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!Viva La Mexico! The Ride

Kev95GS said:
!VAMOS! !VAMOS! !VAMOS!

When do you want to go? :brow

Acutally, I think this will be my curtain call for a while. I realized how much I was missing and how unfair it is to "mi Esposa", Peggy, to be gone so long.

I can't think of a better way to hang up the "Big Spurs" than on a trip like this!

I will, however, NOT, be hanging up the weekend "SPURS"! :bikes


Kevin that sounds great! I get a tour guide and your wife and mine gets a trip to buy some fresh tortillas and sangrias...lol. Muy Bueno!!!

I'll leave the spurs thang alone for now as we have just met...lmbo :D
 
Day 9, Sabado, 14 Enero.

We got up before the Sun and pack up to head for the States. :usa

Aladama is on the north side of Chihuahua so we get a nice Sunrise.

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We head on toward Ojinaga and stop for breakfast. My last day there and I have Hot Cakes. Someone other than me has had them everyday since we have been in Mexico so I figure I better have em' before we leave. They were good but I wish had Huevos Rancheros.

The Mexico border takes about 20 minutes and the US border takes about the same after they open up 2 more lanes.

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As I mentioned, Himmy has to head to the corral so we bid our farewells and Jimmy heads to Pecos for burritos.

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We called to see about Sonny and got a message he was right down the street. We started to suit up and he pulls in the parking lot. Not 10 mins from when Himmy leaves.

He didn't see us, but we saw him. Lt Dan takes the stern and I take the starboard. We scared the crap out of him, he just about dropped the bike. Later that night he told us we almost met "Thunder & Lightning" (motioning to his biceps)... How corny is that? :dunno

Jimmy, Dan & I had met a couple, Bob & Joanne, at the RV campground the first night camping in Presidio. They had matching KLR's and were the camp hosts.

They wanted us to tell them how the trip went when we returned so we stopped to let them know. They claimed they were going in March when their committment was up at the Loma Aloma.

We take off south east down TX 170...

WOOOOOO WHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Compress, decompress, right, left, right, compress, decompress.... On and on.

Sorry no pictures but if you have to ask... you wouldn't understand. :rocker :rocker :rocker :rocker

The road follows the terrain along the Rio Grande and you go through washes and back up (all on asphalt and concrete) up hills, down, around, up, down.

I've ridden Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/inside_park/rides/thrill/ttd/specs/index.cfm

and..... OK, Top Thrill was better, but not by much...

We stopped for a photo op.

Here's Sonny.

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In front of the Rio Grande
Mexico to the right, USA to the left.

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We head on to Study Butte and Big Bend!

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Terlingua & Study Butte are pretty much the same place. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STICKS. Big Bend was 'bout 2 miles past that so we were officially "BEHIND THE STICKS"

What a fantastic place!

We had just come from an incredible experience in Mexico where all our senses were assaulted from every possible angle. Sound, color, language, smell, food, culture...

Now we were in the middle of nowhere with nothing other than God's Glory assaulting us. !Dios es Grande!

I told you it was a dichtomy.

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This place was almost as far away from the other as it could be... yet it was right across the border no more than 400 miles, as the crow flies, from Batopilas.

We camped on the western side of the park at the entrance to the Chimney's West trail.

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Sonny and Lt Dan discuss the finer qualities, and best screen set up of the Garmin V...

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as the Sun went down over Mexico.

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Looking east.

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and back to Mexico

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After the Sun went down, and before, it was overcast. There was a full Moon behind the clouds and we had a little hole over us for a while. Ozone?

But it was mostly overcast and you could still see like this.

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When we went to bed there was COMPLETE & UTTER SILENCE. No kidding. (Some may have experienced this before or may be suprised by my reaction. I have never experienced this kind of solitude.) No insects, no wind noise, no roosters, no dogs, no automobiles, no airplanes, no windchimes, no cell phones, no radios, no refrigerators, no central heat, no TV, no trains, no interstates, no clocks, no fans, no computers... you get the picture, ABSOLUTE SILENCE.

Except for the occasional snore or :fart

I honestly have never experienced a place quite like this and I went to bed in complete AWE!

I'm still not sure about mileage because I had left a day off in Aldama but it was the end of day 9, Sabado, 4 Enero and it was a Very Quiet Night.
 
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You are investing your time now, so you may have your own time later to spend as you will. :brow

Sorry, I don't mean to be a smart..., I come by it naturally. :stick

Kevin
 
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I'm outie.
I should be able to get through Big Bend tomorrow and then cover the Texas Hill Country on Miercoles o Jueves. There aren't a whole lotta pictures in the Hill Country. Come to think of it there may only be 1. :rocker :bliss :dance :stick
 
Gracias...

Thanks for posting all the great pictures!!
I was supposed to do a trip down there last year but family stuff took over. Looks like it'll be 2007 till I can go. I can't wait. Ride on......
 
