klb1122
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- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
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- Location
- Houston, TX
- First Name
- Kory
- Last Name
- Burleson
Day 1 – 6/18/2018 – Houston, TX to Tucumcari, NM – 712 Miles
Houston, TX to Tucumcari, NM – 712 Miles – MAP LINK
You’ll quickly notice that it’s an end of an era. The Connies had a nice long 9-year run. Last year Mom and Dad went out to Arizona for a UH football game and Dad came back with a Honda Gold Wing F6B. Makes perfect sense, right? He’s talked about wanting a Gold Wing for as long as I can remember, so it was good to see that finally happen. His Connie is still in the stable, but for a 12-day road trip, there’s no shame in choosing ultimate comfort.
As you can probably tell from the title, this year’s goal was to visit a craft brewery at as many of the stopping locations as possible. This was a thought I had after we ate at breweries in Tooele, UT and Montrose, CO last year. They were our favorite eating locations of the trip and more unique than a regular restaurant. Also baked into this year’s trip would be a few locations we’ve visited in the past along with some new ones I wanted to check off my list.
With the trip just a couple days away, the weather did not look promising for takeoff. There was a tropical storm/depression in the Gulf and headed our way. The night before leaving, there was nothing but rain the forecast, starting at the time we planned on leaving. We planned to meet off of I-45 just north of the Beltway. That plan changed in the morning while listening to the morning news because there was a huge wreck on I-45 south of the Beltway, so Dad had to change his route to take the Hardy Toll Road north. We ended up deciding on a gas station in Spring. I wanted to see my girls in the morning, so I didn’t take off until 6:30. Thankfully as I said my goodbyes and took off it hadn’t started raining at my house yet.
My starting mileage for the trip was 62,041.
I took the Beltway around to I-45 and north to Spring. Within minutes of getting on the Beltway the rain started, but it wasn’t terrible. As I headed north on I-45 I saw a lady parked on the shoulder and outside the car pointing her iPad towards the air. I turned to my left and saw the most complete rainbow I’ve ever seen, perfect from horizon to horizon. Seemed like a good start to the ride.
At the planned Shell station in Spring I met up with my riding partner. Once Dad saw me he realized he forgot to bring his CamelBak.
After filling up we hit the road. We really lucked out with the rain and it wasn’t bad before we cleared it for good. It was also nice and overcast for a good part of the day. The first stretch we made it almost 200 miles before pulling in for some gas and a break in Waxahachie.
Here’s Dad’s new mile-munching steed…
I guess the timing was good because we got through Fort Worth without a hiccup. We completely cleared the tropical cloud cover and headed northwest on US287, an old familiar boring road to us. The next stop of the day was in Harrold.
Another 190ish mile stretch put us on the west side of Amarillo, where we stopped for gas before it was too late. Somewhere along the way I got blasted in my sun shield with something big. I couldn’t tell if it was a bug or something else when it happened. After further inspection, I’m pretty sure it was NOT a bug.
We finished off the riding for the day with a 100-mile trip down I-40 into New Mexico and arriving in Tucumcari, NM. We checked into the Motel Safari and chatted with the current owner, new from the last time we stayed there. He had a boxer named Sam that was scared of guests. Funny story about checking in was a couple pulled up and beat me into the lobby. Dad and I walked in right after him and the older gentleman’s wife stayed in the car. The motel owner assumed we were all together, so when the guy asked for a king bedroom he was a bit thrown off. It didn’t make sense until he finally realized we weren’t together. He said he wasn’t sure how sleeping arrangements were going to work with all 3 of us in a king bed, but he wasn’t going to ask any questions.
Mom had called earlier and informed me that the place I planned on eating (no breweries in Tucumcari) was only open for lunch. I asked the owner if there was a decent place within walking distance and he said Cornerstone, across the street, wasn’t bad.
At Cornerstone we had an average dinner, nothing to brag about, but not terrible. The young waitress thought we were crazy when we asked for ketchup to go with our onion rings. Is that a Texas thing?
On day 1 I had the energy to go out after dark and roam around with my camera. That ends up wearing off pretty quick the further into the trip we go. Here’s what I came up with around the hotel.
