| Author | Message | ||
     Road_thing |
I got a last minute invitation from my old pal Rem to join a group ride to the Texas Hill Country last weekend. October is beautiful and work was slow, so I said "Sure! Count me in!" Then I got a call from my old high school buddy Larry, who lives in Tucson (some of you may remember I posted pictures of a trip out that way a couple of summers back...) and he said he had some vacation to burn and why didn't we go for a ride somewhere? So, thanks to Southwest Airlines' most excellent frequent flier program, I had Larry on the trip, too. Now Larry and I have put some serious miles on together over the last 40 years or so (not all of them on bikes, but that's another bunch of stories...) so this now had the makings of a pretty significant, if altogether too short trip. On with the photos: Larry and I started out at the Ranchito on a cool Friday morning, loading the bikes up in front of the house:  A glance at the pond (still not full due to the drought of the past year, but it's getting there) showed we had some company. No, Daves, you can't shoot this one, she's a pet!  Larry and I doubled back to Bellville, where we met Rem and four other guys who'd be making the ride. I didn't know any of 'em, but they seemed OK, so we saddled up and headed for Llano, where we met my son, Little_Thing (I can't figure out why he hates when I call him that...) and we stopped for some serious Texas barbecue at a joint called Cooper's. You walk by the pit and tell the attendant what you want, then he cuts it, dips it in sauce and puts it on a tray for you to take inside, where they weigh it, slice it and wrap it in butcher paper. No plates here!  We hooked'em on into Fredericksburg for the night, and consumed large quantities of cold malted beverages while we listened to Kirk, our leader, describe his plans for the next day's ride. This was a guy I didn't know, mounted on a brand new Honda 1300 sport-tourer. Although he'd laid out a beautiful route for our trip so far, he was in a much bigger hurry than I was. No picture stops, gas stops choreographed every 120 miles, it was kinda like being back in the service. He had been bragging to us about seeing 140 mph on the way up, then told me, "Now, this isn't a competition, if you guys on the Harleys can't keep up with me, don't worry, I'll wait for you!" Rem, Larry, LT and I looked at each other and unanimously decide to sleep in past the appointed assembly time the next morning. That was the last we saw of Kirk. Hope he made it home. Next morning, after the coast was clear, we cruised into Kerrville. This next shot is of the Guadeloupe River as it flows through town.  Here's the Tres Amigos. This shot was taken at the request of Mrs_Thing, because this was the groom's side of our wedding party in 1976:  Handsome bunch of old farts... | ||
| Blake |
The way you are gazing at all that meat... well... it's a bit disconcerting.  Great stuff. Poor Kirk. He's probably still in a hurry to get wherever he's supposed to be next. | ||
| Road_thing |
Now, before anybody tells me what a great photographer I am, let me point out that Larry is a professional photographer and he gets the credit for just about all the pictures I'm gonna post. Including this one, taken on the road west out of Kerrville:  LT enjoyed the picture breaks, too...  We were on our way to Luckenbach, Texas, made famous in story and song by the likes of Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker, to check in the Harvest Classic bike rally when we came upon this, just outside of Vanderpool:  The sign said they had food and classic bikes and we were hungry for both, so we pulled in to check it out. Turns out they were right about the classics! There must have been 60 or 70 really nice old bikes in the place, mostly Brits, but not all. Well worth the $5 admission!   And one for Court:  The burgers were good, too. Highly recommended! | ||
| Road_thing |
Fed and rested, we pushed on to Luckenbach:  Now, I'm not a rally aficionado, but the Harvest Classic was really cool. We ran into Hellbuelly Jay and Sir Chadley from Austin (in fact, it was Jay who turned me on to the rally in the first place) and checked out a bunch more really cool old iron:      Gotta love them old Triumphs! There was the obligatory biker dawg:  This rally may go on my "every year" list. It's that cool... | ||
| Road_thing |
We headed back to Fredericksburg before "deer thirty" at dusk--we saw lots of big roadkill on this trip, I don't think riding at night, or even in the early morning or evening, is the safest thing a guy can do around here this time of year. After another evening of overeating and adult beverages, we called it a day. And a good one, at that! The next day was Sunday, our last day on the road, so we backtracked east. This spot is on FM 337, outside of Leakey:  This is the town square in Lockhart:  Texas is full of these old stone courthouses in the county seats, remnants of the past but still in use. We had to get "in character" for this shot:  Extra credit for anybody who can name this famous town in Fayette County, Texas! Here's a few portraits of the major characters in this little travelogue: Larry from Tucson:  Little_Thing from Austin:  Rem from Houston:  And your Humble Narrator:  You've got to love this state!  rt  | ||
| Henrik |
Cool story Tom. Thanks for sharing. Always great to hook up with old friends for a road trip. Great times and great memories. Henrik | ||
| Jackbequick |
Wonderful writeup and photos! You guys and your diverse collection of motorcycles are a testimonial to the fact that great rides are not about the make of ride, costume of the rider, or who has the most Dollars invested in chrome. It's about the ride! Poor Kirk, will he ever figure it out? Jack | ||
| Road_thing |
Jack, Henrik, thanks! Blake--that's the same look you had when Hootowl broke out the Oatmeal Stout! Follow-up note: after our return to Houston, Larry put on another 500 miles by taking the Road Pig over to Lafayette, La. to visit some family and another of our high school buds. He called me up last night from Tucson to let me know he'd made it home and said that his BMW felt "like a ten-speed bike with a sewing machine motor" after a week on Harley power. When I asked him how he likes Buells after 900 miles on the S2, he said, "Damn, this trip's gonna cost me some money!" rt | ||
| Blake |
Wonderful! I gotta get out more. | ||
| CJXB |
No picture stops, gas stops choreographed every 120 miles, it was kinda like being back in the service. NO Picture Stops ??!! Good grief, that’s my favorite part of riding, ask anyone who rides with me, I can’t imagine having missed all the pics you posted here, nice job !! This shot was taken at the request of Mrs_Thing, because this was the groom's side of our wedding party in 1976: Handsome bunch of old farts... Mighty handsome group of guys, I can’t imagine you guys being handsomer (is that a word?) in 1976, but I bet you guys would have stopped traffic then huh !! It was a GREAT idea of Mrs_Thing to get that photo so many years later, it’s always women who think of those things, and that picture is going to be priceless to you !! Nice trip & report !!  | ||
| Daves |
Sounds like you had a great time after you ditched the drill sergeant! If and when I make it to Texas to deer hunt I promise not to shoot your pet deer, as long as you don't make me eat okra. Deal? | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Awesome pics and great write-up RT -- kudos and jealousy Who's the intelligent gentleman sporting the XX? Good taste (also, the second most beautiful motorcycle ever made.) Those TomTom guys, with stop watches, aren't my glass of southern tea either. Smell the freaking roses along the way. Great report! G2 | ||
| Road_thing |
Blake, I shoulda called and invited you, too. Sorry.  CJ, you're too kind (as usual...) Daves, it's a deal. Come on down! Big, that's Rem. He's got good taste in bikes--his other ride is an S2... rt | ||
| Bomber |
uh how how how how I ain't gonna guess, as it would be cheating great write up sir -- puts my in the mood to finsh up my Gap report while riding hard and long can be fun, ya gotta stop and eat the BBQ from time to time . . . . . | ||
| Road_thing |
The cheap sunglasses shoulda given it away... rt | ||
| Firemanjim |
Does it involve Jake or Elwood?? | ||
| Road_thing |
No, but there's Billy and Frank... | ||
| Bomber |
I'm a fool for yoru stockings, I believe |
