Here’s the real story of day 23. I left my buddy Pat’s house at about 10:15AM with half a tank of gas. I figured I would catch one in 15-20 miles so I would have the chain warmed up for maintenance. Here is a tip for anyone traveling to the south with a vehicle that has a small gas tank… err on the side of caution. A normal fill up for me is usually between 100-120 miles and can range from 2 gallons to 2.7 (depends on speeds). After riding 75 miles without seeing anything but huge farms I finally made it to my bike’s savior.

Simple math would say that I had .04 of a gallon left in my tank. Gas stations are few and far between so now if I’m at 70 miles and see a gas station, I fill up.

There were quite long stretches of straight and wide roads in Texas but there are those magical few miles that seem to make all the slabbing worth it.

My GPS called them “ranching road.” I think the street was called County Road 311 and that was when I finally saw some turns. Lots of riders were out that day because the Republic of Texas Ride was happening at the same time. It was a fun 40 miles of curves which helped me justify the other flat and straight 500.

About 200 miles away from my destination for the night I saw a place with smoke billowing out of it.

I didn’t have a clue how to order. He opened up that big box of meats and I couldn’t even name them all. After you pick what you’d like you have to decide how much. He then weighs it and charges you based on the weight. He wrapped it up and told me there was bread on the table and to help myself.

It was delicious. I also talked with a woman who worked there. Told me that Mason, TX, didn’t even have a stoplight and that this BBQ place has been here for over 60 years. Texas has such a wide variety throughout its giganticness. I was sad to leave this morning.

I woke up and headed off to New Mexico. I didn’t know where until I got here but I figured it out. I didn’t even see a “Welcome to New Mexico” sign. The further west I went the less green I saw.

This was in the morning departing Texas.

One thing I will repeat. ALWAYS err on the side of caution with gasoline. I was very excited to get off the 4 lane highway. When the GPS tells me to turn left onto a country road I get excited. That excitement can turn into tragedy very easily if you’re not ready. “Turn left onto New Mexico number something something for 75 miles.” Damn… I’m turning onto this road that will run through only farms for 75 miles. That will push me to about 125 miles on this fill up. Glad I filled up back there even when I thought I didn’t need to.

I saw 2 cars in that entire section of road. It was a fun ride but I had to keep putting off the thoughts about if something were to happen. I stopped for a photo and thought, what if my bike had broken down here? What if I was out of water and in the 95+ heat? Sure there are ranches all around me. One of the signs indicated that the ranch was 5 miles down it’s own private road…

As things get more spaced out they get less forgiving.

And a few miles after that I reached my mecca for this 400 mile day.

Elevation changes, 45MPH sweepers that step into tighter and tighter turns all the way down to posted 30MPH turns. My buddy Owen taught me well… He said you can double the posted speed on a bike. I was just pleased to scrub my tires in. It was a bit worrisome to do that with 40/39 PSI in the tires but they handled great. It was nice to trust the 2CT sides that the Road 3’s have. I may go back and ride 337 again.

I arrived in Albuquerque, decided to eat something since I didn’t find anywhere along the way, and then figure out where I was sleeping for the night. I wanted breakfast so I thought I would give this “Waffle House” chain a try. It wasn’t half bad and it was dirt cheap.

Seven dollars for all that. I’m still full right now too. I found a place to stay in Albuquerque but I’m exhausted and need to plan tomorrow. See you in Arizona.

My last day in Houston was once again filled with hospitality. I can’t put into words how generous everyone has been so far on this trip. Around 2PM I was at a place called Top Golf. The last time I swung a golf club was 1998… and I’m not kidding with you. I was a child. A good amount of my friends golf but whenever I was invited to the driving range I would pass because of my fear of looking like an absolute fool.

Before you know it I was landing 175 yard shots with a 4 iron (I think). I know that is not impressive but I was actually hitting the area I was targeting. What a confidence booster. I also indulged in some chicken and waffles which seems to be a pretty normal dish in the south. I want to say it was a blend of both breakfast and dinner. It was also a great flavor combination.

This is also an appetizer they serve.

After a long day of golf and good eating it was time for the hawks game and some more rest.

I woke up on Day 21 feeling apprehensive about the remainder of the trip. This time it was caused by finding out what the speeding ticket cost me. Now I’m worried about my finances. I know I portray this hot/cold reaction quite often but I don’t know what you are expecting me to say. Three weeks on the road living out of a large duffel bag and the hospitality of strangers will do that to a man. However, I couldn’t beat the view.

I also had a little camera shy friend to keep me company.

