Trip to Hotglue's BarBQ route question?

[Crazyhorse]

Leaving out of Nashville, Tn noon Thursday 4/3/09. My question is which Interstate to take. Do I roll down to Memphis and take I-55 or I-65 to Birmingham and hit I-59. Plan on stopping over night in southern Mississippi. Any comments on road conditions will be appreciated. 

Crazyhorse

[NiteRiderF6]

If it were me.... I'd take I-20 to I-59 to I-12 to I-10 to Houston... Beltway 8 around Houston (Toll Road) to I-45 and then take the high speed "get off" at Dixie Farm Road to the Howard Johnson hotel. Do not slow down or act "scared" or you will get run over in Houston, TX. You have to gas on it just like they do. Good Luck and Ride Safely! Bring your sunscreen too...

[Dag]

I rented a Road King in Houston two years ago. Ride the motorcycle in the Houston traffic is the closest I have been suicide.
I was shaking so bad that I had to bite my teeth together, if not the filling would fall out. (or was the Road King that was shaking?)

[Gear Jammer]

I live in Houston area, and what the previous two posters said isn't exactly true about Houston's traffic,,,,it's actually even worse than they said.  Perhaps DAG was getting pretty close to realistic with his suicide comparison.   If you can, try to time your trip into Houston from the east to arrive at outskirts around 1030am and try to get down to the southside before noon,or arrive at 1330 and get down there by 1500.    I-10 did have construction last time I went out there, but then there's been construction on Houston's freeways pretty much non-stop since I came here in 1973, so good luck.  Be careful, and watch your six.   

[Dodis]

+1 on the Houston traffic.

When I bought my Valk (first time back on a bike in 20 yrs.) within 10 minutes of riding an entire entrance ramp of cars stopped in unison and I came sliding up beside the driver's door of the car in front of me. Good thing I had a good butt grip on the seat, no need to clean shorts! 

Mike

[Crazyhorse]

Thanks for the infor. I don't think I'll have trouble keeping up with the traffic but will try and miss rush hour. How about constrution on I-10, coming out of Mississippi, anything I need to know about? I'm thinking of stopping for the night in Hattiesburg, Miss any good places to eat sea food? 

Crazyhorse

[tileguy]

   Nerver been to Hotglues BarBQ but I have been to Houston. Never again.  Do yourself a favor. Go to  the Ft. Worth Riskys BarBq on West Camp Bowie Blvd on a Thursday night. That's biker night. If the weather is nice there will been around 500 of us there. Lots of Valks and custom clones. It's a great night out

[Cattman]

Stay off I-10 as much as possible I would take I-20 to Texas 59(Great limited access 2-4 lane ) then south to Cleveland and pickup Texas 321 south to Texas 146(Great 4-lane that sweeps around the bay) all the way to NASA parkway west and after you go under I-45 it NASA turns into Texas 528 take it to Texas 518 north to Hotglue's street then follow your nose west to his house. 

[R J]

Stay off I-10 as much as possible I would take I-20 to Texas 59(Great limited access 2-4 lane ) then south to Cleveland and pickup Texas 321 south to Texas 146(Great 4-lane that sweeps around the bay) all the way to NASA parkway west and after you go under I-45 it NASA turns into Texas 528 take it to Texas 518 north to Hotglue's street then follow your nose west to his house. 

Yeah, but ole buddy, I is a comin in from the NORTH.  Kind of hard to bypass........   But I'll do my best............

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

When I was in the service we used to come from Menphis to Houston quite often. We ran from Menphis to  Texas on I40, I30, and 59 to Houston. I live just out of Houston off 59 now.  You can run 59 into town and hit 45 south down to Friendswood and Hotglues. Just try anf hit town arround 11am until 2pm and traffic will be OK. There are many ways to get arround downtown to get there also.

[Black Pearl's Captain]

I never had a problem with the Houston traffic. Hold the tach on 4,000 and weave like you're following Motomama. No problemo.

Raymond

[NiteRiderF6]

As a frequent visitor to the Houston "area", I've found that the key to getting around that town is to use the Toll Roads... Harris County is dissected by these Toll Roads and they can help immensely if you are trying to actually move at certain times of the day. I-10, I-45 and US 59 all go right through "downtown", from about 7 til 9 and from about 4 until 6 you don't want to even try it.... you will wind up sitting in a parking lot for about an hour or so..... possibly more. 610 makes a big circle around what used to be the "outskirts" of Houston. The Toll Roads make an even larger circle around the "new" Houston.

This link will give you the jist of the area: https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/

At certain times of the day, I'll try to avoid the Toll Roads, at other times I'll go ahead and pay the price. In the past (pre hurricane) I would take 146 from I-10 east down thru Clearlake and cut across to my company's office.... at Alvin, TX. Just say I won't try that one again for a while until things get back to normal. There is heavy construction going on just now on NASA 1 and this area should be avoided when possible. This is the fourth largest city in the USA, so traffic is always a problem, unless you are traveling at midnight, then it's only what I would consider .... hectic. When you are in Houston, TX you have to drive like Houston Texans drive, or there will be little forgiveness.

My new rule is (if coming in from the east... take Beltway 8 down to 45

If from the north... use your head... if 45 is "heavy" from Conroe... Take the Hardy Toll Road... if not stay on 45 down to 610, or 288 or the Beltway 8, or 225 if you are really feeling brave and cut over to 45, or if it's late or early just continue on I-45.

