Start 7:00 AM - Stop 4:45 PM
Distance - 488 miles
We got up early on the eighth day of our journey and eagerly prepared for our final leg into Grapevine. After we quick continental breakfast we were on the road by 7 AM. As much as I hate interstate riding I was happy to put some fast miles under our tires as I was focused on getting to Wingding and spending the necessary time to figure out what the heck I had done to my fog lights.
We rolled into Amarillo around 9:15 and wound our way to US 287 for our final 350 miles into Grapevine. As we were riding through the city we passed another GL1800 entering onto US 287. I turned on the CB and tuned to Channel 1 and gave a shout, and was please to get a reply. It turned out these folks were headed to Wingding so I figured we could team up for a while. They told us that their hometown was in New Mexico and that they were making a single day long ride into Grapevine. But almost as soon as they joined up with us they had to stop for gas. My foolish impatience had me wanting to continue on so we told them we would meet up again down the road and continued on with our half tank of gas. We never saw them again.
It was getting to be time for a pit stop when I saw a sign stating that a rest area was just ahead. When we pulled into the rest area we were both quite surprised. Now I've lived in Texas, and I know that they like to do things big, but this rest area building was like nothing I've seen anywhere else! Carole was in shock at the sheer size and over the top architecture of a place for folks to stop and relieve themselves. We stopped long enough for me to clean the bike up a bit and take pictures. When was the last time you were so impressed with a rest stop that you had to take pictures of it? The scenery around it wasn't much to talk about, but the rest stop itself was over the top! We took a dozen or so pictures and then got back on the road.
One of the things that nofinishline got a kick out of was how "forceful" Texas roadside signs are. For example, we are used to seeing simple signs saying "Click-it or Ticket" as a reminder to wear your seatbelt. On US 287 in Texas the signs went more along the lines of "Put on your seatbelt or you will die a slow and agonizing death!" Instead of "$1,500 Fine for Littering" or even the friendly "Don't mess with Texas" anti littering signs we saw, "If you trash Texas we are going to cause harm to your family and loved ones after we have jailed you for life!" (Well, not that bad, but close) We both actually liked that kind of signage. Not only was it direct, it was entertaining.
She also really enjoyed the true feel of rural America. We saw a lot of signs to a lot of small towns, some older "mom and pop" store fronts instead of the franchise stores everywhere, and folks walking along side of the road actually waved at us. Coming from a large metroplitan complex it was very comforting to see that things we appreciated during our childhood still existed. Of course nofinisline fell in love with the people and asked several times, "When can we move to Texas?"
Eventually our tank got low so we started looking for a place to gas up and get a bite to eat. US 287 rides through several small towns between Amarillo and the DFW area so I wasn't worried about stopping until I saw the fuel light come on. We pulled into Childress, got some gas and then found one of those typical small Texas town diners that serve anything you like as long as it's "chicken-fried." We settled for a plate of pancakes and then got our butts back on the road.
The heat was pretty much the same it had been the whole trip, but now we were dealing with some increasing humidity. Ahhhhh.... we both could feel our bodies relaxing under the hot, muggy Texas sky. This was our kind of riding weather! The rest of the trip into Grapevine was a blur. We were surprised that we didn't meet up with any other Wingers making their way into Grapevine. But then we were arriving a day early so we figured the bulk of the travelers would be arriving the next day. I forgot that we were traveling from the west, and western state riders don't usually participate in Wingding just because of the distance they have to ride.
We arrived in Grapevine at 4:45 and decided we had enough of the smaller hotels. We called the embassy suites and made arrangements for the night. It was nice to wipe down the bike, carry our gear up to our room, and then head on down to the complimentary drinks and snacks without worrying about how alert I needed to be the next day. We had finally arrived at our destination and it was time to smell the roses.... and kill some brain cells.
This part of Texas we rode through wasn't very scenic, but the rest stop was photogenic.