Motorcycle Trip

I'm going to start this post off by saying that I am SO glad that my hubby made it back home safely from his motorcycle trip!!!  I was a ball of nerves and anxiety the entire time he and his dad were gone and I missed him terribly.  But, I am so thankful to all of my friends and family who prayed for their safety and good weather while they were away.  And, I'm even more thankful that God kept them safe and sound and allowed them to have such a fun time.

Now, I'll tell you all about the trip that Cody and his dad went on!  I guess they started planning this trip back in the fall...so nearly a year ago.  Cody's dad has always had a motorcycle, I guess since he was a teenager.  I think he was about 13 or so when he started riding.  Rick (Cody's dad) has always had at least one motorcycle ever since.  Cody has been around them his entire life as well as been around many, many people that ride them on a regular basis.  So, naturally, Cody developed an interest in motorcycles and actually had one for awhile while he was in college.  But, he hadn't one in a long time.  Last spring, Cody's uncle was selling his motorcycle and it was in really good shape, had low miles, and was only a few years old.  So, he bought it!  I was ok with this because I knew it was something that he enjoyed doing and it was something that he and his dad could do together.  This motorcycle wasn't really built for long trips, so it was going to mainly be something that Cody rode around in town on when the weather was nice or he and his dad were going to go for a short ride.  But, then he and his dad started talking last fall about taking a long ride together and the motorcycle that he currently had wouldn't do for this long of a trip.  It wasn't big enough or comfortable enough to ride for thousands of miles.  So, Cody posted an ad to sell that bike and it actually sold rather quickly.  Then, he began the process of looking for another bike that would be sufficient for taking a long trip.  I got a phone call from him while I was at school a couple of weeks later that he had found a bike that would be perfect for their future trip.  It was a good deal, was in amazing shape, had super low miles, and was only 2 years old...so he bought it!

Shortly after, Cody and his dad began planning their trip and booked hotel rooms for the place where they were going to stay in South Dakota.  This was going to be a long trip, between 10-12 days depending on the weather and traffic.  I guess it was about summer time when I started getting really nervous and almost trying to talk Cody out of going.  I also tried to use the guilt-trip card because he was going to be gone on my birthday.  Believe me, I was pulling out all the stops when I was trying to get him to change his mind and not go!  I trusted that God was going to take care of him and keep him safe.  But, I was also not in control of what was going on and I wasn't going to be with him to know he was safe, and naturally began doubting.  I had all these crazy thoughts going through my head of scenarios that could happen, which could easily happen in a car, truck, or other motorized vehicle.  I was just fearful because a motorcycle is a little more dangerous and many people simply don't look out for them on the road.  I was truly worried about other drivers, no matter if they were driving something that had 4 wheels or 2...or 18.  I remember coming home from my Grandma's house after July 4th weekend and it was just Cody and I driving home in my car.  I had been thinking and praying a lot about this trip and I had this sense of peace come over me.  Now, I'm not going to sit here and say that I stopped being nervous, worried, or anxious.  But, I knew that God was going to watch over them and keep them safe.  He wasn't going to let anything happen to them.  And I knew that sense of peace that I was feeling was God telling me that it was going to be all right.  I also knew that I had some apologizing to do to Cody for making him feel guilty and trying to talk him out of this trip.  So, we spend most of the ride home talking about the trip, and me apologizing.  Cody just reassured me even more that it was going to be ok, the roads they were going to travel on weren't overly traveled or busy, and that his dad was going to make sure that Cody was always in the safest place possible when on the road.  Then, the waiting began for the day that they were going to leave.

