by Linda Aksomitis

I threw my leg over the narrow black seat, and settled against the backrest. While it wasn't our Honda, it felt darn good. After taking a few short day trips, I was still a little apprehensive about my first major trip on a motorcycle. David, on the other hand, oozed enthusiasm for our ride through the Texas Hill country.

Tugging the helmet over my ears, I adjusted the communicator, breathed deeply and said, "Let's go!"

Leaving the rental place in San Antonio, we hit for the open highways and our first stop: Luckenbach, Texas. We'd heard if you want to travel the world and meet interesting characters from around the galaxy, you didn't ever have to leave Luckenbach -- so we were about to investigate!

The campgrounds in Luckenbach hummed with activity, despite the dampness we'd encountered as we drove. Mind you, I can honestly say it has rained on me every time I ventured near a tent, so there was no surprise! Participants in the Harvest Classic Motorcycle Rally paid no attention to the weather as they made camp, set up dealer displays, and assembled a great Bike Show. I was ready for the good times to roll.

But meeting the Luckenbach "family" was where my adventure truly began. Deputy Sheriff Marshall Spires tipped his cowboy hat at me, and nodded, as I stepped into the old post office/ General store with a tiny back room that served as a cozy bar. The scarf knotted at his neck, along with the cowboy hat tipped back in a perpetual greeting, provided an interesting contrast to the leather-chapped bikers congregating at the counter.

"Why do you suppose they need a sheriff and a deputy sheriff in a town with two permanent residents?" I whispered to David. "This place is soooo cool." My eyes kept getting drawn to the collections on the wall-medals, dollar bills, business cards, pictures-there wasn't much more than an few inches here or there that wasn't covered with something you could read. A hundred or more caps hung suspended from the ceiling above our heads, hovering near a huge stuffed bird I guessed to be a hawk.

Deputy Sherrif Marshall, as it turned out, was as much a storyteller as a peace keeper. The town was established as a trading post in 1849, making it one of the oldest in the area. The building I was in, however, didn't appear on the scene until 1886, when a German preacher, August Engel, went into business. His daughter Minna chose the name Luckenbach for her fiancé, Albert Luckenbach, who also had the nearby town of Albert named in his honor. (CONTINUE...)