Well, the lodge had great wifi and is quite nicely done - my room was nice and had a huge tiled walk-in shower with a rain shower head. Recommended if you're in Balmorhea.
I dined late on the tortillas I bought in Animas, and was up and outside by 6:30 am, heading to the coffee room for java. Wandered out to the parking lot to look at the distant mountains in the pre-dawn cold. To my left in the darkness came the crow of a rooster, only to be answered to my right with the howl of a coyote. The crow and the howl answered each other for a while before the coyote went silent in the brightening dawn.
A few hunters who'd come in in the middle of the night, loaded into their pickups, the rattling diesels knocking in the cold air as they pulled out of the lot.
Lo and behold, there by the coffee pot was yet another Honey Bun. Couldn't help but laugh as this was the fourth of seven days in which I'd been presented with the glorious "Honey Bun" for breakfast. I never eat those things but this trip they were de rigueur. I should have called this ride "The Honey Bun Trail".
What's that under the microwave????
The last hunter loading up
Another spectacular day!
Downtown Balmorhea
Fall colors…
The sun was up and it was feeling almost warm when I saddled up, but about 4 miles down the road I had to stop and add a layer.
It was back to 80 mph into the low morning sun as I hit I-10 east for Fort Stockton and more gas. It was going to be another beautiful and crystal clear day. All I can say is that the weather this week has been unbelievably good. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky practically the entire time.
I reached Fort Stockton pretty soon and exited into town to fill up. The signs for Marathon and Big Bend National Park called my name very loudly. Man, I love Big Bend so much and I wanted to just head straight south. If I'd had another day, I wanted to ride down and through Terlingua on the long way home, but it wasn't to be.
While gassing up, I saw a 1200GS head by, the rider wearing a blue Darien jacket. As I tooled down the main drag surveying the place, I saw a white 650 Dakar at a convenience store with black Jesse cases on the side. All was well in the world again.
Funny thing has been how few bikes I saw in AZ this week and the ones I did were usually Harley's. It was fun to see a couple of Beemers again.
I stopped to see my old friend "Paisano Pete" as usual and he was all dressed up for Christmas. His little concrete lion was still guarding him well.
A couple of times on the freeway, the bike felt a little weird so I stopped and checked tire pressure. I hate it when you've been riding and then get onto a different surface with just enough variation to make the front move around - and combined with the wind makes you feel like your front is going flat. There were a few areas on I-10 that did that, especially an area of fresh chip-seal that looks new and flat but really made the front end wander.
Between Fort Stockton and Ozona there were more fresh deer kills than I've seen in a very long time. There were a bunch and it went on for a long distance. They were all fresh and I kept doing the numbers of how little traffic is on I-10, and the chances of hitting a deer, and realized there must have been one heck of a lot of deer crossing that highway last night. Sheesh.
I eventually caught up to a couple of Harley riders who were running about 65 and I slid past at about 85, giving a thumbs up as I passed.
Ozona came up after a while and I needed to make a phone call so I pulled into a gas station that was as busy as a beehive. In the lot, I saw the same white 650 Dakar with black Jesse's, and I figured he must have gotten on 10 while I was stopped to shoot Paisano Pete and had beaten me to Ozona by a couple of minutes.
By the time I got the receipt from inside, the rider was back out by his bike so we chatted for a sec. His name was Chris and he was heading back to Austin from a ride to California.
Chris from Austin
Before I could get going, a guy came up to talk GS's for a while, then wished me a safe trip. I got back on 10 and floored it for Sonora and Junction. After a few minutes, I could see Chris' Dakar come up behind me and we caravaned all the way to Junction in a high crosswind. There' s a plateau area from southeast of Junction that extends out towards Sonora and Ozona and it is amazing how strong the winds can be in that whole region.
The dead deer toll continued unabated until Junction, where I pulled off to make another call, with Chris behind me but turning east on 377 for Austin. When I pulled into the gas station to make the call, the same guy who'd talked to me about GS's back in Ozona was there and came over to say hi again. He left and another guy came over to ask about the GS - he was planning on getting back into riding again and was considering a V-Strom. We talked a while before his wife muscled him away.
The two Harley riders I'd passed way back came rumbling in and as we walked past I said hi, but they were too cool to respond. Shoulda known. I began gearing up and another guy walked over to look at the bike. Mike was from Marfa and rides a 1200GS. He said to give him a call when I hit the area and we'd do a ride.
Funny how the last 60 miles is the longest and as I raced for Kerrville it felt strange - the rush of riding and yet to a place that meant the ride would be ending. That old feeling of returning to reality. No more new places and faces each day.
But hey, this is a week of Thanksgiving and it couldn't be more appropriate. So much to be thankful to God for - the weather, the beautiful creation I get to experience, a safe journey and so much more.
Home at last
It was a great trip, just under 2000 miles and Arizona is hard to beat - beautiful, friendly and real!
Thanks for riding with me!
Adios my friends