2023 Wanderer Ride – Day One

Another year has passed and it’s time again to hit the road for more two wheeled adventure. My alarms (yes, more than one) went off at 7:30 this morning, the only time I’ll use one for the next week and a half. After loading the last of my gear onto Libby and saying my goodbyes, I was on the road.

It’s a short run to State Highway 36 which runs through Temple and all the way into Abilene. The next town after Temple is Gatesville and it’s a run I’ve made several times, both on these trips and Saturday afternoon rides. It also runs over the northern side of Lake Belton. The bridge is roughly two thirds of a mile long and the lake typically stretches from end to end. Water levels are so low right now that it’s almost entirely a flat, sandy plain. Bright green vegetation has started growing on what used to be lake bed.

Highway 36 takes me past the north end of Fort Hood, or Fort Cavazos as they’ve deemed fit to call it now. Then into Gatesville, Comanche and Rising Star, all towns I’ve passed through numerous times. My first gas stop is in the small town of Cross Plains at a store with a very limited water selection. With a cup holder on the bike, a sport cap is the only way to go. I can easily flip the cap open, grab a swig and close the bottle with one hand. No regular water with a sport cap here so it’s flavored water for now. Not bad but I really just want plain old water.

From here we head into Abilene. It’s not quite lunchtime yet so I’m not looking for food just yet. I’m expecting to jump onto I-20 and head into Sweetwater before cutting north towards Lubbock but Libby’s GPS has a different plan. It’s just a quick few minutes of interstate before we break off and jump back on two lane highways. The landscape heading into the panhandle is just as dry and brown/yellow as back home. Drought conditions stretch far across the state right now. The land flattens out and so does the road. Miles upon miles of straight stretches, any curves that do come are long and very wide, very little lean. There’s very little traffic out here and even the road signs have grown sparce. I have no idea where I’m at most of the time and no clue as to how far the next town is. With nothing to look at and nothing to do boredom eventually begins to set in. Even the radio fails to bring any relief. Boredom begets drowsiness which is not a good thing when operating a vehicle with any number of wheels.

There’s absolutely nowhere to pull off and certainly nowhere with shade. The day started off great, temps were in the 70’s which is perfect riding. But the Texas heat didn’t take long show up. I do eventually make it into the tiny town of Aspermont. It’s lunchtime now but there have been very few food options. Everyone of the small towns I’ve passed through has a Dairy Queen, and for a few that’s the only place and it’s the place to be. Aspermont of course has one and one other small motel restaurant. Both are packed but I do find an old rundown gas station to take a break at, there’s shade under the awning and a few minutes on my feet will help alleviate the drowsiness that has found me.

I’ve crossed several bridges spanning creeks and rivers today. Most of them are void of any water, some are down to almost a trickle. Even the the Salt Fork of the Brazos River is depressing to see. Our next town is Guthrie, I’m down to a quarter tank of gas and it’s time to start looking for a place to fill up. Guthrie has nothing for gas. It does have a courthouse, activities center and even a small football stadium. But I see zero cars, no one parked anywhere and the town is so small it’s almost literally a blink and you’ll miss it situation. Now I’m getting a little worried. The towns out here are 40-50 miles apart, I’m going to be cutting it close.

Paducah, Texas is the next town I come too and just as I pass the city limit sign, Libby’s gas light turns on. Thankfully there’s gas here. We get topped up and I ask a local if there’s anything good to eat near by, it’s past lunchtime now. He points me down the road to a little burger shop. By little I mean tiny. The joint was busy, not a table available. Total patrons sitting – 4. The setup is mostly for take out as most of their business is done through a window. And they really are pretty busy, wait time is 45 minutes. I don’t have time for that, not for lunch and certainly not for a burger. On down the road we go. Leaving town I begin to wonder how anyone is living here. Every building I pass is boarded up. The only businesses I’ve seen are two small gas stations and the burger joint. Maybe there’s more out there but the road I’m on screams ghost town.

