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Several of you have inquired about my trip asking where I was, how I got here, what I did along the way, how the ride was, and the weather to and fro. I do have lots to share, so I thought it would be easiest for you to share in my adventures thru catalogued links. This way you can read the parts you are interested in and skip the rest.

Of course, you would have to know that I chose to take RoundAboutRoutes (RAR’s) that would allow me the experience of enjoying the open road without a frame around it, a.k.a. therapy; but all headed in the general direction of where I wanted to go. While I would like to take credit for my selections, the truth is Ronn chose the routes for me because I was too wrapped up trying to hem myself into a box before I left. Thank God for people who know somebody in need and can step up to the plate! I was getting myself worked up over details and had I been left to my own devices, I just might not have ever left.

How easy that would have been, but I ain’t ever known anybody to get anywhere they wanted to be by giving into fears and conjuring up excusing to not pursue a dream. There’s some West Texas dialect for ya!

As my sis-friend (a juxtaposition of sister and friend) Kelli, told me back in April, “Do it afraid”. Well, I did and it took me until San Angelo to realize what I was doing and really get into to the groove of things. Sometimes I can be such a drama queen!

So I didn’t take the shortest route; the one you would most likely take by car. There is not too much that excites me about looking at passing cars on the interstate, even if it does get me there quicker. HOWEVER, there is one exception I discovered—the start and stop of riding in the city in heavy traffic. YUK! Get me on a highway, so I can get moving. The weather was perfect the whole way and not too hot, but sitting at lights and traveling 15 miles an hour to the next light tends to make me a little hot, not to mention cranky. The whole purpose is to be riding, but when I was doing that start/stop thing I felt like a puppy in her playpen wimpering to get out and play!

Generally, Time is a sacrifice I am willing to make in exchange for the Experience of riding. However the lesson learned here is Experience is a good sacrifice in the interest of Time if it means you can avoid start and stop. It’s no fun AND it will not get you there quicker. Double lose!

So I figured it up, taking out all of the time I spend piddling in various places, I rode about 15 hours over 2 days. Driving time going the short route from Midland, TX to Beaumont, TX should be about 9-10 hours.

There were many times my thoughts would wonder and then—“Oops, what did that sign say? I think that was my turn off.” Yes, I made lots of u-turns! I also had the luxury of listening to my iPod that Ronn bought me for my birthday. That is a must-have for JourneyMotorcycleRiding (JMR)! However, I recommend you put it on pause while going thru towns. There are sounds you need to be able to hear that might make the difference between getting to the next town and making an unintended stay in a town you were just passing thru.

On the open road, though, to have tunes is a stroke of brilliance! I do recommend you make a playlist of songs you want to hear so you can really enjoy the benefit of tunes on the road. Otherwise, you will miss the scenery, not to mention road signs, because you will be messing with your iPod.

Well, getting on with it, I suppose that’s enough philosophy. Below are the links you can click to read about the details of my trip. On the route links, I have included my Ride Ratings Legend. These are just my personal ratings based on my experience. My criteria for a good ride is (in this order): Curviness, Hilliness, Scenery. If a ride has all three, it’s probably going to get *****, barring any unusual circumstances like having followed four 18-wheelers hauling rock the whole way in a no-pass zone.

Have fun linking thru! Feedback is welcome! On anything from layout of this post to your own experience on the open road!

Day 1 Route & Ride Ratings-Thursday, September 7
San Angelo Shopping
Flamingos in Brady
Red in Fred
Luckenbach
Wimberley

Day 2 Route & Ride Ratings-Friday, September 8
Blue Bell in Brenham

Remarkable Route Commentary

That covers my adventures while traveling. Check back later in the week for posts on my adventures while here in Beaumont.

Camp San Saba Turnoff

This was my first venture off the mapped path and I uncovered a gem. Coming out of Brady on US 87 South there is a turnoff to Camp San Saba. It is 10-minute detour max, but not something you would want to do with more than 2 bikes. There is one road that runs thru the camp. What makes is so fun, though, is there are 3 really great curves–practically 90 degree turns. When there is no one if front of you or behind you, this is really great fun! Just make sure to stay in your lane!

Fredericksburg to Wimberley

This part of the trip was probably the best ride of the whole trip! These roads are curvy and hilly and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Any faster than about 60 and you start missing stuff, though. I kept catching myself slowing down so I could take in everything.

Bastrop to Brenham

The stretch on TX 21 East coming out of Bastrop before you get to US 290 is a marvelous ride. It is a 4-lane divided highway and relatively straight, but it is hilly and shade covered with trees lining both sides. As you are coming up a hill, it looks like you are climbing into the trees. It was a really great stretch of highway and you don’t have to look at oncoming traffic.

