July 1 (Day 22) was an early start - 6am! We had a long day ahead with 434 miles to go in continued HOT weather and hoped to get a good chunk of miles under our belts before the heat of the day. We left Edmund OK and Del, Lori and Jason met a very welcoming state trooper along the road who was kind enough (once he realized that they weren’t banditos) to just issue them each a speed warning – and even posed for a photo with the team!
We reached the Texas state line before we were ready to stop for breakfast. We stopped at a little roadside diner where we met Candy, a 20-year survivor of ovarian cancer.
After fueling our bodies, we hit the road again and made our way to Austin. We arrived to a camera from the Austin ABC affiliate station and John spent about an hour with the team. When it was time for our debrief, everyone was surprised by the new arrivals – Theresa and Wolf (Thor!) and Ken and Peter. Also arriving to join us for a few days – Cindi who wanted to catch up with the team on film.
Fabulous dinner that night – to celebrate Canada Day – at Wink. Wine bar first, then a wine paired tasting menu, followed by a special “Happy Birthday to Canada” dessert. We burst out into a spontaneous rendition of Oh Canada – and got most of the words right!
Saturday July 2 was a day off from riding, but we had a few things planned. First up was a meet and greet at Halcyon in downtown Austin. Halcyon is a coffee shop/breakfast stop in the morning and a lounge/bar at night. Friends of Lori’s and Ken’s own the place and were more than generous inviting us to set up our signs. They even had free coffee and a ‘build-your-own-bloody-mary” station set up for us. Then back to the hotel where the guys went to work (in the heat) on the rig. The weight of the bikes in the back trailer had pulled the stays out of the floor so Del, Mark, Thor and Jason replaced them all and hoped that would prevent any further (minor) damage to bikes.
That night we all went out to Chef Bobby Flay’s pick for “Best BBQ in America” – the Salt Lick. It’s in the middle of farm country and none of us were prepared for what we stumbled upon – over 1000 people enjoying or waiting for the great food. People picnicking on the grounds, live musicians, a real fair-type atmosphere. Thankfully we had reservations so only had to wait about 20 minutes for our table.
Day 24 had us heading to Beaumont, TX. Dr T left us for a few days to head home to help her parents out. Having Thor (christened so by the guys) and Theresa along with an SUV gave us the chance to ride along more closely with the team. And no, Texas doesn’t have a helmet law. We reached our hotel early enough to enjoy some time by the pool before grabbing a bite to eat – and our first taste of gator.
Day 25 was July 4th and we were heading to New Orleans. Our departure was delayed by a tire problem but we finally hit the road to drive through Alligator Alley and the Louisiana coastal swamps. We stopped in Creole for lunch (more gator), but saw very few alligators along the road.
We made it to New Orleans before the fireworks and headed out for a night on the town which included meeting a musician who was just about to record a song about cancer. He sang it for us, changing a lyric to ‘answer for cancer’.
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