Day 14 - The Home Stretch
(Ft. Stockton to Houston, TX, 496 miles)
Our Route, Tuesday August 6th , 2002
Eager to be in Houston by mid-afternoon, we pulled away from the motel around 6:00 AM and made for a truck stop restaurant which was the only thing open at that time of the morning. We had a good filling meal then got on I-10 and started the long, boring grind home.
West Texas is filled with precious few towns and not much else. Though slightly hilly in places it consists mostly of cactus and scrub brush and a few limestone capped mesas. After a hundred miles or so of this while droning down the interstate highway, one's mind wanders and the events of the past come up to be remembered or processed. One thought that popped into my head was of my teenage niece who lived with my wife and I for eight months the previous year. I never got the chance to take her riding on my ST. We were all supposed to go to the Texas Hill Country one weekend where I was going to ride her around but the trip got cancelled. Unfortunately we never made it to the Hill Country before she left to go back home.
My Niece who was 11 years old at the time sits astride my ST.
Because I had made the big mistake of staying up a little late watching TV the night before, it wasn't long before I was in serious need of a nap. By the time we hit Boerne (pronounced Burney), just outside of San Antonio, I was desperate so we pulled into a combination Texaco station and Taco Bell. I made my way to the most out of the way booth I could find and napped for a few minutes. It perked me up so we saddled back up and continued on. As we rode down the highway I resolved to get the proper amount of sleep on my next long distance trip.
From Boerne we took Highway 46 and skirted around the north side of San Antonio. We somehow managed to get lost twice on that road, once in Boerne and once near New Braunfels. Eventually however, we connected back up with I-10 at Sequin and made our way east. We made fairly good time but the interstate was heavily mined with LEO's which slowed us down. The combination of my radar detector and trucker reports on the CB kept us out of trouble until we got near Schulenburg where a very well hidden LEO with instant on radar almost nailed us. If it hadn't been for me hitting the binders when I saw the brake lights of the car directly ahead of me come on, he would have nailed us for sure. Finally we hit the western outskirts of Houston. Although it was only 2:30+- PM, the traffic was stop and go for miles. There's nothing quite like being in Houston's stop-and-go traffic in the middle of August while fully suited up on a motorcycle. It lends a new meaning to the word HOT! At loop 610, Ken & I waved and parted company as he proceeded on down I-10 and I turned south onto the loop. At 3:30 PM, hot and tired, I wheeled into my neighborhood. It was good to be home.
It had been a great trip to take on a badly needed vacation. WeSTOC 2002 was a success in my book. The memory of the people, scenery and experiences will be with me for the rest of my life.
What next? How will I possibly experience a trip as enjoyable? Maybe I'll try going to FallSTOC in Ogunquit, Maine in a year or two. I'll head to the Great Lakes, then swing over to Maine to join other STOC'ers in chowing down on Lobster! Unfortunately, having the spare change to do it depends on the country's economy and the stock market perking back up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
........ The End.