I woke up at 7:30 after wandering around 6th Street in Austin and going to bed at 3am.  I thought I’d spend some time sleeping in this morning and went to plug in my phone so it’d charge before I got up.  Unfortunately, turning off Airplane mode let the emails through and my monitoring said that my site was down again.  Spent the morning fixing that instead of sleeping.

I had planned on going to Salt Lick BBQ -http://www.saltlickbbq.com/ for lunch and since it was a little early, I thought I would go grab a coffee.   And what better than to have a donut to go with that coffee?   So since I was going to be in Round Rock anyway – Round Rock Donuts!  http://www.roundrockdonuts.com/

Plan was just 1 donut and coffee.  But after sweating outside in the line, I thought 2 would be better.  And just an extra one for later.  Didn’t quite work out that way – ate all 3 and finished my coffee.  Great breakfast – not healthy at all.   But I did manage to kill enough time for Salt Lick to open.

Thurman’s Choice plate – Ribs, Brisket and sausage.

Very different than Smitty’s Market.  This place bottles and sells their own BBQ sauce, and their meat is flavoured differently to match.  I really only had a taste of each before the donuts did their thing and filled me right up.   I just sat there staring at my plate.  Server kept asking if I was okay before I explained that the food was delicious and I was just stumped by my own poor decision making.  Packed it up, shoved it in the top case and tried to head east before the bad weather kicked in.

Having picked up a Misty Mate Classic (http://www.mistymate.com/misty-16-classic.html) recently, this was the day to try and get it set up to be useful on the bike.  Looks like it leaks a bit and putting it in the tankbag got everything wet in Austin so tried to find another location where I could put it to good use.   More of a distraction than anything else…

Eventually, I ran out of water in the mister and the hydration pack.  Combined with the coffee and iced teas, I needed to stop.   So pulling over at a McDonald’s, I paid my $1 to get a drink and used their facilities.   I guess I was in there longer than I thought, because by the time I came out, the skies had greyed over quite a bit.   Looking down the highway, it definitely looked like rain.

But since I was already on the road, I figured if I saw wet cars coming the other way with their wipers on, I’d stop to swap the GoPro into the waterproof case and put on some rain gear.  This was from the naive perspective of a Vancouverite.  Where there isn’t so much ‘rain’ as just wetness.  This was a proper thundershower.  The border between dry and soaking wet was maybe 30s.  I pulled over and swapped out the GoPro cases, but by the time that was done, I was already wet.

Having not much to lose at this point, I kept riding.  The storm front was intense – couldn’t see road lines and slowed down like crazy.  Didn’t take long before I was soaked to the bone – water swishing around in the boots.  But then clear skies!  Sun!

Shouldn’t take long before I dry off, right?   Wrong!   With the crazy humidity, I was just warm and less soggy.  Eventually the rain came back to the drizzle I’m used to…   Stopping for gas and to revisit directions, I put on the rain jacket and gloves to settle in for the rest of the commute.

30mins later, in Lake Conroe and watching the cops and ambulances speed by, I thought I should give up before getting run over.  I found a hotel in The Woodlands and made some online reservations.  Of course, by the time I made it to the hotel, the area was clear and dry.  I however, was not.

Oh… memories of Cali 2011.   Soaking wet gear propped up against the air conditioner.

Another day, another sunrise.  Is it bad I don’t even get out of the tent for it now?  I guess, to be fair, the KOA campground isn’t going to make a great picture.  I just rolled over after this and slept in.

I-10 to 183 to Lockhart – BBQ capital of Texas.  The whole town semed to smell of delicious smoke.  Had a bit of a break, so dropped by WalMart to pick up a tire bump and a quick Google search recommended Smitty’s Market

Smokey.  And the fire makes you sweat while in line.  Makes you appreciate what the cooks have to put up with…

1 hot sausage, 1/2 lb ribs, 1/2lb brisket.  Coleslaw and sweet tea.  Sweet tea was too sweet as always, but the Q was great.  Deep smokey flavour.  Only ate half of it and packed the rest.

