The Battle Field Run -- Cruise Control Rocks

Our run to the battlefields continued on Wednesday, June 29, as we got on the road, with Smudge leading.  She has cruise control so it makes it way easier.  My leading would take us from one speed to another as I would look around, and not constantly be paying attention to the speedometer.  That is annoying, for me and those following.  So this worked out much better.

Our battlefield plan was to take seven days to run about 2,300 miles.  Of course, that’s figuring it as the crow flies, and not how you really go.  We didn’t want to run all interstates, although we would end up doing some of that due to necessity.  Our goal was to also run some secondaries and see a few things along the way to make the ride much more interesting.  A to B to C, etc., isn’t that much fun.

That first full day on the road together I’d checked in at home.  One of my dogs, Daisy Mae, had apparently been stung by a wasp.  She was feeling needy and wanting some attention, but when she tried to get into papa’s lap, he pushed her away because he was on the phone or something.  So Daisy got her feelings hurt and wouldn’t come around him for 24 hours.  She’s such a little prima donna.  It made me laugh because she is a little princess, and always has been.  Stories like those always break up the adventures of the rides.  Stories like that make me miss my kids, but I got a dog fix for the day with a little Corgi.

What a cutie.

We didn’t do much stopping that day as we wanted to make a good cut into our mileage.  We intended to run a bit over 400 miles.  Thanks to Smudge, we were able to spend the night at Cannon AFB in New Mexico.  Yay.  $60 for the four of us, $15 per person.  Who wouldn’t want to spend that for a night’s rest?  We had a bit of a time finding the housing as we came in during the evening … ugh!!!  Who hates night riding besides me?  But we’d called ahead to make arrangements and needed to get there.  It was really good to get off the road and get a good night’s sleep before continuing our journey.

Go Air Force.

Thursday (June 30) turned out to be a beautiful day and we made a stop at the Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas.  It’s not a real ranch, but a public art installation and sculpture.  It was created in 1974 and the vehicles were either older running or junk Cadillacs from 1949 to 1963.  They’re half-buried nose-first at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. 

The Cadillac Ranch got one thumb up. 

The colors are vivid ... and you can't help but be impressed.

Something like Cadillac Ranch is always fun to see, and Rabbit Ears had his moment of adding some color to one of the vehicles.  It was amazing, though disheartening to see the hundreds of paint containers left on the ground … rather than tossed in the trash containers.  But the cars themselves were true works of art, painted with rattle cans of every color imaginable. It was warm, and time to get along.

Rabbit Ears was making his mark.

Just what it says, "Smile more."

Where'd them rabbit ears come from?  Leaving the Cadillac Ranch and getting a little goofy from the heat.

Riding in beautiful weather is easy although the heat can suck the energy out of you.  As we enjoyed the day, I read signs.  Friona, Texas, says they have the best cheeseburger in Texas.  Hereford, Texas, says they’re the beef capital of the world, and are home to the hostile herd.  From the number of feedlots I could smell in the area, I’d say “yes” to the beef capital.  Please let me order my burger.  Yum!!!  And, the best one, “We need our gluten and deep fry everything,” in Canadian, Texas.

It was an awesome day.  The girls and a boy bonding through our travels, sharing experiences.  We’d stop to gas, have snacks, and an occasional dog fix.  One of the dogs was a bloxer, a combination of an American Bulldog and a Boxer, named Levi. 

Handsome Levi, with one blue eye, and one brown. 

On we rode.  Rabbit Ears pointed out a crop duster in the distance.  It was hit by a ray of sunshine and glowed neon yellow in amongst a huge storm front.  Smudge did a superb job of getting us around the front and I only had five large raindrops hit my windshield.

We’ve discovered everyone in the group has a skill.  Smudge led magnificently.  She has the GPS and cruise control.  Rabbit Ears pointed out attractions along the road and gives us hand signals for the number of miles left until we reach our next destination.  Rockin’ Rita is the mom.  She makes sure everyone has done what they need to do and watches our backs by blocking traffic and keeping an eye on us.  My skill?  Being the Queen of the Effin’ Universe.  And reading maps and signs and planning the next day’s ride with everyone.

Our final destination for the day was Enid, Oklahoma.  We were nearly there and could see this huge, storm front like a black wall in front of us.  Smudge signaled.  “Should we pull over and put on rain gear?”  Me.  “Nah.  Let’s make a run for it.” 

We ran for it … running hard.  The rain started, slowly at first.  We were only about 10 miles from our hotel for the night.  The raindrops got bigger, and harder.  Was there some hail in that?  Lightning, and thunder crashing simultaneously.  Wind blowing us sideways.  I ran ahead of Smudge and pulled us over under a gas awning at a station along the road.  We were 8.2 miles from our destination, and this storm was all around us.  We sloshed into the convenience store where the temperature was about 20 degrees colder than outside.  We were now not only wet, but freezing, too. 

Yep.  We just love storms and being wet.

The storm was not letting up, but we were out of it for the time being and would wait for a bit to let it pass.  We heard there was flash flooding, and in looking at the radar on our phones, we could see we were in the eye.  Lightning lit the sky up all around our little oasis from the storm. 

We hung out for an hour or two.  The storm did not let up.  We asked about flash flooding and were told there was a bridge down the road that could flood.  Being dark by now, it wasn’t something we relished trying to get through.  A gentleman from the area came in and said we should make a run for it as the storm was just percolating above us. We talked and decided to head out, with Rockin’ Rita in the lead as she’s on three wheels and is more stable than those of us on two.

Down the road we went, slowly and very carefully with our flashers pointing out to traffic where we were.  The storm was noisy and all around us.  We could see and hear it.  But we only had 8 miles to go.  There wasn’t much traffic, and we finally got a couple miles down the road, only to discover the storm had let up.  The rain lessened, and we rode the last few miles to the hotel with a much better feeling.  Yep, that storm had been just twirling around where we’d been, but how would we know?  It was a thrilling adventure and we made it. 

What we now know for this trip is, we have Three Bonafides and a Boy.  Yep.  We’re bonafide riding partners, partners in crime, friends forever, bonded like superglue.  What a great feeling … family.  These types of experiences bond you, and provide the stories and memories of a lifetime, the ones you’ll remember and talk about forever.  And that’s what makes us the Bonafides!!