The Candy Ass Adventure - August 15, 2019

Morning dawned promising a beautiful day that was certain to get hot since it was already 82 degrees!  We managed to get packed and out of the awful motel by 9:30 am after a paltry brekkie off the lobby.  Yeah, I know, we're not early birds now that we're retired, lol. 

Our route for the day was to basically stay on US 84 across Texas.  US 84 turned out to be a fast 4 lane highway for most of the time only dropping to two lanes late in the afternoon.  Oh well, at least it was fast :-)  Scenery was still high desert, rather barren and flat, flat, flat!  That would change later in the day.

We got a break and departed US 84's 4 lane divided heavy, oversize load path to wander down smaller two lane highways with much, much less traffic and better scenery.  With the penalty of a short run on I-20 we were able to head South on TX-70 to TX-153, which was very nice!  That took us into Coleman, TX.

We motored on until hunger pangs set in and it was time to pick a lunch place.  Our GPS gave several options in Coleman, TX including the standard fast food and a few restaurants.  And then, up popped Owl's Drug Store Fountain and Grill.  Oh yes, oh yes, I believe this might be a sleeper.  Let's go there and if it sucks, we'll move on.  Okay.....hahahaha,  We pulled into the parking lot and as I relaxed with a smoke I spied some awesome murals on the wall of the building across the street.

The murals were on the Public Library building.  How cool is that?

Owl's, where friends meet :-)  What might be inside?  Let's look!

 This is what we found inside.  An real, old fashioned soda fountain!  Lots of fun decor too.  Oh, there was also a pharmacy and gift shop.  Quite nice.  But the soda fountain was the star of the day!

 Apparently, not many people that look and dress the way we do enter this establishment.  We were given the VIP first class treatment by all the staff.  One cook handed us the Owl Drug 101 sheet and told us to go to the back after our meal and write our name on the wall, lol.  Again, how cool is that?

 A peek at the menu.  Dang, I wish we had know about this and made it for brekkie.  Great prices and I bet they do a stellar job.  No worries, we ordered lunch.  Eric ordered a BLT and I ordered a Grilled Bacon and Cheese.  We both got tots. 

 Oh, I splurged!  Since I was at an old fashioned Soda Fountain, a strawberry milkshake was the very first thing I requested.  I was not disappointed :-)

 Sorry, I totally spaced taking any food porn photos.  Suffice it to say we both cleaned our plates and thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the ambiance.  What a very fun place with good food at reasonable prices.  Yes, stop here if you're near Coleman, TX.  Owl's

After lunch we checked out the back walls and all the signatures and stickers.  Of course a DFF sticker went up on the wall!  I challenge you to find it and take a picture next time you're in Coleman!

 With full tummies, we re-mounted our steeds and continued on an easterly course.  US-283 back to US-84, but 84 was more pleasant for this stretch.  At Early, TX we dropped South on US-183 to Goldthwaite, TX, then back on US-84.  Waco, TX was our goal.  Fortunately the scenery changed and we were now riding through the Texas Hill Country with lots of rolling hills and scrub trees.  It was lovely but HOT.  Hey, at least it was a dry heat and no humidity but it was HOT, 101 degrees HOT! 

A fuel stop was made and then an hour later we needed to stop again just to cool off.  A bottle of cold water (yes, I was hydrating all day but wanted something super cold) and then I went into the Ladies Room and soaked my LD Comfort top sleeves, collar and shoulders.  Oh that helped immensely!  I was getting overheated in my Klim gear that doesn't have great venting.  Eric was doing fine in his new mesh gear and frequent draws from his hydration jug.

It was rush hour when we entered Waco and it was HOT and of course there was road construction which contributed to the stop and go traffic.  Whew!  Sweat was rolling down my face into my eyeballs.  STING!   Working our way across town to the Red Roof Inn, we decided to get off the short Interstate hop and onto the frontage road for the final 1.5 miles to the hotel.  Good move!  Traffic was just a big quicker, at least it was moving, and before we knew it, we were through Waco and at our Red Roof Inn motel.

Oh yes, this was a thousand, million times better than last night's motel, hahahahaha!  And, bonus, it was nice and cool inside.

 Right across the street from Baylor University Stadium!  It is actually a nice room.  Fairly clean (except the floor is disgusting!).  Jeez, doesn't anyone know how to mop a floor?  Clean water might be a good start.  Oh well.....

After such a long hot ride of about 375 miles we both were anxious to hop in the shower.  Oh joy!  Shaved legs and shampooed hair.  I feel marvelous, darling :-)  Well, that coupled with a few cocktails made everything just peachy!

Eric ordered Chinese and then rode down the street a few blocks to Wei Tasty Asian to pick it up and bring it back to the room.  Dinner was good.  Nothing exceptional, but decent.  We shared an appetizer and entree and were both satisfied.

Another bonus, we have a King bed in the room so we can snuggle tonight.  The last two nights were separate beds, boo, hiss!!!!  Looking forward to tucking in later tonight for a good night sleep.  Tomorrow we plan on getting most the way across Louisiana and then the final trek home via the Natchez Trace (yippee!) on Saturday.  We'll see how that goes :-)

Great ride today.  Bikes are purring like happy kittens, our bellies are full and we have a semi-decent room tonight.  Thanks for following along and maybe tomorrow we might have some surprises?  Or not, lol.  Just riding along is fine all by itself.  I love my beastie bike ;-)

Cheers,
Cletha