December 13, 2004; San Antonio, Texas

Today is Monday, and a designated business day... after brunch. I visited the oldest bakery in Texas, located in New Braunfels. While delighting in a cinnamon roll larger than my fist, after 13 days on the road, I finally got openly ogled. Sweet.

So, down to business. Check in at the San Antonio Hostel, get the bike in for a 30,000 mile check up, fix my chaps, and sign up for a motorcycle training course now that I was in an area warm enough to offer them.

At the Harley Dealership, I found that the courses were only held over the weekend. Meaning that it will have to wait for January, since I will fly back on this Sunday morning. The service on the bike will take about five hours. So I have that to look forward to tomorrow.

The leathers were the only thing actually taken care of today. The snaps at my ankle were coming undone causing the zipper to work it's way up my leg. Getting it back down at 75mph was a less than an ideal situation. The existing snaps were fixed, and I had another pair of snaps put on for a little extra insurance.

I checked into the Bullis House Hostel in San Antonio for the night. Don't be fooled by the mansion, the hostels were in the shanty next to it. Two bunks in a 10 x 12 But I am not complaining- for real this time. The kitchen allowed me the luxury of an ultra-cheap hot meal. This one is for you Josh and Rob: the famous bean pizza! Actually, it is more infamous than famous in my MIS college circle. As is the other thing I was missing to complete the meal; stale keg beer out of a used half gallon salsa jar. Mmmmmm.

My bunkmate was Paul, a Londoner just about to finish his year-long round-the-world tour. He had some interesting things to share about his travels, which I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about. Coincidentally, his birthday is also on the 17th. Tomorrow we have made plans to hit the town and see what San Antonio has to offer.