Wednesday, April 25, 2012
BBER 2012 - Day 5 Big Bend National Park
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
BBER 2012 - Día cuatro - Marathon to Terlingua TX
Although the Art Car in Marathon made me homesick for my recently sold Benz, it was time to move on. Despite the luxury of the Gage Hotel, there's not much in Marathon. Unless you like lounging by the magnificent pool... which was tempting. But it was on to Big Bend (Terlingua), via Alpine. We did linger in Marathon since it was a shorter riding day. I bought a pair of hand tooled shoes from Mexico. (Had to have them shipped, because the moto luggage space is ever so small.)
Alpine was a lunch stop. Home of Sul Ross State University. Not a bad town for a small West Texas town, and had plenty of art galleries and lunch spots. The pic here is about 1/4 of a large mural in town depicting their history.
After lunch we headed south to Big Bend. Riding was great, it turned hilly and the views were sweeping and impressive.
Arrived in Terlingua and discovered Jim had booked us into a place in Terlingua Ghost Town. It didn't look promising... a small four room rustic place on a hill with gravel roads. It turned out to be quite nice, and a short walk to the Starlight Theatre for dinner and music.
BBER 2012 - Day 3 - Uvalde to Marathon TX
This day was the absolute highlight of the trip, because we made it to Seminole Canyon State park. This park is open only via guided tour, and offers the richest example of cave paintings on the continent. It's a hassle to arrange your schedule to fit the park schedule, but well worth it. It was more interesting to me than other things I've been lucky to see such as the Etruscan sites in Tuscany.
We got up early in Uvalde, had a quick breakfast stop in Del Rio on the way to the park, which was just beyond Comstock.
At breakfast in Del Rio, we were surrounded by folks speaking Spanish at their tables. I took the chance to engage a local man with my newly perfected Car Tape Spanish. I was really proud of my pronunciation and mastery of the language... that is until he answered me back in perfect unaccented English. Oh well, so much for the hours of extra study....
Past Seminole Canyon, we made a stop at Langtry site of Judge Roy Bean "The Law West of the Pecos", but being Easter Sunday it was closed. We motored on and ended up in Sanderson for lunch at a truck stop. The Sanderson economy has seen better days.
Marathon was our final destination, at the famous Gage Hotel.
It was upscale, with nice grounds, nice rooms, nice pool, and a great restaurant and bar. The Gage has pretty much bought up all the town of Marathon, and has alot of properties beyond just the hotel itself. Warning, the Brush Fire cocktail has fresh jalapenos and lives up to it's name.
We got up early in Uvalde, had a quick breakfast stop in Del Rio on the way to the park, which was just beyond Comstock.
At breakfast in Del Rio, we were surrounded by folks speaking Spanish at their tables. I took the chance to engage a local man with my newly perfected Car Tape Spanish. I was really proud of my pronunciation and mastery of the language... that is until he answered me back in perfect unaccented English. Oh well, so much for the hours of extra study....
Past Seminole Canyon, we made a stop at Langtry site of Judge Roy Bean "The Law West of the Pecos", but being Easter Sunday it was closed. We motored on and ended up in Sanderson for lunch at a truck stop. The Sanderson economy has seen better days.
Marathon was our final destination, at the famous Gage Hotel.
It was upscale, with nice grounds, nice rooms, nice pool, and a great restaurant and bar. The Gage has pretty much bought up all the town of Marathon, and has alot of properties beyond just the hotel itself. Warning, the Brush Fire cocktail has fresh jalapenos and lives up to it's name. 
BBER 2012 - Day Two - Fred to Uvalde TX
Day 2 - FB to Uvalde via Leakey.
Misty weather to Medina caused me to be too cautious on the famous Eagle's nest twisties. Stopped at Apple store in Medina. They sell apple products. Really, like apple the fruit. Then the first of the 3 famed "Sisters"... 337 to Leakey... TX MotoFoto did our pics as we climbed the pass to Leakey... lunch at the Hog Pen.
