We started off day #1 from San Ramon about 9:00 am on a very warm & sunny day headed for Southern California ( San Bernardino or Palm Springs ). We stopped for lunch in Tulare , where it had gotten very hot, at Apple Annie's which is just off Hwy 99. It doesn't look like much but the food was homestyle and the apple burrito we had was fabulous. It could have been our whole lunch. We did end up in Palm Springs at the TravelLodge for the nite. Restaurants there are hurting for business and many offer 50% off dinners (not alcohol) during the week to bring in people. Day #1 was 497.6 miles.
Day #2 started off HOT at 78 @ 8am but we were prepared. I had the new camelback which we filled to the brim with ice & cold water. Also we had the mini misti mate which also was filled with ice. The neck coolers were tucked in the cooler. We made it across the desert to Chandler , AZ for lunch at the Heart Attack Grill. We found a tree with shade to rest our “ride” while we went into the air conditioning. There were a few people in there, mostly guys. They got waited on before we did, poor Steve. We can check this off our list too.
We went north of Phoenix to Anthem to visit my former boss. They graciously let us stay in their guest room for the night (we rated it 5 starts too). We had a lovely dinner on their fabulous patio and a very nice visit with them. The high for the day was 105 degrees and the price of gas was only 2.44 gal. Day #2 339 mi
Day #3 started off even warmer 89 by 9:30 am. Our destination that eve was Las Cruces , NM . We made our way thru Globe & Safford , AZ and Lordsburg & Deming , NM . Day #3 was 400 mi
Day #4 was very clear and perfect 79 degrees @ 8:40am. We did enjoy not having to bolt early every day. Our route took us from Hwy 70/82 Alamogordo to Hwy 82 to Artesia to Hobbs , NM to Hwy 180. We enjoyed the ride thru Cloudcroft which in winter is a ski area. We stopped in Mayhill for apple cider & salsa. There is also a petting zoo by a small pond. The sign advertises a rest room but the outhouse happens to be in the area with the donkey. NO THANKS . For lunch we stopped at Henry's BBQ in Artesia, busy place and good. We made it to Midland TX after 374.5 mi Gas price even lower 2.22.
Day #5 Our destination today is Florence TX and Mark Kratz Ranch. The overcast weather was coming in but it was warm and getting humid. We had a leisurely ride thru the Texas country for 311 mi We arrived about 4:15 pm. We were amazed at the property and saw that Mark is very at home there. He has done a lot of work and put a lot of love into the place to make it his. We stayed in the loft in the garage that has a full large shower. Mike Reaves & Bob Hole arrived about 6:30 pm after a very long day. When Bob & Mike were ready, we went for a BBQ dinner but I cannot remember the name. It was cafeteria style and you could have any combo of BBQ meats with sides. We talked for a long time and they had to tell us they were closing the place.
Day #6 With a some overcast but warm, we took off on the bikes for our destination of Frederiksburg , TX . We stopped to pick up Mark's girlfriend Cecelia to join us. She is very familiar with the area and with Mark's new knowledge of 2 yrs, we took all back roads for our ride. Beautiful country roads.
We stopped in Marble Falls at the River City Café/Grill before arriving in Fredricksburg. Mark/Cecelia, Jacque/Steve walked the main street and did some window shopping while Mike & Bob stayed at the Altdorf restaurant to visit and rest. The four of us ended up in a Texas shop that sells any kind of salsa/hot sauce, jellies, relish, mustard etc. You can taste every item that they sell and we did our best to do just that in only an hour. By the time we needed to meet Mike/Bob at the Altdorf restaurant, we weren't that hungry but ordered anyway. It was a beautiful evening outside and the surroundings were great. We had 90 min ride back to the ranch. It had turned colder and the weather was getting threatening. The day had been 259 mi in about 12.5 hrs.
Day #7 We woke to very threatening skies so decided to take 2 cars for our ride to Austin . Bob Hole has an old girlfriend in South Austin that owns a Honky Tonk place and several times a yr she hosts an official chili/bean cookoff that is put on by the Lions Club to benefit children. There was also an auction of some collected items. Mark & Cecelia were gracious to accept the invitation to judge the beans. There rules are very closely followed too. Bob Hole joined Cecelia & Mark to judge the chili. Mike Reaves , Jacque, Steve spent the time at the pool table most of the time. All 6 of us were playing pool during the day. It was a very good thing that we took the cars because the skies let loose several downpours all afternoon. Cecelia recommended a wonderful place in Georgetown for dinner: Mountain Café. The food was very good but there were several mistakes on the orders and a few laughs came out of that.
Day #8 MORE RAIN. 5 of us went in Mark's car to Salado to the historic Stagecoach Inn for brunch. Mike left us to go meet his parents at a campground he had gone to as a child. The brunch was full course, salad, soup, hush puppies, entrée, dessert, and beverage. The dining room was as if it was back in 1945 with all the wallpaper etc. Then on to the Dr Pepper museum in Waco . It was very interesting and very nostalgic too. Some of the items/bottles we recognized and remembered but others we had not seen before. Mark had invited over some friends for a BBQ at the ranch so we needed to get back, so we had to forego the trip to the Texas Ranger museum. We did take a side road on the way back and had a cow pose for us. It was quite remarkable.
Mark did a great job on the BBQ, Cecelia took take of the beans and the rest of us helped with the other items. What a FABULOUS evening, great food, great company.
Day #9 Very overcast and damp. We rode north to Ft Hood to take a look where my sister was born then decided that the weather was moving in too quickly so we headed out over back roads towards Roswell , NM . On one back road a sheriff was trying to get a stray cow off the road with his police car and siren . Our day ended 526 mi and at the motel across the street from Bob Hole but we didn't have his cell# at the time so did not know where he was until the next eve! He too had the very buffeting winds the last hour into Roswell .
Day #10 Again cloudy/overcast and cool 60 degrees headed for ShoLow AZ via Lincoln , Smokey Bear Park , Pie Town & Ft Stanton. Steve's hip/leg did not make it a good idea to walk around Lincoln which he really wanted to do. We did go into the Smoke the Bear museum and enjoyed that story & history. Bob went thru Pie Town when his favorite pie shop was open but when we got there, it was closed. We did luck out that the other pie shop is normally closed on Wed but was open because she had made special pies for the grand opening of the new heliport and she had some left over and decided to open her shop. It was warm with the pot belly stove heating the shop and very friendly We really liked ShoLow. We would have liked more time there. It is really growing and a welcoming place.. Today was 374 miles.
Day #11 Even tho there was still a threat of bad weather we decided to take the mountain route and so very glad we did. The scenery was beautiful, green and we did get some very wet roads, we missed the actual rain. It was very crispy about 50 degrees at 8:40am We went thru Payson AZ which we also wish we had more time to check out. We took about 1 hr break and walked around the Plaza in Prescott AZ , that is a place to return to. Great road day 346 mi into Kingman Az.
Day #12 After some family phone calls and the way Steve's hip/leg were feeling, we decided to take a direct route home but ended up late in Tracy at our daughter's.
To Sum it up: SO GLAD TO HAVE TAKEN THE TRIP & that Bob & Mike made it too. We really enjoyed the hospitality and spending time with Mark & Cecelia.