15th December
Our timing was perfect! A cold front moved down from the north overnight, and the blue skies were gone when we woke up, replaced with a misty grey blanket of dewy droplets, and sub zero temperatures! After riding for an hour, the temperature soared to zero, and it didn’t get above 5 degrees C all day. Bloody glad we didn't try camping! At a fuel stop in San Angelo, we met William, who suggested we call in on “Black Sheep”, a local bike shop, and have a talk to the owners. We followed his directions, and were rewarded with a nice hot cup of tea and somewhere warm to talk bikes and thaw out for a while. Arriving in Junction at around 4.00pm, with darkness coming early due to the heavy cloud, we found a hotel and called it a day. The weather forecast is for about 8 degrees at 9.00am, so it should be a much warmer start for the day. I don’t think we would have made it this far if we didn’t have heated grips…….
Our timing was perfect! A cold front moved down from the north overnight, and the blue skies were gone when we woke up, replaced with a misty grey blanket of dewy droplets, and sub zero temperatures! After riding for an hour, the temperature soared to zero, and it didn’t get above 5 degrees C all day. Bloody glad we didn't try camping! At a fuel stop in San Angelo, we met William, who suggested we call in on “Black Sheep”, a local bike shop, and have a talk to the owners. We followed his directions, and were rewarded with a nice hot cup of tea and somewhere warm to talk bikes and thaw out for a while. Arriving in Junction at around 4.00pm, with darkness coming early due to the heavy cloud, we found a hotel and called it a day. The weather forecast is for about 8 degrees at 9.00am, so it should be a much warmer start for the day. I don’t think we would have made it this far if we didn’t have heated grips…….
The Black Sheep bike shop in San Angelo, good guys, and a great place to go for a coffee and to talk bikes
16th
Much warmer this morning, a balmy 8 degrees, still cloudy, and down the road about 100 kms it was misting rain, not heavy, but enough to make you keep wiping your visor. By 12 o’clock we had made San Antonio, and did the compulsory visit to the Alamo. Quite interesting, listening to the doco on what actually happened, not the hollywood version. There were actually some survivors, almost all women and children, but everyone else was killed, including Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. A wander around the Riverwalk, then hitting the road again as far as Three Rivers, where we got a room for the night, as it was starting to get dark, and the rain was setting in. It is supposed to be dry tomorrow, and we have to be in South Padre Island around 2.00 pm, so it should work out OK. We have booked into a timeshare unit for a week there, before moving on down to Mexico. It’s funny, almost everyone we have spoken to recently has screwed up their face and said “Ooh, be real careful in Mexico, there has been a lot of kidnapping there lately, I wouldn’t go there”. We have heard the same thing about a lot of the other countries we have been to, and not had a problem, lets hope that continues. I have been trying to organise a couple of rear sprockets for the bikes, and looks like I may have some through a bike shop in Corpus Christie, so I will fit them during the week.
Much warmer this morning, a balmy 8 degrees, still cloudy, and down the road about 100 kms it was misting rain, not heavy, but enough to make you keep wiping your visor. By 12 o’clock we had made San Antonio, and did the compulsory visit to the Alamo. Quite interesting, listening to the doco on what actually happened, not the hollywood version. There were actually some survivors, almost all women and children, but everyone else was killed, including Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. A wander around the Riverwalk, then hitting the road again as far as Three Rivers, where we got a room for the night, as it was starting to get dark, and the rain was setting in. It is supposed to be dry tomorrow, and we have to be in South Padre Island around 2.00 pm, so it should work out OK. We have booked into a timeshare unit for a week there, before moving on down to Mexico. It’s funny, almost everyone we have spoken to recently has screwed up their face and said “Ooh, be real careful in Mexico, there has been a lot of kidnapping there lately, I wouldn’t go there”. We have heard the same thing about a lot of the other countries we have been to, and not had a problem, lets hope that continues. I have been trying to organise a couple of rear sprockets for the bikes, and looks like I may have some through a bike shop in Corpus Christie, so I will fit them during the week.
Lyn at the Alamo
Restaurant in San Antonio, might be a good name for a song...........
There is a heap of these oil pumps all across Texas, they start and stop automatically
17th-22nd
Heading south from Three Rivers, we stopped for some fuel and a hot drink, and as we rode into the service station, another bike rider walked over to us, it turned out to be Greg Turp, there with his wife Melanie, who we had been talking to online, and were going to meet up with in South Padre! They are two up on their bike, with their dog Gypsy in the top box. We rode together from there to the island turn off, and suddenly they weren’t behind us anymore. A quick u turn found them beside the road, their trailer had come open in the wind, and some of their stuff had blown out. It had been an eventful day for them, as they had run out of fuel not long before we saw them at the service station. We continued on, the wind was really strong, a couple of times we felt like we were off the ground and being blown sideways. Apparently some gusts were over 50 mph. A great night talking to Greg and Melanie over a few drinks, and discussing the usual travel and bike things. They had planned to continue on the next morning, but cancelled due to the wind and freezing temperatures, the bridge over to the island was closed to motor bikes, some cars were being blown around going over it! The bad weather continued the following day also, not the time to be riding, so they ended up staying another day before they got going again. The rest of the week the weather improved gradually, but it was still not the best, so there was no swimming, even though a few people did go in the water, must have been Canadians or Russians or something……. Still, it was a good time to catch up with the computer work, in-between the wi-fi’s hissy fits. The sprockets I was hoping to get didn't eventuate, so we have ordered them online, and have them delivered to Bevan and Claire's place in Phoenix.
Heading south from Three Rivers, we stopped for some fuel and a hot drink, and as we rode into the service station, another bike rider walked over to us, it turned out to be Greg Turp, there with his wife Melanie, who we had been talking to online, and were going to meet up with in South Padre! They are two up on their bike, with their dog Gypsy in the top box. We rode together from there to the island turn off, and suddenly they weren’t behind us anymore. A quick u turn found them beside the road, their trailer had come open in the wind, and some of their stuff had blown out. It had been an eventful day for them, as they had run out of fuel not long before we saw them at the service station. We continued on, the wind was really strong, a couple of times we felt like we were off the ground and being blown sideways. Apparently some gusts were over 50 mph. A great night talking to Greg and Melanie over a few drinks, and discussing the usual travel and bike things. They had planned to continue on the next morning, but cancelled due to the wind and freezing temperatures, the bridge over to the island was closed to motor bikes, some cars were being blown around going over it! The bad weather continued the following day also, not the time to be riding, so they ended up staying another day before they got going again. The rest of the week the weather improved gradually, but it was still not the best, so there was no swimming, even though a few people did go in the water, must have been Canadians or Russians or something……. Still, it was a good time to catch up with the computer work, in-between the wi-fi’s hissy fits. The sprockets I was hoping to get didn't eventuate, so we have ordered them online, and have them delivered to Bevan and Claire's place in Phoenix.
With Greg and Melanie on South Padre Island
