"Leaving in 5 minutes, slightly behind... No need to reply, next look at phone in La Grange."
That came from Silverbullet yesterday at 6:30 am. A little over an hour later I started to walk to the gate when I noticed Mototex going by. We had planned an 8:30 start time from Latte on the Square in La Grange and intended to do some recon in the area around Goliad, meeting JMZ along the way. The crown jewel of the ride, if there was one, was a series of roads between Seadrift and Port Lavaca IF they were not on private land.
I met Mototex at Latte on the square around 8am and Silverbullet arrived shortly before 8:30. After giving him a chance to rest after the ride from Houston we proceeded directly to the NAPA (I had a loose screw on the bracket for my aux tank) and then due south toward Moulton. Along the way we got a call from JMZ that he had a flat and that he wasn't going to make it, so Mototex took the lead and we started south running Farm to Market roads.
We crossed I10 at Engle and started riding more dirt with the route to Sweet Home being a mix of dirt and pavement. We stopped briefly east of Moulton so that Mototex could argue with his Garmin. Our GPS troubles had started the day before when my Zumo refused to connect to the headset and one Garmin or the other turned out to be a plague the whole trip.
We kept heading south on county roads through Sweet Home and Yoakum continuing to Ameckeville and finally stopping again in Golly for another round of Garmin trouble.
We reached Fannin a little after noon and ate at McMillian’s World Famous BBQ. We were greeted by Louis McMillian himself. The brisket got two thumbs up from Mototex and Silverbullet, but as much as I wanted to be a fan, the pork ribs had been on the fire too long. If there is anything Louis McMillian can do it is promotion and if you’re in the neighborhood it’s worth a stop.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/venue/4171
After a quick jaunt to get fuel in Goliad we headed south. The road out of Fannin went from rough to bad to junk status rather quickly. Some of the area in South Texas is open range and we were in it now. So far we had seen maybe six deer, but cow pies on the road are a sign to slow down.
We crossed 77 at Vidaurri and were met with good pavement. We plowed south into the wind coming off the gulf not stopping until we came to Seadrift. Seadrift has a surprising amount of public art including this Easter Island inspired statue.
After Seadrift we hoped to see some sandy roads. Arriving at the turning point we found a large sign and a gate across the road. What we had found on the map was indeed private so we decided that we would head on up to Port Lavaca and back toward home. Along the way we passed a single road leading south and Mototex immediately pulled off the road. He turned around (wheelied a bit) and then shot south with Silverbullet and me behind. At the end of a long straight run we found ourselves at Shoalwater Bay, a small fishing camp across from an opening into the gulf.
With our need to see water fulfilled, Silverbullet announced that his Husky was about to lose a foot peg. It’s amazing how important a 11 cent part can be at times like these and SB needed a cotter pin which we didn’t have. We did have seizing wire though and soon we were on our way. My partners in crime celebrating the fix.
Next stop was Edna for gas and another bout with the Demon Garmin. I was trying to call out and at the same time had two calls coming in, one from my dad who had just returned from Russia and another from RollingJ who had found a pretty good deal on a dirt bike he wanted to discuss. The Zumo couldn’t handle the traffic and required a reboot. (By this point I had lost count on how many times Mototex had removed the battery from his Garmin because a simple on/off was not enough to clear its processor.) Frustrated we headed to the Morales Store for dinner.
The Morales Store is a great place for a burger. Mototex had the Frito Pie and maybe he’ll critique it in a bit. While at the Morales Store we met the owner of this nice ’55. He had taken four years to restore it and was saving it for his 6yo grandson. When the time comes that kid is going to have the coolest car in school and, if he sells it, maybe his college paid for as well. Most of the riding since Vidaurri had been pavement and we were ready for something a little less tedious so after a rest we headed up Gandy Bend and toward home.
With the day getting long we started back toward Schulenburg where Silverbullet was going to head back toward Houston. Other than the mandatory stop at the Mulespring Angus Farm sign we didn’t slow down for much except cows. Again this is mostly open range riding.
At 8:30 that evening we stopped in Schulenburg. Silverbullet started east on I10, braving the trucks on his Husky. Mototex and I continued north, crossing the newly restored Piano Bridge into Dubina and then hit the heights on Bohuslav Road near Ammansville. Many of the gravel roads we had ridden had been rutted in the spring rains and had not been graded. This was the case with Bohuslav road and it was a strange feeling as the BMW jumped and tracked with the ruts hidden in the dust and the dark. We did have one bit of excitement in Cozy Corner when Mototex nearly hit a black dog sleeping in the road.
In La Grange Mototex and I split up. He headed for home, I headed to the store for some well deserved ice cream. The ride for me was 400 miles to the tenth. Mototex had maybe another twenty added to that. The hero ride for the day though was Silverbullet who was well over 500 miles when he reached home. Not a bad day for three guys on dual sports.
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