2006 Texas ride to Big Bend

Hi Y'all,

Oops, RideLikeRon came to an early end this year with the diagnosis of sudden, imminent motorcycle drive spline failure. This developed in Houston at MPH Cycles (aka MPH Automotive) when I had my rear tire replaced because it had one "small" bald spot near the valve stem despite having good tread everywhere else. The mechanic, Mike Haven, impresses me as being a nice guy and very capable. He told me that my final drive splines are 75% gone .. only 25% left. When those teeth shear, the bike will stop. The repair takes more than two weeks because only three machine shops in the country will fabricate a new part and weld it in place. When asked if I could get another 10,000 miles before repair he said flatly no.

After considering the inclement local weather forecast for the next week (freezing rain), the lonely miles in West Texas and the frigidity of Salt Lake City at this time of year, I reluctantly decided to turn tail and ride I-10 back to safe haven in South Carolina.

Read on for the one page synopsis, or skip ahead to the complete story in 15 pages.

Hey guys, your turn. Supply a few details, names, dates, etc. Has anyone put pictures of the trip on the web somewhere?? Do any of you have unused web space from your ISP??

Now that my buddies have returned to Maryland, Ohio and work, my trip is just beginning. I wonder where I will get to this time. Amusing to think that I've traveled 3300 miles by motorcycle before starting to RideLikeRon. (Although obsolete, this paragraph conveys my philosophy and expectations when starting a ride.)

The first day's ride was a lovely one, from Mt. Vernon, Texas to Carthage, TX. It was bright and sunny with plenty of wintertime greenery in the fields, very bucolic and peaceful. The route involved several Texas "Farm roads," specifically TX 3122 to 3007 to 21 to 11 to Pittsburg and US 271 south through Gladewater to TX 135 to Kilgore and US 259 south to Henderson and US 79 east. It reminded me of the rides near Uricksville that Lee likes. Why did the group ride so many miles when such pleasant scenery is so close to John's home?

The twisties near Big Bend and the outrageously rugged mountains thereabouts are mind blowing, but the long miles getting there and back seem out of portion for the four hours of Big Bend. I'm not complaining - it was a great trip with great company, but these guys need to retire so that we can have the time to ENJOY leisurely trips.

Getting from Columbia, South Carolina to Mt. Vernon, Texas involved a deadline of December 27th and winter weather which limits choices and dulls scenery. My passion for genealogy was rewarded with the enjoyments of meeting two new genealogy cousins (Quint & Don) and finding good stuff during three days at the Hargrett manuscript collection at the University of Georgia in Athens. One day of magnificent weather crossing northern Alabama on old US highway 82 was balanced by one day of absolute misery crossing Arkansas in cold winter rain.

The rain tapered off south of Texarkana. It was a relief to get to John's house on Christmas day and very nice of John and Debby to welcome me on such short notice, especially since Debby and I had never previously met (although she had seen my bare butt in one of Jonathan's photos from an earlier trip). I slept on the deck before realizing that it had no view of the stars. The day in Dallas shopping with the family for sister Rose's birthday presents was a hoot and sister Betty is delightful.

The group assembled in Dallas, but I rode alone to Abilene, so it was quite a surprise at the motel when a total stranger asked if I was riding with John & Walt. Jim is a childhood buddy of Walt, John, and Lee; and provided his car as a "sag wagon" to tag along on this ride.

The scenery got flatter and drier throughout the entire westward ride to Marathon. Once I stopped trying to keep up with the group, the wind became less difficult and the ride to Marathon became very enjoyable - and I caught up at every gas or meal stop. It was mind blowing to see Elk alongside the road. EvesGarden Bed and Breakfast in Marathon is an experience in alternative art and architecture with a futuristic yellow turret overlooking a billowing white canopied courtyard. Clyde and Kate are fascinating and provide good healthy food.

It rained all night, all morning, and all 90 miles to Big Bend National Park. Bob's offer of a ride in the car sounded good to me, and only drawback was missing the twisties and full view of the outlandish rock formations along the river road to Presidio. Impressive blooms of the century plant were another highlight. The guys said that a coyote darted across the road between the lead riders.

The ride back wasn't very pleasant for me although seeing Paul Talbeck's sculpture portfolio and the stop at Braum's Ice Cream helped. West Texas is awfully flat and barren, but the next day of riding was worse after developing a fever and having diarrhea. Ugly, yes, and my New Year's partying was limited to three conversations with my concerned friends while I "slept" in my tent in the yard to keep the infection to myself.

