The alarm sounded at 5:30 telling me it was time to go back home. I loaded the ST up, put on my Aerostich, left my key in the room and closed the door. Once outside I put my earplugs in, put on my helmet, fired the ST up and drove around the corner where I met Sam at 6:00am for the trip back. We left while it was still dark so as to get to Ft. Stockton before the sun started coming up. With the sun coming up in the east and us heading east, we didn't want to be on the road while the sun was shining directly in our eyes. The idea was to waste some time eating breakfast while the sun was riding up into the sky away from horizontal.

I took the lead as we got on highway 17 for the sixty mile trip to Balmorhea and I-10. I had SIPDE on full alert as we navigated in the darkness through the winding roads because of the presence of deer. The deer population in this part of Texas is quite thick. They were a real concern to us in the darkness so we took it slow and easy coming out of Ft. Davis. Sure enough, about two thirds of the way to Balmorhea we saw a buck with a nice rack of antlers near the road. I flashed my brake lights for Sam and slowed way down in case any of Mr. Buck's buddies were nearby getting ready to jump out in front of us.

Once we got on the Interstate at Balmorhea it was beginning to get light. We cranked the STs into interstate mode and hit Ft. Stockton just right. As we arrived the sun was just getting ready to peak over the horizon so we pulled into to a truck stop and had breakfast. And some breakfast it was!! The portions were enormous. I ordered a short stack with my eggs and ham. What I got were a couple of pancakes that were about 12" in diameter. Now I know why most truckers are overweight!

Once again, we waddled out of a cafe and hopped on our bikes (did I mention the need to go on a diet when I got back home... :-) ). We had timed it just right as the sun was now just high enough that it wasn't directly in our eyes.

From Ft. Stockton we "iron butted" it all the way to Sonora where we stopped for a rest and to gas up. Soon we were on our way again toward Junction where we stopped for a coke. We took off again toward Kerrville. Just outside of Kerrville I was in the left lane getting ready to pass a guy hauling a trailer full of horses. He suddenly decided that he wanted to be in my lane too. He started over just as I was coming up even with the rear of his trailer while doing about 10 mph faster than he was. Down on the brakes I went. At that point he must have either noticed my HiViz Aerostich or saw my headlight because he swerved back into his lane. Thanks to SIPDE I was ready for him. This sudden emergency slowdown pointed out the need for me to do some high speed emergency braking practice because the instant before I let up on my brakes, my rear tire locked up slightly. Luckily I was not fishtailing or I could have gotten in trouble by letting up. When I'm rich enough to retire, I'm going to buy me an ABS model ST!

From Kerrville we proceeded on to Boerne, where we had planned on eating lunch. Once there we agreed that we weren't hungry so we decided to push on. I had eaten such a big breakfast in Ft. Stockton that I didn't think I would ever be hungry again! We took highway 46 at Boerne and headed for New Braunfels where we somehow managed to get on the wrong road. We eventually got straightened out and caught I-10 at Seguin for the home stretch. Things were pretty uneventful until we got just east of Flatonia. A pickup truck just a couple of miles ahead of us had a blowout, flipped and spilled all but one of it's occupants along the side of the road. One of the occupants was pinned in the truck. When we got to the scene, there were a ton of people helping out so we proceeded on down the road to Schulenburg where we stopped at the local Dairy Queen for a rest and a cold drink and ice cream bar.

On leaving Schulenburg, we had a close encounter of the "squid" kind. A bunch of kids on crotch rockets passed us with some of them doing in excess of 100 mph weaving in and out of traffic. Some were wearing helmets, some weren't. None were wearing any other form of safety gear. I was hoping I wasn't going to have to witness scattered body parts somewhere down the road.

From Schulenburg on, the traffic got heavier and heavier with people riding each other's tail. It stayed that way all the way into Houston. At I-10 and loop 610 Sam and I went our separate ways and I headed south on the loop for the final drive to my home in Bellaire. It was nice to be home and let some much needed blood circulate into my butt.

What a trip! It was my first long distance haul and I enjoyed every minute of it. I especially enjoyed the people I met. I'm looking forward to next years TexSTOC and seeing everybody again!!!!

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