Tag Archives: Hwy. 170

Day 4 Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride April 2007

Posted on September 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

182 miles – Terlingua, Presidio, Marfa, Alpine

Lajitas Resort

Day 4 Route

Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride

We woke up to a beautiful day. Got off to a good early start and saw a lot of beautiful scenery between Terlingua and Presidio following Hwy. 170 (the river road). Hwy 170 meanders along near the Rio Grande most of the time. Larry Talley liked this part more than Big Bend. Along the way we stopped at Lajitas Resort. The resort was really nice but a bit expensive. From there we rode on and stopped at a picnic area to take pictures and stretch our legs. From there it was on to Presidio to eat lunch at El Patio Restaurant. We read about El Patio in Ride Texas magazine. It said it was perhaps some of the best Mexican food in West Texas. I must say it was the best food of the trip for me. I look forward to eating there again! We gassed up and header north to Marfa. Unfortunately the winds had picked up which made it a bit rough riding. It had got quite warm by the time we got to Presidio but as we climbed in elevation, as we got closer to Marfa it cooled off a lot. We stopped in Marfa and toured the Paisano Hotel and the courthouse. The courthouse had been redone a few years ago. From there it was on to Alpine to spend the night. That night we ate at the Raita restaurantt. The restaurant is owned by Grady Spears the cowboy chef.

Rio Grande along Hwy 170 going to Presidio

Larry & Shirley at the Hotel Paisano

Links to the other days of our ride…

Day 1 – 259 miles – Georgetown, Fredericksburg, Ozona

Day 2 – 257 miles – Ozona, Ft. Stockton, Alpine, Terlingua

Day 3 – 187 Miles – Terlingua, Santa Elena Canyon, Chisos Basin, Boquillas Canyon, Terlingua (all in Big Bend)

Day 5 – 188 miles – Alpine, Ft Davis, loop 166, Ft Stockton

Day 6 – 165 miles – Ft Stockton, Big Lake, San Angelo

Day 7 – 195 Miles – San Angelo, Llano, Georgetown

If you liked this post you may also like “Big Bend/Carlsbad Motorcycle Trip September ’09” or “Our First Big Bend Motorcycle Ride“.

Big Bend & Carlsbad Caverns National Parks Motorcycle Trip September 09

Posted on March 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

travel, motorcycle touring, motorcycle travel, motorcycle ride, motorcycle trip, motorcycle riding, motorcycle road trips

Big Bend & Carlsbad National Parks Ride Route Map

Originally we had planned to go on a motorcycle trip in August to Colorado, but since we could not get everyone’s schedules worked out until September we changed the designation to Big Bend & Carlsbad Caverns National Parks due to the possibility the weather in Colorado would be much colder and there is always a possibility of encountering snow that time of the year in the mountains. Larry Cooper suggested we go back to Big Bend so that’s where we went. I tried to plan this trip to be different from the 2 previous trips so we could see different country. I wasn’t sure what the weather would be because we have had so much hot weather here. I was also afraid that our lawn would not survive us being gone for a whole week without watering. But as it turned out we got over 6 inches of rain the week before the trip and the weather cooled significantly. The trip consisted of three couples, Larry & Jo Cooper (from Bryant Alabama), Larry & Shirley Talley (from Tunnel Hill, Georgia) and Janet and myself on three bikes. Larry Talley was pulling his trailer so we had lots of room to carry things like a cooler. The cooler was very handy because we carried picnic food and drinks and stopped many times at picnic areas for lunch and when the temperature climbed we had plenty of drinks to stay hydrated.

Below are links to post of each day’s trip and what we saw. Come follow along and enjoy the ride, scenery and fun for riding with good friends.

Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride April 2007

Posted on March 4, 2012 | 1 comment

Yucca & Casa Grande Peak

This is our return, Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride. In June 2002 Janet and I made our first long ride together to Big Bend with my brother Gary and Ginny his wife, Larry Cooper (my Air Force buddy) and Larry Talley (Larry Cooper’s long time friend and now ours). It was a four-day ride that we learned a lot from… What to do and what not to do… The most important lesson was to add more days and ride fewer miles each day.

Big Bend has become my favorite place to ride in Texas. The climate, culture and scenery are the best.

Ever since that first ride we have wanted to return and apply the things we learned. On this trip we are riding seven days and limiting the miles per day to less than 260. I also added many custom features to the bike to enhance our ride. This is the story about that trip. Come follow along and see how we did…

Below are the links to each day of the ride…