A day later John and Debi left for Oklahoma and I rode to Carthage as described above. Cynthia and her family were individually very different and great fun. Another Cynthia in Hempstead graciously allowed me to work in her guest house on the Bankston genealogy. Her hospitality was repaid by several time-saving computer shortcuts I enjoyed showing her.

And now we've arrived at the opening paragraph of this travelogue. There was nothing unusual about the return trip to Columbia except the rain, all those deer in Alabama, and the duration, 1050 miles in 23 hours.

Here is the full blown story.

Packing for an extended absence always takes longer than expected. Visiting with cousin Sharon in Hilton Head the previous weekend had shaved a couple of days from the original schedule. Sharon and Hugh are marvelous hosts who provide an air mattress on their balcony for me to sleep outside overlooking the Atlantic in the moonlight. Tres Magnifique! Words fail, pictures fail, TV fails. Some things can be explained only by experience.

My first destination was the University of Georgia at Athens, Georgia to research Bankston genealogy for cousin Roy at the Hargrett Manuscript collection, and to visit with Sharon's son Quint. Even with those "extra" days for packing added into the schedule, I was still five days "late" leaving Columbia, South Carolina at 7pm Dec 18th, 2006. Daylight provides better visibility, better safety, and better scenery, so I usually will not ride after dark, but on the Interstates those disadvantages are often offset by reduced traffic and most of the distance was on I-20. The first surprise was that the exit for highway 17 so close to the SC border. After confirming directions and checking the map it was obvious that Quint lives nowhere near Athens. His directions were good, but his cabin is way back in the woods and street signs are very obscure in the darkness. I missed one turn and doubled back needlessly a couple of times. The gravel road and "turn at the second set of mailboxes" indicate how far off the beaten track it was.

Sharon's son, Quint, and wife Lori near Bowman were waiting up for me and were as delightful as Sharon had promised. The stars in that remote location were beautifully bright and clear, a fringe benefit of my choice to sleep outside every night. There was a good dew, so I took my time the next morning drying my sleeping bag before riding in to Athens.

Following the advice of Pat and Frank, I parked for free at the University Information Office. As I started walking the two miles to the library, a bus pulled to a stop at the intersection and I asked the driver if it was a campus bus. He said, "Hop in and I'll give you a ride." He was pleasant and we chatted most of the 20-minutes there. As I got off, I remarked, "You really like your job, don't you?" He said he loved it. It is remarkable to be given a free ride by a city bus driver.

Since it was close to noon, so I called Quint and we arranged to meet in front of the university library to go to lunch together. I was able to get registered as a researcher with the Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscript room before lunch. We went to an Indian restaurant and enjoyed a delicious buffet with good curry.

That afternoon of paging through court debt records at the Hargrett yielded three documents with Thomas Bankston's original signatures. If you were hooked on genealogy, you'd understand that this is exciting. Cousin Don Clarke is a natural-born historian and has spent a lifetime researching his ancestors and the Georgia Bankstons, so I decided to hustle off to Lithonia (Li'thonia) to visit with him about them.

..The ride to Lithonia was not bad. The traffic after 5pm was somewhat heavy at first, but soon dissipated and the countryside was pleasant. The big surprise was the town of Snellville which was built up into an endless shopping mecca.

..Don's directions were good, so I was able to drive directly to his house easily. I very much enjoyed meeting Don, although I didn't spend the time his collection warrents. He contended that the Georgia Archives probably had microfilms of the records Roy wanted me to page through, so I volunteered to rent a car to take him there.

..Next morning after coffee and newspaper I rode my bike over to Enterprise to rent a car. En route to the Archives, we stopped at the cemetery to check that his mother's inscription had been done correctly. In "Atlanta", the Georgia State Archives are next door to the National Archives, and Don gave me the complete tour. Their genealogical collection is much better than at many other state archives. As he had stated, Don was able to find a transcription in the court books of one of the documents I had found the previous day.

..Quint and I enjoyed meeting for lunch each day I was at the Hargrett. Athens has several good eateries.

..The remainder of the week at the Hargrett in Athens was mostly unproductive. I'm guessing that the Bankston's moved on by 1810.

..Friday afternoon the school closed early for Christmas holiday, so Quint and Lori and I

Early in the morning of the 21st I packed and left Quint's. The humidity was such that all my sleeping gear was still damp.

