Take a picture of the sign for Mecca. Do not stop in the road. There is a drive just up the road about 100 feet where you can park and walk back.

Waze took me on a twisty tour of the bucolic side streets of College Station, eventually dropping me onto US-190 East. Rally start nerves quickly subsided, and I settled into a steady pace. The bonus, a town line sign for Mecca, had a couple small turnoffs, and I pulled in behind someone who’d gotten here just seconds before me. As I was getting back on the bike and pulling away, a pack of 12-15 other ralliers poured in.. and distracted me from paying attention to the GPS telling me to turn around instead of continuing forward, so I got to flip a u-turn and ride back through the crowd.. luckily no one saw me, crowding the sign, intent on scoring their own bonuses.

Take a picture of the buffalo statue located in front of the Brookshire’s grocery store.

The same rider who was ahead of me at Mecca was also here, just packing up to leave. The parking lot was a bit uneven, so I just parked in front of the statue itself and snapped my photo. As I was doing paperwork, the herd behind me at Mecca started filtering in… given the obvious nature of the rest bonus exponents and the time-windows, would this be the rest of my rally?

Take a picture of the sign for the church with the church visible in the background.

Traffic picked up a little bit as I skirted around Palestine, TX. Hey, is there a bonus here? Yes… but not until Thursday! Ah well.. maybe I’ll be back.

Surprisingly, no one else was at this stop, although as I was leaving I passed Bryan Bailey and Marissa Scott, riding 2-up, just coming in. A peek at the Spotwalla page showed that we were starting to spread out now, although the majority of people were still clustered east of College Station.

Take a picture of the Texas historical marker for Jacksonville.

Leaving the church, Waze took me on a scenic little loop of some backroads, as it sometimes does, since it’s set to never tell me to take a u-turn.. I sometimes forget to turn that off. Oh well; it only added 5 minutes or so to the clock, and I was making good time (or at least, beating the often inaccurate estimations of Garmin!)

This historical marker is in the middle of the lawn of the Vanishing Texana Museum, and with my love for small-town or niche museums, I made sure to add it to my map of them.

It was getting a bit windy, so it took some clever positioning and fortuitous timing to get a photo with my rally flag unfolded; I’d somehow misplaced the usual skirt hanger and clamps I use to weigh down the flag.. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a solution along the way.

It took me long enough to get a photo that a gentleman from the museum came outside to make sure I was ok. I briefly explained the rally, then begged off as politely as I could. A quick stop in town for a bathroom break and to top off the tanks (I mean, as long as I’m stopped, might as well!) and I was soon heading back south, retracing my steps..

There must be some kind of law that every Texan town has to have a picturesque town square; there’s no other explanation for how many I’ve seen over the years of riding Heart of Texas events! This one was just as lovely as the others, and the Heart of Texas Grill was just steps off it. I parked next to another rally bike and stepped inside; Paul Brown was just finishing his meal, and we chatted a bit about our afternoon, and the quirk that this restaurant didn’t print their address on the receipt, so we were being asked to include the menu in the documenting photo. The waitress was on the spot, bringing me a menu saying “I think you’ll need this for our address?” Clearly, we weren’t the first here today..

I splurged a little and got the pulled pork sandwich and coleslaw with an unsweet tea, and was impressed. I’m no expert, though – we get so little BBQ in the PNW that I can be fooled into thinking it’s good, but at the moment it really hit the spot. A couple other riders filtered in as I was finishing, and I passed along the warning about the receipts, paid my bill, chatted with the hard-of-hearing gentleman manning the register, and when outside to start gearing up. As I was fiddling with something, Bryan and Marissa pulled in, and they warned me about a construction zone just east of town; we were both on the same general route, it seems, as they were just coming from my next bonus, so I was going to hit it. Seeing no way to detour, I resigned myself to toughing out whatever the construction zone gods decided to dish out to me today.

Take a picture of the sign for the Geneva Baptist Church.

The construction Bryan and Melissa warned me about seemed to be wrapping up; they’d warned of soft, fresh asphalt, and it still smelled pretty bituminous, but I only had to wait about 10 minutes for a pilot car to lead the small group of us waiting to get across.

