Texas - Getting There is Half the Fun?

 

 Getting there is half the fun.

 I’m not sure how true that was for this trip.  We were more interested in getting there than the journey to get there.

First of all, we’d thought we’d be on our way by the end of January but life got in the way and it wasn’t until March the tires hit the pavement.  By then, the mild winter had ended, it was bitterly cold again, it had snowed a bunch and the trailer was at our friend’s shop, stuck in a snowbank as it were.  Thankfully, someone with a bobcat was plowing out the neighbouring shop.  Dave quickly went over and asked if the he could plow out a path for us.  He did!  At no charge.

We got hooked up, slowly eased the trailer out of the snow, fastened the bicycles on the bumper and were on our way.  Moving all the clothing and other gear out of the backseat of the truck would have to wait.  We were on our way to Dallas.  The first night was at our friends in Coaldale.  The next night at a hotel in Billings, Montana.  We were slowly making our way out of the snow zone.  When we entered Wyoming, the forecast promised some 100 kmh crosswinds so we turned east on the I90 and crossed into South Dakota.  

Years ago, we’d driven through Sturgis during Bike Week.  Now it was a sleepy little town in the Black Hills.  All the road signs pointing the way to Wall Drug kept us entertained, and it seemed like a suitable place to stop for the night.  At the beginning of March, Wall is a sleepy little prairie village and all but two hotels and one restaurant are closed for the season.  Wall Drug Store was open for business and proved to be an entertaining diversion before hitting the road again.  

By now it was starting to look like spring as we passed fields upon fields of snow geese on their way north.  The snow was definitely gone except for some drifts in the hedges.  Just before we’d crossed the entire state, we turned south.  It was interesting to watch the transformation as the further south we went, the greener it was getting.  We stayed at a hotel in Nebraska and then next night just outside Oklahoma City.  It was a beautiful day, and we were very much tempted to camp, but since everything was in disarray, we stayed in a hotel once more.

The next morning, we crossed the Red River and were in Texas.  As on other trips, it’s fun to find the unique little town coffee shops, and this trip was no exception.  We needed some fortification because we knew that from that point on, it would be crazy Dallas traffic as our destination was clear across the city. Whew, we made it.  It was good to be back again.