so I turned that one up waaaaay loud so I could hear it!  I love that one!  

So the trip from Indy to St Louis was uneventful!  I like uneventful!  We stopped about 20 miles outside of St. Louis to lose the chaps, gloves, and some other layers.  It was getting warm and the thought of getting stuck in city city traffic wearing all that garb is no bueno!  Luckily we were arriving mid-afternoon. Traffic was light....but our exit was closed so we had to improvise and detour!  Lots of one-way streets in St Louis. It kinda reminded me of a cross between Pittsburgh and Denver. It's funny how places remind me of other places!  When we were exiting the highway in Indy for the Browns Backer bar, it reminded me of the exit in Hermitage, TN where the Middle Tennessee Browns Backers used to meet at the Box Seat.  Riding through Missouri today reminded me of West Virginia & Virginia in spots!  

But I digress....

So we got to St Louis plenty early!  Upon our arrival at the Embassy Suites we were greeted by the valets and Ronald the bellhop. Everyone was super friendly!  Ronald was exceptionally super friendly!  We couldn't shake him!  He kept talking and talking....delivered our bags to our room...kept talking some more.....good grief, Ronald...we're gonna tip you, don't worry!  Just get the Hell out of our room!  

The suite we were in was really impressive! A living room, dining room, bar area, then the bathroom & bedroom with a 20-foot ceiling! There was a giant pillar in the middle of the living room. Kind of strange!  

We were thinking that it was an old converted warehouse, but there was an old picture in the bathroom of a Department store.  In the picture were those pillars!  There's the answer!

Anyhow, we were blown away by the fanciness of their suite.  Until I went to take a shower.  It was a handicap suite. No biggie. The shower had no tub, just a drain in the shower floor. Still no biggie. But then I noticed a drain in the floor directly in front of the sink. Hmmmm. This can't be good. So I showered. And the water got ALL over the floor in front of the sink!  The shower curtain isn't long enough!  I point the shower head toward the wall...it's still a mess. Bah.  No bueno. 

Then I realized they only gave us 2 towels!  What the....?!?!  Don't they know I need a hair towel AND a body towel?  What is Tom gonna use?  Fancy-Shmancy hotel can't spare an extra towel?  

Oh well.....

We had plans to meet a friend for dinner at 7, but it was only 3 and we were hungry, so we aimed for a light linner...how 'bout sushi?  Yes!  So we got on the Yelp and found a well-recommended sushi joint not far from our room!  Sushi Ai!  Hooray!  Good call!  This place had some of the best yellowtail I've ever eaten!  

After sushi we went back to the bikes to retrieve my umbrella because it was drizzling. Bah. There goes my hair!  Damn frizzies!  From there we headed for the arch!  I've only been to St Louis once before and never saw the arch up close, so this was pretty cool!  It's hard to get a photo op up close because this thing is so huge!  But we managed!  I REALLY had to use the facilities so we headed toward the underground area.  There's a museum, gift shop, coffee shop, etc..  There are even tours that take you to the top of the arch in little tiny elevators!  (NO THANKS!). Well, the entrance to the underground stuff was under heavy security. Like an airport.  X-Ray scanners for your bags....metal detectors.  Tom was packin'. Tom opted to wait outside while I went in and used it!  Lol!

We got some pretty cool shots....

After seeing all there was to see of the arch, we still had some time to kill before dinner, so we decided to have a snack at an Irish pub!  A pint of Guiness with a shot of Red Breast....neat, of course!

So dinner plans were with Maria Sinito, a fellow Solon grad who now lives in St Louis! We met at Rosalita's cantina for some most awesome Mexican grub!  

After catching up with each other and filling our bellies, we said farewell, and Tom & I headed back to the hotel...

And I promptly fell asleep!

This morning we woke bright and early!  We headed down for the complimentary breakfast....made to order omelets, fresh fruit, juices, French toast.  And Caca instant coffee!  Ick. That creamy, gritty crap. Bah. I only drank half a cup. I figured the coffee in the room might be better, so we finished breakfast and headed back to the room.  Well, the coffee offerings in the room consisted of one packet of regular and one packet of decaf!  What is with this place?  So much for fancy shmancy!  Chincy with towels...crappy shower....intstant coffee...only one packet of regular in the room! The Embassy Suites  look all decadent on the outside but if you scratch the surface you'll find a Days Inn!

So I drank my coffee while we finished packing, chatted with the valets while we loaded our bikes, and headed out into a cool but sunny St Louis morning!  Again with the full-face helmets, chaps, etc...

About 30 miles down the road it started to drizzle...foggy, grey...pissy drizzle. Bah. 

I noticed quite a few wineries & vineyards in Missouri!  Strange, I never associated Wine with Missouri!  

