A sorry report in reprisal to Scott calling me a SQUIRREL.

[humanrace]

I just trotted over to the Inflation thread to see where El jefe called you a SQUIRREL.

He didn't call you a squirrel! LOL He was just saying you were easily distracted.

"easily distracted" LOL, I'm the poster man for the ADHD society

Day 5 Odessa to Junction
Unusual- Steel bull in downtown Odessa

Unexpected-Petroleum Museum of the Permian Basin in Midland-I'm not going to label it Unusual, because it's not. However, some of it's contents are unexpected. I recommend you stop in.

Unusual-This rig was donated by Clint Eastwood Productions after they finished filming the movie "When Stars Fell on henrietta," starring Robert Duval,

Unusual-Water pump, but not one used in the oilfield, although the engine was a oilfield engine.

Unexpected-It might have been used in this antique laundromat.

Unexpected-second picture The future-I didn't expect to find this sentiment in an oilfield museum in the Permian Basin

Unexpected-Wide rims, the widest is at least 24" wide.

Unexpected-If you have rims, you probably have vehicles. They have many race cars and a brochure explaining why this particular team was so successful. The first to use ground effects on an Indy car.

Unexpected-Large Geode as well as other minerals and rocks. This one is probably 3' X 4'

Beautiful ones

Unexpected-Bone from a Titanosaurus which was estimated to weigh 70 tons. Found near Lajitas. For reference, that's about 10 times more than a T-Rex.

Unusual-A caboose at the Railway Museum of San Angelo.

Unusual-A scale to weigh passenger luggage.

Unusual-Town name. I wanted to go there, but Easter dinner with family had priority.

Unusual-Not. There are at least 33 towns in the US named Eden. This is my first encounter.

Unusual-Mission Santa Cruz de la San Saba

Unusual-Deer antler Christmas tree.

Day 7, the last of this trip, coming up, along with more of how I got into a spiraling whirlpool with the ultimate destination being the cesspool of political comments, also known as "Off Topic."

 

[humanrace]

However... if I call you names, will you keep doing great ride reports?

I'm headed to Canada on May 4th. I'll have to do something with the pictures if I find anything beautiful in SW Canada. I'll make you a deal. I'll post the pics if you'll let me buy you a hamburger the next time I see you at Yankees.

 

[humanrace]

Day7
Unusual-Deer sitting on a bean bag.

Unusual-If you do a ride around Texas to see unusual things, a stop in Luckenbach is a requirement.

Unusual-That decrepit building behind the bench makes enough money to buy near life size brass statues, the latest addition to the phenomenon that is Luckenbach.

Pretty-Any ride through the Texas Hill Country deserves a picture of my wonderful bike. Since getting home, it's received a bath, tune up, oil change, new mirrors and rear lights and reflectors in preparation for a ride to Canada.

Pretty-San Marcos cowboy

Unusual-Lytton General Store in Dale, Texas. Built 164 years ago and still in business. For a town with 2 stores and about that many houses, they sure do sell a lot of beer. Several stacks have already made it into the store. It was featured in The Walking Dead Series.

Unusual-Most old cemeteries are unusual by today's standards. The Old Red Rock Cemetery is no exception.

Confederate soldier.

Mother tragically died the day after childbirth and her baby died 3 week later. Much less common today, but still way too frequent.

Unusual and gory-The pit stop station featured in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, now selling BBQ.

Unusual-DEFLATION-I stopped at the same convenience store/bakery for the same meal I had on the day I started my ride. A week previous, my cherry pie and small Dr. Pepper cost me $7.34. This week, it was $6.91. When I questioned the young man that charged 43 Cents less for the same items that the girl behind him sold me last week for $7.43, he said, "She charged you for a large drink." Nobody offered a refund.

 

[humanrace]

A seven day ride, no beautiful waterfalls, no majestic 14,000' mountains, a ride just because I needed to put on some miles to make sure everything on the bike was working. When I started this ride, I really had planned to post a picture a day, but my insane idea to name a picture of a $7.34 pie and drink "inflation" blew up in my face. In the General section, that picture has generated six pages of mainly political comments. It was my only picture a day post. Because of that, some of you had to endure my "sorry" report. May 4th is my scheduled day to start a ride to Canada. I promise a better report when I get back.

2018 DRZ400SM with 22,980 miles
Miles traveled 2,228 or 318 miles per day.
Six nights in a motel
No bike problems, not even a chain adjustment


What I learned on this trip that will come in handy on my next
1. A Jetboil for cooking is hard to beat for a motorcycle trip
2. The 3X3 mod I did on this bike will never happen again-too loud. This bike is DRZ400 #5 and the others did just fine without the 3X3 mod.
3. Motels are nice. I carried everything on this trip that I planned on carrying to Canada. My tent and sleeping bag never got unpacked. On my trips, I usually try for a motel to camping ratio of about 1 to 5. I may drop that down to 1 to 3 on my next trip. My 75-year-old bones are starting to make funny noises. Linda wants me to quit camping entirely.
4. No matter how much planning you put into packing; things will be moved around.
5. The further you are from the bike, the more likely you will need the camera lens that you left in the top box.
6. Leave the laptop at home. You think you will use it more than you will.