..The ride across northern Georgia and Alabama on I-20 was pleasant with far less traffic than I expected two days before Christmas. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was good for wintertime with more greens than elsewhere. Life was lovely and motorcycling was a pinnacle. This day felt like it would never end.

..The day's ride across northern Georgia and Alabama was splendid, with ideal weather and very enjoyable green scenery.

..That second day's ride started with motorcycle maintenance under cloudy skies before a chilly ride across northern Mississippi, and degraded into slogging across all of southern Arkansas in the rain.

..Once Birmingham occupied the rear view mirrors, I started looking for old US highway 82 which would take me around Tuscaloosa and all the way to Texarkana.

..I slept at the back of the lot belonging to a large architectural firm just inside the Alabama border.

..Since I had used 5W-30 oil and some synthetic, the bike used oil and the tappets had become very loud, so I adjusted the valves under cloudy skies the next morning.

..The scenery and road surface across northern Mississippi was almost as good as Alabama, but the cloud cover was anxiety producing.

..In Arkansas the ugly, rainy side of motorcycling raised its ugly head.

..The light rain started 30 miles inside Arkansas and continued all day & all night.

..I continued until dark since I was wearing a rain suit and had wrapped my gear in waterproof plastic tarp. Still riding all day in the rain is not pleasant.

..That night I slept behind an agricultural extension office under the roof of the coffee klatch/ smokers patio.

..Next morning my gloves and shoes were still soaked but proved comfortable and surprisingly warm.

..The rain continued for the last 40 miles of Arkansas and during the five phone calls it took to get directions to John's house. (My cell phone batteries kept dying since the signal often cycled to analog.)

The welcome by John and Debby at the lake house was heartwarming and comforting. This was the first time that Debby and I have met face to face.

..John's sister Rose & nephew Brian are from Nashville and are nice people. Brian also rides bikes, but held firm in his plan to drive mom back to Nashville.

..Next day we drove into Dallas to Jonathan's city house to pick up sister Betty at the airport. She is a fun gal and smiles a lot.

..Wednesday the 27th everyone else left early to drive into Dallas, but I lingered until about 11am waiting for the weather to warm.

..Interstate 30 was the best choice to Greenville where I exited onto US 380. At first it was uncrowded and pleasant but chilly. Approaching McKinney the traffic increased to an annoyance which lasted through town, a surprise for two days after Christmas. I feared that Denton traffic would also be heavy, but it was ok. It would have been a treat to stop to visit Dorothy as intended, but a quick calculation indicated that I would be riding after dark if I did. Outside Denton the scenery again was rolling farmland in southern winter greens and browns through Decatur, Bryson and Graham where I turned south on TX 67 to Breckenridge, then west on US 180 to Albany. The strong crosswind was an annoyance all day.

..Gigantic wind generators were the highlight of the ride down Texas 351. This new wind farm is under construction, and it puzzled me that no blades were turning despite the very strong winds. Several towers were under construction and, without their blades, looked like futuristic air traffic control towers. The road passed so close to one tower that its massive size became obvious. They are HUGE!

At the junction of I-20 in Abiline, I had to wonder where exit #288 was. Once I reread Danny's directions and saw the sign for the Comfort Inn, the Ah-ha was heartfelt. The welcoming clerk at the motel said that the motorcyclists had not yet checked in. A stranger arrived just behind me and asked me if I was associated with Walt and John. What a surprise! Bob had driven a rental car up from Corpus Christi to join the group and tag along in comfort. He is another 922er from Urichsville although he has gone a long way since then: Peace Corps in Brazil, recreation director for the city of Corpus Christi, and now retirement with residence in Corpus Christi and Brazil.

Twenty minutes later the place was suddenly awash in motorcycles when the other eight riders arrived. Walt and Danny were on Harleys; John, Jonathan, Lee, Danny, and Kevin were on BMWs; but Jim was the sole bad boy riding a Gold Wing. We headed out towards Chili's for dinner, but were distracted halfway across the block by a "hole in the wall" Mexican restaurant that appealed to Walt. It was good food. Hey guys, what was the name of the place?

Walter had a couple of Christmas presents for me - the BMWMOA book (that he used later on the trip), and a groundcloth/ bedroll container. Ten days later, I still have used it only as a groundcloth because my duffel bag organization will be changed when I use the bedroll protector.

