October 14th, 2002
Washington, D.C. to Presidio, Tx
The trip started off in great form when we met up with a number of our
riding buddies who wanted to see us off and spend the first night camping
with us. We had a great ride down some local Virginia roads and down the
Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped just north of Roanoke and like every other
time we've gone camping this year we were rained upon. The following morning
most of the guys went off to terrorize the locals but Dillon decieded to
keep riding with us for another day down to Knoxville, TN where we had arranged
to meet up with my friend and former co-worker Pascal. While spending the
night at Pascal's we made plans to visit the Jack Daniel's distillery the
next day. The following morning CJ complained of feeling ill and throughout
the day complained of neck and back pain. While Todd and I visited the distillery
CJ took a nap outside. After the tour we decided to cut our days riding short
and camped out near Huntsville where it rained cats and dogs through most
of the night. The next morning CJ was feeling better and we made our way through
Alabama
down to Mobile where we were to stay with another friend for the evening.
The next morning we made the short trip from Mobile to New Orleans.
New Orleans
as usual involved the usual amount of drunk and disorderly behaviour and
after two nights we left town in a driving rain headed towards Austin, Tx.
During the days ride CJ again complained of neck and back pain so after
~230 miles we stopped in Beaumont for the night. The next morning a
very friendly gentleman from the Harley shop next to the motel came
and spoke with us and told of us his own exploits in Mexico and points south.
He also generously offered to provide any assistance we might need in the
future for which we are very grateful. That morning as we were loading the
bikes CJ informed us that he was in too much discomfort to continue the trip
and had decided to head back to D.C.. The previous evening I also discovered
that the screen on my new laptop had given up the ghost and all of my pictures
prior to Huntsville were lost to me. So with less then high spirits Todd and
I headed off to Austin under grey skies. As we approached Houston the skies
cleared and as always happens when I'm riding my spirits lifted . In
Austin
we had the good fortune to offered a place to stay by a member of the VFR
list who I had never met before but who went out of his way to be helpful
and make us comfortable. Many thanks to Mack for the all the generosity and
hospitality. While in Austin Todd came down with a nasty bug(sp?) and spent
musch of the time trying to recover his strength. Saturday in Austin the temperature
was in the mid 90s, Sunday morning as we prepared to head out the temp was
only in the 50s. We ended up riding nearly 300 miles in chilly, overcast
weather but still had a great time enjoying the roads , scenery, and
near misses with buzzards through the west Texas
countryside
. The next day started much the same way with cold grey weather but as soon
as we reached
Big Bend
the skies cleared to reveal the park in all its glory. Things only better
as we left the park and made our way along the
Rio Grande
to Presidio. Tomorrow we will be crossing into Mexico and trip will have
truly begun.