I met with Mollie and Graeme at the Stabucks on 242 a little later than what I had planned. Mr cat-freak was there but unfortunately couldn't joins us for the ride
Graeme seemed a little stumped when I got there and was ready to roll, I guess they thought I'd stop, grab a cup of coffee and whatnot
...but I planned for KSU at 7:45am and it was already 7:50am...so I waited for them to gear up and hit the road. BTW, for all the guys out there complaining about women taking too long to get ready, they have yet to meet Graeme getting geared up....
We had a wonderful weather on the way to Tyler. I was cold half the way there, it had been cloudy and foggy and not a lot of sun warming up things. That was really welcomed, knowing how hot it can get this time of the year.
I took them through one of my favorite roads, FM 315, from Palestine to just outside of Tyler. I routed the ride to go bypass Tyler by going through the loop, but I had no idea it had so many lights and so much traffic.
Finally we arrive at our destination: Pat's BBQ. The folks from the Motorcycle Tourer's forum were there, most of them had already eaten and were leaving. As you can see in the photo, Mollie is on her phone telling Bryan how much she likes her GS1200..
The food was simply awesome. I had no idea brisquet could be so juicy and tasty, until they got a pice of it right from the pit and started chopping since we all three ordered chopped beef sandwiches. After I had my first bite I kinda regretted not ordering a large piece of brisquet instead of the sandwich, but oh well. THe BBQ sauce was the perfect Texas-style sauce..the perfect blend of tomatoes, spices and vinegar. Probably the best TX-style BBQ sauce I've had.
After chatting with the folks from the MTF forum, ang oggling at the different bikes and farkles, we headed out looking for a gas station. My Zumo routed me to a non-existing CITGO station on Hwy 31, so I kept going until I found one. I gassed up, payed, went to the restroom (on the outside of another building), got stuck in the restroom, went back to the bike and Graeme was STILL pumping gas. He managed to get on the slowest ever gas pump. Then I went back to rescue Mollie from the restroom, seems like she almost got stuck too. We agreed that getting stuck in a non-air conditioned, purple bathroom is high up there in the list of things to fear from.....
I wasn't sure about the best way to go home, since I didn't feel like doing the Tyler loop again...so I just told the GPS to "take me home" and let it choose the route. (scary, I know). But it turned out rather well, we were on some nice roads up until Palestine, and from there I picked up the same familiar roads we used in the morning.
Just outside Palestine I felt like stopping for something more than gas, so I decided to wait until Crocket to put gas and take a break at the Moosehead cafe.
I've eaten there before, but always wanted to try their desserts. After gassing up we stopped there and had some pie and a coffee. The chocolate merengue pie was delicious, the serving size was perfect...not too big, not too small. Mollie graciously picked up the tab for all of us
Time to gear up again....(and wait for Graeme some more....
)
The rest of the ride was much as it has been before--couldn't have asked for better weather. No wind, no rain, and it wasn't hot. I had mentioned them that I would be stopping again in Conroe, and well, we couldn't have had better timing--it just started raining by the time we exited I-45 on Hwy 105, so we gassed up, pulled in to Starbucks and just kicked back and waited out the rain. It only rained 10 minutes, but we were in no hurry at all. I thouroughly enjoyed the company and the conversation while nursing my Chai tea frapuccino.
It was a little past 7:00pm, so it was time to get on the road again. Graeme took I-45 while Mollie and I took the scenic route. No rain at all for me as I pulled uneventfully into my subdivision.
Guys, it was my pleasure riding with you, I had a lot of fun, good food, good company, good riding weather, and we and our bikes are back in one piece. Couldn't ask for more.
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and telling from me 
instigator
I'll miss you 
(I'm referring to the bike) 
