Laredo Bound

I loved the previous post. I wish I had been the individual that had written it, as it perfectly puts into words what I have felt for the past 35 years of riding. Yes, butterflies are a common occurance for me when I'm getting ready for a ride. Someone said to me, "I'd think after this long you wouldn't get them any longer." Personally, the day I stop getting butterflies for a ride, is probably the day I quit riding. Getting ready for this trip, the butterflies were more like dragon flies. For months, I have been planning this ride, along with my friends - Bobby & Dianne and Dennis. Dennis is the husband of another dear friend of mine, Sherryl, however Sherryl couldn't take the time off to join us. The four of us are doing a Border2Border Iron Butt ride. Leaving Laredo at 5:00 am, Saturday morning, 8/29/08. We will then ride to Canada in 36 hours or less. We are not strangers to doing the Iron Butt rides, and the other three have already completed a 1,500 Iron Butt in less than 36 hours. This will be my first.

We met at 9:30 to leave Dallas after the rush hour, since we would be taking I-35 south to get out of town. Traffic wasn't bad at all and before I knew it we were exiting I-35 to Hwy 67 heading towards Cleburne. I was surprised with all the trucks on the road, and they stayed with us until well after Cleburne. We pulled over for our first stop just east of Glen Rose, mainly to use the rest room and for me, get a fresh water to put in my cup holder - yes it was already toasty and I wanted to make sure I didn't get dehydrated. Afterall, we were heading south and it would be getting warmer and warmer the further south we went. Since we will be close and intimate with I-35 ALL DAY Saturday heading north, we decided to take a leisurely ride through the Hill Country, hooking back up on I-35 at San Antonio. Bobby told us the plan was to eat lunch at the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls - the three of us all instantainiously said "Mmmmmm." Back on the bikes, and continuing on our journey we go. Dennis couldn't resist sharing with me at each stop light, starting around Hamilton, that he couldn't decide what southern delicacy's he would be having for lunch; chicken fried steak or just hamburger, next stop, "maybe meat loaf," next stop, "with pinto beans and okra," and I've gotta admit I remember their okra and that got my taste buds dancing around. The next few stops it was "pie talk," and I was done. "ARE WE THERE YET?"

Lunch was fantastic as usual (for inquiring minds Dennis had gizzards) and we continued south full and satisfied. It had definitely heated up, so when we pullined in for gas at Johnson City it was time to check out my new "cool vest" Dianne had told me about. It's basically a light weight quilted vest, with a zipper. You dip it in water and let it soak it up. Then put that baby on and have instant cool down. Unfortunately it doesn't last with that kind of heat except for about 70-80 miles. Dianne and Bobby said if you put those "holely jackets" (my words not theirs) on it would keep the moisture in and cool. They did, and they were.

We hit San Antonio around 4:15 getting stuck in some slow moving traffic. We've seen worse, and it wasn't too bad. About 100 miles from Laredo (I can't remember the name of the town) we stopped for another fill up. We're standing there cussing the pumps not taking our credit cards, and having to go into the store when a Heritage Softail pulls up to the pump where we're standing there talking. The bike looked like it had been ridden hard, the man riding it looked like he had too, as his face was extremely sunburned, windburned, and overall tired. His attire was bandana, t-shirt, leather pants, and extremely white tennis shoes. Dianne was walking out of the store right as he was getting off his bike and we just looked at each other....no words were needed. For a split second we were both guilty of judging this dude, but then I started talking to him asking him where he was from. At first we didn't understand him right, then we found out he had left Buckhead, Arizona, rode up to Canada, spent time around the great lakes, stopped somewhere and spent time fishing, and that day he was crossing the border to go to Costa Rica. He would ride from one border to the next in two weeks.