I rolled out of Dallas already baking in the Texas heat. The traffic was heavy and fast between Dallas and Houston. My family in houston (read my mom) was burning up my cell phone wanting updates and wondering why I wouldn't answer the phone while riding.

The plan was to stay at my Uncle Dave's place and let mom know when I land. I hadn't seen my mother in years so she was less than patient for my arrival, hehe. If Verizon had anyone laid off they were all called back in to work by the time she stopped calling everyone and put down her phone happy to hear that I was finally in town. The only way to sleep in past dawn all weekend was to turn off all of our ringers and let the missed calls stack up, hehe. If she wasn't with us, very phone in the house rang endlessly until she goes to bed at sunset. It's good to be loved.

The GPS put me right in Dave's driveway after about a 4 or 5 hour ride. I settled in quickly and looked forward to the long weekend in Houston letting the bike and my butt rest. Jane had a cheap flight into town the next morning and would finish up the ride home with me. She was ready to climb a wall with anticipation when I called to let her know I had got to Dave's and was waiting for her to land.

Jane knew she was in for a Ziggy style weekend when we picked her up in Dave's long black Mercedes from the airport and wisped her away for another trip of a lifetime.

We spent the weekend sightseeing around town and even found time to visit my mother's friend Charlie's beach house on the Gulf coast on Caney Creek. I had heard allot about the cabin on the water over the years and was happy to finally get to check it out. Once we got the windows all opened the Gulf breeze blowing through the living room was like something out of an old novel.

The old place doesn't get much use anymore as Charlie and mom get older but it came to life again with a little prodding. We all speculated what it would be like to sail my boat down the Mississippi River and tie it up to the dock behind the cabin. Such an adventure would be a retirement dream come true.

We talked about my spending a week or two lounging around the small house on stilts next summer taking care of some of the maintenance and upkeep of the place from the harsh environment and watching Jane's daughter explore the Gulf's beaches like I did every summer growing up.

Dave found a motorcycle he liked prior to our arrival with the plan to time out the purchase so that I could ride it home for him. It was a beautifully kept Kawasaki Vulcan and would serve perfectly as his first bike to learn on. The previous owner, Bob and his wife did an amazing job of keeping the bike in showroom condition.

Bob was fun to visit with and the hour ride home was a blast. We made a beer stop along the way at a little roadhouse called "Pop a Top" where we drank local beers and laughed a bit too loud. I didn't know we would be picking up the bike so far away and hadn't planned on riding after dark so I didn't bring my clear glasses forcing me to ride in the dark in my sunglasses across the absolute darkness of the Texan countryside.

All went well and the bike was home safe and sound after a fun 'ass hour long ride. After being spoiled by the almost excessive luxury of my BMW touring machine the bare bones wind in your face cruiser was a blast from the past! Dave will have fun on it.

We celebrated by burning up a $60 bottle of Patron Tequila making Margaritas while sitting around a card table bullshitting about Dave and my past capers together in our wilder days when he was still in Michigan.

The riding lessons went well the next day even though Dave and Jane both harmlessly dropped the bike in the lawn before they were done. The only damage was the nasty looking playing card size burn on the inside of Jane's knee from the hot pipes when the bike landed on her.

Dave rolled us out for some Mexican food and a bucket full of some "top shelf" 1800 Tequila Margaritas. The food was great and I once again walked out of the restaurant regretting having ate so much. Then we drove around downtown hitting the fun spots and checking out the town. We even stopped to cool off from the 85 degree night air at the large waterwall structure that was really cool, literally. the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park was really cool in the dark night of houston surrounded by skyscrapers.

After what seemed like a week long weekend Jane and I mounted up and rode east to swing thru New Orleans to visit Bourbon street eeer I mean her sister Beth and family... We fought a nasty tropical storm the whole way that kept us drenched all day. My bike is a very dry ride as long as I am moving. It can pour rain and we will stay absolutely dry behind the fairing..... But when it rains over 3 inches of rain in 20 minutes not even the magical BMW could keep us dry.

It got so bad we had to take cover more than once under the freeway in an underpass. The water off of the Gulf of Mexico was dumping so fast that we could smell and taste the freshly picked up salty sea water falling from the sky like someone was over us with a 5 gallon bucket.

One of the stops we hid under the freeway with a great guy that had flown in from Scotland with a couple of buds who rented Harleys in Houston for a ride across the Gulf States. He was separated from his group and was riding like hell trying to catch up with them. Shortly after we had settled in under the freeway his buds came rolling in looking for shelter! Turns out they were behind him all along and against all odds picked the same exit to find a hiding place as he did. We joked and swapped info until the rain let up. Jane and I were the first bike to venture back out onto the flooded freewayand we never saw the guys again. They would've been allot of fun to hang with over a couple of pints in the pub.

We rode the bike like a submarine all the way to the Big Easy and once again the GPS brought us right to Beth's doorstep. We settled in over beers and relaxed for the rest of the night. I couldn't wait for our venture into the circus of Bourbon Street the next day.... and next page.