Waco Overnight Ride

Ride to Waco to the Dr. Pepper Museum 

We had a wonderful ride to Waco for a visit to the Dr. Pepper Museum. There were 6 of us on 3 bikes and we had a great ride even though we were fighting head winds all the way with chilly temps in the morning. The sky was clear and it warmed up pretty quickly as we made our way along the route planned and led by Randy Rainwater. Billie and I joined them at FM 1488 and US 290. We had to compete for a very short time with the MS150 bicycle riders but we quickly left them behind once we were on 290 and rolling west.

There was a major accident at Chappell Hill and we took a little detour through town to by-pass the traffic.




Health Camp in Waco, TX

  From there we continued on our way without further incident, making a couple of rest stops before we arrived at the Health Camp burger joint in Waco for lunch. What a classic diner! The burgers and fries were really good but I particularly was fond of the vanilla malt shake that I had to eat with a spoon; can someone say brain freeze?

The line for the goodies!

From there we headed on to the Dr. Pepper Museum for our tour which was very interesting. I did not know that Dr. Pepper has been around since the 1880's. I think that they had the very first bottle that I drank Dr. Pepper from when I was a kid. I still remember where I was when I first tasted it. It was at our church's State Convention and I think I was about 9 at the time. I have been a Pepper ever since. I had to stop in the gift shop and soda fountain for a Moon Pie and a Dr. Pepper before we left.

I believe the first bottle with the red and white label on the left was my first bottle of Dr. Pepper when I was 9 years old.

If that wasn't enough, we went from there to the Collins Street Bakery for a Texas Blonde Pecan Cake, some Jalapeno Rolls and Pecan Bread.

Same as in Corsicana, deadly good.

We went back to check in the hotel and rest a bit before heading out to Uncle Dan's BBQ for dinner. That was our low point for the day. The food was not the best we have had but it wasn't the worst either. Anyway, as Randy says, we can mark that one off of our list. Curiosity satisfied.

Then it was back to the hotel for a friendly round of Mexican Train after we covered the bikes for the night. There's nothing like the fellowship with good friends after a satisfying day on the bikes and having seen some new places. But that is a serendipity of being a GWRRA member who participates in the chapter. We go places and do things together. Making memories that last a lifetime.

Sunday morning we met for breakfast in the hotel dinning area. After some good food, we loaded our bikes and headed back towards home. The day was perfect! Not too hot, not too cold and not a cloud in the sky. The wind had calmed down too as we made our way eastward through some very pretty country side. We passed the big drag line dredges used for coal mining near Centerville after making a stop at Crossroads for some gas. We met a couple from Georgia who belong to GWRRA at the gas station and had a pleasant conversation with the former Marine and his bride. They had been touring on their trike and were on the return leg of their trip home.

We made a stop in Trinity at the Trinity Cafe for lunch. I had the buffet which was Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy with seasoned green beans and black-eyed peas with a roll. The dessert was a terrific bread pudding. Does it sound like I enjoyed the meal? This place rates a return visit just to prove that this excellent meal was no fluke.

While standing in line at the buffet, I met one of the local gentlemen named Jim Henderson. We engaged in some friendly conversation during which he informed me that he was the president of the local Liar's club and that we were all welcomed to joint him at the Liar's table. This good natured gentleman invited us to buy some land and move to their fair community. We exchanged business cards before leaving this friendly cafe. Great pick for lunch Randy.

From there the ride around Lake Livingston was all too short and we were soon saying our good-byes on the CB as we all headed our separate ways home. By the time we rolled into our garage, we had logged 502 wonderful safe miles over the weekend with some very dear friends. How can you top this? Only by taking trips that last for weeks I say.

Thanks Randy for planning such a great weekend.

For more pictures, visit my Album on the Picasa site at the link below. https://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/WacoOvernighter?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCInzgOmNv-HwCg&feat=directlink

Until next time, we'll see you down the road, On the Wing.