Monday, July 21, 2014

Back on the road home

Was a cool 48 degrees under low hanging clouds when I left Angel Fire on Friday, July 18th. Decided to ride across part of Oklahoma on the way home. That will make 32 states Da'mit and I have visited in the last 15 months. Hmmmmm.... one more trip and we could visit the rest.......

Does that makes us a "Ramblin' man"? I can hear the slow lonely harmonica tune now....
Took a short cut across the panhandle of Oklahoma, not much to see out here, long flat roads divide the fields into a giant chess board. More unpaved than paved, but google maps says this is the way to go.

Not everybody makes it home going this way. The wagon trains left oxen carcasses on the road side, the dust bowl left rusting steel wrecks, will the future leave stainless polished fuselages to waste away? The land doesn't change much nor the people passing through. Only what they cast off.

We got as far as Childress, TX before tiredness and nightfall caught up with us. Still 645 miles from home.

After checking the oils and tires, we hit the road early AM Saturday, heading south toward Abilene. Not sure how far we can ride today, but the weather is a cool for a mid-July in Texas. Nice, very nice, so just gas and ride all day.

Only in Texas can you find multiple images of the Alamo. This is the main entrance to the rodeo arena on the Cirlcle T ranch.

Ten miles north of Caldwell, only 90 miles from home, something happened on Da'mit that has never happened in over 40,000 kms of riding remote arctic tundra or lonely desert crossings.....

Can you tell what is going on?

Our FIRST flat tire. Have been using Ride-On in Da'mit's tube tires to balance them and prevent flats. I swear by this product. Some people use Dynabeads to balance their tires, but Dynabeads won't prevent a flat tire. Ride-On does. On the other hand, even Ride-On is no cure for a tire worn down to the bare threads.

Mounted the well worn spare tire with hopes and prayers that it will get us home. Arrived back home in Cypress after several detours for road construction. Beautiful loving wife and hyper-dog were both glad to see us.

The C2C US ride with Rudy and Dave was an pleasant experience in planning and traveling with strangers. We met on the internet, planned our trip and met for the first time face to face in Virginia six weeks ago. Now we have a shared experience and memories of a great ride across America on Russian sidecar rigs, meeting many other Ural riders and dealers along the way.

All in all, it was a safe long ride, no injuries, no accidents, no trip ending mechanical problems. Hundreds of photos were taken to be shared and countless stories will be told of our adventures, sights seen and the people we met. Most of all we thank all of the generous people we met along the way who opened their homes to us, offered assistance, advice and local information. It has reaffirmed in our minds the strength, greatness and generosity of the American people. It is the people of America, not Washington, that makes our country strong.

Nite Da''mit

 

2 comments:

  1. So glad you made it back safe! Loved reading about this journey. Thank you so much for taking us all along with you! Thank you also for this very important reminder "...It is the people of America, not Washington, that makes our country strong...." Love you Abu!

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  2. Glad you made it home safe CCjon! Quite the accomplishment by the three amigos.

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