Texas Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Mudbug Adventures

My First Solo Ride

November 23, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Around Town, Learning to Ride, New Rider Fears, Texas

When I bought my bike I had no real desire to ride by myself. Then I came across a blog post where a lady rider was talking about a situation that came up where her husband where they had to pull over and she had to go for help. She described the panic she felt because she had never ridden by herself. Right then I decided I wanted to start working towards taking a solo ride.

I knew the first step would be taking the lead while Scott and I were out riding. Then I began planning where I wanted to ride to. I thought it would be fun for my first solo ride to be the same trip I took on my first ride ever! It wasn’t a long ride and it is a route that I know well meaning I wouldn’t be worried about directions.

I had decided to head out around 9:00 because the roads wouldn’t be too busy and to allow it to warm up some. Thankfully by the time I left it was around 60 degrees. As the time got closer I did start to get some butterflies but I knew putting it off wouldn’t change that so I got geared up and headed out. I decided to take the camera and GoPro so I could share the adventure with you all but also to have it for myself. My boys always say “pics or it didn’t happen”.

As I reached the first traffic signal I began to get excited, by the second light most of the butterflies had flown away. As the short trip went on I had this sudden realization that I was doing it, I was calling the shots. You see when I ride with Scott, rather it is just he and I or a large group I have someone else setting the pace and making the calls about lights and such. Today it was all me. Don’t get me wrong, no matter what I am looking out for myself, checking the lanes, watching for vehicles and what not but in a group you know someone else is too. I have often wondered if I could handle it by myself and now I know I can. I can keep up with traffic, change lanes, decide what to do at a yellow light, choose a parking space and everything else that goes along with riding. I AM ABLE TO HANDLE MY BIKE BY MYSELF! Yes, I was screaming that!

My new goal is to take a short trip by myself monthly if I can, even if it is just a short one. I know the more I do it the more confident I will become. I want to continually challenge myself and never become complacent with where I am at as a person or a rider. I believe you have to ride at your own comfort level but you also have to be willing to push yourself.

A special thank you to Scott for believing in me, helping me reach this goal and always pushing me just a bit!

I did it, I took my first solo Ride! It has been over a week since I did it but I am still pumped up and excited about it. Now I can mark that off my 2014 goals sheet!

Festival of the Arts and I road lead

November 2, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Around Town, New Rider Fears, Texas

It’s fall in Texas and unlike many places in the US you never really know what you are going to get. October 19th proved to be another great day to be out on the bikes! We started off with a stop at the Porch for breakfast. On the way there while stopped at a red light and Scott asked if I wanted to take lead. Without even really thinking about I panicked and said no. As soon as the light turned green and we took off I wish I had said yes. I got scared and worried I wouldn’t remember where to turn. Oh well, onwards to a great breakfast.

After eating Scott and I headed out to Granbury for the Festival of the Arts. We enjoy seeing local artist and crafters and these type or festivals let you see a little bit of everything and meet the artist. Supporting local artist and business is important to us. We enjoyed seeing several booths with some very unique items we hadn’t seen before including the above paintings. They glow in the dark. The artist had the tent set up so that you could go into a closed off corner and view them glowing under a blacklight. The next thing that really caught both our attention was some lamps made from gas piping and old glass electrical bells.

The final one was a dress made from scrap metal. I sew dresses and costumes for a living so this was fun to see. If you are interested in reading more about that visit Hearts & Home. I blog about sewing, crafting and cooking there.

The entire time we were walking around we saw people carrying funnel cake. It looked and smelt so good I couldn’t resist so we shared one before heading off.

Slideshow of the event

We took some back roads to head home since it was warming up and neither of us wanted to head home yet. We went through Godley and stopped at Del Norte Taco to grab some lunch. This video through Godly shows a previous trip there. The food is incredible, the tacos are so big one fills me up and the patio seating is perfect. We relaxed, talked and enjoyed just being together.

