Colorado Cruiser: Texas Big Bend Ride - Day 7 and 8

John was up and on the road very early. I didn't even see him go. By the time I was on the road, he was 200+ miles towards Phoenix. He said he made 900 miles in 14 hours. OUCH! I'd have been in bad shape if I tried that.

I had the buffet breakfast at the hotel. It was ok but nothing special. I sat listening to the people who had attended a high school reunion the night before. Gossip about who didn't come and why, or who came with someone unexpected. And these weren't 20 year olds, most were 60+ but they were just as gossipy as ever I guess.

I packed my bike, put on my mesh jacket and headed for highway 16 North bound for home. The GPS suggested the freeway, then a main highway, but I still wanted some scenery, so I headed for Fredericksburg on back roads. Within 5 miles I pulled over and switched the mesh jacket for my heavy one. It was in the 50s and the wind was pulling the heat from me pretty quick.

The road was still lined with yellow flowers and trees, the sun was shining (but not warming much) and I was still enjoying the ride.

I reached Fredericksburg but decided not to go into town. I've heard its a cute little shopping town. Maybe next time.

Highway 87 leaving Fredericksburg was a nice big divided 4 lane highway. I stayed on that for a few miles, then turned down a small farm road that my GPS suggested. I think it kept me running through the "hill country" a bit longer because I continued to have trees and farms around me for quite a while.

When I got back onto highway 87 it was like a line drawn across the countryside. One minute I'm in the trees, then suddenly I'm out on the flattest, emptiest farmland I've seen. There wasn't a tree, shrub, or bush to be seen.

What I could see was dust plumes all over. At first I thought they might dust devils, but when I got near one close to the road, I saw that it was a tractor plowing a massive field. Every dust plume was another tractor somewhere plowing. Many were even over the horizon but the dust rose up high enough to see.

By 10:00 I was approaching San Angelo. I stopped for gas and called my Niece's family in San Angelo to warn them I was getting close. I was going to stop by for a few hours to have lunch and visit.

It was a wonderful visit. Their kids were so fun to talk to and play with. I was shown bedrooms, dolls, swords, drawings, and all manner of toys. When they used to live near us in Denver, their oldest daughter called me grandpa because I look allot like my brother. We got an audio clip at the time of her calling me grandpa and sent it to my brother. He wasn't amused.

This time a couple of the younger kids said "he looks like grandpa". We thought about getting a video of one of the kids calling me grandpa again, but decided against it.

The kids asked me questions about riding the motorcycle around, then they asked for rides. I made them all get on long pants and at least bicycle helmets, then took them one by one for short rides around the block. That was allot of fun, but it made me miss my own grand kids who often go for longer rides (with better helmets and gear on).

I chatted and talked for nearly 3 hours. I was sorely tempted just to end the ride there for the day and spend more time. They said that no one considers San Angelo to be a tourist destination, so hardly anyone comes to visit. But for me, the proximity of the hill country and the twisted sisters means that I'll be back for more rides and visits. Maybe I'll bring another cousin for a ride when he finishes his LDS mission in a few months and my son finishes motorcycle mechanics school.

Finally at 3:00 I donned my riding gear and bit farewell. Those are sure some cute grand kids Mike.

The road led me North out of San Angelo in nearly a straight line up to Lubbock. Nothing of interest to see except more dust plumes rising from tractors all around me. Highway 87 here was nearly a freeway. It was divided, had overpasses, was very smooth, and had a high speed limit. You can really burn miles fast on roads like these.

As I entered Lubbock I stopped at a McDonalds to take a short break (soda and a small fry). I was nearly out of gas and so I looked for a Freeway exit with a gas station by it. Before I knew it, I as out the North end of town and had seen nothing. I didn't know if I had gas to make it to the next town with gas, so I turned around and looked closer at the various exits back in town. I never saw anything, so I exited and pulled up the GPS. It took nearly 1/2 hour and 3 closed stations before I finally found something. What's with hiding the gas stations in this town?

By the time I got out of Lubbock the sun was getting low and my butt was getting sore. Sure enough, there was a gas station just 10 miles out of town that I could have easily ridden to, but you never know.

I passed a few towns with hotels that I considered stopping at for the night, but I wanted to get more miles done before stopping so I kept going. The sun was way down by the time I reached Amarillo. I checked a couple places and found a Travel Lodge for $32 a night with my AAA rate. I didn't feel like going out for dinner, so I ordered a pizza for delivery. The pizza place screwed up the deal price and charged me $3 more than what they said on the phone. The delivery guy kept showing me the receipt and pointing to the discount they'd given. I kept pointing to the coupon that was in the room when I arrived versus the bottom line price I was being charged. I finally paid his price but told him he could talk to the pizaa place about his tip.

The next morning I got up early, intending to be in Pueblo by noon. I wanted to visit my daughter Klair before the induced her that evening. I ate another Texas shaped waffle for breakfast, then began bringing my stuff down from the room to the bike. When I brought my biggest bag down, I misstepped and took header down the last 2 stairs. Luckily I landed on the bag itself which kept me from any real injury. I just felt stupid in front of about 15 people eating breakfast. Several came over to help, but I assured them I was fine. The beat red tint to my skin is normal.

I had just finished packing the bike when my phone rang. My wife told me that operation "Hippopotamus" was under way. That's the code word my daughter had given to the delivery of her first child. Late the previous night her labor pains began and got closer together. My wife drove down from the Springs to Pueblo, but they decided to let me sleep rather than worrying me all night. She was now very close to delivery.

There was no way I could make the 250 mile ride in time to be at the delivery, so I didn't freak out trying to ride 90mph or anything.

I received several text messages as I rode, and because I didn't have cell/data service, I couldn't have Siri read the messages to me, so I had to stop, take off gloves, dig out the iPhone, and read what was going on. At about 10:00 I got the text telling me that Jessie Mae had been born and both mother and daughter (and grand mother) were doing fine. I also had my first picture of my new grand daughter. I think I was in Trinidad at the time, stopped for gas and another short snack at the Wendy's there.

By the time I pulled into the hospital in Pueblo, everyone else had gone home to get some rest. It turned out that the nurses had been doing the initial warming, sun lamp, measuring, etc since Jessie was born, and they brought her back just minutes after I arrived, so despite everyone else being there, I was the first to hold Jessie besides her parents. It's all about the timing.

We took allot of pictures and I got to hug and kiss my wonderful daughter and grand daughter. I couldn't have planned a better ending to the whole ride than that amazing event.

Later, when I stopped at my daughters house to off load some stuff, I recalled last Monday morning when I'd been about to begin the ride. It felt more like a month ago rather than 6 1/2 days. I guess a good vacation should do that, push all the old memories back and replace them with warm feelings of satisfaction and comfort. If that's true, then this was one great vacation.

Total trip miles 2,950

Still riding tree lined roads on my way home