Soon...August 6th was upon us.  I am not much of a crier, and let me tell you, I shed a lot of tears that day.  I was going to miss him so much and I was also worried about them.  He promised me that he would call or text every time they stopped for gas or to take a break.  He was also going to do the same the moment they got to where they were stopping for the night so that I would know they were safe and sound for the night.  They rode between 350 and 400 miles for the first three days and arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota on Monday afternoon.  They spent the next three nights there and traveled through some beautiful places for those three days.  They went to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Black Hills, the Hot Springs, and also drove on Iron Mountain Road and the Needles Highway.  I saw pictures from all of this, but this is one of those times that a picture just doesn't do God's creation justice.  Cody even said that at one point it brought tears to his eyes to just look and and see all the beauty that God has created.  Amazing things HE has done!  They also went into Sturgis, which is a big deal during the second week in August.  It's called Bike Week and there are some crazy things that go on!  But, they only went during the middle of the day when it was semi-calm to have lunch, do some souvenir shopping, and look at all the bikes that were there.  I looked it up and the town only has about 6,700 people that live there.  But during bike week the town grows to about 35,000 people...how crazy is that?!?!?  I watched a special on the Travel Channel about the Sturgis Bike Rally the Sunday night before it started and it was crazy to me at how many people flock to this sleepy little town.  It also amazed me to see all the motorcycles...holy smokes there were thousands of them!  Cody said it was nuts just looking around the streets and all you see are motorcycles parked along side them for miles and miles.  So, that was a fun part of the trip.  Did some sight-seeing, went to Sturgis for a day, and rode through some beautiful scenery.  When they left South Dakota, they headed to Indiana.  Rick and Cody have a lot of family that live there, but they haven't gotten to see them in several years.  In fact, Cody hasn't seen his grandfather in about 16 years.  He isn't in very good health and has a hard time traveling very far, and we have just been so busy with life that we haven't even gotten up there ourselves.  It took them about two days to get from Sturgis to Indiana and they stayed in Indiana for three nights and spent a lot of time with Rick's side of the family.  They went out on the lake, rode motorcycles with other family members, and just spent some good quality time together.  But when I got that phone call that they were leaving Indiana and headed back to the good 'ole state of Texas...I was beyond excited!  They left on Monday morning, which was the 15th, and drove well over 700 miles the first day and stopped in Springfield, Missouri for the night.  He said that if the weather was good, they should be back in Abilene by late Tuesday evening.  But, he called me early on Tuesday morning and said it was pouring down rain so they were going to have to wait it out.  About 90% of me was thankful that they weren't going to try to drive in such stormy weather, but the other 10% of me was so ready for them to be home that I just wanted them to hop on their bikes and book it!  Thankfully, the rain lightened about 10:00 and they headed out to come home.  They went through Joplin on their way home and Cody said it was just devastating to see all the damage that was done by the tornado that went through there several months ago.  He said it was almost like a ghost town...so very sad.  When they got to Wichita Falls, I was really scared for them.  Cody told me that it was so hot and they were so dehydrated, but they were going to go ahead and keep riding.  The weather had taken such a toll on them because they were coming from 80 degree weather into 105 degree weather.  Add the fact that the asphalt from the road is scalding hot and radiating up on them while they are riding.  I was almost hoping they would stop and just stay the night and come the rest of the way the next day.  But, they stopped at Cracker Barrel and had some food and a few gallons of water and felt much better.  So, they rode the rest of the way in.

It was about 9:15 on Tuesday, August 16th...I wasn't keeping track or anything :-)...whenever I heard the glorious sound of the motorcycle pulling in the driveway!  I can't tell you how good it felt to know that he was home and safe from that long 10 day ride.  It was so nice for him to be home, and the dogs were so excited for him to be home too...they missed their daddy!  I did get in some serious snuggle time with all three of them while he was away.  Both of the girls slept with me in our bed and Sarge stayed in the living room and protected us girls!  Trigger curled up in a little ball every night and slept on Cody's pillow and Faith snuggled up right up against my back.  They were so sweet and definitely made me feel safe at night while I was home alone!  I just told him the other day that I have never been so thankful to see that motorcycle parked in the garage as I have been ever since he came home.  All I ever wanted before was for it to be gone, and now I'm so glad that it's there.  Simply because that means that he's home safe and back from his trip!  When he got home he told me all about what they had gotten to do and see and showed me pictures of how amazingly beautiful everything was.  We also talked about how he was glad that he had gotten to go on such a long trip, and with his dad, but he didn't think he would ride for that long again.  They went right at 4,000 miles in 10 days...that's a lot on a motorcycle!  We made a deal that when he got back, he was going to sell the bike.  That's still in the works, but I know he will probably always have one.  In fact, we talked about that too after he got home.  However, he said if he gets another one, it's going to be one that has those really tall handle bars, they call them ape hanger handle bars.  I told him he should get a chopper.  You know, like the ones that they make on that TV show, West Coast Chopper?!?!?  I mean if we're going to have a motorcycle, let's get a super crazy, insanely ridiculous, off the wall, souped up one!  But...we might wait a few more years until another motorcycle crosses over the threshold of our garage!  He's in the process of getting a new truck and so the motorcycle is definitely for sale...any takers?!?!?

Here are a TON of pictures from the trip!!!

Mount Rushmore!!!

Cody in front of Mt. Rushmore

Cody and his dad in front of Mt. Rushmore

This is a side view of Crazy Horse.  It is still in the process of being carved out of the mountain.  When it's finished, it will be him and his horse that he rode.  Cody said he herd it could take up to 100 years to complete...crazy!

Some pictures of the beautiful scenery that they drove through while riding on Needles Highway.

Here are some pictures of Sturgis and some motorcycles riding into Sturgis.  Some of these people are nuts!!!

This is kinda scary.  But, here are some pictures of the motocycle gang, Hell's Angels.  I had to blank out a word on that bumpber sticker...it was a little obscene!  On the top left is a picture of one of their motorcycles.  These guys are some scary dudes!

Here are some pictures of Cody's family in Indiana!