Second "oops!"

Our first stamps for Iron Butt badges!

First off, my apologies for the site being down for about 15 hours. Long story short, it's fixed.


Yesterday, we went to Mission Concepcion, one of the missions in San Antonio. We did not go to the River Walk because we've all been there before and, most importantly, it was HOT. Not a little hot. An oh-my-god-i'm-gonna-melt-in-my-tracks hot. We skipped the Alamo for the same reasons.


All things considered, it was a very enjoyable day. So, where's the second "oops!"? I got rear-ended. Yes, me. Yes, on my bike. How? Well, from the
beginning, we'd decided the best configuration for us would be me leading, the minivan in the middle, and Dennis as sweep. We needed gas so I took the next exit and came to a stop at the stop sign at the top of the hill. Unfortunately, the minivan did not stop as fast as it should have.


Fortunately, I was watching it approaching and, when I saw it would not stop in time, I grabbed the clutch and loosened the brake. That let the bike roll with the bump. Not much damage. Didn't even drop it from impact. Dennis and I did have to pull off the plate holder right there on the road, since it was bent into the wheel well. As for damage, when the plate flipped in, it put a tiny nick on the tire but not deeper than the treads. Also, my fender got bent (on the bike, that is) and my license plate pretty much got folded. The van has scuff and nicks.

Deep in the heart of Texas... really deep!

Did I mention it was very, very hot at this point of the day? Later, we found out it was over 100. At least the humidity was only 27% and we had plenty of Gatorade.


After we straightened out my bike and were gassed up, we continued to our stop for the day. We made a pit stop somewhere between Sonora and our stop, Ozona, and loaded up on Gatorade again. We also checked my back tire again. No problems there, so on we went!


One more item I must mention about yesterday. When we got to Ozana, we found out most of the hotels and motels were full. Now, for those of you who don't know, use Google Maps and check out where Ozana is. Yes, it is definitely smack-dab in the middle of Nowhere, just south of Never-Never Land. How could there be no vacancies?! 


Well, the forest service stations firefighters in the area so that they will already be on site if a fire breaks. Makes sense, since it would take hours to get anyone out there and by that time a fire can grow exponentially. So we ended up going to what YoManBob described as the "Bates Motel". Quite frankly, Dennis and I were just happy they had vacancies. Yes, we were a bit concerned but, hey, any port in a storm. Right?


After being checked in by a very friendly gentleman, possibly the owner, we were pleasantly surprised to find very large, very clean rooms with very comfortable beds, microwave, and fridge. The only thing we were disappointed with is that it had no wifi. They also don't have phones in the room but, hey, who doesn't have cellphone nowadays? Otherwise, we highly recommend this place. Especially for bikers! Trust me.

[Economy Inn & R.V. Park, Exit 365, Ozana, TX (325) 392-3394]