Day 3 - April 21st

Saying good-bye to one of the LA Bikers who is currently transplanted to San Antonio, I headed back down town to visit three Universities on the Big Money Rally Bonus list.

 

The Reverend - also known as Rob Diesel, although neither are his real name - with his Volvo wagon as I'm about to ride out.

The plan is to visit the three universities, my old house, and a couple of  places I used to hang out when I lived there and then head over to spend the night with one of the guys I used to shoot with for the Army.

First stop - St. Mary's University.  The barricades around the place are due to it being Fiesta weekend and many Catholic organizations are having big doings as well.

From there, it's a quick trip to the University of the Incarnate Word.

Next stop is Our Lady of the Lake.  But on the way I found another abandoned gas station so I had to stop in and take a photo.

Hmmm, the bike won't turn over.  Switch on? Check.  In neutral? Check.  Got lights?  Turn signals, check, stop light, check, headlight, Nope!  This is not good.  Grab the cell phone and start calling Honda dealers.  Two of the three said they could look at it but I would have to wait over a week to get it into the shop to be worked on.  Alamo Cycle Plex said they could take a look at it today (Saturday) and figure out something.  A call to AAA and the bike is on its way to Cycle Plex.

The best guess they technicians have is that it is either the start switch or the starter solenoid.  Oh, and by the way, the battery is shot. *sigh*  I'm not really surprised at the battery as its history is unknown.  Honda will overnight the parts and the shop will work me in as soon as the parts arrive on Tuesday (like the shops in LA, they are closed on Mondays, so Tuesday is the next day they will be open).

Instead of spending one night with Phil, I'm going to be there three nights.  At least I don't have to also spend money on a motel room.

Short day, but all things being considered, it couldn't have died at a better place, short of home.

Day 2 - April 20th

Friday morning and all looks pretty good after a full night rest. Time to load up and hit the road.

For the most part, this was a blast (cruise?) down I-10 toward my next stop - Houston, Texas and another bonus location for the Big Money Rally.

The closer I got to Houston, the worse the weather was looking.  Off in the distance, it looked like I might be able to get through without too much difficulty.  What the heck.  If it got too bad, I'd just pull off to a covered location and wait out the storm.  I've got a book and the phone gets the internet, so I'm golden.

First stop in Houston is MPH Cycles.  These guys are one of a hand full of Moto Guzzi dealers who are well known in the Guzzi community as being one of the very good guys.  I've talked to Mike Haven on the phone a few times and have purchased parts from them as well but we'd never met face to face.  So I corrected that shortcoming.  Mike also gave me a couple of tips to help sort out an electrical issue I'm having with my Norge and said to call him when I get home and he'll help me sort it out.  Yeah, these guys are definitely good guys.

I made the run from MPH to The University of St. Thomas in downtown Houston and got my photo.

Left there and started heading back toward the freeway when the wind really kicked up and you could see the sky falling a block away.  I quickly pulled in to a service station/convenience store lot that had covered parking and read for a while.  I managed to not get too wet.

By the way, this is some of the more expensive gas prices I've seen on the trip.  When I left California, Regular Unleaded was running about $4.07.  I've been paying around $3.75 so $3.99 is on the high side.

Once the rain let up, I got back on the road looking for I-10.  Again, I-10 is like any other Interstate so I didn't take any photos.  Some of the ones I did take may be boring to some readers, so why inflict things I find boring on you?

Coming up on Columbus, Texas I was needing gas (this bike seems to have about 160 mile range before reaching for the reserve switch).  Cool find.  I'm a sucker for old gas stations and gas pumps.

A lot of Texas towns have managed to retain a good portion of their original character in the form of the Town Square.  Usually this included the City Hall and Jail with a bunch of shops built around the old center of town.  Columbus is no exception.

Los Angeles just does not have a bunch of old buildings like this, so I had to snap a couple of the Stafford Bank and Opera House which was built in 1886

I followed the signs to the Columbus Historic District and found these neat little (and not so little) places.

And this place which, while not a historic house I found interesting in that it used to be a single house and has been converted to apartments.

I finally pulled myself away from these neat houses and (for me) quaint streets

and headed out US 90 toward San Antonio.

It was getting a bit late, so I thought I might stop in here and get a room for the night, but they couldn't accommodate me, so I continued to San Antonio to spend the night with a friend from the LA Bikers.

One the way through Weimar, Texas, I came across this memorial that I thought was wonderful.

This wall has the names of everyone from Weimar who served in war time from WW II up through the Persian Gulf War, including Seaman First Class Johnnie David Hutchins who was a Medal of Honor Recipient.

Thibodaux to Los Angeles on a Honda Shadow 750 - Day 1 - April 18, 2012

 Flew in to New Orleans late last night.  The moon and stars were shining bright...  Sorry, got carried away.

Here's the setup for those who came in late.

About a year ago, the folks on the Adventure Rider motorcycle forum heard of a gentleman who was dying of cancer and wanted to fulfill his dream to ride a motorcycle cross country.  The call went out and a bike was purchased along with insurance, accessories, and riding gear.  When Mike died, he wanted the bike to go to another deserving rider to make their ride of a lifetime.  After some discussion, I volunteered to house the bike in LA so it would be available to folks coming to the States to do that one time ride of a lifetime.

For the whole story on this bike, check this link on Adventure Rider.

On to the ride from Thibodaux, Louisiana to Los Angeles, California...

The flight to New Orleans was nice and boring - just the way I like airline flights.  We arrived about 30 minutes later than scheduled due to unfavorable winds and a slightly delayed departure.  As normal for this time of year, it was humid and I was immediately soaked through with sweat as I was wearing my riding jacket with both liners in place.

Took a cab to the local Days Inn Hotel which turned out to be better than the on-line reviews.  Not a place I'd want to spend a week, but for one night, it wasn't bad at all.  Finally go to bed around 2am.  Richie, my contact for picking up the bike, was due to fetch me at 6am, so I got about three hours of sleep.

Promptly at 6am, Richie shows up and off we go to Thibodaux - about a 40 minute drive - to get the bike I'm riding back to Los Angeles.

After a quick check over the bike and the paperwork, I loaded it up and got ready to leave.

This is Richie with the bike

And there has to be one of me ready to roll as well

First stop - get some gas

Now off to find some location on the Big Money Rally that are more of less on the way to Los Angeles.  This is the route I laid out for the trip back

The scenery in New Orleans is mostly green - everything is green, with the possible exception of the bugs.  I'd forgotten just how many bugs there are in the South.  Definitely a place for the shield being down all the time.

Since it's nothing we have in SoCal, the levies, locks, and all the draw bridges fascinate me.

Then again, I liked seeing all the boats along side the major highways.

Some of the house boats are substantially bigger than any house I've ever lived in.

 The above ground burial plots are also something those of us who live well above the water table don't often see.  The only other place I've seen this is Florida.

There are two locations in this part of Louisiana for the Big Money Rally, Grand Isle

and Houma.

Everything on Grand Isle is on stilts as it floods on a regular basis.  I'm not sure why people think building in a place like this is a good idea.  I did notice that nobody leaves a car at their get away cabin and only a few ratty looking boats were left under the houses. Even the local school is on stilts.

After that it was a boring blast down the I-10 toward Texas and my first stop in Winnie, Texas.  Another Days Inn.

If I was going to rethink this trip and take it a bit slower, US 90 would be a better bet than I-10.