On the ride home Scott slowed down and waved me forward to take the lead. This time I didn’t let fear take over. I passed him and then we switched places with me taking the left side of the lane. If you have watched any of our riding videos you know we always ride staggered but close to each other. Within a few minutes I wondered what I had just gotten myself into. I suddenly had to focus on so much more. Was I going fast enough, too fast, could we both make it through the light, what about signaling him to slow down in the dipped corner coming up like he does for me. It really was a lot to think about! I often take for granted the responsibility that Scott takes on riding lead. I found myself looking in my rear mirror to check on him. I led for about 10 miles and as we entered Crowley and the traffic picked up we switched up at a light. As Scott passed me he grinned, I think he could see the relief come across my face as I fell back into “my spot”. I spent the rest of the ride home thinking about it all and wondering how I did.

When we arrived home as soon as we got off the bikes Scott congratulated me and told me I did great! Whew, that was a relief. We talked about all the fears I had, questions and just the overall responsibility the lead rider is taking. I am looking forward to switching off more so that I can continue to grow as a rider and build my confidence. Who knows I may even take a solo trip before the end of the year.

Lewisville Western Days 2014

October 2, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Around Town, motorcycle fellowship, New Rider Fears, Road Trips, Texas

This weekend was fantastic! You know the ones that you look forward to for days; well this was one of those. Scott called me from work midweek and asked if I wanted to take a ride with some friends on Saturday. He said they had invited us to ride out to the Lewisville Western Days Festival. We have never gone so figured it would be fun. He then adds in “oh, by the way I hope you like the lineup, it’s Thompson Square and Kevin Fowler.” I seriously squealed like a little girl! He knows how much I like country music and especially Thompson Square! I spent the rest of the week excited!

We were meeting up around 4:00 Saturday for dinner but instead of just hitting the interstate and heading straight there we took the back roads to get there. We arrived at the meetup spot with just enough time to top our gas tanks off. When Charles and Janet got there we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was fun to chat and eat dinner with another couple that have many of the same interest as us.

The ride between Texas Roadhouse and downtown was short. One of the advantages to being on a bike was being able to squeeze into a small parking spot right by the gate, score! When we got to the gates I was immediately stopped for my camera because it has a detachable lens. After some talking security came over and gave me the go ahead to take in. That was a huge relief because I didn’t want to leave it in my saddlebag and I was looking forward to taking lots of pictures!

We walked around visiting the booths, checking out the merchandise to make sure we didn’t miss anything that we might not be able to live without. They had lots booths with food and drink samples including some delicious looking red velvet cake but I was too full from dinner to sample any. I did however gladly take a glow stick and some sunglasses. We signed up for a few drawings at the 99.5 booth but didn’t win anything. As night drew closer the crowd grew larger and the excitement in the air grew to match it. We found a place to stand a few minutes before thompson Square came out and slowly moved our way towards the stage as we could. I tried to get some pictures but being 5’1″ made it pretty much pointless. Scott could see my dilemma and offered to get some pictures for me! He always comes to my rescue! 🙂 Kevin Fowler came on after Thompson Square and when he did the crowd went wild! I have never seen him perform so it was exciting. He definitely knew how to work up the crowd and keep them excited. About 5 minutes after he started playing Charles came over and gave me shirt he had gotten for me. He picked it out spespecificallynce I am working on getting my CHL. after the concert we got to meet Kevin and have my shirt signed! It was around 1:00 am by the time we got back on the bikes to head home. The ride home was about an hour and most of the was going 75mph on the tollway. The roads were pretty much empty making the ride home even more enjoyable. It was one of those days that you don’t want to end but of course it does. It took us another 30-40 minutes to wind down but when we did we were out!

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014 Slideshow

Historical Jail Ride

September 22, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Around Town, Road Trips, Texas

Last weekend was a BUSY weekend but it was all fun! We started it off on Saturday with The Annual Water 4 Life Ride. I am not going to share much about it here because Scott did a great job of covering it on Rumbling Rider. I will say it was chilly but worth enduring for the charity!

In contrast to the cold temperatures on Saturday, Sunday proved to be a perfect day to ride! There wasn’t any wind, the sun was shining and the temperature stayed in the mid 80’s. We started out around 10:30 or so and headed to Granbury. At a red light Scott gave me a few options for lunch to choose from. The last time we were in Granbury A Biker Bash was going on and at the end of it Scott and I grabbed some tea at the Fillin Station. The service was friendly and the food smelt great so we I knew I wanted to give it a try for lunch. Again, we got great service, the food was yummy and the sweet tea is perfect! We took our time eating, talking and of course, watching other bikers roll by.