There were some great smells today!   I could've sworn I smelled the grapes as we were passing the vineyards!  And there were some crews mowing the grass along the interstate....the grass smells different here than it does in Ohio!  Sweeter!  I love all the smells when riding!  (Except for the road kill. I can do without THAT smell!)

We passed an alpcaca farm, too.  Nothing odd about that. What WAS odd was the big ass Emu standing amongst the alpacas! I almost gave myself whiplash looking at that!

I wish I could've taken some pix along the way but gloves do not allow it!

We ended up wearing all our cold-weather garb all the way to Tulsa. We could've shed some of it just past the Oklahoma line but we opted to hammer on...

We arrived at the Tulsa Hills Hampton Inn, safe & sound!  There's a big shopping plaza across the street so we took a walk, ate at Chili's, bought some tequila from the liquor store, and now we sit in the hotel lobby, drinking and blogging!

Tomorrow should be an easy ride to Dallas!  WITHOUT the helmet and chaps!  HOOORAY!  

PS: There are LOTS of sunflowers next to our hotel!  I love it!

Browns Backers, Good Eats, and Little People!

 Hello from the Hoosier State!  

I had a fantastic night's sleep last night! This has to be one of the quietest hotels we've ever visited! The lot is full of cars but there's no noise in the hallways, above us, or from the rooms on either side! I was only occasionally awoken by the obnoxiously loud fridge in our room!  This thing sounds downright angry at times!  

After we woke this morning Tom scoped out the breakfast offerings here at the Best Western. Caca.  All they had is frozen fare that you microwave yourself. Bah. Luckily there's a Bob Evans within walking distance, so Down On The Farm we went!  Tom noticed when we walked in there was an inordinate amount of short people!  Not all together as a group either.  Just here and there.... I'm not talking true midgets, just really short people!  Hmmmm. Odd...

After getting our breakfast grub on, we headed out to George's Neighborhood Grill to meet up with our new friends, The Central Indiana Browns Backers!  Nice place, this George's Grill!  Both the crowd and the servers were super friendly!  Bonus!  I felt most welcome!  We made fast friends with Dave and Mike, a couple Cleveland-area transplants. I enjoyed a couple locally-brewed beers...the Fieldhouse Wheat by Triton Brewing Company and the Upside-Down Blonde by Flat 12. The Fieldhouse wheat was a little too hoppy for my taste but theUpside Down Blonde was delightful!  It's a hybrid Pilsner/Wheat that's slightly citrusy. After considering the low 5.4% ABV, I ordered a second one of those!

Let's get to the game....HERE WE GO BROWNIES, HERE WE GO!!!!  Yes!  My Beloved Browns pulled off a win!!!  I'm sooooo bummed that we weren't back home to see that one in person!  Looks like we'll have to come to Indy to watch the games if that's what made it happen!  (That may just be cheaper than our seasons tix!). Toooooo much fun but my heart can't take that last-minute stuff!  I'd prefer a clear win...none of this Kardiac Kids stuff all over again!

After the game we said farewell to our new friends and headed to the nearby Steer In.  

The Steer In was featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives".  For those of you who don't already know, we pretty much eat our way across the U S of A!  We try to hit as many Triple-D spots as we can!  I'm surprised we don't weigh 500 lbs. each!  So the Steer In opened in 1960 and I don't think they've changed the decor an iota since then, inside or out.  I loved it!  Half of the place was once a drive-in.  The awning is still there but they don't serve that way anymore. After perusing the menu, we opted to split an order of fried chicken livers and the Twin Steer Burger. These were some of the BEST fried chicken livers I've ever had!  And the Twin Steer burger is what put them on the food map back in the '60's. It was delish!  It kind of reminded me of a Big Mac but MUCH better!  Juicy, saucy...yummo!  Tom opted to get brown gravy for our fries, too!  Good call!  As we were eating our lunch, another vertically challenged lady walked in!  What's with the short people in Indy?  She couldn't have been more than 5'2". (And I'm being generous in my estimation!) 

So with full bellies and happy faces, we saddled up and motored back to our hotel, stopping along the way to purchase celebratory cigars from a smoke shop along the way!

As we walked into our hotel we got behind yet ANOTHER short person!  This guy was maybe 5'5"!  What's in the water here!?!?!  

So here we sit, poolside again...smoking said celebratory cigars, sipping adult beverages, and listening to some good tunes from my iPad!  

Browns win, new friends, good food......It was a great day!

Tomorrow we head for St Louis!  It's gonna be in the upper 40's-low 50's when we leave here.  St. Louis has upper 60's with a good chance of rain on their menu tomorrow. Looks like yet another full-face helmet day!  Weeeeeeeeeee!  

OK friends!  See ya in the Show Me State!