At the church, another rally rider was there, and we exchanged minor chit chat. I was doing paperwork and I realized that we had both taken a picture of the wrong side of the sign.. although it was technically the same sign on both sides, with the same exact design and information, I decided to take an extra 30 seconds and grab a photo of the “correct” side, just in case; I learned my lesson about taking shortcuts when capturing bonus photos!

At the Jim Reeves memorial, take a picture of the guitar sidewalk as shown in the example photo. Do not drive your motorcycle up the sidewalk or you will be disqualified and DNF.

I made good time, and right behind me, Bryan and Marissa showed up as well. Thank you, Marissa, for doing flag duty for all of us!

Someone else rolled up right as we were walking back to the parking lot, confirming for me that a large percentage of folks saw the same rest bonus exponent play, and would be running this same basic loop. While I really was intending to just have fun, I was also holding in my head the idea that this would be the last rally for me before the IBR, and so I needed to keep pressing, and to focus on the skills, tools, and methods I had identified pre-rally as needing work. That is my focus in this rally, not standings.

Take a picture of the Texas historical marker.

Crossing the Sabine River, the road just cut a straight line through the woods, from time to time passing over what looks like bayou.. and then signs start appearing labeling these swampy setbacks as such. I’m getting close to the Texas-Louisiana border, and I realized I’ve only ever spent time on the highways out here, except for a couple hours during the JBR.. today and tomorrow I’ll be seeing a whole new part of Texas, here in the eastern side.

There was no one here when I pulled in and parked. The evening was turning out to be the perfect temp for me now, and the wind of earlier was muted to a gentle breeze that carried the buzzing and chirps of insects in fields. I turned off the bike and just listened to East Texas for a moment in this lovely, secluded spot. I found out just now, while writing this up, that this old cemetery is where the actor Powers Boothe was buried.. I would’ve liked to think he’d’ve appreciated it if I visited his grave, and just quoted him his most famous line from the movie Tombstone:

“Well… bye.”

He seemed like the type to appreciate it. I mean.. he is buried in the “Deadwood” Cemetery, after all.

An hour later, I found myself another 55-ish miles north, on the northern edge of Longview, TX, pulled over in the parking lot of a Buffalo Wild Wings, staring at the weather radar and the mass of yellow, red, and bit of purple barreling down on the road ahead of me. In case I somehow talked myself into distrusting the satellites, lighting popped on the horizon, confirming the presence of the storms. I’d originally meant to stop closer to 10pm, to maximize my miles, but looking at the storm situation and the towns ahead…

I really, really wanted to push it, but decided that the best play would be to start my rest bonus here a little earlier than I had been planning, but in a relatively bustling retail corridor rather than scrounge for something when I’m wet, cold, and stressed from riding in lightning. It just so happened that I was next to a Hampton Inn, which had rooms available.. sweet! I started my rest bonus timer in the app at 8:35pm, booked the room, and went on inside.

Check-in was the usual questions once the lady at the desk saw my Washington state license. “You rode your motorcycle all the way here? What ever for, darlin?” I was obliged to explain the whole “scavenger hunt on motorcycle” thing, exactly how long it takes me to get from Seattle to Texas, yes I travel by myself, etc. She was genuinely impressed, and called out her manager and told me to repeat everything, so I went through it all again while she pushed buttons and did something with the computer.

The manager was QUITE impressed, but still a bit flabbergasted at the physicality of LD riding. Surely it hurt? Don’t you get sore? Are you sure you rode all this way? “You know what this lady needs?” asked the manager. “Oh, you know what she needs… give it to her!” She leaned a bit forward over the calendar, and with a grin said “girl, don’t you worry, we’ll take care of you!”

…and that’s how I found myself in a king suite with this next to the bed.

That's a 3-person jacuzzi!

I took a really long shower and a quick dip in the tub (I mean, I had to, didn’t I?) Not entirely tired, I managed to drop off to sleep around 10pm, my alarm set for 4am. Shortly before 3am, I was jolted awake by a loud explosion, no lights, and a fire alarm going off - lightning hit the hotel! The fire alarm quickly was squelched and power flickered back on, but I threw on my riding pants and a sweatshirt and went down to the lobby just to make sure nothing was actually on fire. A wall of rain outside was just dumping down, and everything seemed to be ok - the night clerk hardly seemed concerned, so I assumed I would either be totally OK or totally FUBAR, so I might as well go get some more sleep.

