Covered a paltry 250 miles today. Woke up late in Austin. I took some time the night before to enjoy some nightlife. While a monday, Austin is a pretty busy town at night. The 6th street entertainment district has lots of live music to enjoy. The warehouse district has lots of trendy nightclubs, though some were closed on monday. All are within walking distance from nearby hotels, I was staying up near the capitol building.
Drove to San Antonio and made a stop to get new tires and an oil change. The rear was getting pretty thin and the front had started to get a bit of a wobble from a scallop it had developed. The guys at the Universal City kawasaki dealer were pretty friendly and helpful. They bumped me to the front of the service line when I told them I had driven in from Canada and was on my way across the country. Didn't have much in the way of tire selection, were pretty pricey, and even though they had my bike in the garage almost immediately, it still took them awhile to finish the job. Definitely not as cheap or speedy as Zdeno, but were real friendly and helpful. Gave me a recommendation for the best enchiladas in town, and suggested I check out the white sands desert and nearby mountains once I get past el paso.
Had the enchiladas, and they were pretty good. Then drove over to see the Alamo. Full of school tours, although it just occurred to me school may be out for summer, so it could of been church groups or however else young people organize themselves to go on tours in matching tee shirts.
I-10W kicked my butt today. By the time I was out of San Antonio it was already mid-day and the temperature was at its peak (triple digits). Speed limit is 80 miles from here to el paso, so moving a pretty good clip. After about an hour I pulled over to relax under one of the picnic rest areas on the side of the highway. I was actually kinda impressed, the shelters were solid brick in an alamo like style with non-load bearing, but real wood post and lintel beams, and a single concrete picnic table under each shelter. The graffiti was contained to the tin roof and in the form of a respectful name+date+hometown and occasionally destination. It was kinda surreal to relax in the shade on the bench looking up on all the names scribbled on the roof dating back 35 years and as recent as two days ago. Had a good rest...er siesta before moving on. Made it down the road alittle further to a motel in Sonora. Tomorrow El Paso, and more mexican food.