Chapter 15

Going north on 87 I settled in for a long ride. Sonja had indicated that the road was under construction to Lubbock so I took her seriously and made sure my water was filled and the music was good.

I had switched to Sirius and was listening to a 70's station that played good music without living at a disco.

I was just pulling into Lubbock when I switched the Sirius to a local station to see what was going on in town. I did want to see if there was a Buddy Holly museum. I saw a couple of signs and followed them to an old house that was converted to a museum of sorts.

I stopped and stretched as I looked around. It didn't seem like the sort of museum I would imagine for Buddy Holly but not everyone liked him either.

I secured my helmet and jacket to the bike and went up to pay my $1 and look at the birthplace of Buddy Holly. I was less than impressed. Sure, they had the obligatory childhood pictures but it just didn't seem like a good representation of someone who set the music industry on its collective ear way back when.

Disappointed, I saddled up and left Lubbock continuing my ride east on 82. I cruised through some flat land and decided if I lived anywhere in Texas, it would be West Texas. I had passed through there a few years back at sunrise and you couldn't ask for a better sunrise.

Crosbyton, Dickens, Guthrie -- all just slower spots on the road as I moved steadily to my meeting in Dallas. I started thinking again about this road trip. Reggie surprised me when I was told in no uncertain terms that she would meet me there and to get a couple of days under my belt by myself. Sort of a recompression period to let me have some ME time.

Reggie and Shelly actually encouraged this little jaunt. They saw that I was getting a little bit claustrophobic. Living with two women will do that to you. It seemed weird when I woke up with Shelly next to me and Reggie in the shower that first time. Now, I don't want think about NOT waking up next to either one of them. The future and what it would hold for the three of us is yet to be written but are looking forward to it.

At Guthrie, I turned south to Anson and again picked up the 180.

I was thinking about my living arrangements when I noticed a lot of dust up ahead. I automatically down-shifted to see what was going on. As I got up to the site of the dust I saw there was close to 200 head of cattle moving across the road with a couple of kids riding herd and keeping them moving.

This was too good to pass up so I grabbed my digital out of the storage pouch on the fairing. After snapping a couple of pictures and one good shot of the kid pushing the cattle as he waved at me, I was on the road again. When you see the "Open Range" signs in Texas, believe them.

I finally pulled into the outskirts of Fort Worth/Dallas and pulled into a truck stop for a quick bite to eat. While eating I had the maps of the area pulled out and quickly located Grapevine and the area where the Opryland Hotel and Resort was located.

It wasn't that far from the airport so I settled the bill and headed out to the hotel and hopefully an early check-in. I planned on unloading just about everything from the trailer. I had no idea how much Reggie would bring with her but I felt it was better to err on the side of caution.

I checked into the Opryland Hotel and, as I was filling out the paperwork, the desk clerk said I had a package waiting for me that had just gotten there. She went to the back and brought out a cardboard box like you get when you buy a case of paper at an office store.

I saw it was return addressed to Reggie. The bellman was a little surprised at the amount of room in the trailer; a couple of stuff bags and Reggie's helmet were in there, but there was also room for more when Reggie got here. I could only hope that the package I carried to the room was the bulk of her girl stuff.

I had a little time to relax before dinner and decided to head for the pool.

I slid into the water that must have been heated because it felt so good. I just lay there and floated for a while. Turning over I took a couple of strokes and was just settling into a rhythm when I heard a scream just before I felt the splash of a little kid doing a cannonball into the pool right next to me.

He came up sputtering and smiling and all I could do was swim around him. I heard an apology as I made my turn.

I looked up to see a nice looking girl in her late 20's.

"No problem," I said as I just pushed away and let him have some room to play.