Day 2 May 3, 2011

First I want to start by saying, "Happy Anniversary" to C.E. and Bev!

Now, after yesterday's start, ride and long hours, we were tired by the end of the day. I typed my blog and it was almost 1:30 AM by the time I finished. I was too tired to "spell check" and proof-read my blog. I did that today! If you have already read yesterday's blog, read it again. I made some corrections and additions. I will try not to let that happen again. Of course, it also depends on what happens during the day.

I must have been very tired because when my alarm sounded at 6:30 AM, I awoke and found myself in the same position that I was in when I fell asleep last night. I got up and got dressed and packed. I was finished just before 7:00 AM. My roomie, Jan, was still in bed, asleep. The room was dark. I looked outside and saw that the Motors were still covered. I got back into bed, "for just a few minutes." I opened my eyes at 7:40 AM and Jan got up. I looked outside and saw Chuck walking towards the breakfast area of the hotel. I told Jan that I was going to breakfast and that I would meet him there. When I arrived, Chuck was there, along with C.E. and his roomie, Ken. I've heard stories that the older one gets, the less sleep one needs. Being that C.E. and Ken are the oldest of our group, they should have only needed 20 minutes of sleep! C.E. told me later that it is not true. Actually, they told me that they had received a "wake up call" at 5 AM. Who knows where that came from! Jan soon walked in and then later, Bruce. We finished breakfast and headed back to our rooms to take care of our final business. You people with dirty minds! I meant that we got our bags, checked our rooms and packed up our Motors! We were all packed and we left at 9:03 AM under clear sky's and 57 degrees.

C.E. continued to lead our group eastbound. We left Van Horn and rode for 75 miles. We arrived in Pecos, TX at 10:04 AM. We stopped for gas at a Fina Gas Station. Chuck, Bruce, Jan and I noticed that we had stopped at this very same gas station four years ago on our Four Corner's Ride. I realized that Fina gas has a very foul odor. I have never smelled a gasoline that smelled this bad! NO! I don't have a habit of sniffing gas! It was 75 degrees and Chuck, Jan and C.E. took off their jackets. Chuck was looking at a map and the guys told him that he was up on the rotation to lead. After a small argument, he conceded to lead. He looked at the map again to make sure where he was going and where our next possible stop would be. I reached into my pouch on my Motor and got a magnifying glass for Chuck to better read the small print on the map. Of course everyone made fun of him and Ken told him to be careful not to set the map on fire with the magnifying glass. While he was looking at the map with the glass, I took a couple of pictures! It looked good. We left at 10:38 AM with Chuck leading.

We were eastbound on I-10 with Chuck leading and we got to within 30 miles of Ft. Stockton, TX. I was getting bored so I got out my camera and started taking pictures of the other guys. I sped up to Chuck and took his picture. I slowed and let Jan catch up and took his. I sped up and then circled Jan to the left, came around and got next to Bruce and took his picture. I slowed and took Ken's picture and then slowed to get C.E.'s. The group had pulled away from C.E. and me, so we had to hurry up and catch up to the group.

We were eastbound and Bruce came riding next to Chuck. Bruce indicated to Chuck to stop at the next "Rest Stop," which was in two miles. We stopped at the Rest Stop at MP 307 at 11:53 AM. We had ridden for 100 miles and we all took advantage of the pit stop. The Rest Stop was 56 miles from our next stop, Ozona, TX. We left at 12:06 PM.

We rode another 60 miles and at 12:54 PM we stopped at the Subway in Ozona, TX. It was 68 degrees. We noticed that between Pecos and Ozona, the smell of SKUNK was constant! I have never seen so many dead skunks in any stretch of roadway that we have traveled! We had a good lunch and then rode next door to the Stripes Gas station and gassed up. We left at 1:52 PM with Jan in the lead.

Jan led us east on I-10. This area of I-10 was in great shape! The speed limit was 80 mph. Riding a constant 80 mph, after a while it doesn't seem very fast. We were all getting sleepy and, like before, we made a stop soon after lunch. I think that I took a couple of "naps" on this short stretch. I rode behind Jan and his Motor seemed to lull me to sleep. I did just about everything I could think of to stay awake! We arrived in Sonora, TX at 2:21 PM after 26 miles. It was 70 degrees and still clear sky's. We stopped at a Shell station and mini-mart. We made our usual pit stop and had some snacks. We left at 2:50 PM.

We continued east with Jan leading and 111 miles later, at 4:15 PM we stopped at a Shell station in Kerrville. We took a short break also and left at 6:31 PM with Ken leading.

Ken led us towards San Antonio, TX. We had talked about not going through San Antonio, since it would be during the "rush hour." Ken turned off of I-10 onto a "loop" that circled San Antonio. As we got on the loop, we got into bumper to bumper traffic. We thought that maybe we had taken the wrong road! The traffic soon cleared so that we were able to speed up to 70 mph. The loop took us around the city and we ended up, again, on I-10 eastbound.

At 6:19 PM after riding 81 miles, Ken stopped in Shertz, TX...not to be confused with Pants, TX!
It was time for a pit stop. While we were stopped, we checked into a hotel close by that we could stop for the night. The clerk of the mini-mart told us that there were several about 19 miles east. Away we went! We left at 6:31 PM.

After riding for 20 miles, Ken pulled off of I-10 and stopped at a Holiday Inn Express. Bad news, it was booked. I went to the Day's Inn while Chuck went to a nearby Comfort Inn to check the rates. The rates were good at the Day's Inn and the Comfort Inn was also booked. Guess where we stayed...Day's Inn. We checked in, parked the Motors and tucked them in for the night. We arrived at the Day's Inn at 6:49 PM. We later walked to a nearby Chili's Restaurant for dinner.

We had a pretty good day today. We rode 485 miles through beautiful country. We arrived to the hotel early and had some time to relax. We are making pretty good time through the State of Texas. We have seen several familiar sights from four years ago. We hope to get into Louisiana tomorrow. We still have to go through Houston! What a nasty freeway system they have! Jan told us of a way to ride around the city. We will see. This is enough for today. Have a good night!