DADODIRT said:
Thanks for posting all the great pictures!!
I was supposed to do a trip down there last year but family stuff took over. Looks like it'll be 2007 till I can go. I can't wait. Ride on......

De nada,
It's really been my pleasure. It's helped me remember and relive the whole thing.

You do need to make the trip. It is well worth it. Post yours when you get back. :brow

Kevin
 
Day 10, Domingo, 15 Enero

We start the morining by stripping down the steeds.

"La Chica Vieja" is ready for some gravel, dirt, sand, large rocks, ...
We let some air out of the tires and are going to explore the River Road in Big Bend. :nyah

That is Pena Mountain in the background.

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We head down Old Maverick road toward Santa Elena Canyon and the Rio Grande.

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Sonny likes to play. :burnout

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Just the Santa Elena

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On the River Road

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The River Road was nice and pretty well maintained but we got to a checkpoint... They were having a 25K and 50K run in the park today and all the runners were on the River Road ahead of us.

We chose to take Black Gap Road, which is an unmaintained road, instead of bothering the runners on River Road. As soon as we turned on it the gravel got deep so we had to stay back and keep the weight off the front. It was even more fun when a runner would be coming at you and you would have to change from one track to the other, through the really deep stuff. WOO HOO! :bolt

Got my attention more than once.

Part of Black Gap road

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Another spot looked like a good photo opp.

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Sonny volunteered to be the "re-inactor" (is that a word).

Up...

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and back down. :D

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We found a nice spot close to the end of Black Gap, at Glenn Spring campsite and took a little break. There was actually a little water crossing at the bottom of the road here. (I mean really little)

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We were back on River road and things were going along quite smoothly, or at least for the moment. Lt Dan and Sonny are much better at this stuff than I and they were pretty far ahead by now. I was pretty feeling pretty comfortable becuase it was graded and maintained, not like Black Gap were I would expect something like wahed out hills, large rocks, etc. I came over a little rise with a slight turn and there in the middle of the road was very deep, very fine, sand. I knew it was going to get squirrelly and made the mistake of slowing down. When I hit the sand there was a very deep rut in it that you couldn't see and I went down in it. I swear it was at least a foot and a half deep. You know the rest, down I went, no biggy, and it was more like a fall over than a throw off. :laugh

It was really pretty funny and I laughed. I was about to get my camera but a truck was coming up so I had to pick up La Chica Vieja and took off. The sand was very, very fine. Like Talcum powder.

I headed on out and was cautious for a while and just when I started to think there wouldn't be any more... :nyah . This time I kept up my speed and tried to pick a line. No problem except for a bottomless pit that you couldn't see and I bottomed out the front forks. Stayed on though and powered on through.

When I caught up to Lt Dan and Sonny, they were stopped so I didn't really catch up. I told them and we laughed but they told me about their experience there.

They were riding almost side by side with Lt Dan on the left and Sonny on the right with Lt Dan a little ahead. Dan said he caught air over the rise and hit the sand pretty hard. Sonny was right behind and said that the sand flew up in the air just like water (at least 8 feet in the air) and covered him like a wave. Of course he couldn't see but went on through fine. Boy it would be nice to have a helmet cam.

We had lunch at the Rio Grande village and blasted, quite literally, back to break camp and head east so we could hit some of the hill country tomorrow on our way to Austin.

Part of the Chisos Basin

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On the road after leaving the park.

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We rode on till after dark with Sonny in the lead and saw him hit his blinker. Once we got to the spot we knew why. Stinkin' Deer. :uhoh

The blinker seemed to go back and forth many times. No telling how many we saw but I bet there 2 we didn't see for every 1 we saw.

It was time to get off the bikes. We stopped in Sanderson, TX for the night.

The shower felt great that night after eating all that dust. A bed was nice too. :snore

We rode about 80, BMW, miles on the gravel, sand, etc in the park and about 293, BMW, miles for the day. It was a Grande Day.
 
Big Bend was a great place and should be a destination of its own. We could have spent at least 2-3 more days and explored a lot more of it, Chisos Basin and many other places. It would be worth it for me just to experience the SILENCE at night again.

so... onward...

Day 11, Lunes, 16 Enero.

Lt Dan & I were up with the Sun and went to get Sonny (he camped down the road instead of crashing on the floor, he's a true adventurer). He wasn't ready so we went and got some breakfast while he packed up.

Back on the road and we head southeast on TX 90 to Del Rio on to Bracketville and then Hwy 334 to north on 55 to Camp Wood. Along the way we stopped here. The water was so clear it was unbelievable.

I pretty sure it was on Hwy 55 just before Camp Wood.

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The other direction

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At Camp Wood we hit Texas Ranch Rd 337. Man what a road. You must ride this road if you are within 500...1000 miles... heck just make it a destination and ride it many times! :brow :clap :brad

Sorry no pictures on this road. I had my mind on other things. :bliss :rocker :thumb Many curves up and through the Hill Country.

We stopped at Frio Canyon in Leakey, TX. Nice place that caters to riders in the area.

