40% Chance of Rain

We had been talking for a couple of months about riding south to Decateur to eat at Sweetie Pies Ribeyes, but the temperature had been hovering around 110.  That is too hot for a fun ride.  The heat broke last week, so we decided to give it a try on Saturday. We watched the weather all week, and Saturday was supposed to start in the 60's and hit a high in the 80's, with only a 40% chance of rain.

It is a date. Our friends from OKC are going to ride to Duncan, and we will leave from here to head to Decateur.  

Since there was a 40% chance of rain, we decided to bring the rain gear just in case. The day started out perfect, it was warm enough for just shirt sleeves. We met at the normal place for us. We always say Tractor Supply, but we really mean the Chisholm Corner convenience store/gas station.  We meet there so we can fuel up our bikes and ourselves. If it is cold I get a coffee, if it is hot I get a soda or water, and if it's early I may get peanut butter crackers (the breakfast of champions). Today I got an ice tea and some peppermints. As we were checking out, there was a most interesting basket of impulse buys, as I was looking I found a pack of gum that I just had to buy.

As we got ready to pull out Chuck says "OK Keith, you lead"  so we headed out.  We were going to Decateur via Wichita Falls.  You have to keep in mind that we are riding motorcycles, and a lot of the time we go from point A to C to get to B.

The highway in this part of the country goes through quite a few water tower towns.

As we were driving, there were miles of dry yellow fields, then you would feel cooler air and see a lush green field. Were they irrigating?

On Highway 70, as you get near to Interstate 44, you can see the Red River. This is the border between Oklahoma and Texas. We got to I-44 and headed south to Texas.

We are now over the border and could sing "Texas, Our Texas" the state song, if we knew it. We were headed to Red River Harley Davidson, and little did we know that it is tax free weekend and they were having a sale. After a bit of shopping we were headed to Decateur for lunch. I love driving through Wichita Falls. There is a very tall bridge that you get to drive over, the bridge is above the rooftops.

 

 

 Driving down Hwy 287 to Decateur, you go past Bowie. I have been traveling down 287 my entire life. My grandparents lived in Corsicana and we went through Bowie to get there. I don't think I have ever been on 287 on the west side of Bowie. It was neat to see what was on the other side of the curve.

Dianna had received a phone call from her friend Glenda on the way to Wichita Falls. She now lives in Weatherford, Texas, and Glenda decided to drive to Decateur to eat lunch with us. When we got to Decateur, she had arrived about 5 minutes earlier and had a table and hot rolls waiting for us. 

As we were walking out of the restaurant, we find that it had started raining. We need the rain so much (remember the dry fields we drove past on the way). Diane ran across the street to rescue the helmets from the rain. Once again the mother duck saved us, I hadn't even thought about the cloth neck edge soaking up the water.

Isn't the rain beautiful!!

 
 Since it was raining, we decided to do a bit of shopping on the square. Our bikes were parked in front of the Main Street Mall, so in we went. The store was sort of a shot gun style, it was narrow and very long. We shopped all the way to the back of the store. As we shopped back to the front I saw the jewelry, some really neat earrings. I had to have 2 pair.When we came out it was still raining.

We were all looking at the weather apps on our phones; trying to see where the storms were, are they past us or are there more coming our way. We saw some more coming our way, so the ladies went shopping around the square, leaving the guys sitting on the bench with the lizard.
As we came around the last corner, the guys were sitting right where we left them. They had a couple of interesting comments from people "this weather is not very conducive for motorcycles" and "think you are going to get wet before you get home"
After looking at the weather again, we think we can make it between storms. As we were riding out of the square to get gas, the water was running curb deep. We got gas and head north. Keith asked me to keep an eye on the weather, so I look at my phone and OH NO, there is a severe thunderstorm warning for the current location, telling people to take cover from the 60 MPH winds. The storms were about 13 miles northeast of Decateur, so I knew we were safe from the storm, but we were sure getting the outflow. A couple of times Keith was riding almost on the shoulder to keep from being pushed into the other lane of traffic. As we made it closer to Bowie, the rain was slowing and the skies were clearing.

We stopped in Waurika and I put on another jacket, while the others were taking off rain gear.

As we were leaving Waurika, we decided to stop in Duncan and you guessed it...EAT! We went to La Fiesta and had their wonderful Guacamole and fried Jalapenos. Since we were already in our home town, after dinner I got to say "text me when you get home".

This was a wonderful day.  I got to ride, shop, eat, and make a new friend. What could be better?

 

 

 

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Views from the Back!

Until Next Time!

Celebration Day!

Today, August 10th, was a Celebration Day for all kinds of things.
Celebration number 1:
30 years ago today, I gave birth to the most amazing baby girl.

 It is amazing just how quickly she grew,

and grew,

and grew,

and then she was an amazing young woman!!

All too quickly she was off to college, and then a cross country move to the east coast.






I am so proud of the woman she has become.

Celebration number 2:
Our son has received a promotion at work. He also grew from a cute little thing into...

a young man getting a promotion at work.

He has learned so much over the last few years, I am very proud of the young man he has become.

Celebration number 3:
This was a celebration of life as we talked about our friends Roger and Linda, who were killed while riding 5 years ago today.

The first time we met Roger and Linda, they welcomed us with open arms. We had just bought a bike and were trying to find a group of people to ride with. We went to a CMA meeting and met a wonderful group of people. Linda was a great teacher for a newbie like me. She taught me how to stay cool on hot days, how to stay warm on cold days, and gave tips on packing in saddle bags. Roger was a great joker. He was always giving me a hard time about my hair or spitting seeds on him as they rode behind us. We originally bought our bike to do day rides, then one day Linda says "We are going to a rally in Ruidoso. Do you guys want to come?" so we started really riding. That was the first of many rides and many miles. We miss them, but know they are in Heaven looking down on us as we travel. Every time we ride through Ryan, we give them a wave!!

Celebration number 4: A celebration of new friends. On our first trip to Ruidoso we met Chuck and Diane. Diane is another mother duck that made this newbie feel welcome. We lived in different towns, so when Roger and Linda were gone we lost contact. With the introduction of Face book, we reconnected and a few months ago we started riding with their Friday night dinner ride group. This is a group of people who have welcomed us in and made us feel right at home. We have the best time on Friday nights, just eating, laughing and visiting.

We usually end up with the ladies on one end of the table and the guys on the other, so we can talk and not have to yell over each other. You never know if the group will be 6 or 26, but we have a great time. I can hardly wait for some cooler weather, so we can really ride with this group.

View from the Back!

August 10th, a great day all around!










Until Next Time!!

Cold Front 8/5/12

We had a cold front today!!!

It seems like it has been months since we have ridden anywhere but when the temperature is over 100 closer to 110 it is too hot to ride. When I checked the temperature this afternoon and it was only 99 I said "Lets go for it!"
We didn't have a long time to ride but at least we got out on the bike. One thing I did notice was the sun was very hot, which ever leg was facing the sun felt like it was burning. We just drove up and down the drag a couple of times like teenagers.

After church we got to ride a little bit more. Hopefully this weather will break soon and we can ride more.

But I did get a view from the back!!!!











Until next time!

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