Childress is another 30 plus miles. It’s a good sized town with plenty of food options but my path doesn’t take me past anything that isn’t a chain. As I head out of town I decide to pull off and check for some thing nearby. From the looks of it there’s nothing in front of me so I’ve got to back track and head towards the other side of town. It’s necessary though, I’ve got to get something in my belly. I find a few promising places and decide on JT’s Drive In. It’s another small burger joint with just a few tables but a pretty extensive menu for a place of it’s size. I opted for a burger and fries, it’s simple, generally quick and really hard to screw up. There’s really nothing special about this place, no real novelty to it. They do have a couple of “Best Burger” certificates on the wall which is promising, but there’s easily a dozen flies hounding me. An ice cold Dr Pepper hits the spot but I drink it much to fast and can only stomach about half my meal. The burger isn’t bad but certainly isn’t noteworthy. The certificates on the wall leave me wondering if they are real or if the burger quality in town is questionable. Staff here is certainly nice though.

Onward we go, west towards Amarillo. I really don’t want to have any set destinations but with the holiday weekend it can hard to find a patch of ground to call home for the night. Reservations have been made for the first two nights. Tonight is Amarillo and we’re just a little over 100 miles away. The road here is four lane, divided highway and the speed limit is still 75, has been most of the day. I’m in no real rush to be anywhere this year so I’ve been maxing out at about 80mph all day. That’s almost leisurely for Texas.

The terrain started rolling again after Paducah and continues to do so until we get closer to town. The land flattens out again and the vast windmill farms begin to come into view. The wind out here is unpredictable and a few gusts catch me. Nothing serious but a sudden blow out of nowhere will tense you up real quick. We make it into camp right around 4:00pm. As usual the staff here is very pleasant and though not full, camp is pretty populated already. We’re close to the airport (I can count the windows on planes taking off), not far from the train tracks and there’s a prison just on the other side of the highway. It’ll be an interesting night.

Once I’ve got camp setup I start looking for somewhere to go for dinner. Lunch was late so I know I won’t eat a lot but I do want something with some football on. I’m on the outskirts of town so there’s not much near me. I do find the Taproom on Georgia Street. As I’m perusing the menu one of the staff members pulls up. She’s the first one I greeted when I pulled in. We get to talking, my first question to her of course is “What’s a good place to eat around here.” She recommends the Taproom. We also discuss the 72oz steak place, an overpriced gimmicky restaurant that will give you your meal for free if you can devour four and half pounds of beef and sides within an hour. Not that hungry! We continue chatting and I tell her my story then it’s off to dinner.

The Taproom is a good ten miles across town and is just what I’m looking for. Plenty of football on and a decent menu. I get my first beer of the day and my bar neighbors chat me up. It’s a good ten to fifteen minutes before I even look at the menu. Chicken fried steak sounds good at the moment and turns out to be very good. It’s a whole lot of food, and I don’t finish it all but it certainly hit the spot. After a quick stop for a 12-pack I’m back at camp well before dark. It’s still hot but it’s nice to be settled with some sunlight still.

A quick run up to office for some ice and I’m ready to start today’s post. Soon after I start an older gentleman walking his dog stops to comment on my setup. It’s just a bike and a tent but he’s a biker too. Him and his wife are travelling out of Tennessee. We spend a good twenty minutes swapping stories and finally say our goodbyes. I didn’t catch his name but a conversation, not matter how short, is always nice.

My goal this year is to head up to Sturgis, South Dakota. The Black Hills Rally has been over for a few weeks now so it should be pretty quiet now. I want to start revisiting the trips Dad and I made together, refresh my memories and start getting them written down. So from here we’re headed to Ogallala, Nebraska, our next reserved campsite. After that we should make it into Sturgis where I plan to get a room. It’s been ten years since this whole thing got started and Sturgis is where it all began, where the quest was born. I’ll spend Monday night in town, stow my gear in my room and hit whatever rides I can then stay another night. After that everything is up in there air. I might stay another night so I can ride in the area some more, maybe I’ll have enough and move on. Where? I don’t know.

This truly is the first time I’ll have nowhere to go and the thought is intoxicating. Currently it’s the open road with no destination in mind. I can go anywhere or nowhere for a few days, just racing the wind or chasing the sun. Maybe I’ll meet someone who says, “Hey, you should check out this place,” and I will. Just because.

It’s a beautiful idea and to be able to do it in what I know from experience is a beautiful country is just mind blowing for me. For at least half this trip I really am just a ramblin’ man.

We’ve travelled over 500 miles today and haven’t left the state. Texas really is huge! I’ll be back tomorrow, God willing.