Texas, Big Bend, Carlsbad, New Mexico, Route 66, and home

Interstate 10 west of Baton Rouge becomes a miles long bridge across a large wetlands area - quite scenic for an Interstate. There was also a miles long traffic jam as I approached the junction with I-49, and to add to the frustration it began to rain hard. Back in California I could have split lanes, but not here. I kept looking for an accident to explain the congestion, but once past I-49 the road cleared and I was left to conclude that it was just the Interstate junction that caused the jam. The weather cleared along with the road, and I rode into Texas, through Beaumont and Houston and almost to San Antonio, where I turned north to Canyon Lake, where I met my friend, Russ, and stayed at his house for the night. This is the southern end of Texas Hill Country, and the next morning Russ outlined a route (mostly TX 46 and 16) that would take me on some interesting roads in the area. I stopped for breakfast in the town of Bandera at the Old Spanish Trail restaurant, which has quite interesting decor, including a John Wayne room.

counter at the Old Spanish Trail restaurant

From Bandera I rode south on TX 173 to US 90 near Hondo, which I followed west across Texas to the Rio Grande River in appropriately named Del Rio. The road goes along to border to Langtry, where I stopped to take a few pictures and visit the Judge Roy Bean museum. Judge Bean was obsessed with the British actress, Lillie Langtry, and even named his town after her, as well as his saloon, The Jersey Lilly, where he conducted business. Responding to many letters that he wrote to her, Ms. Langtry visited Langtry, Texas on one of her American tours. Sadly, Judge Bean had died two years before her visit.

  

After Langtry US 90 veers away from the border and it was a pleasant and quiet ride to Marathon, where I'd made reservations at the Gage Hotel. Built in 1927, The Gage is quite a fancy place and by far the most expensive place I stayed on the trip. 

After an excellent dinner at the hotel restaurant, I walked to the Marathon cemetery. There isn't much else going on in town - a gas station, general store, and one or two other businesses, including the brightly painted Eve's Garden Bed and Breakfast.

The next morning I got an early start for my ride to Big Bend National Park, forty miles south on US 385. I was very cautious of deer on the road, and indeed saw a few as well as a peccary, also called a javelina. I stopped at the park headquarters at Panther Junction, and rode a scenic loop on Panther Drive and Bobcat Loop. Unfortunately, my camera battery expired and couldn't take pictures of the bleak yet captivating scenery. Since I had two fully charged batteries at the start of the trip, I decided not to bring the charger, which would have added a whole three ounces to my load. Too many pictures at the motorcycle museums...

I headed west on TX 118 and stopped in Terlingua at the General Store. I was now on Farm Road 170, which runs along the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. From Lajitas to Presidio FR 170 is 70 miles of twists and turns and sharp changes in elevation - a real delight. It is also narrow with gravel patches and rough surfaces in places, so caution is a good idea. In Presidio I stopped at a Radio Shack and purchased a universal battery charger that would work for my camera battery.

From Presidio US 67 goes north to Marfa, and from there I rode TX 17 to Fort Davis, where I went up into the hills on TX 118 to the McDonald Observatory - well known to listeners of NPR's Star Date. There were scenic views of the surrounding countryside from the observatory, but I still hadn't charged my camera battery.

TX 118 ends at I-10 and I followed the Interstate west to Van Horn where I went north on TX 54. This is a surprisingly scenic route that joins US 62/180 and goes along the Guadalupe Mountains National Park and into New Mexico. I went across Guadalupe Pass, which at 5288 feet was the highest I'd been since the Blue Ridge Parkway. I spent the night in Carlsbad, NM and had dinner at the No Whiner Diner. I also charged my camera batteries, finally.

The next morning I rode into Carlsbad Caverns National Park and took the elevator down to the cavern, leaving the hour and a half underground walk to the caverns for another time. The caverns are huge and quite spectacular, and there were few people early in the morning in early October. 

After an hour or so I was back on the bike and retraced the twisty and scenic park road back to Carlsbad, where I got on US 285 north to Artesia. The town features seven larger than life bronze statues scattered about the downtown area, including one of an oil derrick that celebrates the town's oil heritage.

From Artesia US 82 west climbed steadily to a high plateau toward Cloudcroft, passing the Very Large Array of radio telescopes along the way.

