South Padre Island

South Padre Island. CVMA related. When I heard about this last year, I was thinking .. "ALL IN!" .  I'd never been to the South Side of Padre Island. Been to Corpus Christi a few times, and drove out to the north end.. but...  that was it.  I've always heard it come up as a Spring Break destination, but not much else.  Well, CVMA's 2020 Texas State meeting was announced to be here so ...  in! The host hotel is the Pearl Resort which looks good on 'paper' so .. what the hell.

As we get closer to the actual date, I'm forced to make a decision.  Ride or Drive? I want to do the ride vs trailer the bike down, but I'm a notch concerned about weather.  I don't mind a lil' rain, but we've been dealing with hurricanes and as luck would have it, Hurricane Delta is in the gulf the same time frame.  However, our plans to ride look to be viable so ... game on

 

I've been planning this for awhile and had it all put together, posting about it HERE.   Along the way, Boots and Kaci decided to ride with us down there, while Lucy and Nance jump in her Jeep for the ride down, loaded up with a cooler and xtra' gear for us.  By 0900 we're all loaded up, in my driveway and headed out.   Our plan is stick to 2 laners all the way to the 130 Toll road , then I10 to San Antonio.  Almost worked out that way.

 

We head out, gas up and we're rolling down Hwy 34.  I've made the decision to keep it around 5 over and we're soon down to Italy and merging on to Hwy 77.   The plan is to jump on Hwy 308 out of Milford.. but.. my head must have been up my ass because we're rolling up to I-35 at Hillsboro and I know I've missed my turnoff.  Well, we top off the tanks and make a decision to jump on the Interstate and roll down to Georgetown where we then grab the Tollway to bypass the Austin chaos.   Speed limit is now 85 so we're cruising pretty nice all the way to I-10.  Another half hour and we're pulling up to the Marriott.  The girls have already checked in and brought up all the gear; score!  Park the bikes down below in the garage, grab a cold one throw on some shorts and ... day one's riding is done.  Now, it's time to rally up the troops and figure out the night.   Six of us head down stairs where the hotel bar is serving up some drinks and we're tracking down our Commander Half-sack and his crew for dinner.  We soon find ourselves out on the Riverwalk and quickly pop into a restaurant for some grub and Margaritas!  As we leave, I realize this isn't the 'norm' and due to Covid BS, we head back to the hotel and terrorize the bar downstairs some more.  Time to call it a night ....  another day of riding ahead.

We all get a good nights sleep with a forecast of 0900 KSU.  We're ready prior so we grab the bikes, load up the Jeep and we're headed South.  The girls don't have any patience so ... .. they are off.  We straddle the bikes a few minutes behind them, see them at a stop light ahead .. and ..  not to be seen again for another six hours or so.  We quickly jump on the Interstate and rolling down I-37. Traffic isn't too bad since we're headed away from the city so we get it up to 75 and we're making time.  Eventually we jump off on 281 to get away from all the pavement and it's 2 lanes the rest of the way.  At 5 over the speed limit, it's a nice cruise and mother nature is cooperating with the weather.  We'll stay dry this entire trip! Few hours down the road, our bellys' are making noises so we agree on what else but...... Whataburger; a Texas fast food staple!  I'm soon reminded this is a mistake I rarely make. Once we're rolling, I'm into a food coma, fat dumb and happy.... and sleepy.  Oh well, nothing a monster energy drink can't fix? Eventually we've covered some serious ground and it's time to make our way east towards the Gulf.   We're almost to Brownsville before we hit traffic and even then, it's not too bad.  We find ourselves on Hwy 100 and dead heading to the Island.  When we hit the causeway, the wind (there's a hurricane out there somewhere) has picked up and we'll all comment later how wild it was going up and over onto the Island with the wind gusts pushing us back and forth.  I have to admit, I was sitting straight up , holding on to them handle bars thinking...  just another few minutes to go!  Then, we're off it, and pulling up to the Pearl Resort.  We've arrived!

They've got the lot roped off for all the bikes on the East side of it which is nice, we're early so we get 'front row.' Ladies have already emptied the Jeep, sent us room numbers so were' headed in!  I'm not sure what to expect of the resort because I'd read a few bad reviews, but it exceeds my expectations (which wernn't high). Only have two complaints.  Balcony was small and the mattress sucked (felt like it had old skool springs in it).  But otherwise not too bad.  Lucy pointed out it could have been cleaned better .. but... like I said... I had low expectations. Visually to me, looked fine.  We connect up with the Kennedy's and we're headed down.  Boots and Kaci are at a different hotel, so we'll catch up with them later.  We find the pool and more importantly.. the Pool Bar!  Tony the bartender is taking care of us well, and Jose over at the grill is knocking out some great 'bar food', especially the quesadillas.   We aren't there even an hour when Eddie rolls in, asks us to move our table and sets up for Karaoke. I'm thinking 'really??" ... but.. .turns out ... he's a great entertainer and will be one of the highlights of the trip.

