She's With Me 8.13.15

Given that I spent three weeks this summer gallivanting about the country on a bike, and given that two of those weeks were initially designed to include Kelley, and further given that both of those weeks got upstaged by Kelley’s integrity and desire to serve her clients (that means work), the only times that Kelley got on the bike at all were a couple of quick runs out to eat interesting food at interesting places around Houston.

So, when Kelley sent me a picture of the Friday special at Stiles Switch BBQ in Austin, with a note reading “Take me there sometime”, a quick glance at the calendar and I realized we could get away for a couple of days.  The “She’s With Me” ride was quickly scheduled.

The plan was to leave Houston on Thursday at 4:00 PM, ride lots of back roads out to Austin, and stay at the Best Western we have stayed at before.  Get up without an alarm on Friday, have lunch at the BBQ place, enjoy Austin on Friday night, and then find some interesting rides home.

We started right on time.  The traffic wasn’t bad and we didn’t go far on the freeway.  At our first chance west of town we got off the interstate and hit the back roads.  It was HOT and we were both doing our best to stay hydrated.  The ride was great even though I know those roads like the back of my hand.  Out to Bellville, then to La Grange, then find some new roads to eventually wind up where we wanted to be.

The first unscheduled stop – which doesn’t really apply to this ride since we weren’t really on a schedule – was the Dairy Queen in Bellville.  There is just something about small Texas town DQ’s that is irresistible when Kelley gets to ride with me.  The good thing was the ice cream.  The bad thing is that Kelley began to get the feeling that all was not right with her.

We stopped in La Grange for gas.  Kelley got off the bike at the pump.  Then it was my turn. I filled up. No problem. Then I threw my leg over the seat to clear my bike from the pump.  For the first time in my life, when my foot hit the ground on the other side of the bike, my left ankle completely twisted and gave way.  It HURT! I started the bike and gingerly made my way to a parking spot by the door. Then I gimped in to look for Kelley.

She wasn’t feeling very good but I think she chose not to tell me about it because we were both excited about being away together for a night and on the bike to get there.  She probably thought it was just the heat.  So off we went.

My ankle hurt so finding interesting side roads quickly lost its charm.  I just wanted to get to the hotel and the swimming pool.  We rode straight to it and then I gimped in to the lobby. Room key in my pocket I went back out to move the bike to the closest entrance door.  I swung my leg over the seat AND DID IT AGAIN! 

It was the one on the left.

Was our trip cursed? We got to the room and Kelley didn’t feel like going out so I rode to a grocery store to get some supplies. My taste of Austin Weird was confined to the crowd at the local HEB. They didn’t disappoint. I got back to the room to find Kelley feeling even worse.

By midnight we were in an emergency room.  They took good care of her, gave her what she needed, we made one drugstore stop, and then in for the night. Poor Kelley! But she was a trooper and not complaining.

The morning came and she felt a little better.  We had breakfast and then time at the pool before heading over for BBQ. Stiles Switch was worth the trip. 

Back then to the motel as neither of us were in the mood to do much more riding.  We spent the rest of the day together at the pool and it was perfect.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed north. The plan was to angle over to Taylor and then take 36 back to Houston. I chose not to take the tollway so we took a bit of a circuitous route through Round Rock but that worked out perfectly as we got to see the baseball stadium and the Dell Computer campus.  I know, strange to get excited about something like that but if you haven’t seen it before…it was cool.

Earlier this summer I was out on a ride with some other guys with the plan of stopping for lunch at the Kenney Store in beautiful downtown Kenney, TX.  Unfortunately the stator went out on my Harley and I didn’t dare turn it off. So, when we got to the store, everybody else went in to eat the famous lunch beef tips and I limped back to town to drop my bike off at the shop.

Remembering that, Kelley and I made our way to Kenney so we could see if the beef tips were as good as advertised.  When I rode up to the store Kelley asked if it was really a store.  As you can see, it wasn’t much to look at from the outside but it is delightful inside and the food was fantastic.  Order the beef tips!

I don't understand why Kelley would wonder if they were open or not. Notice Downtown Kenney...

After lunch we passed back through Bellville and took the back roads home. No more incidents.  Kelley felt much better. My ankle didn’t hurt too bad. The weather was beautiful. We got back to the townhouse realizing that we need to do this more often.

Once again, a ride ends with my realization that God seriously had my back when God brought Kelley into my life. I am both proud and grateful every time I get to say that she is with me.