Bike trips past

I have done allot of bike trips and I have always wanted to write about them. I figure this is probably my only chance, so here goes.

One of my favorite trips had to be TX. We had no real destination we just decided to head south and then west. There are trips you plan for and trips you just go out and explore where ever the road takes you. The only plan for this trip was to head out and see how far we could get in 7 days seeing what ever strikes our fancy along the way.

It was summer of 1995. Saturday, 6:30 am, after a restless night we woke up to the sound of the alarm. We are both excited about the ride to come. It's a crisp morning. The bike is packed with everything we need including a tent and sleeping bags. By the time we return home we will have ridden over 3,000 miles. We took our time and stopped to see so many places.

Our first notable stop was the Arch in St. Louis, Mo. There are a few things I am totally afraid of and one of them is heights but this was awesome. That was an experience for me with my fear of heights. Yeah me, skydiving me, I'm scared of heights. The worst part of skydiving for me is the plane ride. I hate small planes!!! Some how it's different after you are out of the plane.

The next stop was Memphis TN. We visited Elvis’s home and then found a motel and checked in. Since we were within walking distance of Beale St., it didn't seem right not to head down town to listen to some blues. There was music everywhere we went. It was really good. Pure, raw talent. Of course we did have a couple too many, but that was the purpose of getting a room and walking. The walk back to the motel is a story of its own which I probably won't tell. Then we stumbled into a motel room. Despite a rough morning after, we were up bright and early the next morning and on the road again.

When we got about half way through MS we rode into a bad storm. We finally found a car wash and rode into one of the stalls for cover. After the rain stopped we found a laundry mat and put on dry cloths and tossed our wet cloths, boots included into a drier.

Going through LA we made a stop in New Orleans and spent the day in the French Quarter and had some real Cajun seafood. We spent most of the next day in town and then headed out late afternoon. We were told that while in the lesser populated areas of LA you should always be looking over your shoulder because there are some French Cajuns that do not like outsiders. We found this to be totally untrue. The people we met were all real nice. It's unbelievable what urban legends you will come across while traveling. We stopped at a nice little Ma & Pa restaurant and had a steak I will never forget. Just wish I could remember the name of the restaurant.

After dinner we rode pretty late into the night. Later than we had planned. It was a dark night with no moon and we could hear the ocean and decided to head down a side road toward the sound of the waves. We rode over a hill that turned out to be a levy. We stopped just short of being hit by a wave. We where still on pavement but the waves were coming right up onto the road. We found out that to continue on to Galveston we would have to travel by Ferry. During our 1 hr wait for the ferry we were practically eaten alive by mosquitoes. Lesson learned...always carry bug spray!

When we got into Galveston Bay it was pretty late and rather than get a room we decided to go out to the beach. We spread out a blanket and crashed right there. The sound of the ocean was so peaceful. We enjoyed it so much, we slept in a life guard tower the next night. The life guard tower was a little more private.

The next day when we got up, some homeless people thought we were homeless and new in town. They were telling us where we could get large boxes for shelter and where we could do our laundry for free. They said they knew where there was a laundry room with a broken lock. We thanked them and told them we where on vacation and we just enjoyed sleeping on the beach. We talked for a while and some of their stories were actually interesting.

We did some exploring around town and stopped at the local supermarket to pick up our traditional beans and wienies for lunch. They have been a tradition since our first bike trip. We eat them cold right from the can at least once during every trip. It started as a joke. While R was preparing me for the "test of my endurance", he told me that we would be sleeping cheap, eating beans from a can and roughing it all the way, riding from can't see to can't see. He wasn't serious, but I was ready for it. I have actually come to look forward to the beans and wienies. We even keep a small can opener in the saddle bags just for them.

It was over 100 degrees that day and while walking into the store I noticed a bike that was just like R's bike and the kick stand was sinking into the asphalt. It looked like it would fall over at any minute. Just inside the entrance to the store there was a steel pole in the center of the entrance that was painted the same color as the wall behind it. Since I was watching to see the bike fall over and not watching where I was going, I walked right into the pole. That damn pole actually echoed out a bonnngggggg. I kid you not, it really did. I could hear people talking to me but I couldn't seem to speak. I just stood there in a daze trying desperately not to pass out. There was a cop walking in behind us and he wanted to call an ambulance. NO WAY! I was not about to spend my vacation in a hospital just so they could say I had a concussion and keep me awake all night. That night we got a room and R was feeling a little rambunctious and started chasing me around the room. (Playfully, of course) I hit my ankle on the metal frame of the bed and it swelled up so bad that I could hardly walk the nest day and couldn't get my boot on.

We stopped in Waco TX the next night for a steak dinner. The cowboys down there apparently don't take to kindly to men beating up on women. They thought R had beaten me up. It was an easy assumption; I was a real sight. My forehead was swelled up and all black and blue. I had a black eye and I was still not able to get my boot on and limping really bad. We heard them say something about Men like that should have the shit beat out of them and started walking towards us. As they were walking our way R said, "honey, you gotta quit starting those bar fights, each time, it just gets worse." I said, "I told you before, I didn't start it, I finished it!" They looked at us and back at each other and didn't know what to think and just walked away.

We headed north to Dallas and then on to Oklahoma City and home through KS and MO. We had been back about a month and I had a car accident. I hit a tree at 60 miles an hour, no seat belt. I hit the steering wheel and split my forehead open clear down into my eye and across my nose. Looking down I noticed the trans pushed up through the floor and when I got out of the car it looked like the motor was where the radio used to be. I grabbed a pair of clean socks that my son had left in my car and held them on my head. I walked over to a farm house and asked to use the phone to call R. They got all excited and insisted on me sitting down while they call an ambulance. Again with the ambulance! I told them I walked there so I figured I was fine, just a broken nose. They finally agree to call R. He gets there and wants to take me to the hospital and I'm pissed because he didn't bring the car trailer. He drags me over to the truck and tells me to look at myself in the door mirror. OK, after seeing myself they won. It took 48 stitches on the outside and I had to go in for surgery the following morning to fix my shattered nose. They took xrays and told me that I fractured my skull on the right side. My head was injured on the left and center from the car accident, so this made me ask how that was possible. They said the fracture looked like it had happened maybe a month before. Damn Pole! The Dr in the emergency room did an amazing job stitching me up. It can all be covered with makeup. Now that the scar is 14 years old, it is hardly noticeable.

Even with a skull fracture and probably an ankle fracture it was still one of my favorite trips.