WOW!! So much can happen in like 2 days eh? Where to begin? Sunday!
We arrived at our hotel in OKC and it was a pretty nice setup! I think that the lobby in most of these establishments can be SUPER misleading. The lobby was really nice dark looking wood and leather everywhere! The room was even nice. See, we got upgraded to that fancy VIP bit, so you know, we're a big deal right?! Wrong. Sleep like kings? Wrong. Wait. What? I laid down, couldn't log on to the interweb so that's why there was no blog, then I passed out. It was a nice 20 min nap. Oh, it was meant to be a 60 min REM sleep kinda nap. Enter Children of the Corn. These kids are just running up and down the halls, tearing up any semblance of peace that might be associated with sleep. I peaked out, and they were like 12 yr olds from a baseball team. So much for VIP. More like motel status. Whatever. The Mom and Dad came back from a nice little self tour of the hotel and gave me the not so shocking report. The kids had infested the pool and made it completely unrelaxing. Whelp. God bless them all, but where are their parents or overseers? I couldn't be mad at the kids, I was a terror at 12 but my mom ruled with an iron fist, but when she wasn't around.....haha! Ok yeah, annoying, but they're kids and you can't expect perfect behavior all of the time right? Well I keep getting waken up at around 2am and 330am when a bunch of drunk turds rolled around and caused a huge scene. Sleep is not an option. But I closed my eyes anyhow, holding on to the edge of sleep with my fingernails and slowly dragging it over me like a heavy blanket.
"It's not even summer, why does the DJ keep on playing "Summertime Sadness"? After we go to the bathroom, can we go smoke a cigarette? I really need one But first, LET ME TAKE A SELFIE."
Awesome alarm. It makes me wake up with a start furiously trying to exercise my ninja skillz whilst trying to silence the ever present club voice in my head...er on the song! Hahha, well anyhow, we all start to get up and go through the mental checklist of getting everything ready for the road. I looked up a few place to grab breakfast at, but mom insists on the free breakfast. Well, why not, it's free and convenient. So dad and I go to the bikes and get them prepped and ready for the long voyage. Dad throws out some advice about windshields and such, we have a few good laughs and pull the bikes under the awning. When we get up to the "VIP" level (VIP is used very very loosely here) the breakfast area is completely covered in rugrats. We went back to the room and get ready, everything is packed so after breakfast we can go! yay!
As we secure a table for the 3 of us, these 3 dirty looking skinny armed, fat bellied Mexican dudes sit down. I only noticed them because of their oddly proportioned bodies, and disrespect for all of the females in their party. I tell my parents we should go elsewhere, mostly because I want them to feel comfortable, which wouldn't happen with these cackling, obnoxious dirty scumbags. The things they said to the girls, in the presence of other people was completely shocking. I wanted to say something but I always hear about these cartels and stuff, so I wanted to keep my distance. Well THEIR parents showed up and they seemed to have even less respect for them! Woah. Much later I called a friend and asked "'yo, am I being prejudiced?" he laughed and said "you? No. Saying those things makes you a dirtbag no matter your color.". Well there's that at least. So after breakfast we got ready and took a few pictures. Mom and dad went over a few last minute things and we got ready to head out. Mom wanted to take some pictures of me leaving, so I had to go first. Said my goodbyes to my dad and a long hug from mom and I was ready. Right? Shit. Dad's got a grin, like he's all proud and happy to see me take on the rest of this trip solo. Mom? Oh lordy. She's between tears and smiling. You know that shakey smile because you're happy but you still cry? Yeah, tough to see. So I'm about to roll out and mom says something like "hope you have fun" but can't get it all out and it's so cute and adorable and i kinda had to close my visor a little so she didn't catch ME tearing up. Mom's the strongest person I know, and people cry not because they're weak. No, people cry because they've been strong and loving for so long they need a lil tear leak. TL. Well F me, as I pull away, swerving wildly trying to keep mom in my mirror as long as I can before I'm off on my own. Yeah, talk about HARD. ugh....thanks mom, for a good mile I start to leak out of my eyes. Not that sniffly wimpering shit little girls do, but a smile slowly spreads across my lips thinking 'Really? You pride yourself on not breaking, and still no one can break me as easily as my own mom! Hahah, go mom!" . Only one jackass ever broke me into tears from physical exertion + mental anguish. Sgt. Kyle 'Dragon Jumpin' Knapp. That fuckin guy could smoke a Diamond I swear. Biggest influence on toughness I've ever had though. That's neither here nor there, but he cracked me so fast haha. Mom? Took less time. And just with a mental game too. UGH! Love mom, she's the best. Totally getting one of those biker heart with mom in the middle of it tattoos! haha, yeah, well....maybe.