Then to Camp Wood and the rest of the three sisters.
Reports of some accidents involving motorbikes on 336 made me cautious, plus seems you always get stuck behind some very slow cruisers on these routes. I like the 3 Sisters, but they always seem croweded.
Looped back to the Hog Pen late afternoon, tired, diet coke. Did I mention this trip celebrates our 20th anniversary?
Easy but pretty ride into Uvalde, where Jim had reserved a most Awesome B&B. Free upgrade to cabana suite due to Easter weekend family visits. The apartment was amazing. Pool swim was a welcome respite.
Dinner at Jacks Steak house, which had a superb filet. Nothing beats beef when you are traveling in ranching country.
We had some rain overnight. Jim had to slip out in his PJ's since the bikes were parked on gravel, to put some flat rocks under the kick stands. All went well!
Misty weather to Medina caused me to be too cautious on the famous Eagle's nest twisties. Stopped at Apple store in Medina. They sell apple products. Really, like apple the fruit. Then the first of the 3 famed "Sisters"... 337 to Leakey... TX MotoFoto did our pics as we climbed the pass to Leakey... lunch at the Hog Pen.
Then to Camp Wood and the rest of the three sisters. Reports of some accidents involving motorbikes on 336 made me cautious, plus seems you always get stuck behind some very slow cruisers on these routes. I like the 3 Sisters, but they always seem croweded.
Looped back to the Hog Pen late afternoon, tired, diet coke. Did I mention this trip celebrates our 20th anniversary?
Easy but pretty ride into Uvalde, where Jim had reserved a most Awesome B&B. Free upgrade to cabana suite due to Easter weekend family visits. The apartment was amazing. Pool swim was a welcome respite.
Dinner at Jacks Steak house, which had a superb filet. Nothing beats beef when you are traveling in ranching country.
We had some rain overnight. Jim had to slip out in his PJ's since the bikes were parked on gravel, to put some flat rocks under the kick stands. All went well!
BBER 2012 - Day 1 - Plano to Fredericksburg TX
We took off around 10am on Good Friday. Missed alot of traffic out of Dallas, since schools were closed. Getting out of the metromess is always dicey, but the ride didn't really begin until we got off of US-67 and dove south on a park road toward Cleburne State Park. Lunch was in Cranfill's Gap at the Horney Toad Bar and Grille. Food was surprisingly decent.
The ride down TX-16 was a blast, and the wildflowers near Llano were the best in years. I found that as we rode we had tons of great scenery, but didn't stop to take snaps. Got to Fredericksburg in time to check into the hotel and party with friends.
The ride down TX-16 was a blast, and the wildflowers near Llano were the best in years. I found that as we rode we had tons of great scenery, but didn't stop to take snaps. Got to Fredericksburg in time to check into the hotel and party with friends. Miles - est. 275 with great weather.
Anticipation of the Ride
In case I don't return the route plan was:
April 6 - Plano TX to Fredericksburg TX
Distance 275 miles
Lunch - Horney Toad in Cranfills Gap
April 7 - Fred to Uvalde
Distance - 200ish
Route - Old San Antonio Road, Comfort, Medina, Vanderpool, Leakey, Camp Wood, Twisted Sisters, Uvalde
April 8 - Uvalde TX to Marathon TX
Distance: 245 miles
Stay at the historic Gage Hotel - see short video:
April 9 - Marathon TX to Terlingua TX
Distance - 200ish miles
April 10 - Hiking in Big Bend
April 11 - Terlingua TX to Marfa TX
Distance - 120 ish miles
Visit Marfa's Prada store. :-)
April 12 - option day - potential of riding Davis Mountains loop (150 miles)
April 13 - Marfa Tx to Fredericksburg TX
Distance - 350 miles
April 14 - Fredericksburg TX to Plano TX
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