Road Trip #3 - Texas HOG Rally - Day 1 - The road to Texas

September 1, 2010
Colorado, USA

Memphis, TX -- In for the night after a good day of riding...

We rolled out of Fort Collins about 4:30 this morning, maybe a few minutes before that. It was dark and chilly. The odometer read 11,256. The temperature was in the low 50s. We got through Denver and then Colorado Springs with no problem. Despite the sun, it was cold in the valleys on both sides of Monument Hill and riding through the Springs. First stop was for breakfast and plenty of coffee at the Southwest Grill in Pueblo. After refueling ourselves and The Ride we rode on through Trinidad where bridge construction is still on-going and up beautiful Raton Pass. I called The folks from the McDonald's (coffee break) in Raton to let them know the ride was going well and we were making good time. Mom said it was hot in Texas already. We rode out from Raton in leathers.

The ride across New Mexico went by without incident. By the time we reached Clayton, NM, the day had warmed considerably and we were ready to peel out of our jackets. I came out of my chaps and put on my half chaps. We had clear skies and lots of sunshine as we rolled through Texline, TX. We stopped for gas and our first taste of BlueBell ice cream in Dalhart, TX.

We noticed a few clouds building on the horizon just past Dumas. The clouds started looking like storms as we rode through Amarillo. It was about 3:30 pm. We ran into rain around Clarendon, TX and sheltered in a car wash there, watching a nasty little wall cloud develop and listened to the weather band radio. Not good. We decided to see if we could make it through a slight break in the clouds. At this point in time we had Childress, TX in mind where we knew there were decent motels and catfish. We got as far as Memphis, TX when we ran into harder rain and hail. We are spending the night in Memphis at a scuzzy little motel (the choice here is scuzzy and scuzzier). We are one of two tenants for the night. Supper was a sandwich at a Subway attached to a convenience store where we sheltered from the rain for a while hoping for a break.

After speaking with the Folks who told us about a line of storms between us and them, we have called it a day. No WIFI. And, I did not pack a book or magazine for this trip. Guess we will watch reruns on TV. It is still raining. Some of our clothing is damp, the leathers (which are hanging all over the room) are drenched.

If not for the rain and hail, we would have made the ride of 750 miles between Fort Collins, CO and Wichita Falls, TX easily. Good to know.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Texas State HOG Rally... we are looking forward to it.

Here are a few pics from the day's ride (26 photos):