Today's stats
Temperature - low 24 high 32
Weather - Sunny with high (we mean real high) winds
Miles traveled - 396
So today is our longest ride of the trip but as we never seem to be able to leave before 8:30, no one really set any alarms. Plus the local Harley Davidson store is actually called "Route 66 Harley Davidson" so we all have to be there when it opened to buy T-shirts (it's a Harley Davidson marketing jackpot that probably makes them more money than the motorcycle sales).
Outside we got that one group photo to prove we actually purchased the T-shirts there and didn't have someone else do it, then mail it to us, so we could impress our friends (like anyone would be impressed)
We then loaded up our bikes with our precious T-shirts and started our journey for the day.
Before explaining what happened next, it's important to set the theme buy rewinding the clock back to the day we picked up our rental bikes. The rental person kept harping that we should always make sure we have our key fobs for the bikes. Not to let them out of our sight as we may find ourselves stranded with no way to start our bikes. Ya, blab blah blah. We're all adults and really don't need to be lectured about this.
Fast forward to our first stop to check directions (we do that a lot) and low and behold, one of our members can't start his bike. So as not to embarrass him we won't mention names
Meet Mr. No Name
After basically ransacking his luggage like a Canadian custom's border guard, we found out the key fob was left back at the Route 66 Harley Davidson store. An hour later and after paying a handsome fee to a local taxi driver for delivering the keys, we were on our way. There was a little concern as we were now averaging 6 miles per hour (including stops) and we still had 370 miles to go.
The solution seemed quite simple at first. In looking at the map, Route 66 basically followed the local freeway all the way to Armarilo, Texas. We could simply drive the freeway at 70 miles per hour (+ or -, well + actually) and still make it in time for cocktails before dinner. The only snag, which we were not aware of, was the hurricane force winds that were forecast for the day. Now we have ridden in rain, sleet and even snow but we were not prepared for the G force effects on our bikes and bodies along Interstae 40. It got so bad that we almost lost two windshields and were forced to go back to riding at a slower pace along the more protected Route 66 (which is why we came here in the first place).
We did manage to make it to Acadia, Oklahoma where we were able to photograph today's world's largest monument
World's largest Coke Bottle
In addition to coke this place also had more than 800 types of soda which they proudly showcased on their windows
This is just a small portion of one window
In the interest of time I'm going to fast forward the next 4 hours of hell that had us riding through gail force winds, and on the interstate (after the winds died down) and in a final challenge to us all, driving in pitch black darkness while wearing sun glasses.
But at the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold. And ours was this lovely motel
Seriously, it has charm, ok
And this Is The Big Texan steakhouse.
And a little music to go with our meal
This meal was every bit as good has last night. The bill was cheaper so David offered to pick it up. (OK, I'm just kidding, we had to force him to turn over his credit card).
Another eventful day followed by what should be a great sleep from 8 very tired people.
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