Goin' To Texas (Big Bend)

[Black and Blue]

We started our trip to Texas for the Big Bend Bash that our host, Trailace, organized...organized?:confused:, for the last weekend in Feb. 2010. We packed and then repacked a few times before getting somewhat organized on the things we thought we would need. Found out there were a few things we didn't need. Oh, well.

The morning of Feb. 10th was our target date to leave. The morning before, Feb. 9th, we had rain and it was cold. Thought it was going to snow, but luck was with us and it didn't. On the morning we left it was down right cold. Temp. was about 29 degrees, but the sun was out, the roads were dry, and all we had to do was get out of our valley, (Owens), about 129 miles to the south to be exact. Now keep in mind we are riding Urals, not STs or Harleys. Kind of like a tractor, slow, but powerful.:D So we decided to ride for about 200 or 230 miles a day. We have not had these contraptions out on a long ride since our trip to Alaska last year. We figured we would get back into shape in about 2 to 3 days, meaning our butts. After that, we'll see. We headed south on US 395 and down to California Hwy. 58 to Barstow, where the KOA is. This KOA is off I-15, east of Barstow. Our thread will be stretched out since we can only download 5 pics at a time. More to come...

Pic#1-Me (Ernie) and Audrey. Pic#2-Kirby Ready. Pic#3-First Break. Pic#4-The Sierra Nevada Range. Pic#5-Our second-puppy-break.

[Black and Blue]

Continuing...
Arrived at the Barstow KOA in the afternoon. Rode for 210 miles. So far so good...on the butts.:p Started setting up camp as soon as we hit our campsite. The Barstow KOA is rigged for tent campers. They put you along the fence line in trees. Good for the summer. Nice covered picnic tables, little fire site and fair facilities. Price was around $22.00 with discount. Evening got a little cool, but good sleeping condition. Nice and cozy. Colleen made a nice dinner with her aluminum dutch oven, (no pics.). The next day plan was to get to Blythe, off I-10.

Pic#1-Arrival. Pic#2-Colleen taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. Pic#3-Setting up our Eureka Tetragon 9 Tent. Pic#4-Getting our sleeping stuff unloaded. Pic#5-Enjoying our waist level campfire.:D

[Black and Blue]

The next day we had our coffee, the dogs did their business and it was time to break camp. I, (Ernie), was a little rusty packing up, took a little more time then I thought, but got 'er done. Our route would take the county road south from I-15 to I-40 from Daggett and head east toward Needles, CA. We then turned south on US 95 toward Blythe from Needles. Since we left early and didn't have to be in Big Bend until the the 25th (our reservation), we decided to take our time and just meander, sightseeing. While we rode on I-40 we must have been entertainment for the motoring public, especially the truckers. Although we could go 65 and even 70 MPH, (downhill and a good tailwind), we cruised at about 60 MPH. People would slow and gawk. Some even took pictures. We even got thumbs up, although I looked real hard to see if it was a thumb.:D Weather was perfect. No headwinds, which is bad for us and the temp. was nice. Not too cold and not too warm. US 95 was a nice break from the interstate, even though it was two lanes. We had to make sure we were not getting in peoples' way. The speed limit was 65, but we continued to cruise at 60. We crossed the county line from San Bernardino to Riverside. The speed limit went from 65 to 55.:) Alright, just our pace.:) We arrived at Mayflower Campground in the afternoon. Rode for 220 miles. We didn't want to travel late. We liked getting to our campsite no later than 3 o'clock and then enjoy the rest of the day relaxing, especially for the dogs. Mayflower Campground is off of US 95 north of I-10. It's a Riverside County campground, with fair facilities, even free showers. The tent sites are good, but a little far from the restrooms. Drinking water is available near the tent sites, but some folks told us they were not sure about the quality of the water. Advised to bring your own. Free wi-fi. You are along side the Colorado River, not sure if its the good part of the river. The river was low where we were. We stayed two nights. My cheap air mattress, (a K-Mart brand. We decided to leave our two perfectly good Thermarest air mattresses at home, because we wanted to sleep on the thick Northwest Territories ones, since we had lots of room in our tent...wrong.:mad:), would not hold air. Found myself on the ground in the middle of the night. Had to go to Wally World and find another, which I did. Did I mention you get what you pay for?:o After two nights there, we decide to move on.

