gotdurt
2
- Joined
- May 13, 2004
- Messages
- 3,983
- Reaction score
- 23
- Location
- Burnet-ish, Tx
- First Name
- Casey
- Last Name
- Fry
Wow, what a trip...
Wes is my oldest friend; we were almost literally born together (I'm a few hours older), and have remained close friends through thick and thin.
He went into the Army back when we were in college, so I didn't get to see much of him for about 10 years while he was in Korea, Georgia, Iraq, etc... until he was lucky enough to be moved to San Antonio a few years ago. We always talked of taking a longish bike trip somewhere, but never quite made it happen... that is, until he learned that he was was being sent back to Iraq in July, for another year+.
Wes wanted to make a trip to the Ozarks, and his plan was ambitious... at least for a riding partner with a tired DR650; no big deal for the purpose-built BMW R1200C that he'd be riding.
Monday, June 22nd
Wait, we're doing what?
After a communication mix-up on the dates we were going, we made a last minute decision to leave early Monday, the 22nd. We were to meet in the Ikea parking lot in Round Rock at around 6:30am. Neither of us were ready, but we would do it anyway. Plan 'A' was to make the haul 400-ish miles to Little Missouri Falls just inside the Ouashita NF. Plan 'B' was to make it to the Red River Army Post just outside of Texarkana. We really didn't have a planned route; part of the 'plan' for this trip was to just wander aimlessly, picking our route as we go.
Morning came, and I rolled up the Ikea on time. He ran into some traffic behind an accident in Austin, so we were off to a latish start.
The mighty DR, loaded and awaiting it's torture test
A side note: In person, at first glance, my somewhat tattered 10-year old DR650 doesn't inspire much confidence as a road worthy trip machine; in addition to it's off-road-bred ergos and design, this particular one is even more set-up for trail riding, and has seen fairly heavy off-road abuse over it's last 4 years and 15k+ miles. I've tried to baby it more than my poor XRL that preceded it, however the past few years of it's life pretending to be a dirt bike have left it less than pretty and with it's fair share of ailments... including some charging problems and bent, hard-to-balance wheels. Last summer I replaced a bad regulator/rectifier with another used one, which tested on the weak side of spec... but it was consistent, so I used it and never looked back. Charging issues reared their ugly head again recently though, and since I didn't have time to do proper testing, I just bought a new battery and carried a small charger with me...
I nearly dozed off lying on the grass before I was stirred by the distinctly familiar sound of the boxer with near-open pipes in the distance; I picked myself up and waited for my life-long buddy to round the corner.
Wes and the Beemer
We headed up to Georgetown and turned east on 29 and a few other nice back-roads that would allow us to avoid the worst stretch of 79 and drop us off at Rockdale, where we'd continue on 79 until Palestine. From there we picked-up some back roads to Tyler, then 155 to Gilmer. At Hughes Springs we stopped for a break... we couldn't decide between the Italian and Mexican restaurants on the main street, so we went across the street to the Dairy Queen
In front of the Italian food place we didn't eat at...
To be continued....
Wes is my oldest friend; we were almost literally born together (I'm a few hours older), and have remained close friends through thick and thin.
He went into the Army back when we were in college, so I didn't get to see much of him for about 10 years while he was in Korea, Georgia, Iraq, etc... until he was lucky enough to be moved to San Antonio a few years ago. We always talked of taking a longish bike trip somewhere, but never quite made it happen... that is, until he learned that he was was being sent back to Iraq in July, for another year+.
Wes wanted to make a trip to the Ozarks, and his plan was ambitious... at least for a riding partner with a tired DR650; no big deal for the purpose-built BMW R1200C that he'd be riding.
Monday, June 22nd
Wait, we're doing what?
After a communication mix-up on the dates we were going, we made a last minute decision to leave early Monday, the 22nd. We were to meet in the Ikea parking lot in Round Rock at around 6:30am. Neither of us were ready, but we would do it anyway. Plan 'A' was to make the haul 400-ish miles to Little Missouri Falls just inside the Ouashita NF. Plan 'B' was to make it to the Red River Army Post just outside of Texarkana. We really didn't have a planned route; part of the 'plan' for this trip was to just wander aimlessly, picking our route as we go.
Morning came, and I rolled up the Ikea on time. He ran into some traffic behind an accident in Austin, so we were off to a latish start.
The mighty DR, loaded and awaiting it's torture test
A side note: In person, at first glance, my somewhat tattered 10-year old DR650 doesn't inspire much confidence as a road worthy trip machine; in addition to it's off-road-bred ergos and design, this particular one is even more set-up for trail riding, and has seen fairly heavy off-road abuse over it's last 4 years and 15k+ miles. I've tried to baby it more than my poor XRL that preceded it, however the past few years of it's life pretending to be a dirt bike have left it less than pretty and with it's fair share of ailments... including some charging problems and bent, hard-to-balance wheels. Last summer I replaced a bad regulator/rectifier with another used one, which tested on the weak side of spec... but it was consistent, so I used it and never looked back. Charging issues reared their ugly head again recently though, and since I didn't have time to do proper testing, I just bought a new battery and carried a small charger with me...
I nearly dozed off lying on the grass before I was stirred by the distinctly familiar sound of the boxer with near-open pipes in the distance; I picked myself up and waited for my life-long buddy to round the corner.
Wes and the Beemer
We headed up to Georgetown and turned east on 29 and a few other nice back-roads that would allow us to avoid the worst stretch of 79 and drop us off at Rockdale, where we'd continue on 79 until Palestine. From there we picked-up some back roads to Tyler, then 155 to Gilmer. At Hughes Springs we stopped for a break... we couldn't decide between the Italian and Mexican restaurants on the main street, so we went across the street to the Dairy Queen
In front of the Italian food place we didn't eat at...
To be continued....