Retracing Steps
We are storytellers by nature, as is evidenced by nearly eight years of journal and blog entries that began with our retirement from public education on June 30, 2006. Since that time, we've shared our stories, happy and sad, with family and and an increasing number of friends, old and new, first through a series of emails, then through the journal entries that went out through emails in mass mailings, and more recently through Facebook.
One story we haven't shared, because it has only been a dream that began when we got our first motorcycle, Little Red, an 800 cc Kawasaki Vulcan, in the summer of 1998, is of an extended road trip to the West Coast and up the Pacific Coast Highway. Well, that dream is, we hope, about to become a reality, and we're inviting family and friends, even those friends we haven't met yet, to join us on the ride.
As it is with all dreams, there are a lot of unknown factors and visions seen as through gauze...just enough to make us think we know what we are doing, but enough unknown that it is more than a trip with a planned itinerary; it is, as all motorcycle trips should be, an adventure that takes us beyond our imaginations into new realities.
We'll tell the story in segments that, to us, make sense, and we'll continue it through whatever the realities become. Will we make it all the way to Vancouver, BC before returning home? Who knows, but wherever we go and however the adventure goes, we'll do our best to keep you informed and, maybe, entertained. Heck, we might even do a "little" educating along the way as we become more educated ourselves.
In this first segment, Chapter One, we might as well call it, we will be retracing miles that we have already covered many times on both four wheels and two wheels...a prologue, if you will, to the greater adventure that is to come.
So...hop onto your imaginary motorcycle and begin the adventure with us as we begin to roll.
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Thursday, April 10
After days of planning, packing, changing plans, and repacking, it was finally time to take Bonita to the Bradshaw Hilton Doggy Hotel. While I took Bonita in the car, Barbara stayed at the house and took photos of the Azaleas and other plants that have just begun blooming. It seems that for the third straight year, we won't be around to enjoy the full bounty of spring blossoms, but we're pretty sure the neighbors will do that for us.
When I got back to the house, we finished loading the cycle trunks and trailer, checked and locked up the house, said goodbye to the neighbors, and began the adventure, riding out in windier and colder conditions than had been predicted.
As we reached I-20 just east of Canton, we knew we were going to be in for a windy ride, with gusty crosswinds coming out of the southwest. I kept reassuring Barbara that the weather forecast said we would run out of the windy conditions before we got to Dallas, but found out as we went along that the weatherman was wrong...very, very wrong.
We made our first stop at one of our usual haunts, the Texas Best Smokehouse complex on Belt Line Road. We topped off the tank in Taz (29 miles to the gallon...not bad considering the conditions and the load we were carrying), and then went inside to enjoy a barbecue dinner and a Sonic Diet Coke.
The next leg of the trip was from Belt Line Road to the Pilot Truckstop just west of Weatherford for fuel and a butt break (sorry, folks, but it is what it is, and we don't know of another expression for it). The winds weren't getting any better, but we decided that if we took breaks along the way, we could tough it out and still get down the road far enough that we wouldn't have a long day tomorrow.
We reached Eastland, Texas around 3:00 pm and stopped for an afternoon Sonic break, an extremely important part of each day's segment.
After enjoying the break, we took a vote and decided that we didn't have to go any farther today, so we checked at a La Quinta next to Sonic to inquire about rates and availability, found that they were very accommodating at a good price, and decided that we had gone far enough for one day.
We settled in to our digs for the night and began getting caught up on communications with others. Later, we went for a walk, observed one of the exhibits of the Eastland Outdoor Museum, and then covered Taz for the night before locking ourselves in the room and chilling out for the evening.
One of the calls we received this evening was from Cathey, wanting to know if we would be interested in staying with them in Lubbock tomorrow night rather than spending money on a motel room. We first had to cancel our Best Western reservation and then called Cat to say we be happy to have extra time with Jaycie, Stacy, and her...can't begin to tell you what a blessing that call was!
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Friday, April 11
This morning began innocently enough. We woke up early enough that we could take our time getting ready, have a little breakfast, and load the trailer and cycle without being rushed.
I took a couple of items with me as I went out to uncover Taz, but when I got to the parking lot, I found I didn't have the cycle key with me. I went back inside and we tore the room apart looking for the key (the spare was in Barbara's purse, locked securely in the trunk of Taz), but we had no luck at all.
While Barbara went through all the luggage we had brought in last night and searched every nook and cranny of the room, I went back to the parking lot and retraced all our steps from the walk we took last night. I remembered that I had pulled my phone out of my pocket to take pictures, so I got down and looked under parked cars that were in the area where I shot the pictures.
I went back to the room to see if Barbara had any luck, but we were back to square one. We stopped what we were doing, said a short prayer asking God to calm us down and give us the wisdom to completely retrace our steps, and then I went back outside to check all around Taz to see if the key had dropped there. All of a sudden I heard a small voice asking me what I wore last night. Then I remembered that before my last trip to check on the rig last night, I had changed into a pair of gym shorts. I went back to the room and asked Barbara where my black shorts were. She immediately dug into one of the suitcases, pulled the shorts out, and began smiling...she could feel the key in one of the pockets, and now we could quit fretting about what we were going to do if we had to call for help.