After lunch we decided to check out a few shops and the old jail. Neither of us had seen it despite many trips to the square. The entry fee is only $2.00 and well worth it. The small two story building is filled with historical treasures. There were two guides working that day to answer questions and give us some insight into the jails use and history. I also got to play with my camera settings because after seeing my flash go off I was informed flash photography wasn’t allowed.

We enjoyed the jail visit so much that we decided to head to Glen Rose to visit the historical square and check out the old jail. Unfortunately, the one located in Glen Rose isn’t open to view but it was still neat to walk around and read the plaques and visit some of the shops. The only disappointment is that most of the shops on the square are closed on Sunday. Despite that we had fun walking around, talking and taking pictures. It is nice to slow down and just take it easy after a fast paced work week. You can view more of the pictures I took in the slideshow below.

Cranfills Gap, June 2014

June 28, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Around Town, Texas

A few weeks back we took a group ride with our HOG Chapter. We were sitting at home bored, Scott didn’t have a ride planned, and I wanted to ride. I was pushing him to come up with a destination but he didn’t want to have to think, lead, make decisions on turns or food. Sometimes you just want to ride without taking responsibility for other riders and I can appreciate that!

Scott pulled up our Chapters calendar and behold: Cranfills Gap! As I’ve stated before, this is always a good ride destination. At first I was hesitant about going. It had been quite awhile since I went on a Chapter ride and I am not used to riding in larger groups. However, once we arrived at the dealership we noticed some friends of ours, Bill and Beth. That was the turning point in my hesitation. They are a wonderful couple and we have always enjoyed spending time with them. They had not been to any rides for a long time and this was the first in many months for them. We figured this was one of those “it was meant to be situations” since both Beth and I are somewhat new riders and both happened to show up for the ride.

All of us lined up for group 3 so we could stay together for the duration of the ride. The day was beautiful, our road captains did a fantastic job of leading and trailing our group. We had plenty of break stops to hydrate since it was pretty warm. As always, the food at the Horny Toad was wonderful. The ride also took us on some roads Scott and I had not traveled before and that was nice in itself.

A side note to one of the reasons I don’t like large groups is parking. Our road captains are great about getting everyone parked correctly and safely but in the end you either have to control your bike and park it or have someone help you. After a year of riding I have finally gotten the hang of parking but you don’t want to be the one to cause this huge domino effect of falling bikes when you try to back in. As we approached the parking area I began to get nervous but I was determined to back my bike in by myself! Guess what, I DID IT! There was a little too much room between my bike and Scott’s but I still did it!

Destination: The Porch Burleson, TX

June 15, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Around Town, Road Trips, Texas

Since I began riding Scott has been telling me we need to find a place we can ride to have breakfast at on occasion. He didn’t want a chain restaurant and it needed to be far enough away to make it worth getting the bikes out but close enough we could leave when the sun was rising and still get there before it gets hot. Sounds simple enough huh? I searched and searched and nothing seemed to pop up. That is until a few weeks back when we were driving through Burleson, TX. We both spotted The Porch at the same time and exclaimed “there’s our breakfast spot!”

This past week as we made our plans we decided that we would give it a try on Saturday. We headed out around 7:00 or so, the sun was just really starting to rise so it was still cool out. We took some back roads to get there just to make the trip a little longer and more interesting. We parked in an overflow area across the street because it made for an easy entrance and exit on the bikes.

Despite the place being busy, always a good sign, we were seated quickly. Our waitress was very friendly and attentive. The menu had a good variety of breakfast dishes sure to satisfy anyone’s cravings. Our breakfast arrived quickly and was delicious! I am already looking forward to heading back to try some of their lunch or dinner specials.

Destination: Muenster & Bridgeport, TX

May 10, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Road Trips, Texas

Before it’s gone, a reoccurring thought lately. Am I living the life I want to? Am I spending enough time with who matters and doing what matters most? Am i living a life without regret?

