19 July 08 Ride Alamo Village Brackettville

         The day started out very pleasant indeed with an overcast sky. I was hoping this would hang on most of the day, so it wouldn’t get too darn hot. As I rolled into YOSA, Steve and Susan Ochs were waiting patiently for more riders. We talked a little bit, and an unfamiliar white 1500 rolled in. We introduced ourselves to each other and found Cooper Smith is a friend of Glenn Boswell, and Glenn had helped Cooper with the purchase of his bike. Now, Cooper is a novice rider, so we went through a short intro as to how we ride and asked him if he felt up to a ride to Brackettville as it was going to be a long day. He said and I quote “I don’t care where we are riding as long as we’re riding”. Music to my ears and four hardy souls were on our way.

New participant Cooper Smith!!!                                                                Bikes at Alamo Village

         We made our way out to I-10 via 1518, rode through San Antonio, Uvalde where we gassed up, then on to Bracketteville, where we stopped for a little breakfast before heading out to Alamo Village. The ride out was very relaxing, very little traffic on the interstate and even less on Texas 90. The overcast sky was sticking around, thank God, keeping us very comfortable and our small group was keeping a nice tight formation on the road. We were lookin' good. We got to the Village, which is a working ranch, that’s right, cattle roaming all over the place and worked our way down a half mile gravel road (hard packed) to the touring area.

Two views of "The Alamo"

Couple views of the town

Mike making peace with a wooden indian!                                       Mike & Steve in Jail

        The village is very unique in that so many movies have been made there. As you wander through the buildings, many made to look like adobe brick, they have highlighted how things probably were back in the day and tell which movies were made in a particular area. There are memorabilia and props in many locations throughout the village. We had a great time snooping around the town. As it turned out, they only had a few visitors that day, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was great fun, even just the four of us. You know how Wingers are, don’t you?  After we had toured the town and taken quite a few pics, the Show started. So as not to spoil it for anyone, in case you make a trip out here, I’ll give you a quick summary. It was a melodrama, set in the street, where two card cheatin' cowboys try to make some easy money by robbing the Sheriff. It is well thought out and very humorous. They did a super job in their presentation. Everyone enjoyed it and we had our pictures taken with the cast of character and I do mean characters. There was skinny Pete, his sidekick Ortho, the Sheriff, and charming Miss Kitty.

Steve, Susan & Cooper with the actors                                                    Susan taking pictures

          Great pose guys!                                                     Inside one of the buildings

Every wild west town has to have a shootout!!

At the DQ

      Now, no Chapter U road trip is complete until the DQ stop is made. We chose to stop in Uvalde on our way back to San Antone and we have a picture to prove it. We said our goodbyes there as we would be peeling off at different points. We all had a very pleasant experience at our destination and the weather was warm, but not hurtful. Another good riding day for Chapter U. Wish you had joined us.                                      Mike Mills

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