"Wow . . . just . . . wow . . ."

May 28, 2003

By this time we were actually acquainting ourselves fairly well with the local environment.  We still had a couple of surprises though, as we were soon to find out.   The Longhorn Ranch has a small restaurant where they serve simple but tasty meals.  We had breakfast there on Tuesday morning and were expecting to do the same on Wednesday.  When  I walked over for breakfast though, I was informed by the woman who owns the establishment that in order to have breakfast this morning I was "going to have to head south." 

I am not kidding when I say that when she said this it kind of set me back a little, I literally stared at her with this 'deer in the headlights' look on my face, half expecting to be invited to a backroom to perform my manly duties.  She repeated "we are closing early this morning because I have to head into town, so you'll need to go South to Study Butte for breakfast."  "THANK GOD" I thought . . "otherwise I would have more than a little explaining to do when I got back home."

So, after sorting out the matter of 'heading south for breakfast' we headed down to Study Butte for breakfast.  The morning was clear and crisp, with great visibility and terrific traction.  This is when I really started my mantra of "more lean, more throttle, more lean, more throttle, More Lean, More Throttle, MORELEAN, MORETHROTTLE, MORELEANMORETHROTTLE . . "  The day prior I had shaken off most of the dirt and debris and now I started seriously working on thrashing my tires.  The BMW LOVES sweepers and I am not telling fish-stories when I say that I hit a solid 120mph through the turnsin the canyons.  Speed is nice, but speed and g-force turning is awesome.  I pulled over 10 minutes later to wait for the guys to catch up and took this shot of my now-quite-warm back tire.

On the way to Big Bend National Park is a little restaurant called Ms. Tracy's.  It is fantastic, no kidding.  It is all outdoor seating and doesn't have air conditioning, but the food is amazing, the scenery is terrific and there is enough personality there for numerous 'Sybil Wanna-be's' to live happily ever after.  Here is a shot of us pulled up just outside of Ms. Tracy's. 

 

Here is a shot taken of us before eating our breakfast.  Notice Garrett's head?  He was torched and before the trip was over his skull would blister, then peel, then crack before finally looking like a dried out riverbed.  We ate our breakfast, loaded up on plenty of fluids and then got ready to depart.  One thing of note, while I was at Ms. Tracy's I noticed my first state trooper in the area.  This was very helpful, as I hadn't seen one for about a day and a half and really wanted to know what make and color cars they used should I be in need of services from the local law enforcement.  Mostly down here all I saw were border patrol, and we saw PLENTY of that while we were here.

 

After breakfast we headed straight south to enter Big Bend National Park.  Here are our official pictures of the three of us entering the National Park.  Here is a shot of Bill.

 

And one of Garrett and I

And one of just me

 

 

Big Bend was just amazing, simply breathtaking.  The overcast clouds cleared off and the mountains and valleys were simply incredible.

 

 

 

Garrett, Bill and I stopped and asked a tourist to take pictures of us at a scenic overlook.  "You guys army buddies, family, what?" the man asked.  "No, we're lovers . . . " is what I THOUGHT of saying - just to screw with the guy.  Instead I said "family" and let my smart-ass sense of humor take a rest.

 

I could ramble on like I always do, but these pictures speak for themselves and no explanation is necessary.  We had a terrific day. 

 

Shot of me riding - Rio Grande is 1/2 mile to my left.   Idiot running UP the hill Picture taken while ON the hill Idiot running down the hill Garrett winning "most junk strapped to a bike" award. Self Portrait Garrett and the Mountains The RIO Grande Garrett and I ON the RIO Grande (Garrett suggested floating a sombrero and a poncho downstream to see if anyone noticed)

Sidenote on the RIO Grande, it is really, really, really sandy water.  I don't think it is actually drinkable, it is mostly just flowing sand.  No kidding, you could take the paint off of an antique chair just by dipping it into this sandpaper bath.

 

Long, LONG road and Bill Garrett winding up the curve   "Zed's dead baby . . Zed's Dead"  Bill outside the restaurant we had dinner in The view from inside the restaurant THE ROCK - our traditional '3guys'  picture.    Gotta love the mountains

Sunset in Study Butte Tx.

On for More

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