One of the things I like most about riding is the time to think. I like to see the scenery and let my mind wander away from the hectic week of work and life. For some reason on this ride I began thinking how fortunate we are to have the desire to experience life. Scott and I know a lot of people whose extent of living begins and ends on the couch and the discovery channel. An adventure to them is going to the grocery store and finding a new flavor of snack chip. It’s not my personality to spend weekends confined to the house only to go back to the weekly work grind just to look forward to spending the next weekend boxed in my house again. Other people we know even refuse to sight-see locally believing the only type of travel that holds any value is an expensive international destination that they finance with their credit cards and spend the next few years trying to pay off at a high interest rate. I would end up talking more about how much I still owed than about the trip itself.

As I became more comfortable with my bike it didn’t take long for us to start taking longer rides. Many of our rides are day long trips but we get to experience something new every time.When you start looking for places to go and things to see within a 200 mile area or so from where you live you would be very surprised at how much there is to do and how far you can go in a short amount of time. We always experience things along the road going to our destination as well. You never know what might be going on in the towns you roll through that becomes an unexpected surprise. Our rides will often keep us out the entire day from early morning until the sun goes down. Sometimes we get a room and spend the night wherever we are. Each ride doesn’t have to be an elaborate expense, but each ride can be a new adventure.

Our personalities have always been directed towards a more adventurous side. Our riding together soon took that lifestyle and interest which keeps us taking trips and exploring. At this time in our life of riding together we want to see things and ride our bikes to do that. This might change in time but for now, that’s where were at. Some people like to ride to an event, sit there all day, listen to music, talk to friends, and ride back home. Some like to ride in circles between cones in a parking lot every weekend. And even others might do a couple of dinner rides through the week. There’s nothing wrong with any of this if that’s what you enjoy, but I could have done those things a lot cheaper on a scooter instead of a Harley if that was going to be the extent of my riding.

We both have too much energy to confine ourselves to these types of riding. Life goes by too fast and we want to see everything we can before were not able to anymore. I don’t want to sit back with my grand kids later in life and say I had (or have) a Harley that I rode around the block every couple of weeks. Far too many people end up with regrets from not going forth with their dreams. I’m often told from people at work how they have always wanted to ride, and listen to the excuses they come up with to justify why they never did. They will go to their grave with that desire and regret. I want stories, memories of places, sights, sounds, and smells to pass on from our riding trips. Life can end in an instant so we want to make the most of every opportunity we can…before it’s gone.

Muenster & Bridgeport, TX May 2014 Slideshow

Destinations: Marble Fall, TX 201

September 8, 2013 by Margaret Filed Under: Road Trips, Texas

Labor day weekend brought about the opportunity to sneak in a longer ride. When you work full time you have to take advantage of those extra days off. Scott had some ideas of where to go and let me to choose. The winning destination was Marble Falls, TX.

We got a late start on Saturday morning not leaving until almost 10 am. Our destination took us in a southern direction so we took the usual route when going south and stopped at Cranfills Gap, TX to eat lunch at the Horny Toad Bar & Grill. Scott has always enjoyed going there. The ride to get there is nice, the food is wonderful, it’s comfortable, and the owners are very personable. We like to try new places to eat but once we find one that continually provides a wonderful experience we tend to stick with it.

We finished eating about 1 pm and the temperature was already reading 100 degrees. The Horny Toad kindly filled our thermos’s with ice and water for the trip ahead. I planned on a long route to Marble Falls, TX on small FM roads so we could meander through the country side and enjoy the sites Texas has to offer. We were not let down! Some of the roads we ended up on were little more than a bit of asphalt plopped on the ground that served as a road which we rumbled along at an easy going 30 mph! I often thought at any minute we would be on gravel. There were a lot of deer to be seen on these roads too. One time we saw a small herd of 6 deer that went bounding off as we slowly rumbled by on the bikes. Another time we rolled up to within a few yards of a deer before it finally decided to leap the fence by the road and run off. In the area between Gatesville and Lampasas, TX we got on some beautiful FM roads and didn’t see another vehicle for about an hour. I got lost for awhile on these roads as every road crossing we came upon lacked signage. We basically just flipped a coin as to which way we would go and knew we would get to our destination eventually, which we did.

Upon arrival in Marble Falls we checked into the Holiday Inn Express, showered, and went out to eat. It was a long hot day, we were tired, and about the only thing on our minds was getting some sleep for the adventurous day ahead.