Pic#1-Breaking camp. Pic#2-Route 66 marker outside of Newberry Springs. Pic#3-Lunch off of US 95. Pic#4-Mayflower Campground. Pic#5-Our campsite at Mayflower.

[Black and Blue]

Continuing...On the first night at Mayflower, Colleen experimented with her aluminum dutch oven and made a delicious tamale type pie, (Chili powder, kidney beans, packaged chicken, olives and corn meal). The next stop was Gila Bend, Arizona.

Pic#1-The dutch oven cooking our dinner. Pic#2-The finish product.

[Black and Blue]

We took off from Mayflower and traveled east on I-10 and crossed into Arizona. Again, the speed of traffic was much faster then us, but what the he*l. We turned off of I-10 and rode south on Arizona 85 toward Gila Bend. Gila Bend, Arizona was a nice stop, but we are ashamed to say we did not camp.:o There were no good camping for tents in this area that we could find, so we had to motel it.:( We stayed at the Space Age Lodge, which was nice. Rode for only 153 miles. We will speak of this no more. The next day we got on I-8 and headed east again, toward Tucson. I-8 was nice to travel. Very little traffic moving east and much nicer scenery. Saguaro Cactus popping up the farther east we went. Continued until we met up with I-10 again at Casa Grande, AZ. We decided to go see parts of the Saguaro National Park. Well if you want to see cactus just stay on I-10 and don't pay to see them. After romping around there we headed toward Benson, AZ. where there is another KOA. Arrived there in the late afternoon. Benson KOA is on Four Feathers Lane east of Ocotillo Ave., which is north of I-10.

[Mr. Guy]

Hi Ernie,

Great report so far, keep it coming.

Guy

[Black and Blue]

Thank you, Guy. Will do.:)

Picture of what I-8 looks like, east of Gila Bend.

[Black and Blue]

The KOA in Benson, AZ. was probably the best KOA we stayed at so far. The facilities were nice and very clean. Little store for most your needs and free wi-fi. The only thing I didn't care too much for was the main tent area. They had the area corralled? in a somewhat circular area, where the parking was confusing.:confused: We were lucky, we requested a nice campsite separate from the compound. It was next to the RVs but not too close. Because of this we met a very nice guy name Ron Bond and soon became good friends during the next few days. The owners were very nice and accommodating. Even the RVers were nice and very interested in the rigs and how we travel with the dogs. They would ask questions like where do the dogs ride or did they come with you? Colleen would tell folks that Kirby would run along side her rig. We rode 173 miles that day and ended up spending 3 nights there.P^ More soon.

Pic#1-Our campsite. Pic#2-Cold the next morning. 27 degrees. Pic#3-Colleen enjoying the campfire. Pic#4-Ron Bond. Pic#5-Me and Ron.

[Black and Blue]

We decided to go sightseeing while staying in Benson. The town is small and the elevation is over 3500 feet. Rode down to see Tombstone and an old mining town name Bisbee. Tombstone was okay if you go for that sort of thing. We were too early for the shootout. Looked around and then headed to Bisbee. The Border Patrol was as thick as fleas in that area. No pictures of them, but I'm sure they got plenty of us. They were totally baffled by our rigs and dogs.:D

Pic#1-Entering Tombstone. Pic#2-O.K. Corral site. Pic#3-Me and the dogs. Pic#4-Colleen showing off her MotoCamper T-shirt in front of a motorcycle club. Pic#5-Wyatt Earp statue.

[Black and Blue]

Bisbee was an old mining town that is still yielding copper. They fixed the town up for tourist and artistsans. Very nice and clean town. The surrounding scenery was pretty nice. Walked around a little. Just outside of town they had a big copper mining pit. Still going. No pics.:(

Pic#1-Colleen riding down Arizona Hwy. 80. Pic#2-Old Bisbee. Pic#3-Bisbee Main St. Pic#4-Curio shop. Pic#5-Old Jail house.

[Black and Blue]

Continuing...Colleen had an old cowboy, that's right, an old real cowboy who has been reduced to working for a parking lot company, to watch our rigs while we walked around.