Tomball to Humble

This was probably the worst part of the trip. It was entirely city riding and a constant start and stop. There was not a light I did not have to sit at and sometimes I got the privilege of sitting at the same light twice. YUK! The weather was not particularly hot, but it gets hot pretty quick when you are wallowing in the heat from motorcycle exhaust because you can’t go anywhere. Long story short, this kind of riding just wears me out. Long about this time, I was really wishing for interstate just to be moving.

I just couldn’t resist! The Blue Bell factory was right on the way to where I was going. I just showed up and as luck would have it, because I was by myself, they squeezed me into a tour that had just started 30 seconds before I got there. It was with a group of home-schooled kids, but I was grateful to have caught the tour because I would have had to wait 2 hours to see the next one, which meant I wouldn’t have got to see it.

It was really a great tour. It was short, but the tour guide was very knowledgeable and we got to look down over two different production floors as she explained the production process. I learned that Blue Bell Creameries started as the Brenham Creameries and they only made butter, but when a new family took it over, they started making ice cream. And the son really liked the blue bell flowers that grow in Brenham, so he renamed the company to Blue Bell. Blue Bell ice cream is only distributed into 16 states and they only make 50 flavors, 17 of which are regular year-round flavors. The rest are either seasonal or regional.

After the tour we were treated to some hand dipped ice cream in the gift shop where we got to choose from 24 flavors. I wanted to choose a flavor that I probably would never buy, so I chose Peaches and Homemade Vanilla. It was actually pretty good! I surprised myself!

The tour was a welcome break and by the time it was done, I was ready to get back on the road.

San Marcos to Mustang Ridge (21 miles)

TX 21 East
30 minutes
Ride Rating: **

Mustang Ridge to Bastrop (26 miles)

TX 21 East to TX 71 East
45 minutes
Ride Rating: **

Bastrop to Brenham (60 miles)

TX 21 East to US 290 East
1.25 hours
Ride Rating: ****

Brenham to Hempstead (22 miles)

US 290 East
30 minutes
Ride Rating: ***

Hempstead to Tomball (30 miles)

US 290 East to FM 2920 East
45 minutes
Ride Rating: ***

Tomball to Humble (25 miles)

FM 2920 East to I-45 South to FM 1960 East
1 hour-Heavy Traffic
Ride Rating: *

Humble to Liberty (30 miles)

FM 1960 East
45 minutes
Ride Rating: **

Liberty to Beaumont (45 miles)

US 90 East
1.25 hours
Ride Rating: ***

I didn’t stop in Wimberley, but it was not for lack of desire. Wimberley is a very cool place that I had read about in the July 2006 issue of Ride Texas magazine and definitely a place I want to go back.

But, I was getting really tired at this point in my trip and I could tell I was not responding to the motorcycle very well. I was also running out of daylight because I had spent so much time piddling along the way and I needed to get going so I could find where I was staying in San Marcos while there was still daylight.

I would have loved to stay in one of the quaint places in Wimberley, but I didn’t want to pay the price to stay at a place that is about indulging in the atmosphere when the only thing I was going to be doing was unload/sleep/load/leave. As the author of the article in Ride Texas puts it, “Although lacking chain lodging, Wimberley is rich in B&B’s and country inns, many resting along tranquil streams flowing under cypress arbors or among lofty hilltops featuring panoramic views and pastel sunsets.” Why in the world would I want not stick around to enjoy all that?

Instead, I stayed in a Motel 6 in San Marcos on the edge of where I needed to start out the next morning.

Yep, the same Luckenbach where “Waylon and Willie and the boys” hang out. Although I was only there a few minutes, by looking at their website it looks like a lot happens in the place where “Everybody’s Somebody”. Live Music 7 nights a week. Check it out for yourself. Click here.

Beware, there are no road signs pointing to the turn off to Luckenbach. Look at your map and know what road you are looking for or ask one of the locals for landmarks. That’s what I did!

Here a few pics that I just couldn’t resist. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger view.

Leaving Fredericksburg is where the riding really started to get good! The stretch from Fredericksburg to Wimberley was a FABULOUS ride. While the route I took wasn’t one of the featured Top 10 Best Rides, it was still great. I discovered my criteria for a great ride are (in this order): Curviness, Hilliness and Scenery. This ride met all three of these criteria. Makes me itchy to try one of the Top 10 rides!

(See also Cowboy Lyrics)

By the time I got to Fredericksburg, it was around the close of business, so most of the shops were closing down, but there was one in particular that caught my attention while cruising down the main road.

