ND/Texas Tour Ride – Day One

Another start to another journey. Spent last night getting everything loaded up that I could and staging the rest to be strapped down this morning. Then went to play some cards and have a few beers with some friends. They have family in town and I didn’t want to get away without at least saying hello. Paid for it today, but it could have been worse.

As I loaded the last of my gear this morning, a lone hummingbird zipped into the garage, fluttered around me for a minute or two and then zipped off again. I took it as a sign of good luck, I haven’t put anything in my feeders since last year. I said my good-byes, gave everyone their hugs and kisses and off I went, right at 8:00am.

For some reason, Libby’s GPS likes to take me the long way to I-35 whenever I head north. I don’t mind this because this route is backroads. I could easily get on the interstate much faster and interstates are great for making time and covering several miles. But back roads are a much better ride.

Once on I-35 I made my way towards Fort Worth. Passing through Waco, West and Hillsboro. I thought about stopping for a kolache in West…right about the time I was passing the Czech Stop. Not important enough to circle back. At Hillsboro the interstate splits – I-35W towards Fort Worth and I-35E towards Dallas, I was headed up the west side.

Before here I’d caught a couple of small sets of sprinkles. Nothing bad at all, barely got the windshield wet. I had stopped at a rest area to do a pack check and was told in passing that the weather was dry if I kept heading north, I guess he wasn’t totally wrong. The day started overcast but the sun was doing it’s best to break through the cloud cover.

About 50 miles out of Fort Worth I decided to pull off and do a weather check, the sky ahead was not showing promise of dry weather. There was definitely rain ahead of me so I threw on my rain jacket a motored on towards the darkness the lay in wait. Not five miles down the road the rain started. Lasted a good twenty miles and was heavy for most of it. My shins got soaked but the rest of me stayed dry.

The rain abated and I finally made it into Oklahoma. Not sure if it was the same place Dad and I crossed back on our Sturgis trip but the sign was the same. Maybe it was. Finally pulled off to fuel up, remove my jacket and grab some water. The skies had begun to clear up and the day was beginning to look better.

The first part of Oklahoma was beautiful. The road cut through the hills, 20-30 foot rock walls on either side. Plenty of trees, mostly mesquite, so much you could smell it. This lasted a few miles and the landscape started to flatten out a bit. About 80 miles into the state the traffic hit. Signs for lane closures and stopped traffic popped up. And a couple of miles from the lane closure, traffic came to a stand still. We sat for a good 10-15 minutes before we started inching forward. I had dropped the jiffy stand, shut off the engine and proceeded to roast.

Traffic began to move at a crawl, one to two car lengths at a time. It was only about two miles to the merge but took at least 45 minutes. My left hand ached from constant clutch work and my head was starting to pound from the heat. Sweat rolled down my face, arms, chest and back. I was cooking and had no relief. When we finally hit the merge we started moving fast enough for me to cool off. No more than 30mph but that was enough. By the time we’d gotten back to full speed I was actually a little chilly for a few minutes, my shirt was soaked.

My 12:00 lunch stop had turned to 1:30. Found a little diner to stop at in Moore, the Boom-A-Rang Diner. Grabbed a simple burger which wasn’t bad but I’ve had better in worse places. Still, it hit the spot. The two large glasses of water were even better.

Carried on, I’ve got about 250 miles to go at this point. The skies had cleared to blue with several bright white clouds everywhere. Nothing threatening and plenty of sun. I crossed into Kansas and the clouds began to disappear until none remained. The landscape of Kansas is pretty flat. Not totally, but mostly. I could see for miles in every direction at some points. Most of the land is farmland, some corn but plenty of other crops I couldn’t figure out. A line of trees separates one field from another, just as I remember from seven years ago and from living here for a year as a kid.

Libby and I finally made it to Salina, Kansas around 5:30, the same place Dad and I stopped on our Sturgis run. We actually ended up a few miles past town. We had stopped to grab a bite at Wendy’s (this was before any rules had been set, or the idea of conquering the states was born) and continued on to find a place to set camp. The road out here is mostly straight, much like the roads out in the southwest deserts of New Mexico and Arizona. Curves here and there but otherwise straight stretches and the interstate ends not too far north of here if I remember right. We (Dad) decided to hang a left on some random country road and after a few miles we passed a house with a for sale sign out front. Pulled a U-turn and went to check it out. House was totally empty so we setup camp behind a row of trees in the yard, out of view from the road.

So here we are at the Salina KOA. I know I’ve said it before but I like these places. The people are always friendly, they sell firewood and will deliver it, some even sell beer and ice! This one is packed! Apparently it’s Labor Day weekend. Not a single campsite available. Not a single RV spot or even cabin available. They have one spot open in the whole place, the glamping tent! That’s right, I’ve gone from officially blogging to glamping. It’s a downward spiral I hope to pull out of.

Honestly I don’t think this could completely qualify as glamping. Aside from a canvas tent with a bed, bedside fan and bistro lights, there’s not much difference. Hell, I’m tempted (at 10:30pm) to set my own tent up in the grass. The lights on the night stands are more ambiance and hardly push out any light. And…it’s hotter’n-hell in there. Had enough heat today, remember? I guess it’ll do for tonight.

So, not that I’ve shared my intended route with all of you, I have to make some changes. My plan was to run up here, then over to Rapid City, SD tomorrow. Monday I’d head into North Dakota and run over into Montana and down to Devil’s Tower. Stay a night just north of Denver with a cousin and then head back into Texas for the tour. Now, as it just so happens (because me and storms are a thing now) an arctic front is moving into the area on Monday. I knew this leaving out today. It’d be a couple of cold days, really cold Tuesday and snow chances that had me concerned but not terribly threatened. After talking with my cousin, I’ve learned that some of the places I’ll be travelling through are calling for blizzard like conditions.

Change of plans. I sadly will not be making a westerly turn tomorrow. I will likely head straight north and towards eastern North Dakota then head back towards Salina. It’s not ideal. I really don’t want to back track but snow and motorcycles don’t generally mix well. I’ve tried my luck and tempted fate with hurricanes a couple of times now. I can do with high winds and rain but I just can’t chance high winds, freezing conditions and snow.

I’ll have at least one cold, wet day on Tuesday and will likely grab myself a room that night. Need a TV anyway, I hear Broken Roots is back on America’s Got Talent. It’s on at 7:00pm central time if I remember right. NBC I think. Oh and I believe you can vote up to ten times per device so, yeah.

Well that’s it for today. We covered 586 miles today. A hard day, and I’m feeling it. But we’re both good. The adventure continues tomorrow. Good night.