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Texas Hill Country Fall Foliage Motorcycle Ride November 2012

Texas Hill Country

Ingram on the river

Texas Hill Country

Ride map – 270 miles

Texas Hill Country Fall Foliage Motorcycle Ride. 

In Central Texas we don’t get the fall foliage displays like they have in some places. Most of our trees are evergreen. Live Oak and Cedar trees are the most prevalent. There are pockets of deciduous trees throughout the area.” Lost Maples State Park” is the best known for its fall colors. The fall foliage displays here can be hit or miss depending on the weather during the year. The drier and colder the weather the better it will be.

On our ride we saw some good colors but not as bright as in the past. The trees with leaves were still green or have not completely turned. The weather has not been cold enough for some of the trees. The Red Oaks and the Lacy Oaks were starting to change some. The ride along the Medina, Guadalupe and the Sabinal Rivers, had beautiful golden brown Sycamores, and copper-colored Cypress trees.

This was a spur of the moment ride. The weather the day before was perfect riding weather with clear sunny skies with temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s. I thought we had better take advantage of our good weather and ride while we can. As it turned out today was overcast. I assumed the clouds would burn off as it did the day before… but I was wrong. There were short burst of sunshine earlier in the day but it remained overcast for most of the day. Being overcast made it a bit chilly riding.

Texas Hill Country

Stonehenge II in Ingram

Our ride took us from Georgetown to Llano via Hwy 29. We then headed south on Hwy 16 to FM 965 past Enchanted Rock to Fredericksburg. From there we picked up Hwy 16 again heading south to Kerrville. We stopped for gas and got a hot cup of coffee to warm up a bit. From there we headed west on Hwy 27 to Ingram. In Ingram we stopped to see the new home of Stonehenge II. Stonehenge II was moved from its original home just outside Hunt to Ingram.  The land of its original site was sold and the buyers did not want Stonehenge II. We were glad that it was saved and preserved here in Ingram.

Texas Hill Country

Picnic Area on Guadalupe River off Hwy 39 outside Hunt

From Ingram we picked up Hwy 39 to a picnic area on the Guadalupe River. The picnic area is just outside Hunt. Because of a special diet we are on we packed a lunch. The picnic area is a beautiful spot with the river, waterfalls and cypress trees that had turned to a beautiful copper brown.

Texas Hill Country

Guadalupe River off Hwy 39

Texas Hill Country

Lunch at Picnic Area

After lunch we continued down Hwy 39 to Hwy 187. We always enjoy the ride down Hwy 39. It is always scenic as it follows and criss-crosses the Guadalupe River. The fall colors were good all along the way. Hwy 187 takes us past “Lost Maples State Park”. 187 had nice views of the hill country and the changing colors of the trees. Just past “Lost Maples” we turned east onto RR 337 to Medina. RR 337 is one of the “Three Sisters” or “Twisted Sisters” (RR 335, 336 & 337) as some refer to them. At Medina we turned onto Hwy 16 again and headed north back to Kerrville and Fredericksburg. In Fredericksburg we picked up Hwy 290 east to Johnson City (named for President Johnson). At Johnson City we turned north onto Hwy 183 to Burnet. In Burnet we headed east on Hwy 29 to home.

Texas Hill Country

Hwy 39 Outside Hunt

Texas Hill Country

Guadalupe River

It was a good ride except it was a bit cool. We should have worn an extra layer to help with the cold. Normally we carry extra clothing just for such things, but I misjudged the weather. I won’t do that again.

We hope to see you down the road somewhere. Ride safe…

If you like this post you may like “Hill Country Fall Foliage Ride November 2010”

Day 5 – Harrison, AR Motorcycle Ride: Jasper Disaster & Twisted Lady Rides Combined and more GPS Confusion.

Today’s Route minus detours. 120 miles

Jasper Disaster & Twisted Lady Rides

It’s another cool morning. The kind of weather I enjoy riding in the most. We were up again at 6:00 and on the road around 8:00. We started with partly cloudy skies turning to clear blue skies and sunshine. The high temperature climbed into the upper 80’s before the day’s end.

Today we are riding the Jasper Disaster and Twisted Lady ride. These rides partly overlap the Eureka Spring ride we didn’t ride yesterday. So we got to ride it today. Combining these two rides made the route look like a figure eight except for a detour caused by me not reading the signs and the GPS trying to route us down a gravel road.

The Jasper Disaster ride between Ponca and Jasper via Hwy 74, mile for mile is the curviest riding route of the 7 motorcycle rides out of Harrison. Traveling down Hwy 43 we ride through Boxley Valley then pick up Hwy 74 just south of Ponca and ride toward Jasper. You know the ride down Hwy 74 will be a good one when you see a sign which says “CROOKED AND STEEP NEXT 14 MILES DRIVE WITH CARE.” Hwy 74 was very scenic, with massive drops in elevation. There was the possibility of seeing deer, turkey, elk and eagles but today there wasn’t any that we saw. Just before getting to Jasper we turned onto Hwy 327 and headed to Parthenon.

The sign says it all…

I thought there was an old store in Parthenon still in business. I had intended to stop and checkout some of the history there. Frank James’ grave is near there and on July 4, 1888 Wash Middleton, AKA Wash Gibbs of “Shepard of the Hills” fame was shot behind the Parthenon store. But there was just a large old building which I’m assuming was the store. It was obvious the store did not exist any longer.

Maybe we should have stopped and explored a bit but we rode on toward Deer. At Deer we turned on to Hwy 16 heading back to Ponca. Because “Goldie” (the Goldwing GPS) had tried to route us down a gravel road earlier I had turned her off and was following signs instead. I miss read a sign and we took a detour. To make matters worse I dropped my bike turning around. No damage done except to my pride and the embarrassment of it. I was not happy.

Lunch…

We eventually made it back to Ponca and had lunch at Buffalo Outdoor Center. We enjoyed visiting with several of the young ladies who served up some good sandwiches, the local judge and several local workers who had dropped in. For a judge he was a nice guy. He told us about several good roads we should ride in the area. Maybe another time…

After lunch we walked over to the Elk Education Center across the street. It was free and had many displays of elk and other animals of the area.

We continued our ride heading south and riding Hwy 74 again from Ponca all the way to Jasper where we picked up Hwy 7 heading north back to Harrison.

Hotel Seville where we wanted to stay in Harrison but were booked

For dinner tonight we walked down to Dixie Café. Dixie’s serves up some good home cookin’ and deserts. It was a good thing the cafe was a ways down the road from the hotel because I ate too much and needed to walk some of it off… Yes, it was that good. A fitting way to end a good day.

In conclusion is was another fun day riding with good friends, over very scenic mountain roads with lots of curves and elevation changes and great weather.

If you want to follow us on the other days of our trip click the links below…

Ride introduction…
Day 1 – Georgetown, TX to Bowie, TX via scenic FM 4. (250 miles)
Day 2 – Bowie, TX to Wewoka, OK to Holden, OK  (193 miles)
Day 3 – Holden, OK to Harrison, AR  (263 miles)
Day 4 – Ride 1 out of Harrison, AR  
Day 6 – Ride 3 out of Harrison, AR  (207 Miles)
Day 7 – Harrison, AR to Jessieville, AR (149 miles)
Day 8, 9 & 10 – Jessieville, AR to Scroggins, TX to home