Coming to Terms

Houston - Bayton - Dayton, Texas

110 miles

Hidalgo - [2002 Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak]

I left on this short trip with the idea that I would revisit some old routes.  It was more than a mere trip down memory lane for me, as I embarked on my first road trip of any significance after back surgery last year.  So the goal was to start testing the waters and determine if my work to rehabilitate my back was actually paying off.  However, there were other reasons behind this route too.

While I recovered from surgery, I had envisioned a trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, as the guiding goal for my recovery.  But as June got nearer, not only did my body start telling me it was not ready for a 2,400 mile trip, the Aprilia Futura also told me it would not cooperate in the process by developing a mechanical issue.  It has been hard to bend the determination in my mind to make it to Bonneville on the Futura, but along the way, I eventually have come to realize that being stuck on a given location, with a given motorcycle in mind was only robbing me from what I enjoy the most at my core; being on the road, on a motorcycle.  What road, and what motorcycle, is not the most important thing in the end.

The first step was then to develop a new goal, and find a new road.  I traded therefore West for East, and I traded dessert for water.  And so, my mind and eyes are now turned towards the mighty Mississippi, and, God willing, I will be heading in that direction at the beginning of July.

The road I chose then was one that would take through what is intended to be the very first leg of that trip.  How I ended in Baytown, though, which is quite out of the way of that route, was purely due to road closures, and some adventurous turns on the road.  Yet, this was a joyous moment, as I have always loved the design of the Baytown bridge, but never seemed to have a camera on hand when I crossed it.