Thursday night was a blast.   Myself and Beaudreaux got up to the mic for a few songs each.  Margaritas were flowing.  We were nibbling some food from the grill off to the side.   I'm a lil beat and this is pure relaxing.   Place isn't packed but .. as the weekend gets closer and the Combat Vets continue to roll in .,.. it will be.  Speaking to couple out of Austin whom was on the third day of their vaca, the hotel was a ghost town until we all began rolling in.   And .. we're just warming up.  Upwards of 400 folks are due to convene.  Few hours in .... I'm beat from the ride .. besides its windy as hell, and ...  the bed upstairs is calling my name........   

Friday is a beautiful day. Friday is a hot day! All weekend we'll find ourselves in the 90s.  So, I pack up my cooler with some goodies and we're headed to the VFW in Brownsville to check out things.  Locale chapter has done a great job, especially with the COVID BS.  We sign in, grab our goody bags, contribute to some fund raisers and grab some cold ones at the bar.  Nance is in the back area working to get her new back patch sewn on for the ceremony.  We soon find out it's going to take several hours set we head down the road for a couple of miles for some excellent Mexican cuisine.. hell, we're not far from the border!  After some awesome food and margaritas, we head back to pick some things up .. then headed to the Pearl.  Unload and then...   pool time!    Water temp is perfect, the bar is manned by several guys .. and ...  the place is hopping!  Feels like we're in Florida or Mexico.  I dig it.   Eventually, we work our way back to the room and basically .. do a repeat of the night before at the Pool Bar ... ...

Saturday is finally here; the day we've all be waiting for.  We were supposed to have a big meeting but due to COVID, only officers.  We still line up to Vote.  We line up to swipe our cards for attendance.   Last chance to pick up some swag.  But the highlight for me was Nance' getting patched in and Dutch getting on the Honor Roll.   With about 300+ of us in attendance, what an honor!    Afterwards, we roll back to ... yep .. replay!  But, got to admit Lucy and I are a lil' beat.  She pulls the plug, I head down for an hour of saying hi to folks, sipping some drinks, listening to Karaoke.. then .. sneak off to bed.  I need some sleep!

Sunday is here and we're headed home the long way, through the Hill Country.   Boots and Kaci have elected to leave a few hours earlier with another group so it's just the four of us. The girls take off in the Jeep and Beaudreax and I on the bikes.  At the first gas stop a 100+ miles down the road we get separated only to catch up in Fredericksburg.  This is about a 350-400 mile day so about 1/2 way pull over, stretch the legs in a parking area, pop some aleieve .. and .. a cold one.  Hey .. it's hot!  Then back on , through San Antonio then onward to Fredericksburg.  The original plan was to go through Bandera up 16 to Kerrville and then to our stop.. but... we're dragging ass a lil so we take a quicker (ie safer!) route.  Still before 1500 hrs, we roll in. The girls have a drink in hand, on the back patio so we soon join them. Rooms aren't ready yet, but by 1630, we're both checked, freshened up and headed to dinner! The Auslander has become a fav' and it won't disappoint.  Some good beer, wine, sausage and snitzel..  we're headed back to the hotel.  We soon find a fire pit out back and life is good. Since we checked in, I find myself wishing we'd had the IIRA Reunion at the location last year.  I'd checked into it and we could have taken the ENTIRE property over.  But .. I don't make the final decisions; oh well.  Well, after a few drinks... pulling the plug.  Unbeknown to me, Dutch is across the street trying to find us.  The crazy bastard setup a tent ...   guessing his rate was cheaper than ours?

Monday and we're headed home!  Dutch found us, and we're all rolling. The girls take the quick way, while we head North up Hwy 16 on nothing but TWO LANEs , all the way to Hunt County.  I love this route, having ridden it on average once a year the last decade or so.  I've always been lucky with the weather as we would this trip. As we hit Goldthwaite, Dutch broke off and is headed further north to do some visiting with old buddies, We head east on NE on 2005 which is always desolate.   As always, 1/2 out on a trip, Beaudreax and I find a nice shady spot, open the cooler and after a nice break and a single cold one; then mount up and head out.  Soon I'm back in the driveway wishing this ride wasn't over.  Wishing we'd spent a few more days down on the Island.  But....   we've now got another destination on our books that we can revisit.   Another Trip in the books.....