..Pressured by the plan to be on the road within a 30 minutes of sunrise, I conceded to sleeping indoors with Walt and John. It was a bad choice for me as I awoke at 2am and was unable to get back to sleep for hours.

Since the temperatures were only a few degrees above freezing I wore my snowmobile suit. What a wonderfully warm decision that was.

..The next morning, we headed out soon after sunrise and breakfast towards the southwest on US 277. I kept up for the first leg at 85 mph, but the cross winds were still bad, so I told the guys I'd ride slower and catch up when they stopped. From that point forward, the scenery improved and the wind was less bothersome and my enjoyment was intense. We followed US highway 67 a long way across West Texas and I am happy to report that it was a pleasant ride with a nice surface and interesting scenery (for West Texas).

..San Angelo is a West Texas town where Marsha and I had found a very good Mexican restaurant, but the guys hadn't waited for me there. Ice cream is a recurring thought to me, and I wondered if Blue Bell ice cream could be found this far west. The SuperWalMart on the western edge of town provided the answer with two pints: strawberries and homemade vanilla for me and chocolate covered cherries for John. Gas was cheap in San Angelo, but I waited until the scheduled gas stop thirty miles later in Barnhart. There was only one expensive station in town and the guys were nowhere to be seen. I had no choice but to eat both pints of really soft, delicious ice cream.

..About the time I figured that I wouldn't see the guys again until evening, the slew of motorcycles were parked at a restaurant in the next town, Big Lake. The guys were 80% done eating and shared leftovers with me, so I ate a little of several things and was quite happy.

..They quickly disappeared at speed again and I tagged along to Fort Stockton and down US 385 to Marathon. On this leg of the trip, a deer crossed the road in front of me and, sure enough, a second one was following, a six or 8 point buck which kinda scrambled across as I braked hard. Later I could not believe my eyes that espied two elk grazing close to the roadside fence. Elk in West Texas? Apparently it is a preserve of some sort. A hawk or kestrel gave me a good sighting within 30 feet also.

In Marathon the bikes were not visible, but Danny's directions said that EvesGarden was behind the Gage Hotel. The guys were still removing riding gear and heading toward the bed and breakfast. How peculiar that they had ridden so much faster and arrived only minutes before me. Apparently they scattered about Fort Stockton looking for a part in several auto parts stores.

..EvesGarden is housed in a surreal structure with a bright yellow turret above the white "pillows" that cover the main courtyard. Kate had promised a sleeping spot on the roof for the weirdo that refuses to sleep indoors, and it was a gem with a fabulous view. Since the guys were renting three rooms we got the grand tour. Kate is quite a sweetie and Clyde is quite a character. Kate is the artist and Clyde is the hyperactive builder. Kate has the inspirations and Clyde has the intelligence to figure it out. Papercrete is his building material of choice in that arid land. If you want to observe an alternative construction and environment, EvesGarden is a must.

..Clyde is committed to building "green" and living in harmony with the earth. Only if I walked could I damage the earth less - and this year's plan is to hike the AT. Clyde and I enjoyed a long conversation about the world's problems & solutions, so I got to bed rather late. Their son, Noble, is also involved in "green" solutions in Costa Rica, so I should arrange introductions to Quint and Bob.

..The first raindrops landed just as I was drifting off to sleep. Fortunately the rain started slowly and I had ample time to realize that it wasn't going to stop soon. I covered the motorcycle and set up the new MSR tent that John & Linda gave me for my birthday, but the rain had stopped, so I didn't use the rain fly. Light rain resumed as I was drifting off again, and I had to arise and cover with the rain fly. It rained consistently all night and heavily at times. In the morning I was disgusted to find water inside the tent. Water running off the tent had landed on the plastic bedroll protector groundcloth and had pooled under the tent. I should have folded the groundcloth to fit ENTIREly underneath the tent.

..During the night my hair got quite wet once when I arose to relieve my bladder. As I returned to sleep I remember thinking that a wet head usually gives me a cold.

..Because of the rain, and since Bob was driving a car, I asked to ride with him for today's loop through Big Bend. It was a very good decision. The rain continued all 80 miles south before it quit. All the other guys have electrically-heated, waterproof clothing, so they were warm and comfy.

..Bob has a couple of hair-raising stories about machine guns and militia in Brazil. We enjoyed each other thoroughly throughout the day. He says that he owes his life to basketball. He made a living as recreation director for Corpus Christi.