Eagle-Eye hindsight in place, it’s possible Smitty’s was most popular because it was the one on the main highway, rather than the others that are a block or two off the main strip.   Oh well, it was still very good representation of “good q doesn’t need sauce” style.

Made it to Austin and swung by Uchi to find out when a good time to eat would be.

Had a few hours to kill, so grabbed a quick iced coffee before toodling around the city on Mendy without the roll.  What a huge difference.  Much more relaxing tooling around without all the extra weight.  The top case and panniers were still on and full.  Looking forward to riding her unencumbered one of these days.

Tried to find a good place to park to watch the Bat Flight and visit 6th Street later.  Many random one-way streets and a few missed turns later, I ended up by the lake.  And then up on the hill.  As a friend said – rich people live either on the water or with altitude.  This area had both.

Back down to the south end of the Congress Street bridge to wait for the bat flight.   It was a bridge retrofit years ago that introduced some bat friendly grooves.  Totally unintended consequence.

Can’t really see the bats.   Moving really fast against a dark backdrop.  This shot caught part of someone else’s flash.

Went for a late dinner at Uchi – http://meander.mezerkos.com/2012/06/29/day-29-uchi-austin/ before heading down to 6th Street.  Did a quick loop and parked the bike on 10th before exploring on foot.

Trading the riding pants for jeans wasn’t really enough.  Just meant my right leg got really hot from the exhaust from idling through the city.  I was still way, way too hot carrying my jacket along 6th.  I made a loop fo the blocks to see what was where.   Looks like mostly shooter bars and bad dance bars.  6th used to be the centre of live music in Texas, but now mostly for tourists and college kids.   As sweaty as I was, the free cover was quite nice.  It mean that I could go into clubs just to sit down and cool down – very much a new concept for a Vancouverite where fresh air is found outside.

In the end, the best part of going to 6th was getting back on the bike and the quick blast back to the hotel.   Not much traffic and couldn’t beat the cool air at that point.

Woke up with the sunrise again.  This KOA is nice, but still rather close to highway and airport.  Packed up my stuff and tried to set up an appointment for a new tire, but shop wasn’t open yet.  Spent some time hacking together a new cigarette lighter adapter.  I have slightly more reliable power now.

New shoes for Mendy… that’s what the Pilot Road 3s are supposed to look like.  My center sipes were all gone.

The Alamo is quite neat.  Not sure I really understand the significance without more US history under my belt.  But the park itself is really nice.  And the Shrine and gift shop has some really kicking A/C.

The San Antonio River Walk is really nice.  I can easily see wasting away many an afternoon there.   Restaurants and bars all along.  Probably not cheap, but I was saving room for something special.

Church’s Fried Chicken!  It all started at a “to go” shop across from The Alamo.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like that location is there any more.  I went to the next closest one – it felt and smelt like the ones back home.  But on the whole, a disappointment.  Fries and Chicken were saltier than I am used to or like, and their “southern style” sandwich was lousy compared to Chik-fil-A.  Felt rather ill after finishing all that.

Without enough time to really get anywhere else, I rounded off the day with some shopping at Costco and Walmart.  Come to think of it, the last time I came away from a Ducati dealership, I went straight to a Costco too…

Delayed by a rodeo parade in Pescos. Town of the first rodeo ever.

Ran out of water before Ozona, so I stopped for gas and lunch. Rib eye, fried okra and sauteed veggies. What I was hoping Cracker Barrel would have been. Guess it makes sense the steak is better in Texas.

Random lookout. But I really stopped for…

the funky cloud. Reminds me of a cartoon lightning/tornado. Or maybe an ifrit.

Camping at KOA. Nice big roomy KOA with decent amenities. And a local duck in my campsite.

Another morning up with the sunrise.

Tunnel views back out to White Sands.

Old train trestle up to Cloudcroft along Highway 82.  They used to take the train up to avoid the summer heat.  And it may just be the beginning of summer, but I definitely see the appeal.  Cloudcroft reminds me of home – cool and green.  Kind of makes me want to go visit the KVR in BC.

Best part about Roswell – the alien street lamps!

Not actually sure what this is, some historic site to commemorate some people disappearing.

