The last day!!

I got up early and looked out the window. RAIN!! WORSE YET!!, the route that I had planned called for severe weather around Houston, TX. I pulled the bike under an overhang outside my room and started to perform the pre-ride maintenance and packing. A gentleman,who was also staying at the motel saw my Alaska license plate and said, "where are you headed? I told him that my route was traveling down to and around Houston. He said, "not a good idea,the people down there are crazy!!". He went to his car and brought a detailed Texas map and said this is your early Christmas present. We plotted an alternate route that would take me west and away from the nasty weather.
I finished packing and put on all my rain gear and reflective vest and head south on the interstate towards Houston. I traveled south, 25 miles, avoiding big trucks and impatient drivers who just had to get to Houston in a hurry. I saw the turnoff for Hwy 105 west and followed this road for about 60 miles before I was able to hook into Hwy 60 south. This was a two lane road that meandered down towards Bay City, TX. I had to stop in Bay City and tighten the chain one more time, hoping that the chain would last the rest of the trip.
The weather had cleared and I shed my vest and rain jacket and turned on to Hwy 35 which would take me into Aransas Pass. When I left Huntsville, there was not much wind but as I started going west away from the rain, the wind started blowing at 25 mph from the north west. When I turned onto Hwy 60, I had a tailwind all the way to Bay City. As I started out on Hwy 35, I was again riding into the wind. Bay City and Hwy 35 follow the shoreline of the Texas gulf coast. Not much there to stop the wind.
I was actually able to cruise at 70 and 75 mph on this section and I made great time. The weather got warm and I stopped for the last fuel fill-up for this trip. I shed my rain pants and enjoyed the +80F temps as I headed to Aransas Pass, TX.
I arrived at Tom and Kathy Barrett's home at 4 PM. No one was home but I took my boots and socks off and enjoyed the warm temps on their deck. Kathy arrived about 30 minutes later and I was awarded ice cold adult beverages while we waited for Tom to finish work. I made it!! I called Valley and let her know that I had arrived safely at her brothers home. Tom and Kathy do not have the "Internet". They had some problems with virus's in the past and decided they did not need the "Internet". So, I tried my mini and no connections were available and I would have to wait until I got back to Alaska to do my final updates.
My plane was an hour late getting back to Fairbanks and the temp was +20F degrees with light snow. Guess what? I was cold. After spending the last two months in nice to hot weather, my body was not acclimated to Fairbanks. My wife and dog, Nikki, met me at the airport and I finally arrived home at about 11:30 PM, Alaska time. Kiss the wife, scratch the dog, have a glass of nice wine and off to bed.
Next post = after thoughts!