AZ Day 8 - Viva Terlingua!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

The started later than I had hoped. Waking to the sound of my alarm clock I realized I'd overslept and was already running late. Crap! However, I was packed and off as the sun was rising so at least I didn't waste too much time.

I was quite stressed the night before due to my last half an hour of riding being after dark. Simply put it is not safe to ride a motorcycle in The Bend of Texas after dark. However, I lucked out and made it into Presidio, TX, without incident.

Leaving the lights of Presidio behind me I headed toward Big Bend National Park and no more than a half hour later I saw it.

"It" was a large wild boar. Technically there were two of them but only one charged in front of the bike. I grabbed a hand full of brakes and while the anti-lock function worked well the brakes were not enough to stop me before I hit the boar. I braced for impact as I saw the boar approach. I still have a flash frame image of the boar heading directly in front of my wheel. Frankly, I have absolutely no idea how it happened but the braking must have slowed me down just enough so that the boar made it most of the way past my bike, with me only striking it's hind quarter. Had the boar been a hair slower or I a hair faster I would be writing this from a hospital...if I was lucky. But I was.

And then there was the snake. Another half hour later I was coming down a hill and saw yet another concrete patch in the road. I thought nothing of it until I was juuuust in front of it and noticed that it looked just like a rattle snake. The crunch, crunch of my tires passing over it confirmed my final guess. Oh well, I guess there's now one less snake in Texas.

Though I covered less than 400 miles today it was very stressful riding between my early wildlife experiences and the threat of rain all morning. On top of that I was racing against the clock all day to make a 6pm dinner at the lodge where I'm staying thanks to a friend meeting me here in the Hill Country and offering to pick up the tab. I'm living in a FAR higher standard than I do at home and would just as soon stay on the road...but only with this level of accommodations.

In light of the late hour and my long day I'll just post some pics and minimal text. So, on with the pics....

"The Bend" is the part of Texas on the far west that bends around the Rio Grande. It's a fantastic part of the State and one area I'll be returning to on future trips.

I had expected great scenery and boring roads...but I was wrong.

A constant thread of morning rain, and even a few drops, kept me moving.

At times the landscape was almost lunar.

Dips and undulations in the road were big enough to hide a car...or deer...or wild boar.

In the picture below you can just see the Rio Grande river in the distance. Looks for the lush green river valley. To the right is Mexico.

Below, a close up of the Rio Grande shows how beautiful the area is and why this area was designated a National Park.

After my morning experiences with wildlife I was starting to wonder if these buzzards were hanging around me, just waiting for their chance to peck at bits of me.

My daily grind on the road involves a fair amount of mundane tasks such as slathering on gallons of sunscreen every day...all to no avail. Despite four gallons of the stuff I still got burned on my nose and cheeks.

Texas is one of the few states in my travels that provides plenty of picnic spaces along even minor roads.

Yet another buzzard awaits me.

Don't laugh at my paranoia about the buzzards. Early in the afternoon I was riding along when I spotted a half dozen large birds soaring on the thermals ahead of me. I was admiring them when all of a sudden I look up and one of the bastards take a dive at me. All I see are wings and talons no more than five feet from my head! I'm note sure if it was a buzzard or hawk or eagle as I was rather shocked by the whole experience and didn't get a good i.d. but if I ever see that bird again I'm gonna kick him square in the nuts!

In Georgia we close roads when they are flooded.

In Texas the provide a guage for you to determine whether you can drive through or not. Glad I didn't visit during the rainy season!

Just outside the west entrance of the park is the town of Lajita.

There were several nice motel in Lajita and any would make a good jumping off point for a future trip.

It also seems there is quite a bit of development money going into Lajita. Odd.

The cloud cover continued to nearly noon but brought much needed relief from the sun's rays.

I'm a big fan of musician Jerry Jeff Walker and when I had a chance to visit Terlingua I jumped. This joint is not a bar but rather a resident's front yard.

Jerry Jeff's seminal work, Viva Terlingua!, was in part inspired by this part of Texas.

I was disappointed that my late start meant there was no chance for me to get any good coffee, or bad for that matter, before I left town. I was shocked to catch a sign for fancy coffee in Terlingua of all places.

I was amused when I passed through town and saw the first Harley's of this trip...but wasn't surprised to see one loaded on a trailer as his buddy's rolled past.

I was surprised to find the National Park is, in my opinion, up there with the best of parks I've visited.

I arrived at the park headquarters but due to my time schedule I was unable to enter. Next time!

The northeastern part of the park has it's own feel and vibe.

One of the luxuries of trips like this is the chance to play around with photography.

I thought I was through with wildlife dangers until I realized the man walking along the road wasn't a big, fat man.

Wildlife hazzards don't mix with fast speeds.

I really enjoyed my entire ride and the scenery in West Texas.

Refueling outside the park I was hoping to see this would be my only encounter with the Texas State Patrol. I was wrong.

Fortunately the trooper who pulled me over only gave me a warning. He clocked me at 78 in a 70...which is probably accurate as I was going a helluve lot faster than that before I saw the trooper and hit the brakes.

My next stop was in Langtry, TX.

Langtry is where Judge Roy Bean held court.

Heading north east to my hotel for the evening I put away the camera and tried to pass some miles. However, I noticed that the dead grasses were giving way to small bushes which were replaced by larger bushes, then trees and bigger trees, until all of a sudden I was in a damn forest. Finally, I'm in the Hill Country!

I'm looking forward to more good roads and greenery in the Hill Country come Tuesday