After a nice light breakfast we headed out to Longhorn Cavern State Park to see the caves. We arrived an hour before the tour time and had the run of the place to ourselves for quite awhile. This gave us a perfect opportunity to get some pictures and video of the historic structure and cave entrance before people started mingling around. The cave is 68 degrees year round and made for a nice couple hours to keep us cool. That was our plan, and it worked. Our guide was quite flamboyant and exciting with her descriptions and history of the cavern. Its nice to see someone that enjoys what they do and observe how it reflects in their job routine. It was a great tour, interesting history, and beautiful cave.

From Longhorn Cavern State Park we headed back to Marble Falls and had lunch before heading to Pedernales Falls State Park. Now it was getting into early afternoon and the heat was over 100 degrees. Our plan had been to head to Pedernales for an afternoon of cool swimming. Again, our plans worked out well and upon arrival we headed for the river. It was quite low due to the summer heat but still provided us with a very nice afternoon of wading, swimming, and lounging in the little water rapids. We wandered upstream quite a ways and there was no one to be seen almost the entire time we were there. We had a hard time unwinding from our hectic lifestyle but when we were finally able to, our bodies just gave out. We laid in the water for hours while it trickled over us and kept us cool. The experience was so relaxing that when we finally had to leave and head back to the hotel our legs were weak and wobbly. It took all we had to say goodbye knowing our mini vacation was soon coming to a close.

The next morning was incredibly cool which was uncommon since the previous couple days had been over 100 degrees. We soon found out why on the ride home, a storm had been moving around north Texas all night and had brought the temperature down. As we cruised at a comfortable 70 mph north on US-281 the storm front was just to the north west of us. It was pushing the cool air east toward us as we skirted the edge of the storm almost the entire trip home. The temperature remained 75 degrees according to the thermometer gauge on my bike the entire time. We never got hot and it turned out to be perfect riding weather. That is until we reached Glen Rose, TX. It was here the storm caught up with us and began a torrential downpour as we came into town. We pulled over at the first place we could find which was a Sonic Drive in and sat outside under the cover while we had an afternoon munch and watched the rain. Even this worked out well, we were cool, bellies full, and enjoyed the casual time before continuing on towards home.

As we left Sonic the rain moved out and within half an hour we were dry again. The rest of the ride home was just as perfect as it was from Marble Falls. We couldn’t have asked for a better 3 day trip than we experienced. It was hard to sleep that night because we kept talking about everything we did for those 3 days. Tuesday we both had already scheduled time off to use as a wind down day from the trip before having to go back to work on Wednesday.

Again staying true to the inclusion of some sort of media with most posts, Scott made a video from the trip. It’s impossible to capture the essence of everything we did, but it still gives a nice over view to share with you. Hope you enjoy it.

Destination: Albany, TX 2013

August 30, 2013 by Margaret Filed Under: Road Trips, Texas

Last Sunday we decided to take a ride to Albany, TX. It can be a very long ride depending on the roads you choose to get there. Our route took us almost 300 miles round trip and we were out for 10 hours. The first part of the ride took us through Granbury, Lipan, and Strawn, TX which takes you through some very nice hill country type of riding. Then as you move further northwest the land begins to level off giving some wonderful far seeing scenic views. The weather forecast was saying 97 for the high but the temperature ended up over 100 at the peak of the day. We were careful to take a lot of stops and stay hydrated.

Our plan was to eat the Icehouse restaurant but when we got there it was shut down. We couldn’t tell if it was out of business or not. The windows were papered to block the view inside. We stopped for gas and asked about any other restaurants that might be open. The only place to eat on Sunday was Dairy Queen. Kind of a bummer to ride all that way just to get a fast food burger. Fortunately this setback was the only downside to the entire day. This ride definitely followed the saying: Its not about the destination, its about the ride.

We had also planned on visiting the historical Fort Griffin but it was hot and getting late by the time we arrived in Albany from all of the little back roads we took to get there. If we didn’t have to go to work the next day we could have gone there but, duty calls. Our plans were bigger than the hours in the day. Albany however has some very nice historical architecture so we spent time around the main plaza and took a bunch of pictures before heading home.

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