Once over the 8600 foot pass after Cloudcroft, the road descends slowly through a pine forest to US 70 where it ends. I went north to Tularosa, where I took US 54 to Carrizozo, then west on US 380 to Socorro where I got on US 60 - small back roads across the center of the state. This is all beautiful high plains country, there was no traffic, few towns, and the weather was perfect. I stopped a bit earlier than I would have liked because my GPS didn't show any motels for 100 miles, and the days were becoming shorter. The Western Motel in Magdalena was the type of place I looked for during the trip.

Forty miles down the road the next morning I stopped for breakfast in Datil, which featured two motels, neither of which were on my GPS. So, the GPS database is like the Internet - lots of information, and some of it is even accurate. I followed US 60 through Pie Town on the Continental Divide and into Arizona across the 7500 foot Cerro Montoso summit and into Show Low, where I turned on AZ 260, a small road through the mountains that ends in Camp Verde at I-17, where I took AZ 279 towards Jerome, an old mining town in the mountains that has become a town of artists and tourists. It reminds me a bit of Park City, Utah 20 years ago with a sort of unpretentious hippie vibe - the VW van in the picture below fits right in. I stopped for a quick walk around and coffee, and even bought a framed print of a raven at the artists' co-op.

US 89A from Jerome towards Prescott is a scenic ride that climbs and twists its way to US 89, which I rode north to I-40 and then the Interstate to Seligman. This was another instance where my GPS showed only one motel in town, but I knew from previous experience that there were several. As it was I had my choice of rooms in town. 

Seligman makes a big deal of being on historic Route 66, but it wasn't crowded this late in the year.

The Romney Motel where I stayed had its own peculiar charms - maybe the owner just likes old cars.

The following morning I skipped breakfast at the Roadkill Cafe, although it seemed enticing, and headed east on Route 66 towards Peach Springs.

I always stop to visit the Hackberry General Store, which is part Route 66 museum and part souvenir shop.

The previous day in Prescott, I'd seen a tour group of ten or so Japanese motorcyclists, and that evening when I walked to dinner in Seligman I saw them pull into the Route 66 Motel. As I left the Hackberry General Store they all pulled into the parking lot.

After Hackberry Route 66 climbs up into the hills and connects with I-40 in Kingman. After a few miles on I-40 I exited again to follow Route 66 over Sitgreaves pass into Oatman, another old mining town that is now a minor tourist destination as well as a popular stop for local motorcyclists. I stopped for breakfast there, and took a picture of a couple of the free ranging burros, who will come right up and beg for a handout of a carrot or apple.

The iconic 1959 Cadillac shows up in the strangest places. While on a bicycle trip along the Danube in the spring, I'd spotted one parked in front of a restaurant in a town outside of Budapest, Hungary.

After Oatman Route 66 straightens and levels out, but it is still a scenic ride in a bleak sort of way. It connects to I-40 near the California border.

One of the things I worry about when I'm on a road trip is becoming ill, and the previous night I'd felt feverish and achy. In the morning I still felt ill, so I took a couple of Tylenol, and continued to do so throughout the day. Fortunately, the weather was pleasant all across central California. 

In Barstow I took CA 58 west through town, where the going was very slow with a lot of lights and shopping centers, but eventually it cleared up enough that the traffic moved along at the limit. I stopped at Kohnen's Country Bakery in Tehachapi, signs for which I'd seen on the Interstate. I had coffee and pastry and Kohnen's did not disappoint.

I'd originally planned to stay near Fresno that evening and visit friends there, but I didn't think they would be happy to see me if I were ill and contagious, so I decided to see if I could ride straight through to San Francisco. Even though it would be a 760 mile day, I was afraid that I would be feeling even worse the next day and perhaps not be able to ride. In Bakersfield I went north on I-5 and then took CA 46 to Paso Robles. CA 58 to Atascadero (just south of Paso Robles) is a more scenic and less traveled road and my usual choice, but I was feeling worse as the day went on and I just wanted to get home. As it was CA 46 is being widened and there was quite a bit of traffic and construction, but fortunately, the traffic moved at the limit most of the time. I made a brief stop just past Cholame to pay my respects at the James Dean memorial, stopped for my usual turkey and jalapeno sandwich at Margie's in Paso Robles, then went north on US 101 the rest of the way home. Thirty-three days, 10,200 miles.