Low distance day – Got to White Sands in the early afternoon and didn’t really have much else planned.   While sitting in the Visitor Centre, I overheard there was camping available in the park.  Since I had been told the place is amazing during the full moon, I thought this was the best I would likely get.

White sands – Whitest place on earth?   But at least visible from space…

Looks lonely out there, doesn’t she?

0.6 mile hike from the trail head to the camp.  How hard could it be?   Silly me.  I took a short hike with pack to the beginning of the loop where GPS coordinates were provided for the sites.  Didn’t seem so tough.

It’s quite amazing what is ‘necessary’ to camp when you have to lug it across the sand.  I resorted to my tent, sleeping bag, thermarest and my misc pack for water and essentials.   Getting back to the sign with the GPS coords was bad enough.  I sat there sweating and squinting at my phone trying to enter the waypoints.   Couple of problems – i don’t actually know how to use my GPS app to navigate.  And 2 – the coords were incorrect on the sign. So after 30 mins of sweating onto my phone, i gave up and just went the old fashioned way.  Wandering across the sand looking for the posts.

Naturally, half of the posts I needed had fallen down.  I would wander over to the next due to where a post ‘should’ have been before I could see it lying on the ground and figure out which way it was pointing.  Eventually did find the post.

Campsite #9 – my stop for the night.

Regulations said you had to set up 5′ from the post, away from the actual dunes themselves.  So I set up right on the marker, then lay inside for the better part of an hour listening to my heart pound and my sweat drip to the base of the tent.   Eventually, I was able to pull myself together and went back to the Visitor Center to fill up on water and catch the Sunset Stroll.

Flowering yucca plant

Little bleached earless lizard hiding.

Sunset!

Notice the camp marker is barely visible at the left of the frame.  The tent was not where I left it!   I guess when all you have inside is a down sleeping bag and a thermarest, there’s not much keeping it in place.

If I ever do something this again, I think the packing on the bike itself would shift to include a quick-release ‘back country’ pack.   And I’d upgrade my tent to something a little easier to carry.

As I was paying my bill for KOA on my way out of Phoenix/Mesa Apache Junction, the lady recommended I go to Tombstone.  It hadn’t even crossed my mind to visit, but since it was within range for the day, I thought it seemed more interesting that just heading deeper into New Mexico.

It was fairly early in the day, so I thought I’d take a little detour and visit Casa Grande National Monument.   It was actually so early, the gate was still closed.  I ended up waiting outside with the local Chamber of Commerce who were about to give a tour to a group of tour operators.   We chatted a bit and they were nice enough to invite me along to their quick overview.

The Big House – No one’s really sure what it’s for, but it is impressive and lets you dream up your own stories.

During the ‘tour of tour guides’, I had a nice chat with their bus driver about riding Harley’s with the Banditos and one of the more attractive girls invited me to join them at their next stop at ‘the monastery’ .  Unfortunately, I got held up packing up the bike and was talking to someone who was ready to give up his 1982 Nighthawk.  By the time I got moving, their bus was long gone.   I figured if it was a tour ‘hot spot’, there would be signs.   No such luck.  I stopped here:

to google for directions, but nothing came up.  I know it was in the area – I saw their ‘adopt a highway’ sign.   I guess that’s the reason they needed the Chamber of Commerce’s help to get more visitors.

I gassed up in Tucson, and figured I should look for a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurant.  College town, must be something.   I picked on that was ‘on my way’… but never found it.  Overall, I think Tucson was less frustrating than Phoenix.  Similar temperatures, but it was just more bearable overall.

I took a detour on Highway 83 off Vail since it was a ‘scenic route’.  Very glad I did that.  Best riding of the day.

Tombstone itself wasn’t that interesting.  Kind of like Barkerville/Renfaire type deal.  Folks dressed up in period clothing, pitching shows and generally adding atmosphere.  Not a bad tourist trap.  I guess it says something about their ability to survive as a town in this economy.  The schools all looked closed…

I had originally thought to stay in Benson, just north of Tombstone.  I figured by the time I got there, it would be late in the day and time to rest up.   But I left early and decided to push on to Lordsburg.  I-10 was your typical boring interstate.  I gassed up outside Willcox and continued on my way.

