Austin TX
Rolled Sophia out of the trailer and headed out for the Hill Country with Harley coming along for the ride. Harley, my son’s sweetheart, and I had originally planned for a run to Fredricksburg but decided to workout first and then go for the ride.
So, the late start got us only as far as Johnson City. But that was a good thing because we discovered Texas Hills Vinyards and, lucky for us, they were open until 6pm….and we arrived at about 5:15pm! We met Jana, the young lady serving the wine in the Tasting Room, as we entered, and she assisted Harley in selecting some cheese and a salami type sausage for us to munch on crackers in between tasting the various liquid grapes. However, in my case, I didn’t drink the wine, I just sipped, aerated, tasted, and then spit it out. Since it would be dark out when we made the return ride, I didn’t want to take any chances on being impairing my motorcycle skills on the night ride back to Austin.
Jana told us a lot about the winery and the area and engaged us in conversation. We were the only customers there at the time but I suspect that it is Jana’s nature to be an excellent conversationalist. It was here that I learned many of the grapes come from the Lubbock TX area. Also, it seems that the Texas soil lends a spicy flavor to the grapes. After taking my order to ship some bottles to Orange County CA, Jana opened the door to the winery warehouse and we had a pic taken of the three of us there. I'm still amazed that the wine made in these metal vats match the taste of those aged in oak casks of old. Here’s a pic of moi and dos Tejas cuties.
Ultimately, I bought 3 bottles and had two bottles shipped home to CA. These Texas Hill Country wines tend to have a lil’ spicy flavor ….. something unique to the Hill Country soil. I’m looking forward to a nice steak dinner and sipping the Kick Butt Cab or the Merlot.
It was twilight when we loaded the bike up, dressed warmer for the cooler night and slowly rode out the Winery’s gravel entrance way leading to the country road that would get us back to the highway heading to Austin. The air was cooler and the chill factor kicked in, so Harley wore the facemask under the brain bucket while I wore the chaps. Here's a pic of someone claiming to be Harley
We were heading east back to Austin on Hwy 290 that was a 4 lane east-west road separated by a grass gullied meridian. It was dark with lots of Hill Country on both sides that appeared to be wide open….unfenced. The road climbed, descended, turned left, turned right. It was nicer in the daytime but still a good run at night. It was on one of the descending turns to the right, when the headlamp doesn’t necessarily light up the road fully in the turn that I thought I could see a form up ahead standing on the dashed lines separating the two eastbound lanes.
HOLY CRAP!
It’s a deer, with head turned to look into the headlamp. No time to brake and stop at 65 mph! I pushed the right handle bar down swerving the bike to the right behind the deer. As I swerved the headlamp off the deer’s big brown eyes and swerved about 2 feet behind it’s haunches I saw it crouch its hind quarters to leap forward.
We were so close that Harley commented later that she had looked up when she felt the bike swerve and saw the deer so close as we passed by it that she could’ve reached out and touched it! Whew! That was wa-a-a-ay too close for comfort!
The rest of the ride was uneventful…just a nice cruise into Austin and up to Jollyville with the only wildlife to worry about were the locals in their cages (cars).I sure wish those deer would learn to only cross highways at “Leaping Stag” signs J.
C ya mañana,
Gonzo
twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
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