That was a wrap for Day 1. It was time to rest up for the mountains.
Houston, TX to Tucumcari, NM – 712 Miles – MAP LINK
You’ll quickly notice that it’s an end of an era. The Connies had a nice long 9-year run. Last year Mom and Dad went out to Arizona for a UH football game and Dad came back with a Honda Gold Wing F6B. Makes perfect sense, right? He’s talked about wanting a Gold Wing for as long as I can remember, so it was good to see that finally happen. His Connie is still in the stable, but for a 12-day road trip, there’s no shame in choosing ultimate comfort.
As you can probably tell from the title, this year’s goal was to visit a craft brewery at as many of the stopping locations as possible. This was a thought I had after we ate at breweries in Tooele, UT and Montrose, CO last year. They were our favorite eating locations of the trip and more unique than a regular restaurant. Also baked into this year’s trip would be a few locations we’ve visited in the past along with some new ones I wanted to check off my list.
With the trip just a couple days away, the weather did not look promising for takeoff. There was a tropical storm/depression in the Gulf and headed our way. The night before leaving, there was nothing but rain the forecast, starting at the time we planned on leaving. We planned to meet off of I-45 just north of the Beltway. That plan changed in the morning while listening to the morning news because there was a huge wreck on I-45 south of the Beltway, so Dad had to change his route to take the Hardy Toll Road north. We ended up deciding on a gas station in Spring. I wanted to see my girls in the morning, so I didn’t take off until 6:30. Thankfully as I said my goodbyes and took off it hadn’t started raining at my house yet.
My starting mileage for the trip was 62,041.
I took the Beltway around to I-45 and north to Spring. Within minutes of getting on the Beltway the rain started, but it wasn’t terrible. As I headed north on I-45 I saw a lady parked on the shoulder and outside the car pointing her iPad towards the air. I turned to my left and saw the most complete rainbow I’ve ever seen, perfect from horizon to horizon. Seemed like a good start to the ride.
At the planned Shell station in Spring I met up with my riding partner. Once Dad saw me he realized he forgot to bring his CamelBak.
After filling up we hit the road. We really lucked out with the rain and it wasn’t bad before we cleared it for good. It was also nice and overcast for a good part of the day. The first stretch we made it almost 200 miles before pulling in for some gas and a break in Waxahachie.
Here’s Dad’s new mile-munching steed…
I guess the timing was good because we got through Fort Worth without a hiccup. We completely cleared the tropical cloud cover and headed northwest on US287, an old familiar boring road to us. The next stop of the day was in Harrold.
Another 190ish mile stretch put us on the west side of Amarillo, where we stopped for gas before it was too late. Somewhere along the way I got blasted in my sun shield with something big. I couldn’t tell if it was a bug or something else when it happened. After further inspection, I’m pretty sure it was NOT a bug.
We finished off the riding for the day with a 100-mile trip down I-40 into New Mexico and arriving in Tucumcari, NM. We checked into the Motel Safari and chatted with the current owner, new from the last time we stayed there. He had a boxer named Sam that was scared of guests. Funny story about checking in was a couple pulled up and beat me into the lobby. Dad and I walked in right after him and the older gentleman’s wife stayed in the car. The motel owner assumed we were all together, so when the guy asked for a king bedroom he was a bit thrown off. It didn’t make sense until he finally realized we weren’t together. He said he wasn’t sure how sleeping arrangements were going to work with all 3 of us in a king bed, but he wasn’t going to ask any questions.
Mom had called earlier and informed me that the place I planned on eating (no breweries in Tucumcari) was only open for lunch. I asked the owner if there was a decent place within walking distance and he said Cornerstone, across the street, wasn’t bad.
At Cornerstone we had an average dinner, nothing to brag about, but not terrible. The young waitress thought we were crazy when we asked for ketchup to go with our onion rings. Is that a Texas thing?
On day 1 I had the energy to go out after dark and roam around with my camera. That ends up wearing off pretty quick the further into the trip we go. Here’s what I came up with around the hotel.
That was a wrap for Day 1. It was time to rest up for the mountains.