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It all started with the country song, Ive Been Everywhere (In Texas) by Brian Burns. I watched the YouTube video, listened to Burn’s lyrics list many of the landmarks and cities in Texas and I thought, “How cool would that be to ride my black cherry 2006 Heritage Softail Classic, named Reveille, to those Texas cities?”
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Originally, I was planning on taking a picture of my motorcycle in front of each of the county signs, but that seemed boring—nothing but a green sign and my Harley. Then I realized that every county has a courthouse, so thats where I decided to take a picture of my motorcycle—in front of each of the 254 courthouses and in front of the state capitol in Austin.
The adventure began in March 2012. I could easily ride around my home county of Kendall and pass through Gillespie, Johnson, Bexar and the other neighboring counties in a days ride. However, the task became more difficult as I finished those counties close to home.
The day trips became overnights. My husband and I would zigzag through the Texas countryside for a day visiting such towns as Bryan, College Station, Austin, Abilene, Junction and Sweetwater. After a nights rest, we would move over to the next set of counties and meander our way back home.
The overnight excursions soon became three-day weekend trips to places like Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville.Then it became four-day rides to get to areas not yet covered. Each trip took us one route out and another route back to get more courthouses. We spent a good deal of time mapping out the routes, arranging for hotels and meals and scouting for gas stops. Many county seats in Texas, we discovered, have no gas stations and no place to buy food and drinks.
The culminating ride was a six-day, five-night adventure through the Texas panhandle, which took us to 39 not yet visited county courthouses covering more than 2,000 miles. The mission was completed on July 5, 2013.
The adventures on those rides were fantastic! We met fellow riders from all over the world. While on old Route 66 we met a group from Europe who had rented Harley-Davidsons in Chicago to ride to Los Angeles and back. While in Muleshoe, we met up with the Muleshoe Roadriders and joined them in the Muleshoe Fourth of July parade.
The 16 months of riding added more than 20,000 miles to the odometer. The “Reveille” has now retired from touring, and was replaced with a 2012 red ember sun-glow Street Glide named “Clifford.”
We are now preparing for the next item on our “Bike-It List,” riding through every state in the United States! Another milestone reached during this epic quest was that I also became the fourth female road captain in our Harley Owners Group in which there are 34 men. Motorcycling has never been more challenging, or more fun, especially since I can now sing along to Burns song and really know how it feels to have “been everywhere, man.”
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Texas has a lot of things to see and do. I rode all of the 254 counties of Texas in 2009-2010. I saw things that I never thought were even in my state, met a lot of friendly people everywhere that I rode, found lots of good food everywhere, and rode many good roads from sweepers to switchbacks, and to long and straight roads. The day that I crossed the last countie line, I stopped and called Val and left her the message that I had finished riding all of the counties. I also called my local motorcycle shop and let them know, being they were keeping up with my trip. I have a “Texas-254” pin that one of our state representatives presented to me for the adventure.I want to go back and do it again, but I want to spend more time looking around and visiting some of the really interesting places that I found. You don’t have to get out and ride all 254 counties, just get out and ride to places that you have never been.
I know what you mean about the “Welcome to ______ ” signs! I started taking pics in front of Mormon churches as they have signs that have the city on them. (and I’m Mormon) But I love the court houses here in Texas!
What a great idea Pam! My goal is to get to all 49 states (I’m undecided on Hawaii). I’ve got six more to go and I’ve been wondering what I’ll do next. I love the idea of hitting all the counties, and since I live in Wyoming that will take quite a while. Maybe after that, I’ll go for all the counties in nearby states. I wish I had thought of the state capitol idea too. You are right, I’ve got 43 pictures of my bike in front of “Welcome to _____” signs. They are pretty boring.
What a clever idea! We were just saying we tend to take home for granted. We’re always wanting to travel out of state. That is a great way to get to know your own state. What a great article!
Good article and a great lady. I’ve know Pam and her husband for several years. I was with them at the capitol. Pam is a great ambassador for motorcycling… really just a great person.