We quickly finished getting everything from the room to Taz and the trailer and then began our morning picture-taking routine. Unfortunately, we were having problems setting the timer on the camera, but a gentleman who was coming out of the hotel offered to take a couple of shots of us.
We were just getting ready to get on Taz and ride away when a couple came over to us and said "we have one of those." Well, it didn't take long to get a biker conversation going. They asked us where we were from and we said, "Mineola." They laughed and said they were from Lindale, which is just eleven miles away from us. We all introduced ourselves (they were Pam and David) and then we got going on even more topics. We spent nearly an hour discussing everything from trips to travel gear and favorite music before we all decided we had better get down the road (they were going to Lubbock also).
We pulled up onto I-20 and headed west toward Abilene, finally stopping for fuel and a great Denny's meal at the Flying J Travel Center west of Abilene (just a side note...those of you who are Good Sam Club members can get a nice discount on both food and fuel at Flying J by using your new swipe card).
Then, it was on to Roscoe and up U.S. 84 through Post (where we had our afternoon Sonic break) and then to Lubbock.
We had a wonderful evening in Lubbock with Jaycie, Cathey, and Stacy. For dinner, we went to O'Hana's Japanese Steak House (a new adventure for me), then, after a stop for ice cream and some photos, Jaycie took Barbara and me to Monterey High School to show us "her school." She showed us a photo of one of her friends, a very accomplished cellist with the MHS orchestra, and we found a picture of John's graduating class that Jaycie hadn't realized was there.
When all our running around was done, we returned to the house for some quality Grams/Gramps/Jaycie time before turning in for some much-needed sleep.
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Saturday, April 12
This morning was "getting to know Taz time," as I gave rides to Jaycie and Cathey. Jaycie even asked if I would take her to Taco Villa to get breakfast for everyone.
While we made that ride, Barbara got all the luggage ready and after a nice breakfast, we loaded Taz and the trailer, took some more pictures, and finally pulled away from the house to start the next leg of the adventure. But, we took with us some beautiful memories of a great time shared with this special part of our family.
We took U.S. 82 from Lubbock through Brownfield and Plains, Texas (where we paid our highest price so far for gas), crossed the New Mexico state line, and rode to Lovington where we stopped for a short visit with Marie, my Mother-in-Love and Linda.
It's only 65 miles from Lovington to Artesia, but the wind was kicking up again and we fought a strong southwest wind all the way across the high plains and down the caprock toward the Pecos Valley.
One of our traditional stops along this route is a small rest area a few miles west of Maljamar. I thought it was time for a butt break, so we pulled off for a few minutes so I could walk around and talk to the caretaker while Barbara took photos of the area.
The rest of the journey took us through oil and gas country as we went to Loco Hills and on to Twelve-Mile Hill where we dropped down into the Pecos Valley and finally into Artesia, the town where we graduated from high school in 1962, and home to our "adopted" family, Jerry, Nancy, and Becky Terpening.
Jerry and Nancy had another engagement planned for the evening, so after a short visit with them, we walked over to Becky's house to enjoy a homecooked dinner of Manicotti and garlic toast, cheese cake for dessert, and a rousing game of Chickenfoot for our evening's entertainment.
We were so wrung out from the day's travels and fighting the wind that we were in bed and sound asleep before Jerry and Nancy returned home.
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Sunday, April 13
We joined the Terpenings for Palm Sunday services at First Methodist Church, hung around for a wonderful pot-luck dinner in honor of the youth director and his wife who will soon be leaving for India, and then returned to the house to visit with Jerry (Nancy and Becky had another shower to attend), and our traditional Sunday nap.
Later, we went to town to wash Taz and the trailer and make the day official by going to Walmart for fuel and a few necessaries.
Tonight was a great time of visiting with this very special family and enjoying a tasty meal of Jerry Burgers with all the trimmings.
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Monday, April 14
We got up early, had breakfast with Jerry and Nancy, and then when they left for work, we began doing laundry, reorganizing all our "stuff," and packing for the next part of our trip.
We kept an eye on the weather all day, as it was windy and cold, and isn't supposed to clear out and get better until sometime tomorrow. Just in case, we kept our cold weather gear out, since even if it warms up a little here in the valley, we'll be going up to the mountains west of Artesia before dropping down into southwest New Mexico on our way to Arizona.
When Jerry, Nancy, and Becky returned to the house from their respective jobs, we visited a bit and had a photo session before going out for the evening.
A trip to Artesia is never complete until we've had a meal at La Fonda Restaurant, so we took care of that little bit of business this evening. The food was good and the company was wonderful.
We had to laugh when we saw the "sign of the day" as we entered the dining area...it just seemed so appropriate.
Back at the house, we settled down for a rip-roaring game of Chickenfoot, one of our favorite family activities.
We had so much fun that we let the time get away from us and soon we all had to call it a night and get some sleep to prepare for the busy day ahead.
Our time with the Artesia family was rapidly coming to a close, but we are blessed with the memories of good times with good friends, and are already looking forward to the next visit.
"The Journey of a thousand miles begins with...stuff...lots of stuff." - Jim Little
If you are interested, the following link shows the route we have taken, and hope to take today, as we head toward Deming, NM on our way to Arizona. By the end of the day, we will have gone 838.27 highway miles since we left.
Happy and blessed in Artesia, New Mexico,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
