Design Ranch Moto Adventure: Day 2

Design Ranch Moto Adventure: Day 2

I pass along a quick “good morning” to Brandon, compliment his home & hospitality, then we both depart on our separate ways a little before 8:00AM.

The rain starts falling shortly after I hit the interstate and gets steadily worse for the next 6 hours. Guys, like bad. Cars pulled over, flashers on, zero visibility bad.

And my stubborn self is puttering along as quickly as safely possible until I can justify a fuel stop.

Not long after crossing the Mississippi border into Louisiana, I make that stop and was glad to do so. A gentleman at the neighboring pump kindly pointed out that I picked a bad day to go for a ride. Ha, thanks.

I politely explained that I was 1,000 miles from home and on a mission to reach Texas. Turns out that this gentleman was a retired U-Haul employee and joked that I should just rent a truck and haul my bike the rest of the way.

I brushed the idea off, maybe out of machismo and accepted my soggy fate of 4 more hours of rainy riding. Surely, it wouldn’t rain all the way to Beaumont? And then I checked the weather radar:

: / Crap

So, I called the U-Haul place down the road. They didn’t have the truck I’d need but gave me the name of another close location to call. Call. No answer. Break to eat a quick tuna lunch. Another call. No answer again.

This is turning into a long fuel stop. I need to make a decision now and keep moving one way or another. I gear up to get back on the road with plans of re-visiting this U-Haul scheme at the next fuel stop.

Lewis is not impressed by technology

Then a weird thing happens. Despite the nasty-looking radar forecast, over the next 4 hours, the rain slowly slacks up and the sky clears. By the time I reach Beaumont at 6:00PM, the sun is shining and I’m sitting outside at a Panera FaceTimeing with the fam and tucking in to a Bacon Turkey Bravo.

I kill time until I can ‘check in’ with my Couchsurfing host, Neal, at 8:00PM. He gets home late because he owns 3 Crossfit gyms in town. So, if you’re in Beaumont and looking to get fit, go see him.

Neal is incredibly accommodating, and a very cool guy. We shoot the breeze while watching some quality AMC television. I crack open my laptop to catch up on email, but Don Draper has captured my attention. This is my first episode of Mad Men (I know, I know). Then Neal cuts on a couple of episodes of Halt and Catch Fire. I wonder just how much amazing TV I’m missing. The TV and half-hearted work efforts continue until we both decide to turn in a little after midnight.

On top of parking my bike in his garage away from the weather, Neal’s got me setup with my own private room and a bathroom only used by his roommate who’s out by 7:30AM. I have a feeling this is an atypical Couchsurfing experience, but I ain’t complaining.