 

[M38A1]

I just trotted over to the Inflation thread to see where El jefe called you a SQUIRREL.

He didn't call you a squirrel! LOL He was just saying you were easily distracted.

Whew….. I was wondering which Scott myself.

Awesome ride-along. This is fun content.

 

[M38A1]

Although I grew up in the Air Force and spent many hours hanging around the flight line, I didn't learn until last year that all USAF fighters have tail hooks. They are used for emergency arresting gear.

More trivia…. My Dad was the lead engineer and has a bunch of patents for that emergency arresting gear known as BAK-9. Man have I got stories about that as a kid…

 

[Tourmeister]

I like to frequent little country cemeteries when out poking around the boonies. There are a LOT of graves of children less than a few weeks old and their mothers. It is not uncommon to see a single dad and then several wives along with several children. Life was HARD back in the day. People nowadays seem to take everything for granted. Imagine being in East Texas back in the pre Civil war days. An injury that we might barely give a second thought to today could easily have been fatal back then just due to infection. There was no running down to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, HEB, Krogers, etc,... Worse yet, there was no toilet paper!!

I know envy is a bad thing, but man I envy your ability to do these kinds of trips... I am happy for you though because I at least get to see your pics and imagine what it would be like to be out there on the road just doing your thing without worrying about all the other nonsense going on in the world. I hear you on the hotel issue. I am down to about 2, maybe 3, days of camping before I want a hotel, and that was based on my last camping trip in 2017. I suspect now I am closer to 1 to 1... I just can't lay on the ground and actually sleep anymore because of hip, back, and shoulder issues despite trying all kinds of Big Agnes pads, cots, etc,...

 

[BornAgain]

Worse yet, there was no toilet paper!!

No but we had Sears Roebuck catalog at least until they started puttin too many colored glossy photos in em.

 

[Simmons1]

A seven day ride, no beautiful waterfalls, no majestic 14,000' mountains, a ride just because I needed to put on some miles to make sure everything on the bike was working. When I started this ride, I really had planned to post a picture a day, but my insane idea to name a picture of a $7.34 pie and drink "inflation" blew up in my face. In the General section, that picture has generated six pages of mainly political comments. It was my only picture a day post. Because of that, some of you had to endure my "sorry" report. May 4th is my scheduled day to start a ride to Canada. I promise a better report when I get back.

2018 DRZ400SM with 22,980 miles
Miles traveled 2,228 or 318 miles per day.
Six nights in a motel
No bike problems, not even a chain adjustment


What I learned on this trip that will come in handy on my next
1. A Jetboil for cooking is hard to beat for a motorcycle trip
2. The 3X3 mod I did on this bike will never happen again-too loud. This bike is DRZ400 #5 and the others did just fine without the 3X3 mod.
3. Motels are nice. I carried everything on this trip that I planned on carrying to Canada. My tent and sleeping bag never got unpacked. On my trips, I usually try for a motel to camping ratio of about 1 to 5. I may drop that down to 1 to 3 on my next trip. My 75-year-old bones are starting to make funny noises. Linda wants me to quit camping entirely.
4. No matter how much planning you put into packing; things will be moved around.
5. The further you are from the bike, the more likely you will need the camera lens that you left in the top box.
6. Leave the laptop at home. You think you will use it more than you will.

Thanks for a great report Dennie!

If a report like this doesn't want you to get you out for a ride nothing will.

 

[William Wolfen]

I just can't lay on the ground and actually sleep anymore because of hip, back, and shoulder issues despite trying all kinds of Big Agnes pads, cots, etc,...

You need a hammock.

 

[RedPill]

I like to frequent little country cemeteries when out poking around the boonies. There are a LOT of graves of children less than a few weeks old and their mothers. It is not uncommon to see a single dad and then several wives along with several children. Life was HARD back in the day. People nowadays seem to take everything for granted. Imagine being in East Texas back in the pre Civil war days. An injury that we might barely give a second thought to today could easily have been fatal back then just due to infection. There was no running down to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, HEB, Krogers, etc,... Worse yet, there was no toilet paper!!

My grandmother was born just after the turn of the century. A few years back (okay, almost 40 years back), she wrote a journal of her life up through WWII. It is amazing reading. They lived in South Texas (near Victoria), and they ALL had malaria. She lost her mother to Yellow Fever, and had a Wicked Nanny for a while until her father realized how much the kids were being whacked around. They lost an entire neighbor family, except one little boy who climbed a tree and hid, from an outlaw band. My grandfather had a heart attack and black lung during the Depression, and the family nearly starved. We have no idea how tough things were.

 

[William Wolfen]

My grandmother was born just after the turn of the century. A few years back (okay, almost 40 years back), she wrote a journal of her life up through WWII. It is amazing reading. They lived in South Texas (near Victoria), and they ALL had malaria. She lost her mother to Yellow Fever, and had a Wicked Nanny for a while until her father realized how much the kids were being whacked around. They lost an entire neighbor family, except one little boy who climbed a tree and hid, from an outlaw band. My grandfather had a heart attack and black lung during the Depression, and the family nearly starved. We have no idea how tough things were.

