San Antonio, Half-way point in our ride from Las Vegas to Miami

… 4 am

San Antonio, here we come!! I am not normally a morning person but considering the eight-hour non-stop ride ahead of us, as per Google’s estimations, I had my coffee in hand and was ready to hit the road at 4 am.

The Ride before Sunrise

With the cool morning breeze blowing in our faces and the distinctive throb of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle engines breaking the silence, we conquered the almost deserted highway that ran parallel to the Mexican border.

Listening to some of our best classic rock songs, we rode for some unforgettable non-stop two hours of pure freedom and ecstasy! After a while a stunning sunrise began to form in front of our eyes. We wanted that moment to last longer, or at least to capture some of its beauty and save it to our memory. With all its majesty, the sun came peeking out from behind the hills and shed its golden light slowly upon us. It felt as if it was shining just for the three of us, and we started to feel its warmth bathing our exposed skin. After a short break to contemplate what was happening around us, we got back on our rides.

San Antonio Labyrinth

We headed via Las Cruces to Rio Grande River to face our final challenge after more than 11 hours on the road – our own Fight the Garthok! (In the 1993 movie Coneheads, the Garthok is a six-limbed giant animal native to Remulak). We found ourselves in the middle of a labyrinth and we had to find our way through such a complicated network of interstates, highways, upper and lower bridges, turns, loops and spurs that even Google maps got confused. Thanks to the skill of Chantal and a few smart maneuvers here and there ,we were able to find our way without any major delay. We reached the Econo Lodge Downtown Hotel in San Antonio at 4:30 pm.

We did it! After 12 hours of riding, we could hardly believe it. That was an impressive milestone in our journey as we had crossed the half-way point in our journey to Miami.

No Time to Lose

Let the fun begin! With no time to lose, we took Uber to the fairy-like River Walk and yes, you guessed it, it was time for another well deserved celebration. Cheers! Oh wait! Don’t worry, we did take a bath before going to the River Walk ?.

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San Antonio River Walk

That night we took a long walk along the river bank and had a good dinner at the famous Casa Rio restaurant followed by a refreshing beer. And of course we took some time to explore the heritage of San Antonio by visiting some of its downtown churches.

Nevertheless we couldn’t hide our excitement at what was waiting for us on the following day…Six Flags Fiesta was our next destination in Texas. Wait, what … aaahaaaahhhh, we’re on the legendary Iron Rattle Rollercoaster!

The Best Times at Six Flags Fiesta

Here are the best rides we suggest you take when you’re in Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We won’t tell you more, so as not to ruin the excitement, but you can still check them out at:  https://www.sixflags.com/fiestatexas/attractions/ride-list :

• Goliath: An inverted roller coaster
• BATMAN: A world class 4D Free Fly Coaster
• The Iron Rattler:  A force to be reckoned with
• Poltergeist: You will be pulsed into the middle of the excitement pretty much instantly
• Scream: You probably had no idea you could hustle up and down 20 stories that fast!
• Skyscreamer: The ultimate definition of airtime

By the way, we were lucky to reach all this craziness on a Thursday (mid-week). The wait time was acceptable, we even had the chance to take each of these rides twice. (Secretly I vote for the Iron Rattle roller coaster). We spent two nights in San Antonio, Texas and enjoyed every second of it.

A Walk at the Japanese Garden and a Boat Ride

If you think that day is over for us, well think again. On our way back to the hotel we visited the distinguished Japanese Garden. Later that evening we returned to the River Walk and took the boat ride this time! And thanks to the exceptional sense of humor of our guide, and the way he presented important historical facts, it couldn’t had been any better.

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To the Moon and Back at
Houston Space Center

All those thrills and adrenaline hardly prepared us for our next destination – the fascinating Houston Space Center. Spending the day at the NASA Space Station took us on an astonishing and surreal journey. After spending a full day “in space”, we came down to earth at the Days Inn Houston where we stayed the night.

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Houston…We Have a Problem!

We were prepared for almost everything except riding through a storm. On Jun 24, 2017 we woke up to the sound of a thunder storm. We looked out of our room windows and the sky was packed with dark clouds ready to free their load. We had no other choice but to… (to be continued in the next post)

1. Landing in Las Vegas
2. Across the Nevada
3. On Steel Horses we Rode
4. Route 66 Mysterious Way
5. Daydreaming on Texas Roads to El PAso
6. San Antonio, Half Way to Miami
7. From Houston to New Orleans
8. Jacksonville, a Destination and a Birthday
9. Daytona Beach
10. Universal Studios Orlando, Florida
11. Welcome to Miami

At the end of the day 2 unsolved mysteries remained:

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