Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Flower Run 2012

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April 6-8, a group of us (Sam, myself, Evan, Matt, Kenny, Monica, Joe, and Jackie) all packed up and headed out to the Texas Hill Country for the weekend.   We left the house around 7:50am, headed to Bill Smith's Cafe in McKinney for some breakfast.  We met up with the rest of the group at 9:00 at Race Track.  Total of 15 bikes started out, and we acquired 2 more on the trip.




Day one was more or less getting to Fredricksburg, TX.  Its about 330 miles total, roughly 5.5 hours the route we took.  Of course, 15 bikes, and 15 different bladders, and fuel tanks, etc etc...it took a little longer.  We started out, heading west on 380 to Jacksboro.  From there, we took FM 4 south to north of Stephenville, where FM4 runs into 281.  281 in Stephenville turns into 67, and we take that through Dublin (Dr Pepper) to Comanche, Goldthwaite, San Saba, Cherokee, and then into Llano...Home of Coopers BBQ.  Of course, that is where dinner was served!!




From Llano, we headed 40 miles south into Fredricksburg.  Finally off the bikes for a little bit, and some showers, and relaxing were needed...Things started out walking around town, a beer here, a shot there, Sam on a quarter horse (as in 25 cent), drunk bartender arguing, more walking, more shots, more beers...and a stumble back to the hotel around 1am-ish.  Good times with some good peeps, just having fun.


Day Two we got up (well some earlier than others, I will admit), some went to breakfast, some slept in...and eventually we got up and headed for the hills.  Roughly a 10:30am start, we headed to the "3 Sisters" which is Highways 335, 336, and 337.  Before the "sisters", we stopped at the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum.  WOW...Some old, and very cool vintage stuff in there.  We ate some lunch and headed out.  As we head out on the first leg of the run, it starts raining.  Now, normally, just a chill out, slow down ride, but for where we were headed, we had to stop and wait a bit.  Can't do steep grades, hairpin turns in the rain.  Glad we waited though, as we say numerous deer on the road in the rain!




So, rain lets up, and off we go.  Now let me say this...I had NO IDEA Texas had terrain like this!  The Hill Country is beautiful, and breathtaking...and will scare the shit out of you if you aren't ready to ride the roads!  10mph curves, up the side of a cliff, then a decent weaving back down.  Sam gave me shit for not breathing on the downhill part...but man, it was a bit nerve wracking at first!  haha  Made it through the first sister, and stopped at The Hog Pit.  Had a beer, relaxed, and prepped for the next highway.




The next highway offered more of the same, up and down, winding around the hills.  We stopped at the scenic areas and shot some pics.  Made it up to Highway 41 100 miles later, and headed back to Fredricksburg, as we didn't have enough daylight to hit the third sister.  2/3 not too bad I guess.


That night, we all got back, showered, and went to eat some German food and have a beer.  No one made it past 10pm that night (except for Joe and Jackie).  Got up the next morning, had a German Easter breakfast in a morgue...(basement of an old hospital, converted to restaurant).  And hit the roads back to Dallas...but first we HAD to stop in Luckenbach, TX...where, well, there isn't much, but thanks to Waylon, that place is jumpin!!  I want to go back there and watch a good ol western show!  After Luckenbach, it was just a normal cruise back home.






Let's not forget the 2 hours we stayed in Waco at our friends, John and Mellisa's house to wait out a rain storm.  THANK YOU!!!  Also, THANK YOU to Jasmin for house-sitting and watching the dogs for us!  Greatly appreciated!!  Overall, 940 miles, 3 days, and some fantastic memories!  Sam, Evan, Matt, Kenny and Monica, and Joe and Jackie....let's do this again soon!!  We love y'all!





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