The Three Sisters

Day 5, Sunday, April 19, 2015

Before I get started with today’s blog, I want to go back to last night.  We walked across the street for dinner at Oasis Outback Restaurant.  It was like Cabela’s, but only one story.  It was a sporting goods store on one side and a restaurant on the other.  There were stuffed animal heads on the wall, boats hanging from the ceiling and the front part of a helicopter attached to the wall.  We all sat at a large table with a giraffe nearby.  The special was “all you can eat ribs” and the “old man’s” salad bar for a dollar less that regular price.  This was some salad bar!  It looked like a salad bar on steroids.

OK, back to Day 5.  My alarm sounded as normal, 6:30 AM.  I got up right away and started getting dressed, as did Jake.  Jake looked out the window and saw that it was still dark AND foggy.  I finished getting dressed and packed and took a couple bags out to my Motorcycle to load them.  It looked cold outside with the fog, however, when I went outside; it was humid and not cold.  The bags were loaded and I returned to the room.  Jake was ready and we went to the breakfast room.  Ken was already there eating.  I sat with him and the others started to trickle in for breakfast.  We were all done eating so we went back to our rooms and got the rest of our bags.  We were, actually, waiting for the fog to lift so that we could go.  It was clear enough so we left at 9:21 AM with Jan in the lead.

Jan led us onto Highway 90 west to Highway 83 north.  We were headed to a town named Leakey, TX, where we were to meet up with Louie Martinez and this was the start of the “Three Sister’s” ride.  Louie had been communicating with Chuck and me.  He rode 370 miles from his home in Malakoff, TX to ride with us for a day or two.  He left his home at 5 AM.  On the way to Leakey, we saw a dead deer being eaten by 5 buzzards by the side of the road.  A little further north, we saw an antelope with long horns by the side of the road, inside a fenced property.  We arrived in Leakey at 10:09 AM after riding 46 miles.  We parked at a Stripes gas station with an attached Subway Restaurant.  I tried to call Louie; however, there was no cell service.  I found that only AT & T was the only company with service in Leakey.  The lady from the Subway let me use her phone to call Louie.  We waited.  At about 11 AM, Chuck rode north in hopes of meeting up with Louie.  About four minutes later, Chuck returned with Louie following.  Louie gassed up and we were ready to go.  Jan met an old biker and asked him about the Three Sister’s Ride.  He was very helpful and gave Jan some good information about the ride, and directions.  We left at 11:11 AM.

Jan led us north on Highway 83 to the intersection of Highway 337.  This was the first “Sister.”  We rode west on Highway 337.  We rode through farmland and then through some twisties.  We rode through a small town named, Camp Wood.  We turned north onto Highway 55 for a mile or two and then onto Highway 335, the second “Sister.”  We went through some twisties and some very steep hills going up and down.  This is something different from our other rides.  We finished the second “Sister” and turned onto Highway 41 south.  We rode for a while, not going too fast so that some of the group could catch up.  We then turned east onto Highway 336, the third “Sister.”  There were more steep hills and twisties on a good road.  Jan was leading and I was second.  Jan and I were attacking the curves and accelerating through them.  We were putting distance between us and the rest of the group.  At one point, we didn’t see the rest behind us.  We pulled over to the side of the road and waited.  They came rolling up and we continued.  We finished the third “Sister” and found ourselves back on Highway 83 going south.  We headed back to the Stripes gas station and Subway.  We arrived at the gas station at 12:57 PM.  We all gassed up, talked about the ride and then went into the Subway for lunch.  We had a good lunch and were ready to continue.  We left at 2:06 PM with Ken in the lead.

Ken led us north on Highway 83 to Highway 337, the opposite direction of the first “Sister.”  We rode Highway 337 and it also had some twisties and steep hills.  Ken led and I was next, with Jan following.  We had fun with this road.  We were ahead of some of the group when Ken turned onto Highway 16 and made an immediate stop to allow the others to catch up and see us.  We stopped after 38 miles in Medina, TX at 2:47 PM.  Ken checked the map, burned it to memory and we were off again at 2:51 PM.

We followed Highway 16 for a short distance and then turned onto Highway 173.  We followed Highway 173 for a distance and after riding 63 miles; we stopped in Devine, TX at 3:53 PM.  It was about 88 degrees when we stopped.  We had stopped at a gas station mini-mart.  We took the needed pit stop and bought some drinks.  We tried to cool off a bit and then Ken got up and said, “We’re losing daylight!”  We all got up and went to our Motorcycles.  We left at 4:25 PM. 

We were back on Highway 173 for about 32 minutes and rode into Pleasanton, TX at 4:47 PM.  We stopped at the Best Western to check for rooms while half of the group stopped at the Holiday Inn Express.  The Best Western was too pricey and Chuck called me to report that the Holiday Inn Express was also too pricey and no hot tub.  Jan, J.B., Ken, Louie and I went to the Hampton Inn to check on availability.  The Hampton had plenty of rooms and the “negotiated” price was good.  I called Chuck and the rest came and joined us.  We all checked into our rooms, parked our Motorcycles and grabbed our bags and took them to our rooms.  I started on my blog while the others went to the fitness room or the hot tub.  When the others were done, we went to a nearby restaurant, East Coast Wings & Grill, for dinner.  Most of the group walked while C.E. and I rode our Motors.  We had a good dinner and then returned to the Hampton, where we covered our Motorcycles and tucked them in for the night.

We met up with Louie Martinez today and rode the “Three Sisters.”  It was a good ride, and a little different.  I’m sure that we will meet up with other good rides.  Today, we rode for 279 miles, 100 of those miles were on the “Three Sisters” ride.  I was told that tomorrow we will be riding to Corpus Christie, TX.  My Daughter, Lori, is a Chiropractor and has a Network of Chiropractors in the U.S.  She has contacted one of the Doctors in the Network who practices in Corpus Christie and told him to expect us tomorrow.  It will feel great to get adjusted tomorrow.  Hopefully, the rest of the group will take advantage.  Louie Martinez will also leave us and return home.  It was good to have Louie join us and ride with us.  So, until tomorrow…