Got up at 4:45 am, eager to meet the challenges of the long trip ahead ( I was especially excited because this would be my first long distance motorcycle tour). Because I had done all my "pre-flight" checks the night before, I was able to get my '97 red ST fired up and on the road by 5:50am. My first stop was the McDonalds restaurant at I-10 and Mason Road in the Houston suburb of Katy where I met up with my riding partner Sam Terry and his '96 red ST. As we had coffee and discussed the trip, we made a major route change. Our original intention had been to make a loop through the Texas Hill Country on our way out to Big Bend. Sam's calculation of the mileage made it clear that we were being way too ambitious given the time involved. If we were going to reach our first destination by nightfall, we were just going to have to "iron butt" it out I-10. So, by 7:00 am or so, we were heading west out I-10 toward San Antonio.

Because of the insane traffic on Loop 410 / I-10 around San Antonio, we opted to skirt around the city by cutting off of I-10 at Seguin and taking highway 46 through New Braunfels and Boerne. At Boerne we got back on I-10 and started the major butt grind toward our destination. By the time we hit Junction it was time for lunch and a long break. As we pulled off the highway, I noticed a nondescript cafe with a ton of trucks parked outside... always a good sign, so in we went. We had a too heavy meal of pork chops and starchy veggies.

After our very filling meal we were back on the road again. Sixty miles down the road, we hit the town of Sonora where my body told me to pull over. Seems there was a price to pay for that heavy meal back in Junction... I was about to fall asleep! Falling asleep at the wheel of a car is one thing, but to fall asleep on a motorcycle lends a whole new meaning to the phrase "having a bad hair day"! After splashing a little water on my face and resting a bit, I was refreshed and off we went again (reminder for future reference... no more heavy meals in the middle of a long ride!).

We continued west on I-10 until we hit highway 290. This is a road that goes near Ft. Lancaster State Park. It is very scenic as it rapidly descends into the Pecos River valley. Shortly after crossing the Pecos, we hit the town of Sheffield where we headed south on 349 then 2400 then 285 into Sanderson.

The drive from Sheffield to Sanderson was interesting to say the least. It was somewhat scenic but that is not what really made it very, VERY interesting. There were buzzards (vultures for those of you not familiar with the term) everywhere chowing down on the multitude of deer and smaller animals killed by passing cars & trucks! They were of special interest to us because they represented a major traffic hazard. I was in the lead on this stretch of highway and I had my SIPDE* on overdrive. As I came around a fairly tight curve, I spotted a buzzard out the corner of my eye on the right side of the road that was facing the roadway. I veered to the left side of my lane just as a precaution. Sure enough he suddenly decided to take off just as I was approaching. His take off path was directly on an intercept course with me. I didn't have time to brake so I swerved as far as I could to the left into the opposing lane (unoccupied). He missed me by maybe a couple of inches. Mr. Buzzard was so close that I should have been able to smell his bad breath! Hitting a buzzard on a motorcycle at 60 mph +- would definitely have made for a bad hair day! Thank you MSF**, thank you SIPDE*.

After our "close encounter of the buzzard kind", we proceeded on into Sanderson where we checked into the Desert Air Motel. The place was *very* reasonably priced and the rooms were clean and comfy. It was so reasonably priced that I felt bad asking about a discount but sure enough, they gave AAA discounts.

The guy that ran the place was himself a biker. He had a Honda Shadow and two dirt bikes parked outside the office. When we told him about our close encounter with a buzzard, he proceeded to tell us about the time that he actually hit one. He had another bike at the time and when he hit the bird, it cracked his fairing in half!

After cleaning up, resting a bit and calling our wives, we headed out to an eatery called Grandmothers Cafe that the motel clerk had recommended. While there we met an amazing couple of travelers. These guys were two retired school teachers from England that were in the middle of a bicycle tour of the U.S. Their journey began in San Diego and they planned on going all the way to the east coast before returning home. Here we were thinking we were being real adventurous going across west Texas on motorcycles and they were doing it on bicycles! Kinda' made us feel like wimps... :-).

After our evening meal, Sam and I parted company and headed for our separate rooms to crash for the night. The next day was going to be fun with Marathon, Texas and Big Bend National Park on our agenda.

*SIPDE - a motorcycle safety term that stands for Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute

**MSF - Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

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