For Day 2 of our adventure we decided to wake up quite early and have breakfast at the Cafe Espresso Y Poco Mas in Terlingua, TX.
This became our breakfast place for everyday we were in the area. Love the atmosphere in the cafe and the food and coffee are excellent. The best part of the meal was the bacon and the fresh orange juice.
For our first full day in the area we decided to stay mainly on asphalt and the only off-road we would do would be the Pinto Canyon Road.
But our first experience would be to ride US170 (also called River Road) from Terlingua, through Presidio all the way to Ruidosa, TX. The US170 is one of the most fun asphalt roads to do in the area as it skirts very close to the Rio Grande and out first stop was at the Big Hill - the steepest paved grade (15%) in Texas. We had the opportunity to really enjoy the scenery from up above and see the Rio Grande as it snakes its way through the mountains.
We then stopped at another obligatory place where we left the bikes and walked towards the Rio Grande. Here we were able to set the drone free and create some amazing footage.
We then made our way towards Presidio, TX. We had lots of fun wrestling our bikes through the many curves and also up and downs. After Presidio, TX we kept moving west and arrived at Ruidosa, TX where we took a sharp right and entered the Pinto Canyon Road and were rewarded by scenic vistas and a sense of isolation that are remarkable. As we did it, South to North we started on the verdant Rio Grande floodplain and made our way over a long desert slope to the Chinati Mountains and braved the badly maintained road as we went up the Canyon. It deserves the name of one of "the roads to nowhere" in Texas. After the dirt section finished there is still thirty two miles of pavement where civilization is still only a memory until we got to Marfa, TX.
Here we filled our steeds with gas and went on a hunt for a nice place to eat. And we did find one ! Called the Water Stop, we were able to sit outside in the Patio just next to our motorcycles and had mainly sandwiches that were very tasty.
Next we rode for 30 minutes North West and visited the Prada store in Valentine, TX. "The brainchild of Berlin-based artistic team Elmgreen and Dragset, Prada Marfa was meant to be a “pop architectural land art project.” Built of a biodegradable adobe-like substance, the building is meant to slowly melt back into the Earth, serving as a surrealist commentary on Western materialism. Because of vandalism, all of the store’s Prada wares are heavily alarmed, and stronger windows have been installed to protect the interior from forced entry. Additionally, the handbags have no bottoms and all of the shoes are right-footed.". We took time to enjoy this stop and take a number of photos.
Next in the agenda was to ride the Fort Davis loop which is a 75 mile scenic ride on the States highest highway. Out here there are no billboards, no honking cars, no gas stations. Naturalists consider the entire Davis Mountains range a “sky island” because many of the plants and animals found here—pinyon pines and madrones, shorthorn lizards and silver-haired bats, for example—rarely appear elsewhere in Texas. The Loop cuts through mountain gaps and windswept valleys and makes a breathtaking drop down into a vast plain. It is always amazing to approach Fort Davis from the West and see in the distance the McDonald Observatory. Unfortunately due to COVID we were not allowed to visit, so we made our way towards town, passing by the Davis Mountains State Park and stopping at the Fort Davis Drug Store where we sat outside and I had a Root-beer Float, Graeme a strawberry and banana milk shake and Tomas an ice-cream sundae. As they use Blue Bell ice-cream it was very good.
It was getting late and we still needed to travel over 100 miles to get to our camping site so we put our turbos on and flew out of "Dodge".
We arrived in time to still see the sun setting in the mountains just behind our camp site and went for showers and washed clothes before sitting down for our dinner meal. We had brought dried food and that is what we had that evening.
Before going to bed we all sat down on our camping chairs and enjoyed the beautiful sky.
"It’s one of the most spectacular shows you’ll see anywhere and you don’t even need to pay for admission. After the sun sets, the night sky becomes a window to the universe through which you can see distant stars, planets, and even galaxies. The view of these wondrous celestial bodies is second to none. Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park are recognized International Dark Sky Parks. Together, both parks form the largest contiguous area in the continental United States."
It was a full day where we rode 380 miles and spent 7 hours on the saddle.
Make Life a Ride !
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