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Back on 337 and it is better than the last part we were on. :twirl :dance :thumb YEE HAAAAA!!!! RIDE THIS ROAD!!!!

We hit Hwy 16 and head to Kerrville for lunch and a couple of Sonny's friends came over from Austin to meet us for the ride in. Jordan and Larry.

It had been overcast and mostly windy most of the day but it got worse in Kerrville. There was a front coming in and the wind was blowing us all over the road. It was still good though.

We stopped off in Luckenbach.

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Left to right. Sonny, me, Jordan and Larry.

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Off we went to Austin. Jordan was on a ST1300 and Larry on a 1800 Gold Wing. Those guys couuld ride! It stayed very windy all the way into Austin but we only had a few sprinkles on the way.

We had no rain on this trip except for this little bit. It sure looked like we were going to get dumped on though on this day.

We when got to Sonny's house we had to do a little maintenance on the bikes. Lt Dan had bent his rim and broken the steel belts in his tire in Big Bend but we had come all the way with no problems. Just made sure to check it every so often. I had a loose wire on my tail light, no biggy.

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We ate at Rudy's in Austin and had some great brisket and a great hand washer. Check it out if your in the area. We need one of these places in Nashville.

Lt Dan, Stacy, Sonny and the Rudy's gang.

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We went to bed with a full belly, clean hands and knowing we would hit the road for home in the morning.

We rode 436, BMW, miles today and it was a WOO HOO, Hill Country, Day!
 
Day 12, Martes, 17 Enero

We needed a tool to get the front tire off the Hex head so we had to go to the Honda shop, Jordan works there and Sonny has and buy a tire and put it on. What great guys.

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Got it changed and off we go after all our goodbyes.

We took I-35 out of Austin to Waco and took Hwy 31 to Tyler.

Can you say...."Windy"?

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Pretty much an uneventful day and we stopped around 7 pm in Lonoke, AR. We talked to the families back home and it was snowing, pretty good too.

We rode about 545, BMW, miles and it was The Last Night.
 
Day 13, Miercoles, 18 Enero.

We head out about 7 am and head for home. No pictures but once we hit Memphis there was still a lot of snow in the shadows on the side of the road. We passed a guy in a Chevy pickup and he cheered us on toward the finish line. Window down and thumbs up as we go by. Thanks Dude!

We got home around 1:30 pm. Good to be home.

Here was my welcoming committee. (a re-inactment :brow ) :dance


My girls, Olivia (left), Lauren and La Chica Vieja!

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.

We rode 354, BMW, miles and we were HOME!
 
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A few thoughts on the trip.

Almost everyone we tell about the trip asks, "Are you crazy?" "Weren't you worried about banditos?"

The answer is always the same. "We never felt treated at any point in the whole trip. Everyone we met was hospitable, freindly and gracious." "Everywhere we went we saw people smiling, happy and content" "Are we crazy? Maybe but not becuase we went to Mexico.?"

I am sure that there are dangerous places in Mexico and my thoughts are that they are mostly around border towns, large cities and tourist areas. Or if you happen to stumble on someones "patch". :brow You'd have to be in a lot more remote places than we went though.

Mexico is a very, very nice place and the folks there seems to appreciate those that come and try to be part of whats going on and try to communicate.

It's also seems that there is a lot of progress going on either in the large cities and in the out lying areas. As I said there is talk of paving the road to Batopilas.

Border crossings went exceptionally smooth on both counts. I don't know whether it is normal or not, but we never had a hiccup.

Mexico had a lot to offer as far as roads go too. You could have a twisty, curvey adventure, a gravel and single track adventure... Make your own road.

Another thing that Lt Dan brought up was the fact that during the whole 13 days of the trip we saw no one traveling like us. No motorcycles packed down, not even in the warmer climates. We did see some bikes around Chihuahua but they weren't traveling, they were Sunday riders. Where was everybody? Get on the road!

If you have every considered going to Mexico my advice is to DO IT!
Take a little time to research it and decide what you want out of your trip. There are plenty of sites on line that can give you all the info you need and more!

Thanks for going along and letting me share our experience.

By the way, I have tried to get Lt Dan and Himmy to log on and let everyone know their side of the story (and make sure I didn't embelish anything), but so far I have been unsuccessful.


Thanks again!

Kevin

:bikes
 
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Kev,your ride sounds fabulous! Will you let a girl go with you next time?!
P.S.---that Dan guy looks hot!!!
 
Letsbike said:
Kev,your ride sounds fabulous! Will you let a girl go with you next time?!
P.S.---that Dan guy looks hot!!!

I don't think I can keep up with you! But we could give it a try.

and as for Lt Dan, looks can be deceiving. :rofl :laugh
 
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Nice work Kevin

I sure wish I could have gone with you guys, this thread almost made me feel like I did. Great shots and words. I sure hope Dan doesn't see Letsbike's post though, his helmet is already too tight now! Just kidding, Dan. Hope to ride with you soon. G.L.
 
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