RTT (Return to Texas)
September 9 - October 26, 2006
September 13, 2006
545 miles
Montgomery, AL to Orange, TX
Nice courtyard at the Holiday Inn on the east side of Montgomery, Alabama.
Waffle House and Shell Station. You can still see it's quite wet outside. Not the heavy storms that drove to look for shelter yesterday afternoon. This kind of wet won't keep me off the roads, but I soon find out the it will get wetter.
The next morning, I head out with the weather report assuring me "slight chance of lingering light showers, clearing as I drive southwest toward Mobile."
Actual conditions: Overcast, muggy, sticky 70° with heavy downpours driving through middle of Montgomery extending 10-15 miles southwest. Turning to light intermittent showers for the next 50-60 miles.
Dark clouds stayed with me all the way from Montgomery to Mobile and through Mississippi. This bridge is crossing the Mobile River north of Mobile, Alabama on I65.
Most of you know what love bugs are... Well, I hit them when I got to onto I10 west of Mobile. Literally. Hit them! Lots of them. By the time Fleeter needed a fueling stop. I HAD to stop to clean my face shield. It was hard to see out through all the smeared bugs with their black wings still fluttering a couple inches from my eyeballs! This photo was taken a few miles AFTER the last time I cleaned my shield.
At least the further I rode, the more the weather cleared up. Life is still good. Somewhere in Louisiana (Albany I think), I make a fuel stop and take time for a quick sandwich. While inside, someone comes in and makes a comment about how I'm going to get wet. I say, "Oh no. Not me. I'm heading to Texas. I've already dealt with the weather and have left it behind!"
But they corrected my thinking by suggesting I look outside. In the past 10 minutes, the sky had gone from clear and sunny to dark threatening clouds on the verge of dumping the wet stuff right there as we watched. Sure enough, I walked out to get a better look at the sky and it let loose. Even though I was parked under the cover at the pumps, the wind blew so hard that I still got damp. So I decided to sit and watched it pour. For a bit.
The informative fellow advised that this was only the first one of two heavy rainfalls that he had just driven through as he drove eastward. With this information, I sat and waited for round two. Sure enough ,round two showed up shortly and after about 1 1/2 hour heavy rain delay, I saw a light spot in the sky open up enough that I thought I could make it through before the next storm closed in. So off I went. That was the last rain of the day.
I decided that I believe in the "give a nickel, get a dollar" theory. Sometimes it's just worth it to take a break for awhile and watch the weather go by you. Then when you're ready to take your turn again the weather gods will smile upon you and clear the skies in your direction of travel. Sometimes and little bit of patience returns a worthwhile reward.
Look! I made it back to Texas!
I finally make it to my next overnight stop...Orange, Texas about 6:15pm. Sunny, 90° in Orange might be considered a bit warm by me, but the locals probably wouldn't think so.
Good friend Carolyn was waiting for me so we could go out to eat ... Quick shower and I was ready!
Tomorrow: Texas means fewer miles and more visiting!
Copyright 2006 Fleeter Logs
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