Jamie and I rode down to the Texas State Rally on Friday morning. I had to close the night before and we needed to get our beloved Bella to the kennel before we could head out. This was actually a good plan. We usually leave in the early morning, but knew we had all day to get down to llano and it was just over 250 miles so we took our time. The event was put on by the San Antonio BMW riders club. I have to say that it was a great get together. It was well planned out however not so planned that it took away from the weekend. I don’t know how to say it, just felt like a nice home like atmosphere.

I got the bike loaded up on Thursday. I took out the cold weather gear as the weather forecast looked to be a tad warm. I was sure glad I did this. We had no need for anything that even came close to cold weather gear.

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We got out of the house around 9am. We took our time and did the metroplex shuffle getting out of town. The traffic had calmed down and the skies were overcast so it was great riding weather. Jamie and I took the slab over to Cleburne for breakfast and then we jumped off the main highways and did the FM (Farm to Market) road thing most of the way south. It was really warm by the time we hit Llano. One bank had the temp at 97! Yikes! Way to early in the year for those type of temps. It could be a warm summer.

We got to the rally site around 3PM. We knew that Jackie and Stephan had come up on Thursday, and they were saving us a sight. The bad news is we did not know where. So after a few minutes we decided on a nice place with a water front view for our campsite. We had two beautiful trees as cover and the lake was beautiful. We pitched our tent and unpacked. We went up and signed in and chilled out while waiting for Stephen and Jackie to get back from a day on the bikes. Jamie and I do not usually travel just as a couple. I like having two bikes just in case something happens, but I have to say that this was kinda cool and I think we will do a few more weekend overnight trips on our own. I love the fact that she loves to ride. I am a lucky man.

We at some chili supplied by the event and just enjoyed a nice relaxing evening kicking tires and chatting up old and new friends. It was warm on Friday night. We went to bed but it took a good hour to cool down. We did not even put our rain flap on the tent. This was a great choice as the wind did not blow much, but when it did, it was nice. We got up to a beautiful morning. The lake was still and the sun shining. it was a great start to the day.

So Saturday we had planned to do a 300 mile route and see the Pacific War Museum in Fredricksburg, Texas. Well we thought about it and knew that we could not get all of that in on one day. Jamie and I had never done the Museum and I really wanted to check it out. Jackie had never done it as well so Stephen was a sport and came along. He had been there before, but did not seem to mind doing it again. It was AWESOME! words or pictures could not explain how informative the day was. great stuff. They are so proud of their home town hero Admiral Nimitz. It was a great day of sight seeing. Sometimes we miss these things as we are always wanting to be on the bike, but this was a great day and something we will do again. We spent 3 hours and still could have stayed another 1-2 hours. Moving stuff.

We get to the area of the museum where they are talking about the battle of Peleiu in the pacific. The gentleman sitting next to Jackie was giving us some great info as he was there! A true American hero was sitting right next to us. We listened to a story and then thanked him for his service! Awesome stuff!

We finished the day by doing a little loop on the way back to camp. We did the Willow City Loop which is usually a treat from what I have heard as the wild flowers are in full glory ion the route. Well not this year. it looked like they had not had any rain at all this spring, no flowers at all. It was a nice loop, but we missed seeing some color. We headed back into town and had BBQ at Coopers in Llano. A personal favorite of Jamie and I . We ate way to much but damn it was good. We got back in time for the awards and a nice evening of chilling by the lake. It was a great Saturday.

Like I said I know we ate too much, but it was awesome. You need to stop by Coopers if you have not been there. I love it!

We headed home around 8AM on Sunday. We were meeting Herman and Rob at the Hard Eight in Stephenville. The ride home was windy, but it was a wonderful trip. I put a lowly 670 miles on the bike but it was a nice get away weekend. Until next time.. Ride safe everyone!