These first few days of the trip have been some of the hottest days I have experienced in a long time, maybe ever.
Day 1 – Saturday, June 30th (525 miles, Lilburn, GA to West Monroe, LA):
Our goal for the first two days was to cover as much distance as possible so that we could spend more time riding through and visiting places west of Texas. This first day we rode from Lilburn to West Monroe, all on I-20. Riding on major highways is not particularly fun since there is typically not much to see scenery wise and because of the semi’s and high number of cars , but this was the fastest way to cover the long distance we had planned for the day.
My dad and I left Lilburn in the morning when the temperature was still around 70 degrees, but by the end of the day we had ridden through 100 degrees and my arms and legs were completely sunburned. To say it was miserable would be an understatement. We originally planned to camp in West Monroe, but by the time we had arrived it was nearly 9pm and we were completely exhausted so we got a hotel room instead. The heat took its toll! We did run into some rain in Mississippi, which was a nice relief from the heat, but most of the ride was spent under the sun with little cloud cover.
Departure Day! My dads purple (with flames) Honda Shadow 750 on the left and my black Honda Shadow 750 ACE on the right.
Day 2 – Sunday, July 1st (345 miles, West Monroe, LA to Weatherford, TX):
Today was even hotter than yesterday, with temperatures in Texas reaching 104 degrees. Overall this day was not much different from the first; we continued riding on I-20 through Louisiana and Texas until we reached Weatherford, a small city about 35 miles west of Fort Worth. Thankfully the past few days the World Cup has been going on, so Ive been able to listen to the games while riding, helping to pass the time. Unfortunately both teams I hoped would win the tournament, Argentina and Germany, got knocked out sooner than expected.
At night, we camped at a KOA Campground and were the only ones actually camping there that night. We set up our site (no tent, just slept non sleeping bags on a ground cloth) and got in the pool, which felt amazing! Neither my dad nor I slept much at night, probably because it was about 80 degrees through the night and not a comfortable situation. We were both just glad the day was over with and could start riding on backroads from then on.
First night of camping; Weatherford, TX
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