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tuitous wrong turn. We ended up staying on SH96 to Westcliffe and south on SH69, which doesn't meet up with I-25 until Walsenburg. Not only did we manage to spend more time on back roads at an elevation of approximately 8,000 skirting the eastern edge of the Rockies but along with the normal wildlife we were able to spot a bison in the fields. I-25 it was from Walsenburg to Raton New Mexico then back to two lanes on Hwy 64, Hwy 87 and Hwy 385 to Vega TX. Today's ride was quite a change from Friday's snow and rain. Clear skies and sun, temperatures in the 80s. All in all a great day and to top it off as we neared Vega it was noticed the Cacti were in bloom.
14 June
Continental breakfast at the Quality Inn then off on a 500 and some mile day to Austin TX where we will meet up with Mike and Wanda. To tell the truth, no offence to those of you reading this who might be from Texas, The ride down Hwy 385 and Hwy 87 was long, very straight and boring. The weather throughout most of the day was overcast but pleasant. A change occurred when south of Brady we turned onto Hwy 71. We entered the Hill Country of Texas. As if on queue the clouds broke and the asphalt began to wind and undulate while the terrain sprouted trees and in the open spaces vast carpets of yellow, red, orange and blue wild flowers emerged. This part of the trip more than made up for the morning. Entering the outskirts of Austin we encountered heavy traffic and coupled with the now 95-degree heat we began to long for the end of the days journey. Fortunately Mike's directions emailed to me before we left Auburn were spot on and we had no trouble finding their home, and a gorgeous home it is, especially the air conditioning. Wanda prepared a fantastic meal for us and the evening was spent telling exaggerations about our past year and discussing the upcoming Posse Ride 2005.
15 June
Today we will take a break from travel, we will go on a several hundred-mile sight seeing ride. This will be Don's first experience following Mike and "The Bitch" Don't even go there the bitch is a reference to Mike's handlebar mounted GPS System. After last year I managed to take an October class at Northwest Motorcycle School, 40 hours of serious instruction identical to that given police department motor officers. The school stops it's instruction to the general population just as it begins to get really fun, you know, high-speed pursuit, shooting from the vehicle. It did however give me increased skill in low speed tight radius turns, just what is needed for all the u-turns after "The Bitch" has led us astray. We took a breathtaking run around the hill country, adding Zebra to our list of wildlife seen on the trip. Stopping in the town of Wimberley we entered a great little local café and had breakfast. Back on the road Mike led us to a viewpoint at Canyon Dam where we looked out over Canyon Lake then it was down the canyon below the dam following the Guadalupe River. A meandering two-lane crossing the river some four or five times and though Don missed out, his Screaming Eagle Elctra Glide® doesn't come with CB radio, Mike told me about how later this summer the campground along the river would be full and thousands would be rafting the river to survive the heat. Out of the canyon and it is onto I-35 south and San Antonio, home to the Alamo. We parked our bikes and
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