Blisters upon blisters from the searing heat

I was up and moving.  I’m being plagued by blisters on my sunburn and my dermatologist will chastise me when she sees what I’ve done to my skin.  I’ve done everything I can think of … sunscreen, a long-sleeved shirt.  But still I’m blistering up and now starting to peel.  This isn’t good.  I have to be on the road, riding to my next destination. 

On Thursday, July 24, I was working my way across the few short miles left of New Mexico  and heading into Texas, my final destination to be Mesquite where my good friend, Slider, is.  My plan is to spend the weekend since I don’t get to see her as often as I’d like.  It’s nice to take a few days and to spend time on the weekends as my friends aren’t working.  Then they go back to work and I go back to my job of riding Monday through Friday.  Works for me.

There sure are a lot of trains in New Mexico.

The heat hasn’t been too bad.  Propel in my water and ice in my drink has helped a lot.  Drinking more has improved as I often have a problem drinking enough on trips.

Texas came into my headlights near Muleshoe.  Interesting name, that.  The city was founded in 1913 when the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built an 88-mile line from Farwell to Lubbock.  The name Muleshoe is traced to a brand registered in 1860, and a ranch supposedly named after the owner found a mule shoe in the soil. 

I also had to make another little side trip to find Jolly, Texas (for our friend, Dave Jolly).  It's so small it took me a while and I couldn't even find a sign for the town itself.  This would have to do.

 

I pretty much just rode, making miles toward my friend.  But I had to make a photo stop … the Boston Terrier Museum.

The Boston Terrier Museum in Floydada, Texas.  I wish it had been open as it would have been fun to poke around in there.  It was opened in 2007 by a husband and wife to showcase their collection of all things Boston Terrier.  The collection (started in 1991) kept growing so to keep him out of trouble with his wife they opened the museum, a former hospital where many of the people who live in Floydada were born.

By the time I hit Wichita Falls, Texas, I figured it was time to call it a day.  The motel I ended up at was called the Wayfarer’s Motor Inn. Do NOT, repeat DO NOT ever stay here.  This is in my top two worst hotel/motels ever.  I’m embarrassed that I even stayed there.  I did not sleep well nor shower.  Nuff said.

On Friday, July 25, I was going to meet up with Slider.  We decided to meet in McKinney, on I-75.  But, of course, I got sidetracked a little bit.  Along the way I saw a crop duster dusting crops.  I had to stop and take a few photos.  It was fascinating to watch and the little plane was yellow.  It was a beautiful thing to watch.

He flew back and forth, and then he was gone, like a mere figment of my imagination.  I so enjoyed watching this as he was like a pilot flying aerobatics, up, down, looping around.

When I got to McKinney, Slider and I had no trouble finding each other.  I pulled off the interstate and pulled into a Lowe’s parking lot.  I checked my text messages.  She was in the next parking lot over at Home Depot.  Great minds. 

Hugs around, and then I was dying of heat … and it wasn’t that hot.  But there’d been an accident that had slowed down the traffic and so I got in later than expected. 

As we’d not eaten we went to a little barbecue place she’d seen on the way to meet me.  What a place.  The food, especially the brisket that was fork-cutting friendly, was over-the-top, mind-blowing delicious … the place and parking lot and drive through were packed.  There’s your sign. 

I know I posted this on Facebook, but it was so good ... what can I say?

On the way home we did the usual, I followed her … and we took a couple of nice roads to stay off the main ones.  There were some nice little curves and I was enjoying the ride.  I had my sheepskin butt pad on and I needed to adjust it so I was sitting up and things felt a little off … I wasn’t leaning into my bag on the back seat.  I looked around to find that it was hanging off the side of my bike with one nylon strap and a bungee cord.  Oh man, I pulled over.  That could have been a disaster, but I was able to avert it.  I can’t believe I didn’t feel the unbalancing of the bike.  That was probably a good thing as I probably just counterbalanced without realizing it; otherwise, I could have been pulled over.

This whole incident scared me as the results could have been disastrous. 

We got my bag secured in Slider’s Cadillac and got to the barn.  I unloaded everything and looked at the strap.  It had broken.  I’d seen a little slit in it and the more I looked at it, the more I think it had been cut.  I just bought this bag last summer so it doesn’t have many miles on it.  And I’ve NEVER had a nylon strap break like this in the middle.  I noticed it when I was packing for this trip, so it must have happened during my spring ride.  

 

Let the talking marathon begin.  Food, talk, talk and more talk.  Then bed.  I was tired and the nylon strap and more blistering has me stressed out a bit.