Saw lots of activity on the side of the road and blow tire shrapnel on the road.   Some vans and cars were on the side of the road, getting help as well.  I wondered if there was anything I could do… And thought back to the 4 ‘kids’ the day before stuck at a gas station – they had locked their car keys inside and AAA wouldn’t come get them w/out a member present.   Didn’t occur to me until I was already on the highway that I could have been that member.  Might have blown my entire afternoon, but it’s not like I really enjoyed rushing into Phoenix anyway.

I still didn’t stop for the cars – for the most part, they looked abandoned or had bigger issues than I could possibly deal with… And then I saw it!   A guy on a purple cruiser, waddling it down the shoulder.   I pulled over and asked what was wrong – out of gas!  I tried to figure out how to help, and decided to just make a run for the next gas station and see what was up.   I blew out of there – and promptly missed the next exit.   But fortunately, the exit after that had a Shell station.  Picked up a 1G jerry can, filled it with gas and looped back.  Lots of speeding at this point since I now had to cover 3 exits to get back behind the cruiser.

Pulling up behind him, we gassed her up and got going.  Pulled over that first exit, and realized Dixie is pretty much just a ghost town.  Not even sure if the gas station at that exit was open.  We continued through the town until we were back at the same Shell station.

He wanted to pay me back, but this station didn’t have an ATM.   We rode together to the next stop and he gave me $20 and a bottle of water.   Essentially, buying me a jerry can.   I did catch his name – Jesus.

All I could think of was Matthew 25:31-46 – “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”   And wouldn’t you know it, I did it for Jesus.  Okay, he was hispanic and a painter, but still..

And now, I carry a full jerry can with me – and I didn’t have to do the walk of shame to get it!

Up until now, I usually made it a point to stay off the major Interstates, but a few things have changed recently.  1)  I don’t need to eat up mileage for my service appointment.  2)  My tires are wearing out and I will need some ‘soon’  3)  It’s too hot to spend time on the road unless you have to be.

Another lazy start this morning.  Up at 7:30, but didn’t really get on the road until 9am.  I did manage to speak to Services Canada about my employment insurance.  Sounds like I don’t get any payments – the waiting period started just as I started this trip.   At least I don’t have to file any more reports  until I get back into Canada.

Decided to make a detour to visit Joshua Tree National Park.  Wasn’t that far out of my way if I were to take I-10.  It was nice to see a working windfarm on my way there – but with so much traffic, I didn’t stop to take any pictures.

Joshua Tree Park itself was really quite nice.   Border of 2 deserts and some fault lines, it’s very pretty.  Took a short hike through Hidden Valley.   Very much made me wish I had come here in the spring when the desert is blooming.  That and I had the skills/equipment to do some climbing.

Joshua Tree National Park

Hidden Valley

The rocks make me think of World of Warcraft.  I kind of hope/expect the rocks to rise up as golems and start attacking me.   Realization that in motorcycle pans and boots, I wasn’t likely to make good time.   Our toons do so much running in that game, they must be in great shape.

Lookout at the San Andreas fault.

Cholla Cactus Garden – nasty plants.  Barbed spines that break off.

But pretty!

Leaving the park, the bike registered 42C on I-10 towards Phoenix.  Had to cool down at gas stops and even took a nap in the shade at a rest stop.  Didn’t really eat all day – had some beef jerky and a can of vienna sausages with lots and lots of water.  So as I approached Phoenix, I saw signs for ‘Cracker Barrel’.  That brought back memories of Knott’s Berry Farm as a child.   We got there so late the park was closed and we still had to grab a bite to eat.   Cracker Barrel was across the street and we got in just before the kitchen closed and all I remember was the t-bone steak.  Since I was uncomfortably hot anyway, I stopped for iced tea, ribeye and some sides.  Solid meal for the day…

Even after dark, it stays in the high 30’s.   Ridiculous.   I’m very much not used to the sun setting so early during the summer.   I’m expecting to have another 2h of light, but the sun sets and I’m stuck in the dark… I’m not even going to bother with a tent tonight.  Hopefully the spiders I saw earlier don’t bother me…