Sure helps to explain the insane population growth we've had since the second world war!

 

[Ridin 2 Liv2]

Your right-The Hill Country is very void of Bluebonnets, etc. The area around mason though is h good. The Willow City Loop was fantastic! But in my MGTT rides most everywhere is sparse.

 

[FitzPA]

Great ride report - I've been to Texas 3 times (Big Bend & Hill country); your report
encourages me to explore more of the State. I may be heading to New Mexico this
winter so it will give me the opportunity to stop in Texas for more see some other
parts.

 

[one Wolf]

Great report Dennie. Which motel chain do you usually use? The rooms look nice. Do you get a discount?

 

[humanrace]

Great report Dennie. Which motel chain do you usually use? The rooms look nice. Do you get a discount?

If it's Linda and I, we gravitate towards Best Western, but others are not out of the question. If it's just me, I search for clean sheets and bath, but I prefer locally owned and independent. I use my phone to search the area and then read the reviews. Low ratings because of thing like "lawn needed attention," "staff was rude," "free breakfast was ......," and other comments that don't affect how I sleep, are eliminated. Just remember, if a $50/ night motel gets a 4.5/5 rating, it's probably not going to be as nice as the $120/night motel with a 4.0/5 rating. On this trip, I stayed in The Antlers Motel, an independent Econo Lodge, an OYO hotel, The Desert Air, Casa Rosa and another that I forgot the name. The owners checked me in at the Econo, Casa Rosa and the Desert Air. I also saw them the next morning on the ground while the maids were cleaning rooms. TV, WIFI, Pool, conference room, exercise room and free breakfast are irrelevant to me.

We frequently travel with some of our 70+ nieces and nephews and the first priority is a pool, indoor or heated in the winter, usually at a Best Western. We have stayed at The Gaylord with a current rate of $570/night and we have stayed at an independent that was two blocks from the old Astrodome that rented rooms by the hour or the night. That one is no longer in business and it's a long story why we stayed there.

Linda has us signed up for a discounted program at Best Western, but I don't utilize that program.

 

[Cagiva 549]

Desert Air Was my normal stop when trucking out to Big Bend for several weeks every year . I would head that way in the afternoon and stop ther for the night and get breakfast at the chilli pepper the next morning , I would have my camp set up in time to cook dinner . Same thing coming home . Pack up and be on the road late afternoon then drive the rest of the way home the next day . Finding decent food in Sanderson didn’t do well but the timing for the night stop was good .

 

[Bart]

Great read! You’re a stud on the DRZ400SM that doesn’t have a sixth gear. Did you drop a couple teeth on the sprocket? The light weight, knobbies and ground clearance are awesome when you want to wander onto the dirt roads. Had an enduro. Loved the engine but too slow on the hardball and too heavy as a dirtbike. Traded for a GS and then a T700. Now I’m on a Duc Multistrada pikes peak. All comfort.

 

[sikatri]

Just a side note. He didn’t call you a squirrel, he called you a dog. Look up the “Up” movie squirrel scene.

 

[humanrace]

Great read! You’re a stud on the DRZ400SM that doesn’t have a sixth gear. Did you drop a couple teeth on the sprocket? The light weight, knobbies and ground clearance are awesome when you want to wander onto the dirt roads. Had an enduro. Loved the engine but too slow on the hardball and too heavy as a dirtbike. Traded for a GS and then a T700. Now I’m on a Duc Multistrada pikes peak. All comfort.

Thanks. Stock is 15T. I use a 16T for highway and 13T if the dirt gets too gnarly. It's easy to change and the stock chain works on both. The only bike that I would consider to replace the DRZ is a T700 or a Suzuki 650. Both weigh more than 100# more the DRZ, so they are not true contenders until I stop doing unmaintained roads. When I get back from my next ride, I'll sell this one to someone looking to do an engine upgrade and buy myself another DRZ with low miles.

 

[blupupher]

How was the Desert Air? Online reviews seem mixed.
I was thinking of staying there next week on my week long ride around Texas.
Trying to decide if I want to stop in Sanderson (~ 500 miles) or go all the way to Alpine ~600 miles) my first day.
I stayed at the Value Lodge in Alpine last year and it was cheap and decent.

 

[William Wolfen]

And here I thought "desert air" was a euphemism for camping in the desert!

 

[P-Ratt]

Love the stories Dennie!

 

[humanrace]

How was the Desert Air? Online reviews seem mixed.
I was thinking of staying there next week on my week long ride around Texas.
Trying to decide if I want to stop in Sanderson (~ 500 miles) or go all the way to Alpine ~600 miles) my first day.
I stayed at the Value Lodge in Alpine last year and it was cheap and decent.

locally owned, non chain, non affiliated, very laid back, no ID asked for, it fits me . A gas station analogy would be: The Desert Air is like the station with a sign on the pump-Pump First, Then Pay.

 

[humanrace]

Love the stories Dennie!

Thank you, Mark.