If from the West.... Take the Beltway.... If things are moving good you can even keep coming to 610 and go around, for free!

If from the south? no problems.... come whenever and wait on the rest of us, unless you are coming up 59, then we'll see you when we see you!

[motomama]

I never had a problem with the Houston traffic. Hold the tach on 4,000 and weave like you're following Motomama. No problemo.

Raymond

Hehehehehe!  You crack me up! 

[hotglue #43]

Stay off I-10 as much as possible I would take I-20 to Texas 59(Great limited access 2-4 lane ) then south to Cleveland and pickup Texas 321 south to Texas 146(Great 4-lane that sweeps around the bay) all the way to NASA parkway west and after you go under I-45 it NASA turns into Texas 528 take it to Texas 518 north to Hotglue's street then follow your nose west to his house. 

Ya DEFINIATELY DO NOT want to go that way.  They are re-doing Nasa Road 1 / FM528 overpass at I-45... it is NOT there.  The freeway is shutdown in that area on the weekends for construction.  However you decide to come, get on Beltway 8 (Sam Houston tollway) and pay the toll..... it is worth it to save the agravation.  The 1st exit going South on 45 off the beltway will take ya to the motel ....... the next exit..... just stay on the feeder road will be the road to our place.  Traffic may still be REAL slow with the freeway shutdown at Nasa Road, but staying on the feeder should help.   
  Shoot me an email if ya need a map.  I don't want to post that on the board.....past issues....

[hotglue #43]

   Nerver been to Hotglues BarBQ but I have been to Houston. Never again.  Do yourself a favor. Go to  the Ft. Worth Riskys BarBq on West Camp Bowie Blvd on a Thursday night. That's biker night. If the weather is nice there will been around 500 of us there. Lots of Valks and custom clones. It's a great night out

  Hey Tileguy,  If you can drive in the Dallas/Fort Worth MetroMess.... you shouldn't have a hard time in Houston...Do yourself a favor and come on down.
hotglue

[NiteRiderF6]

...Do yourself a favor and come on down.
hotglue

We just did ourselves a favor... We made some reservations this morning and we'll be a seein' ya on the 3rd!

[hotglue #43]

We just did ourselves a favor... We made some reservations this morning and we'll be a seein' ya on the 3rd!
[/quote]
Doug and Stacy!!!!! Can't Wait!!!!!!!!!!  Had to go back and change it after I read it....love the new board

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Ok, Doug  you and Stacy come on down. Denise and I will be looking for you. We haven't made res. yet thou. Though we would just come over from the house. (about an hour away) but  we might just have to get a room. Looking forward to seeing ya. PS bring your chairs. HaHa

[NiteRiderF6]

Ok, Doug  you and Stacy come on down. Denise and I will be looking for you. We haven't made res. yet thou. Though we would just come over from the house. (about an hour away) but  we might just have to get a room. Looking forward to seeing ya. PS bring your chairs. HaHa

We shredded those chairs.... Not Really! I thought we'd bring them with us and ask you to keep them for us.... until "next time"

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Doug, which hotel are ya gonna stay at?  We'll book there too, if it ok with ya.

[NiteRiderF6]

We are staying at the Howard Johnson - Clearlake

Bring it on! We'll even let you sit in the chairs!

[R J]

We are staying at the Howard Johnson - Clearlake

Bring it on! We'll even let you sit in the chairs!

Phone #'s for the hojo and an email address also.
Ya might not get the discount cause Friday wasthe cut off date, but I'll bet if ya sweet talk em they will give it to you.

Phone    281-484-1500
Fax        281-484-1667

hojo77034@yahoo.com

See ya there.......

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Thanks, Doug and RJ for info.. don't you know that all us Texans are  rich and don't need no stinking discount. I'll be sweet talking somebodys ear off cause I just work for an oil company not own one. see ya soon

[Crazyhorse]

Thanks for all the good information looking forward to seeing you guys and meeting new ones. 

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

  Well  I've made it offical we're registered at the Howard Johnson for Friday and Saturday. Let the games begin.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Thanks for all the good information looking forward to seeing you guys and meeting new ones. 

Hey Mack ...I'm in ground floor non-smoking with double beds for thursday -friday-saturday.

[Rocketman]

I live in Houston area, and what the previous two posters said isn't exactly true about Houston's traffic,,,,it's actually even worse than they said.  Perhaps DAG was getting pretty close to realistic with his suicide comparison.   If you can, try to time your trip into Houston from the east to arrive at outskirts around 1030am and try to get down to the southside before noon,or arrive at 1330 and get down there by 1500.    I-10 did have construction last time I went out there, but then there's been construction on Houston's freeways pretty much non-stop since I came here in 1973, so good luck.  Be careful, and watch your six.   

I learned to ride in Los Angeles.  However, I've lived in Houston most of my life.  LA tops Houston traffic by a long shot.  I am sure somewhere else tops LA.  I've learned from listening to folks talk about local traffic, that there's always somewhere worse.

That being said, always ask about construction before coming through, because that can mess up your day real bad.  NASA 1 and I-45 will be a cluster**** in early April.  I-10 east of Baytown was a mess when I came through a few months ago (wow, I guess I haven't headed east in a while...)
I-10 west seems to be getting better, but that's unlikely to be on your route anyway.  I think those are the major construction areas at the moment.

Mark

[Crazyhorse]

Thanks Mark for the heads up. 

Crazyhorse