Headed for Big Bend Day Two May 10th 2009

Headed for Big Bend Day Two May 10th 2009

I woke up in Abilene and looked out the window and it was quite cloudy but looked ok. By the time I got out of the shower it was misting outside. Philip called and said he was just outside of Fort Worth and could be here by 0930 so I got ready and the weather only got worse so I just waited for him. When he arrived we put the bike on the trailer along side his and hit the road to Alpine Texas.

Right around Roscoe the weather finally quit misting but it was still cloudy and cool. I took some shots along the way.

Some power generating windmills in the flat and I mean flat lands. Still a bit over cast.



I was kind of amazed at the red soil so I shot this one and it is starting to clear up now.



Now the sun is out and it is warming up. Here is our happy driver Philip his happy face on.



Here are some general shots as we drove along.






It was not long and we got into refinery land. In one of the shots above I tried to capture just how many pumps were all over the place and of course now we need to refine the stuff.




When we came into Big Spring Texas I noticed it had 3 water towers, one on the right the new and two on the left the middle age and then maybe the original water tower. Not sure if what I say is true but it sure did kind of look like they left the old ones up as they progressed in time.





We got to Monahans and turned south on 18. We found this rather interesting rest stop in the middle of now where. It is just north of Grand Falls Tx. To keep the vegetation alive they had a water generating wind mill that fed a tank used to feed the hoses wrapped around the different trees. The surrounding area did not have this much greenery as you will see on the last shot of the road.








Here is a shot of me in the mirror and the bike on the trailer as we head south. I just shot this for fun as I was getting bored caging it. Not to say it would have been much better on bike at this point. After awhile of desert it gets drab.



We took another stop in Grand Falls to get some ice and munchies. Philip took this shot.



Heading further south we are getting into Road Runner Country now. You will hear in the day 4 report more about road runners and how I should change my motorcycle handle to coyote.




We get into Alpine Texas and start to look for a hotel to stay in and as we drive through town we assess what accommodations and decide to first stop at this place called the Antelope Lodge. It was rated number four in the Big Bend area by Ride Texas magazine and I can see why. It was great and very inexpensive. The folks where all nice and we even had a fire at night to sit around.

Here are some shots of the lodge area.








After getting settled in we decided to head for town to check it out in more detail.

Here is town square.



Philip at the intersection.



The Ride Texas magazine also rated a place for dinner called Reata very highly so we went looking for it. It was closed on Sunday nights. We heard from others it is good as well.




So we went to another place called the Buffalo Rose. It was fantastic. Philip said it was the best white cream gravy he ever had. It was some type of 3 pepper gravy, I had a steak and it was also very good.



After eating we went back to the hotel to take a nap, clean up a bit, and put the doggie bag into the fridge. The rooms had a little kitchen area with a stove and fridge. It really was great. As I was finishing up Philip went out and shot some of these sun set shots and the Coke Distribution center logo.






Well it was now time for a little night life. We stopped at this nice little bar next door to Harry’s Tinaja (From the Castilian Spanish. Meaning vessel or tank) I found this definition on the internet now on the internet they had Castilian spelled with two L‘s and based on word spell check it should only have one. So take this for what ever it is worth. Anyway inside the place next to Harry’s had this cool sign inside.



Now we go over to Harry’s Tinaja and find the locals doing a little performing and I take some shots inside and out.






It was a great day and we slept like babies.

Pj

Headed for Big Bend Day One May 9th 2009

Headed for Big Bend Day One May 9th 2009

Well as with all things sometimes plans change with time. At first I wanted to head north or east but the weather just would not cooperate and my buddy Philip wanted to go to Big Bend so here I sit in my hotel room in Abilene Texas headed for Big Bend. Philip will meet me here in the morning and at that time I will decide to follow him or put my bike along side his on our trailer and just sit back for the remaining boring miles. I hear there is not much to see between Abilene and Alpine.

So after looking at the weather last night I decided to leave early this AM but again plans changed. I was already to leave at about 8AM when it started misting out. This is a vacation run so no need to push it on wet streets day one. After all I have 9 days. Well the mist broke and the street semi dried so at about 1145 or noon I take off. It was an easy ride with some wind but compared to a normal Texas spring day it was a piece of cake. Now it was chilly, in fact a couple of times I was shivering so at one of my stops I put my full gloves on.

I do not want to get wordy but last night on the news they mentioned how Fort Worth has added police officers to patrol 820. And I can attest to the fact that they did. I saw 1 Kojak with a Kodak, another cop with someone pulled over, and one followed me for 5 or more miles until I moved into the middle lane and then he passed me on the right. This is all within about 8 miles so if your on 820 keep it on the dial.

I took hwy 20 out west since I kn0w I will run into Philip sometime tomorrow. So here are some shots being on a major hwy does not produce many shots.

This first shot is of a full service rest just stop out of Fort Worth. As all you DFW folks know it takes awhile to get out of the city.






Down the road to the first Picnic area, no rest rooms, still on hwy 20 near the hwy 16 Strawn hwy.






I continue on a little further west and find another picnic areas.







After one of my next to last stops I got gas in Cisco but what a strange place this turned out to be. I was kind of thinking of staying here for the night as the Nascar race was going to start soon but when I went into the gas station I notice this guy who was bare foot and looking like he was drunk and I think he lost his cookies next to his truck. He looked at me strangely (I mean I felt uncomfortable, it was not a “can a get a buck off you look“) and kind of started stumbling towards me so I went into my back pack and put the clip into the 40 and pulled the chamber, I think he either heard the noise or got my drift and turned around sat in his truck awhile and left. After that little show I heard a horn blowing steadily and then I saw the crash. This young women backed right into the side of another pick up truck. As I finished up fueling I notice another shorter older lady holding her stomach heading for the ladies room. At this point I could not get out of there fast enough but I had to use the men’s room myself. I got down the road to another rest stop, unloaded the 40 and had a beer. Oh and by the way I rarely pack when riding but with planning on camping at the US Mexican boarder (not because of people but animals) I packed this time. It did give me some relief already so I may reconsider that rarely idea when traveling alone.

Wow I took a shot with my other camera and man I guess for zooming in I know this camera is much better then the one I normally use. Here is a shot of a least 5 miles from down town Abilene of down town Abilene. Well that ends it for day one, I like the hwy driving for speed and miles but I still like the slow back roads myself.




Ride safe and have fun!!!!

Pj