The next morning we have Sara’s fabulous smoothie for breakfast, pack leisurely and get ready to leave. If Sara ever opened a restaurant it would put all the other restaurants in San Antonio out of business. Why doesn’t Mike weigh 900 pounds? Packed and ready to go we leave for McAllen on a cloudy, but dry morning. The trip is on. When we stop for gas my chain is making a ton of noise. After just paying all that money for a tire change you would think the chain would be adjusted properly. Looks like I’ll have some work to do on the first day. Lovely.

So, Mike has a lead wrist, not that I didn’t know that already. The previous night he talked about all the times he’s been stopped for speeding and how he has managed to keep his license point-free. If I had to identify Mike in a police lineup, the line would have to be ½ mile away since that is usually the distance I’m behind him. It makes for a quick trip to McAllen.

After we check into the motel I adjust the chain which is over 30 mm out of adjustment and notice there is a slight tight spot. Didn’t the guy at the dealership tell me that it was good for 4,000 miles or did he say 4000 feet? Afterwards we make a death march in the heat to a local restaurant.

A quick nap at the motel and we head to the border to take care of paperwork. Everything is done in one building. The last time I crossed the border I had to make a bank deposit at a bank in the first town we came through. That is no longer the case as everything is done here. We fill out one form, they make copies of our titles and look at our passports.

There is a good size line of traffic coming back into the US. We elect to push our bikes since the movement is that slow and have a great time with our fellow motorists. After a very pleasant experience with the border guard, we stop at a gas station for liquid. Feeling very dehydrated, I chug a Gatorade and have yet more liquid at the motel. Tomorrow we’ll get an early start.