So after being cracked open like a warm egg, I got to work. I started a good cruise and as I went the temps went up. As did the wind. HOLY WIND!! Gusts of 45 mph took me sideways. It was a good lesson on how to drive in the wind. So if you're in the right lane, the wind is blowing left to right and constant enough to make you lean at a good 15-30 degree angle, what happens when a semi passes you? It blocks the wind. Better time it right, you have to lean opposite of what logic tells you and then close to the tail end of the semi there's a little suction created that pulls you towards the rear tires and you have to fight it to stay upright. So fighting this makes you lean to the right. Remember that the wind is blowing left to right and if you lean too soon to the left in anticipation of the wind, you become a bug on that semi's tire. If you lean into the anticipated wind too late, the wind takes you right off the road, and you get to see how your bones react to impacts with rocks at 75mph. Of course you have a little bit of forgiveness as you have an entire lane to work with, but lane position does impact each of those variables. Yeah, so this goes on for a good 1000+ miles. I gained sooo much respect for the guys that do this shit for giggles all the time. I got passed by a gang on Harleys doing an easy 100, i clocked up and couldn't keep up with that damn wind.....and it being my 2nd week on the bike. So the ride to Albuquerque was AWESOME! Minus the wind. I stopped in Amarillo and ate at the Big Texan off of 40. The waitress was awesome, totally 100% what I expected of Texas women. A little bigger, but like a strong big, like she could knock out Tim Kennedy. And her voice carried a kind mellowness to it but yet there was something hard behind it. Something commanding. Solid. I can trust this chick in a gunfight, or more importantly with a menu selection. I ordered the 30oz T-Bone loaded potato and some Cowboy beans. She smiled and said "that'll be right up hon". So Texas! haha, ok, so I also ordered the steak black and blue and wasn't too sure how that would turn up since everything was run on a grill. Oh and there was a 72 OZ challenge you could try and there was definitely a giant dude trying it out. The place looked super tacky, but that was part of the fun right? Dark, wood everywhere, a balcony where all the brothel girls could stand so you knew what you were gonna get, and of course the lingering smell of mesquite. one word for all of this. 'Murica. When she came back with my food, my mouth started instantly watering. Perfectly chard steak, juicy, and the sides looked awesome. My first bite into the luke warm steak was amazing. Salty, crunchy, and raw. Mmmm. nom nom nom nom. After, I tipped her well as she checked on me every 15 seconds and was such a doll about it all. I rode into the wind once more. I turned on Krewella and jammed out to around 3 hrs of their monthly 'Troll Mix' sets, which if you like dance music at all, should most definitely check out. I tried a little Sinatra but that was too mellow for the speed I needed to go. A few oldies by Frankie Vallie, and a few others just weren't doing the trick for me. So I upped the ante and went hardstyle with a little DJ Caffeine. A few gas stops later and I was in Albuquerque. Victory! I noticed a Marriott in the distance and took the exit arriving practically at the doorstep of the hotel. Bam! Booked a room and threw everything down quickly and ran down to get chow before the kitchen closed! Whew, made it. Got a Fillet. Oops, gotta watch that money, have to be able to come home! The bartender seemed a little too flirty, so I kept bringing up my girlfriend, but she went as far to ask how many keys I had for my room. Yeah, woah. I told her the truth. "enough for me and my dreams, yo.". I wanted to be all Jesse from breaking bad and throw a casual "Bitch" in there, but I needed a place to sleep and didn't feel like putting up with anything. haha, oh man, great steak though, good iced tea and super soft bed. A billion pillows, so one went between my knees, 2 under my head 2 got choked to death in a cuddle and the other 2 went under my feet to keep swelling down. I got some much needed rest after a long battle with wind all day took everything out of me. Waking up was easy, getting out of that heavenly bed was another thing....
Before I went to bed I saw the sunset behind the mountains and thought about how amazing everything turned out. For once. I've been fortunate to live with such an amazing family, to have selfless friends, and to be dating the right girl at the right time. Normally, everything clicks opposite each other, but for now, it's all perfect. I know it won't last, eventually I'll be out of money, my gf will nag me to death about real world things (after I beat cancer again duh ;)), my parents will give me advice about life I learned 2-5 years ago the hard way, and my sister will hate me for something I say sans filter. But for now, in this moment, my friends and family and neighbors helped me live this dream to the absolute fullest. And for that I'll be forever grateful.
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