I tossed and turned and dozed until my alarm when off at 4am, rain still dumping buckets. A quick peek at the weather radar, and yet again, I was sitting right under a storm cell.

The silver lining here was that the storm was moving ESE, albeit slowly. I watched my 8 hour maximum window slide by as I watched the storm drift, listening to the intensity of the rain start to fade and weaken. I spent some time looking at the route and the radar, trying to predict what the morning was going to hold. Stopping early, and stopping long meant that I didn’t have quite as much time as I had originally budgeted to complete this day, so I cut out a long loop cutting east close to Dallas. A long line of storms were marching across Dallas, but by heading straight north towards Paris, TX instead, I could clear the northern edge of the worst of it. It’d cost me 2 tours, but since I’d planned for ~20 I had some cushion there. The rerouting opened up a higher-value location, so it would only cost me ~170 points.. it seemed like a reasonable trade.

By 5:30am, the rain had slackened to a drizzle and the brunt of the cell moved well clear, and by 5:45am I was loaded up and back on the road. It had been a longer break than I intended, and I had to scoot north in a hurry to stay out of the storms, but with any luck it’d work out.

Take a picture of the west side of the Witness Park and Prayer Tower located in Pittsburg.

Everything was drenched-slick and humid, but the rain was stopped completely. Keeping an eye out for deer and other wildlife, I dodged a couple possums but no other wildlife made any appearance, and I quickly found myself in Pittsburgh, TX under a brightening sky. I parked and turned my back to the storm front to the west, walking across the wet, shaggy lawn of the Prayer Tower to grab my photo and submit it. As I was hopping back on the bike and pulling out, Bryan and Marissa made yet another appearance!

Take a picture of the sign for Reno, TX on the wall of the municipal building.

The sun was fully up and the storms were dropping away behind me. I made a gas stop and did some stretching to work out a crick in one of my adductors; I injured my lower back really badly back in March and still am sorting out some of the muscle issues that developed as my body tried to compensate.

Approaching Paris, TX from the SE, I hung a right by the airport and skirted up the east side of town to the small hamlet of Reno, TX. I found the police station/city hall and Danny Dossman, already there and all business. We exchanged a nod and both took off - we’ve got rallyin’ to do!

Take a picture of the marker dedicated to the people of Detroit.

Just a short ride east, I parked the bike and was immediately aware of the strong tailwind blowing out of the west. The marker was across the street in a small park, and I scooted across during a break in early morning traffic. The wind was really blustering, and I ended up using my wallet and a handy rock to weigh down the flag enough to get a single good shot.

Back across the street, I ate a small snack to tide me over until I could get an actual breakfast, and wandered around the small strip of connected store fronts. All were closed, except for one trendy looking coffee shop, all exposed wood and art for sale on the walls. It honestly looked straight out of a neighborhood in Portland or Seattle, and I realized that I’ve been seeing more and more of these cafes reclaiming empty spaces in small towns the last few years.

Stepping back to the bike and giving it a once-over, I noticed laying on the ground a selfie stick AND a 10mm wrench! It must have been dropped by one of ours. I jokingly texted a photo to Nancy, and later found out that they’d been left behind by Daniel Eckert, who graciously offered to let me keep the wrench as a finders fee..

Take a picture of the Manchester Cemetery gate.

GPS had me turning down a long gravel driveway, seemingly right into the front yard of a small farmstead. It wouldn’t have been the strangest right-of-way I’d ever been down; in New England I’ve passed through a number of “driveways” that were actually county or town roads, but this is Texas and I was a little nervous about someone decided maybe today was a good day to “defend their castle” when I spotted the two-track “road” splitting off and around a small wooded copse to the right. The rains had filled both tracks with some of the greasiest mud I’ve ridden through since Baja, so I meerkatted like a good ADV rider should, easy on the throttle, no sudden moves, let the rear end flail around a bit.. I was surprised to find someone on a Harley doing paperwork. We complained to each other about the state of the “road” and I watched him grit his teeth and head off; I kept an eye on him just in case he dumped it and needed a hand getting the bike out of the muck, but that Milwaukee iron just chugged right through it. I got my photo, used the convenient (and quite clean) porta potty, and retraced my slippery steps back to glorious pavement.