DAY 86
Week 13
AUSTIN (Texas, USA) to CORINTH (Texas, USA)
Thursday September 14th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 245 miles or 394 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 9660 miles or 15546 kilometres
On the road again!!! 
After about a month of enjoying the hospitality of Dash, Christine, Matthew and Alyssa in Austin (Texas), it was time to hit the road. ;-)
Before I left, I had to work out if I wanted to leave the Harley in Austin (Texas) and drive back through there or shave 405 miles (652 kilometres) off the trip and have it delivered (on the cheap) to Dallas (Texas) for my return.
I'm headed over to Denver (Colorado) and had to go through Dallas (Texas) anyways, so why not deliver it myself. The question is how to get the Man Pad with the tow dolley and the Harley to Dallas (Texas) with just me. I went down to U-Haul and got tandem axle car trailer for the purpose.
Let me tell you that although the photos say otherwise, it was a chore loading the trailer. Ever tried loading and tying down nearly 700 pounds of motorbike without it either (a) falling off the trailer, (b) falling on me or (c) both??? As you can see, I got it done but not without the bike having little lie down on the trailer. Thankfully there wasn't any damage.
The tow dolley was a different proposition. It is heavier than the Harley as well as bulky and awkward to handle. In the end I winched it up onto the back of the car trailer, tied it down and was set for the road. What I thought might have taken an hour or so to get the Man Pad ended up chewing through three hours.
Much to my angst, after refuelling (at $2.43 a gallon) I was on the road, headed North at 4 o'clock just in time to hit bumper to bumper traffic. It took over an hour to travel the 38 miles (60 kilometres) just to get out of Austin (Texas). Did I ever mention that I hate negotiating fucking traffic in the Man Pad??? People are so not respectful of the shortcomings in piloting such vehicles.
Better inlaw's you couldn't hope to meet in Bekah and Mike. Anytime I've been in Dallas (Texas) I've just lobbed up and crashed at their crib. Why should this trip be any different??? Due to the neighborhood nazis having a fit last time I was in town with the "Caravan Of Love", I decided to leave the Man Pad at the Dallas Destiny RV Resort about 3 miles up the road from Bek & Mike's.
Unloading the tow dolley and Harley was a snap, all be it with a bit of banging and crashing. Regardless, I was done in under 20 minutes with Mike's assistance and it was off to blow the froth of a couple of coldies.
• WAXAHACHIE (Texas, USA)