..Century plants were blooming on the roadside. I counted four and wondered if the guys knew about them. These blooms shoot up higher than telephone poles in a couple of weeks. After Study Butte in Terlingua I found postcards showing century plants next door to our high-class lunch stop at a pink hot dog & chili trailer GUYS, help me out with a name here. I was given the opinion that the rain was sufficient to bring the desert into bloom in another few weeks. I hope I get to see that. (Nope, I'm back in South Carolina.)

..In Lajitas we stopped at the Judge Roy Bean museum. Not much to see there except the bar/courtroom. Judge Roy Bean was certainly one of the old "wild west" characters.

..Danny lead most of the trip and the improvement in his skills brought good feelings. AttaBoy Danny.

..The only time I would have rather been on a bike was on the road to Presidio where the scenery is awesome and the road is curvy.

..The return north on US 67 through Marfa and Alpine to Marathon and EvesGarden was dry and flat.

..Clyde had given me the OK to light a fire and burn several pair of holey socks for Danny, but that night I was too tired and went straight out to my tent to sleep. It did rain a bit more.

Normally I am up at the first light of day and riding soon afterward. However this group gets up a couple of hours before dawn and is fully caffeinated and antsy to roll by dawn. My AM timepiece in winter is the position of the constellation Orion, but it was cloudy and I was debating going back to sleep when the Christmas cross on the nearby church blazed into green lighted life. I guessed 6am, but it was probably 5am. I had packed my sleeping things and struck the tent by the time Jim came out to awaken me at 6am. So this was my second night without enough sleep, and I think the germs were incubating now, especially as I had a bit of a sore throat in the morning.

Kate is a terrific cook and she and Clyde prepared us a wonderful continental breakfast early that morning. This day the scenery was mostly flat desert and the winds were gentle, so I keep up with the group on US 90 east to Del Rio, Uvalde and Hondo. The bike actually seems to run more smoothly at higher speeds, so it isn't a stress to run fast. One drawback to riding in a group is that you cannot gawk at the scenery because you have to pay attention to the riders in front of you. On this leg of the trip, the scenery was less gawk-worthy. Everyone was surprised that I kept up.

Danny had said that some of the most impressive changes in scenery would appear today and the change from flat desert to hill country was indeed impressive and quick. The rolling hills and less arid landscape is a pleasure. Just past Uvaldi we switched to minor roads, TX 1049 north to 127 northwest to merge with U.S. 83 at Concan and past Garner State Park to TX 1050 east into Utopia, then north on TX 187 for two miles and east on TX 470 through Tarplay to TX 16 into Bandera. It was a long day and dark fell as we circum-scribed the northern suburbs of San Antonio in heavy traffic on TX 46 to overnight lodging at a Quality Inn in New Braunfels, Texas. This allowed us to meet and enjoy dinner with Paul Tadlock, John's favorite sculptor. New Braunfels is a tourist destination, and on that Saturday night, restaurants were packed and the wait for dinner was an hour. Paul showed us his portfolio and chatted and the time flew bye. His figures are amazingly lifelike and detailed, but the pictures in his portfolio don't do justice to the sculptures themselves.

It was late by the time I set up my tent in an empty lot 400 yards from the motel. It was a foggy night and the lot showed no signs of partying, so I assumed that the gate I found unlocked was normally locked. The only unsettling factor was that the Hispanic population nearby was conversing on their front steps.

New Year's Eve I awoke at 4am, too early again, and was out-of-sorts from the get-go. I dozed briefly, but was concerned that I might delay the group's early start at 7:30am.

..Again I packed my damp gear and took my time getting everything situated. When all was done I opened the gate and rode the bike over to the motel where I found that John was already up packing his bike. The four early birds of this group are all achievers, Danny, Jim, Walt and John.

..As expected Danny was up for breakfast and preparing to leave the group heading south. We all enjoyed complimenting him on the trip planning, on his improvement in riding skills, and on our satisfaction with the trip.

..Walter had uncovered his bike before dawn and the fog had dampened everything.

..Jim Sweet came down for coffee still dressed in shorts and sandals so I assumed that we would get a late start.

..After saying good by to Danny, I added oil and was putting on my snowmobile pants when Kevin rode up followed by the rest of the crew and they abruptly left without any conversation about route or anything.

..Bob pulled up in the car as I was starting my bike, but wouldn't leave when I waved him on.