Pushing through the apprehension, I headed to Galveston to grab a bite to eat. What a nice little spot on the water.

After a filling lunch, I was off to Austin to meet up with a friend. This part of my journey is starting to get warm. Something I need to keep in mind is the fact that this is only the beginning of the heat I will experience. Even at cruising speed I was sweating. The camelbak is becoming one of the most important items I’ve brought on this journey.

Ryan took me out to a few local spots. I couldn’t get over the amount of beers they had on tap. This entire wall is taps and I witnessed this at a few more places as well.

Obviously I needed to see what 6th Street was all about so we headed downtown. Austin had a bit of traffic similar to Chicago. This was a negative on my “I want to live here” scale. At one of my previous stops, I was told that Austin was a cleanlier New Orleans. I understand why that person said what they did but I think I’ll politely disagree. Yes, there are people trying to hustle you inside their bar because they have 50 other competitors on the block. Yes, they offer ridiculous 3-for-1 beer specials and other nonsense. No, it did not have the same laid-back have fun attitudes of other travelers I encountered in NOLA. It reminded me more of a St. Patrick’s day bar hopping experience.

That being said, Ryan took me to a place that you would never be able to find if someone didn’t show you personally. It looked like an apartment building and you had to buzz the correct name to have someone open the door. I was stunned to find that there are actually more establishments similar to this in other cities.

It was almost completely isolated from the craziness that was happening outside and to top that the bar tenders actually came over and made some of the fancy drinks right in front of you. I’m very interested to search out places similar when I get home to Chicago.

After a few more bars and a few more drinks we headed back to base. I can’t thank Ryan enough for helping me evaluate where this website was going and also suggesting some possible job opportunities located in Austin.

The next morning I was up and on the bike by 8AM. I checked out one of the highest points in the area and relaxed for a bit while I gathered my thoughts for the day.

I headed down to Corpus Christi to visit another friend. I really enjoyed the elevation changes and small amounts of curvy roads that were involved in today’s ride. Texas has been a place that I expected to see tumbleweeds and cactus’ everywhere. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’ll upload some photos from my camera at a later date.

I arrived a few hours later, took a shower, and then it was tire time.

This part of Texas has a combination of many places I feel. There was an area in Corpus that felt California-esque and later that evening I saw an area that felt Florida-esque. It amazes me how many activities you can enjoy down here. These past few days have completely blown out what I expected to see here.

If you made it this far in the article, I commend you. It is a long one… I know. This is almost the point of no return for me. If you’ve been following me on twitter you know that I already reached my planned budget for this trip and I’m only 5000 miles in. I’m hearing lots of voices say, “it is time to turn back,” but there’s another part of myself that I hear say, “you’ve made it this far. Are you willing to sacrifice seeing the second half of the US?” I don’t know what tomorrow brings. It’s 2:15AM and I need to sleep. I may be launching west early or I may be enjoying another day down here.

Side note: we will be revisiting my previous posts and updating them with 100% accuracy. I know that is a vague statement but you will see them in the coming days.

The common theme over the past 2 days has been rain. Lots and lots of rain. Day 16 had me riding out of Florida. I stayed in Tallahassee for the evening. I stayed in a low key place but came with a friend.

I didn’t really take many pictures on this day. Most of the ride was spent driving through spread out communities. As I got closer to Tallahassee the landscape changed. Hills and twisty roads came! It honestly is a beautiful area. The folks I was staying with said it is pretty much southern Georgia.

Look at that majestic camera strap.

I got up early and departed for New Orleans. I was fortunate to get 40 miles in before the rain started. I spent 300 of my 400 miles in real shitty conditions. There were points where I couldn’t see 100 feet in front of me. Also, hitting big puddles of water at 70MPH on a motorcycle is interesting to say the least. One could almost say this was a test to see if I was capable of dealing with it. There are points when I didn’t think I could.

It seemed to chase me the entire day.

It rained so much I had condensation on the inside of my camera lens.

I arrived to an amazing sunset in New Orleans. My gracious host suggested a few places to grab a bite. Parkway was amazing. Riding all day and eating nothing but nutrigrain bars or other fake bars meant I deserved a good meal. I was not disappointed that is for sure.

Po’ boy!

After a bite and a drink I thought about going down to the river. I was pretty tired so I decided to stop here instead.

I played some pool with good company and called it a night.

From my one night in town, I feel like I’m in an alternate reality. I don’t really know how to explain it but so far NOLA has been awesome. I think it is the atmosphere and the way everyone is that I met so far. I’ll work on a better explanation for you later. It’s almost 11AM and I’m hungry. Today I will do my exploring.