It is called “red” and their slogan is “Clean. Vintage. Home”. It is a way cool store, unlike any I have even been in. Original Art Work in the same space as Antique Furnishings in the same space as Repurposed Items (this is a term I got from my friends, Josh and Anthony of Dimlit Daylight) in the same space as New Cool Stuff and all of it Clean. To see this store is the only way to get it. You can see their webpage here. While I was there, I visited with Margo and she told me they just opened July 1.

Back on the road again, it dawned on me why I felt drawn to this one store in particular of all the choices to choose from up and down the main street. The Entrepreneur gods swept down over me and said “Go back”. Yes, I had to make another u-turn! I am sure it was no accident that I help people get started in business for a living and they just opened a little over 2 months ago. Although, I must say they really seemed to have it all together. If I hadn’t asked I would have assumed they had been there forever. The store had that kind of presence about it.

The thing that impressed me the most was I think they may be onto something. They are paving new pathways in the way people shop for vintage stuff. They are not trying to peddle antiques, like so many shops I have been in. They are providing an atmosphere to explore. An atmosphere where past and present collide in an explosion of new. One word describes this place and sums up its attraction. SIMPLE.

It is also refreshing to experience the fruits of someone who has stepped out on that limb to try something different and possibly revolutionize they way people shop for vintage.

It was already after lunch when I got to Brady and I could tell I was needing some body fuel. I stopped in front of this bistro on the downtown square, but while I was getting stuff out of my saddlebags, they closed!

So I started heading in the direction I would be going anyway and as luck would have it, I landed at a place called Flamingo’s. They have phenomenal chicken enchiladas! What makes them so good? They are stuffed with de-boned chicken—not cut up chicken breasts or shredded chicken breasts, but genuine juicy de-boned chicken. It was the best I’ve ever had.

Definitely put Flamingo’s on your Eats list if you are ever in Brady!

The city of San Angelo lies on multiple angles and I found myself getting frustrated because I was lost. Ronn quickly reminded me that planning to travel and expecting not to get lost was trying to plan the plan, AND the results, which I have long since known is insane, so I quickly let that go and got centered and in the moment again.

Once I finally got downtown, I was able to indulge in about an hour of looking in two stores I really enjoy. Sassy Fox and J. Wilde’s. Both should be on every girl’s “must-go-to” list and guys—you can score major points by taking her to either of these two stores.

Sassy Fox has tons of way cool shoes. Yes, I admit it; I love shoes! So much so, I have been known to buy a pair of shoes before I have anything to wear with them. Which, of course, gives me the excuse to then buy a new outfit. It drives Ronn crazy! Well, Sassy Fox also has great clothes that will give you great ideas about things you could make if you were so inclined and they have a FAB dressing room area complete with fuzzy carpet. They have kids clothes if you have the little ones tagging along and also jewelry and Brighton stuff. And you can’t miss the soda shop where you can indulge in a malt to slurp while shopping.

J. Wilde’s also has great clothes and shoes, but they also have all sorts of way-cool accessories from football diaper bags to picture frames. They even have one-of-a kind pieces of furniture painted and decorated in the coolest ways scattered throughout the store. Another great place to get ideas! The thing I like most about this store though is they have a good-sized selection of women’s cowboy boots. Not just plain cowboy boots that happen to be in women’s sizes, but cowboy boots with flair! And if you go way to the back of the store, they also have a multi-level room where you can look at all kinds of things from carpet to wall paintings. It’s a must-do if you are in San Angelo.

Ride Rating Legend

* This is defeating the purpose

** Ok, let’s just get there

*** I’m glad to be riding

**** Priceless Therapy

***** Wow, let’s do it again

Click on route links to see a map

Midland to Garden City (37 miles)

TX 158 East
Under an hour
Ride Rating: **

Garden City to San Angelo (75 miles)

TX 159 East to US 87 South
Almost 2 hours
Ride Rating: ***

San Angleo to Brady (77 miles)

US 87 South
About 1.5 hours
Ride Rating: ***

Brady to Fredericksburg (71 miles)

US 87 South
1.25 hours
Ride Rating: ****

Fredericksburg to Luckenbach (10 miles)

US 290 South to RR 1376 South
15 minutes
Ride Rating: *****

Luckenbach to Blanco (23 miles)

RR 1376 South to RR 1888 East
45 minutes
Ride Rating: *****

Blanco to Wimberley (24 miles)

FM 165 South to FM 2325 East
30 minutes
Ride Rating: *****

Wimberley to San Marcos (15 miles)

RR 12 South
30 minutes
Ride Rating: ***