..I had absolutely NO idea where the group had gone. They were no longer in sight, I didn't know which roads they were planning to ride, I didn't know where they went from the parking lot. And Bob kept pulling over and waving me by him.

..I finally parked the bike and walked to his window and explained that I had not a clue where they went or which road to take or anything.

..Bob explained the route to be north on I-35 a couple of exits to Texas highway 21 which we would ride for several hours nearly to Nagadoches.

..There were no signs for highway 21 on the interstate and Bob soon pulled ahead of me and over to tell me that highway 80 a couple of exits back provided a short connector to 21. I was pretty disgusted at being left in the dark and being unceremoniously abandoned. It looked like we could take the next exit and ride a different connector to 21, but Bob vetoed that in case the guys were waiting for us at the I-35 exit.

..Personally I would have bailed and headed south to Hempstead if Bob hadn't been there to herd me along.

..As soon as we were back on 21 and trailing the group by a good fifteen minutes already, I couldn't remember the last gas, so stopped to fill the tank.

..The sore throat had gone away the previous day, but today my bowels seemed unsettled. I felt a need to stop, but pushed on another 30 miles thinking that the guys may have stopped for gas.

..After about 80 miles, I did decide to make a pit stop and fill up on gas, but when I got into the men's room my spincter started spasming and my clothing clung obstinately as I struggled to free myself. The gyrations to get out of the coats and pants further exacerbated the loss of control and I literally s_it my pants filthy down to my socks.

..After all that frustration and hysteria and contortion, it was a huge relief to sit down. There are a couple of "good" sides to this story. First the filth was entirely contained in my pants with only a splash on the coveralls. Second, nobody else needed the rest room the entire time I was in there cleaning up after this mess.

..I put my snowmobile pants back on and carried the wet pants back to the motorcycle. Now I finally pumped gas and returned to the rest room with clean underwear and socks. The day had warmed up so that I was comfortable the rest of the way in only the snowmobile suit.

..Bob was very understanding during this trying episode. He even offered me fresh underwear and long johns. He had been on the phone talking with friends in Brazil.

..Bob echoed my thoughts that we would probably not see the other riders again until arriving at John's for the New Year's party.

..This left me free to ride at a more leisurely speed and enjoy the scenery. Texas 21 is a pleasant road without lots of traffic and there was more greenery than I had seen in several days. The road passed through Basrop, Bryan and Crockett to where we turned north on TX 37. I pulled over at Rusk to tell Bob that I'd stop for gas in the next town. He opined that lunch would be good, so I kept an eye out as we entered Jacksonville and pulled over when we saw a Braum's ice cream store. The signs announced Chili and Bob was game, so we stopped there for lunch.

..After being served, but before seating ourselves, we were amazed to see several motorcycles, our friends, swarm into the lot.

..They had stopped for lunch in Alto and had seen my unmistakable bike in the lot at Braum's. They also knew that I had been looking for a Braum's the entire trip. They were happy to stop there for dessert.

..A flight of birds that looks like a big black swarm is so very impressive and we rode right "through" one of those today.

..When we left Jacksonville I kept up with the group through that wooded lake country until they got lose to home and Kevin and John flew off ahead of the group. I was quite surprised that Lee kept up with them easily on John's 2006 GS. I was hanging in there for a while until I realized that they were going 90 or 100 mph on the straight aways. Again, being out of sorts for the day, that irritated me.

..We arrived at the lake house well before dark and were quite ready to party, but once I sat down alone for ten minutes, I knew I felt feverish. I hugged Pam when she and Walt and Jonathan and Lalah arrived from Dallas. She dryly "thanked" me for the hug when I warned that I felt feverish, and that convinced me that the right thing to do was to go to bed ASAP.

..I didn't want to explain or argue, so I just carted my gear out beside the house and set up tent and retired.

..Several times during the evening Walt and Jim and John came out to inquire whether I was still alive, really wanted to be outside, needed anything, etc. It was kinda touching that they were so solicitous.

The next day my symptoms were very mild but Lee suffered from a vicious migrane which had been incubating since leaving Marathon. The previous day when Jonathan's "old" bike had poured gas from a carburetor, Lee had mentioned the migrane to me while lying down with Jonathan's seat as his pillow.

One of the perks about traveling with these guys is that someone always picks up the tab. I tried a time or two, but the guys vetoed my attempts or sneaked off to pay the bill on the sly. They "Just Don't Understand", but I'm not complaining.