It was a hot, dry Texas day in the month of July;
in the corridor between Houston and San Antonio, Texas

Janna and I, along with Ron had just driven the 50 miles from Alvin,
making sure that we rode the famous Winner-Foster road -- with the robust
smell of cow manure and the cooling shade of dense road-side trees which
made the ride from Alvin seem to go away. Winner-Foster came out on Fm Rd
1093. We took a left and rode about a half-mile into Fulshear. There on
the right at the Shell Station was a pretty sight -- another 3 Ts, 2 Non-T
Hondas, and a Harley -- along with some real cool folks. Mike, Diana,
Pete, Dylon, Bolt Catcher, John (Bolt Catcher's friend), John's riding
partner Kim, and the world-famous DPSSpy.

North on 359 to Brookshire, Pattison, San Felipe & Sealy; where we picked
up Fm Rd 1094 and straight to Staging Area #3 -- the exact center of nowhere
(the intersection of Fm Rd 1094 and Fm Rd 949). There sitting by the side
of the road was PecosJoe and Rich on their beautiful T's. That made a total
of 10 bikes: 7 Ts, 2 Honda non-Ts, and the Harley... looking good. Dukey
the Shiner Ride Planner was at Staging Area #1, just long enough to tell
us of an Air Conditioning problem in his home, so Dave and his Maroon T
(that would made a total of 8 Ts) had to take a rain-check. The complete
group of 10 bikes took-off for New Ulm -- what a pretty sight.
We got to New Ulm and picked-up Fm Rd 109 heading south to Frelsburg, where
we took a break, snapped some photos, and took 1291 to old 71 and Lagrange,
Texas. After a top-off at a gas station, we jumped on Route 77, south to
Schulenburg and stopped at the Oakridge Smokehouse for lunch.

At lunch, we voted NOT to go onto Shiner, due to the heat of the day and the
extra distance that would have to be travelled. The group had a real good ride
and we decided to call it day and present the Shiner award (even though we were
not in Shiner, Texas). So the cadidates for the award began to make their plea
to receive the award... and everything was going good until Mike stood up. The
speech that he gave -- as to why he deserved the Shiner Award -- was outragious.
He said that he thought the "Shiner" award was going to be awarded to the T
that was most shiny. So he shined his T all day yesterday. Then he went
over to his buddy Pete's house -- who would be riding with us on a Honda
Spirit -- along with Pete's son Dylon's Honda. Mike had them wax their
Honda's from 10PM to midnight last night -- telling them about the Shiner
Award. He was dead serious. When we heard that -- we voted to award
the SHINY award to Mike in Schulenburg -- then head on back home.

So, there you have it. That is my story and I'm stickin' to it!