Some light reading about recent travels for Spork

[spork]

Hey all! I thought I would chronicle some of the latest happenings for your entertainment.

It all started back when I took up motorcycling at the age of 13..... OH WAIT! Too far back sorry......

I took a trip to New York for business. Which I ended up combining with pleasure. You see, my wife and I were married 20 years ago this past July 11 and we decided to celebrate in New York by extending our stay a little. She loves New York and I had absolutely NO interest in going to the big apple. But, she always trumps me.......

New York was an experience. I got to see how people can be rude and still be nice. It was almost like you expected it so when it happened, it didn't carry the same weight as when it happens in the South. I had some really interesting experiences and will go back at some point I am sure. There is simply too much history and things to do for me to rule it out for future trips. I really enjoyed Ellis Island and would like to go back and spend the day there. My biggest complaint has to be transportation and the food. EVERYTHING is expensive. I went to a diner and paid $20 for a hamburger. Nothing else was included. Everything was a la carte. Of course this was in Times Square.... I did find a great Pizzeria and ended up eating there a couple of times it was so good and reasonable in price. We had a great time and I actually spent my birthday in New York, with my lovely wife at a Broadway musical. It was one of the best in recent memories.

NOW..... the rest of the story.

Plane arrived in Houston Thursday morning about 1230am. Got home about 130 am. Finished the prep/loading of the bike for the trip departure at 700am.

Met the group at our church and awaited for the traffic to lighten up a bit. At about 9 am everyone realized that the rain was about to slam into us so we went to Academy and bought Frogg Toggs. Which, by the way, work really well as long as you zip it up all the way and do not get them ANYWHERE near a heat source....like the exhaust on your bike. ::) I melted the arm on one sleeve before we left the parking lot at Academy. Others had the same issues with the pants. When they melt, they turn to total goo.

We departed Academy in the rain and I had tried to determine where the rain was going before I left for the trip. All sources led me to believe that heading in a northerly direction would minimize the impact of the rain. PSYCH!! I was accused of really being one of the Storm Chasers that you hear about who follow tornados and the like. They started calling me "Stormy" and other names. It rained on us for 6 and a half hours straight! I think we hit 60mph somewhere around the Lockhart area. We stopped in Lockhart to get some Q at Blacks BBQ. WHOA! IS THAT STUFF GOOD! The jalapeno cheese sausage was excellent. Nice and juicy! The brisket was extremely flavorful and I never once used my knife! It simply fell apart. The beans were excellent as well. They were very nice to us water rats and they take debit/credit cards which was a plus. (I took a trip to Luling City Market where the service SUCKED! and they only take cash unless you want to use their ATM located at the ordering station in the restaurant! WHICH THEY MAKE MONEY ON! The food there was good but I will lean towards Lockhart when in the area.)

Anyway, after everyone got settled in the dorms where we were staying, I just sat quietly and listened to the stories that everyone had to share from the day of total drenching rain. It was heart-warming. Everyone had a story to tell and they eventually all made the statement that it was a great trip over all. Sure, no one likes to ride in that kind of rain for very long, but now they can say they truly survived Tropical Storm Erin! Not to mention the image burned into my brain of the woman in a car next to me who laughed hysterically when I tilted my head and stuck my tongue out to "drink" up the rain. After which I was smiling really big!

Besides, this was a church group that went and I was just doing my part to move them a little closer in their walk with the Lord. I mean riding a motorcycle through that environment all the while saying "Oh God, please let me live." is definitely pushing them closer. Just doing my part for ministry.

We tried again to carve up the Texas 3's (AKA Twisted Sisters) but one of our group got separated through a really strange twist of events so we aborted the ride after the first run on 337 to try and find him. Cell service was spotty and the only phone number he had with him was to a phone that was dead. Lesson learned. We searched for most of the remainder of the day and it wasn't until 6pm that he arrived back at camp. I had departed in our chase car to continue looking for him along with one of his friends that came with us and about the time we were clearing 41 in Mountain Home, he arrived at camp. That, we were very thankful for.

All in all it was a great time. I learned a new way around San Antonio to Kerrville and we ended up with 755 miles for the total trip. I got to push the Nomad a little on the sections of the 3's we did ride and that is always a nice thing. Scraped a few places and really enjoyed throwing that bike around on the really fun stuff.

If you have never ridden the 3's, you owe it to yourself to go. You don't have to have the skills of a racer to ride them. It is TRULY a beautiful ride even if stop to smell the flowers.

Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to share my latest adventures.

C-Ya!

[vulcanvixen]

That's quite an experience. Once had to ride about a half hour in a downpour and hated every second.....can't imagine 6+ hours!!! Kudos on everybody making it safely!!

Got a soft spot in my heart for New York - it's my "home". I worked at New York University for 7 years before I moved to SoCal. I know what you mean about New Yorkers being rude but nice. I like to think of them as "brusque" - hell, living in a metropolitan area of 20-25 million people would do that to just about anyone! They'll give you the shirt off their back, tho! So, when/if you go back, check with me ----- I'll fill you in on some great places to go, restaurants, etc. Goes for the rest of the Forum members too. I love "showing off" New York to visitors!!

[socwkbiker]

Sounds like you had a great time Spork, even in the rain. I'm hoping that those of us in Texas can come up with a ride like that soon.

[spork]

That's quite an experience. Once had to ride about a half hour in a downpour and hated every second.....can't imagine 6+ hours!!! Kudos on everybody making it safely!!

Got a soft spot in my heart for New York - it's my "home". I worked at New York University for 7 years before I moved to SoCal. I know what you mean about New Yorkers being rude but nice. I like to think of them as "brusque" - hell, living in a metropolitan area of 20-25 million people would do that to just about anyone! They'll give you the shirt off their back, tho! So, when/if you go back, check with me ----- I'll fill you in on some great places to go, restaurants, etc. Goes for the rest of the Forum members too. I love "showing off" New York to visitors!!

I will take you up on that!

I hope to go back someday.