Pic#1-Bisbee's hillside. Pic#2-More of Bisbee hillside. Pic#3-The man who watched our rigs for us.

[Black and Blue]

Spent the last night with Ron and had a nice little campfire and meal. The next day we were leaving and heading toward New Mexico. Said our goodbyes to Ron, (we would see him again:)) and took off when it was a pleasant 34 degrees. Got on I-10 eastbound with very little traffic. Soon hit our top speed of 60 MPH, with trucks blowing by us.:D As Colleen would say and keep saying, "We are like a minnow in a sea of sharks".

Pic#1-Our last night campfire. Pic#2-Around the warm fire. Pic#3-Colleen and Kirby ready to hit the road. Pic#4-New Mexico. Pic#5-Historic landmark at the first New Mexico rest stop.

[Black and Blue]

Entered New Mexico and did not see anything good to go explore from the I-10. There were a few places we would have liked to see, but they were north and we didn't want to go into cold :cold1: territory. Rode to the KOA in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Rode for 210 miles. I was not impress with this place. Over $28.00 with a discount, just to have electricity. Tent sites were not level, sloping somewhat. This was your typical KOA. Did have a nice view of Las Cruces though. Spent the night, which got down to about 30 degrees. Left the next day, continuing east on I-10. Shot through El Paso, and I mean we shot through...no stopping. Way too much traffic. Stopped at the first rest stop to give the dogs a break and us of course. 80 MPH was way out our league. The Urals were lucky to get to 70. Trucks were blowing by us before, but now they could go 75 legally, which meant they were going 80-85. Can you say windstorm as they went by.:eek: Finally made it to Van Horn, Texas. Found the KOA there which is on Hwy. 90 east of (or south) I-10. Rode for only 159 miles and planned to stay only one night, but ended up staying 2. The site was nice, but it was right where the huge RVs would stop to check in. That wasn't too bad, except when a diesel pusher came in and had to keep their engine running.:mad: I think most didn't know any better, but I did have my suspicions. This KOA had good facilities, a little store and a cafe. If you didn't want to cook or go into town, the cafe was perfect. Good food at a good price.P^ The town itself did not have much. They were known for growing cantaloupes, or so we were told. The second day a strong wind storm came through and I watched our Eureka tent being flatten, (like a pancake. I'm not exaggerating), by a very strong gust. I thought for sure I would have to find another tent, but much to my surprise the tent sprang up and looked like nothing happened to it. I inspected the poles and fabric. Amazingly, the tent was not damaged.:eek: Not bad, Eureka.P^ Colleen decided to just meander around and find a campground that we could sit around for a few days and I could catch up on maintenance of the Urals. We decided to go see what Balmorhea State Park look like. After two nights in Van Horn we took off.

Pic#1-Las Cruces KOA. Pic#2-Texas. Pic#3-80 MPH on a Ural? Yeah, right. Pic#4-Van Horn, Texas KOA. Pic#5-Our campsite in Van Horn.

[Black and Blue]

Left Van Horn on a very nice morning and began the slow trip toward Balmorhea. The place was okay. Not too impressive. Rode a whopping 71 miles. The place had flush toilets and showers. You had to keep pushing the button to run the water. It was dry this time of year so the scenery was kind of ugly. The site itself was good. Flat area for our tent and a covered picnic table, (Ramada is what I think they call it). Fire pit and water. I decided to rotate the Urals pusher tires with the sidecars' and went over the rigs for loose nuts and screws. Lube what had to be and WD-40 parts that needed to be. No oil change since I did not find an auto part store for motor oil. I will have to do that later. We spent a very windy, but warmer night and left in the morning toward Fort Stockton. We were told that Fort Stockton had several auto part stores and a Walmart. Found an O'Reilly's and bought our oil. The store manager told us we could change our oil in their lot and they would take the old oil. That was very nice of the guy. Now I didn't have to find a place to take old oil. With that done, we hit the store to stock up on our supplies. After that we found the Fort Stockton RV Campground, which was about 3 miles east of Fort Stockton and north of I-10. Rode for another whopping 63 miles. Fort Stockton RV Campground was once a KOA. Had four tent sites, with electricity and four cabins. The place was clean. Nice facilities and a cafe. Much like Van Horn. Good food at a good price too. We decide to stay 4 nights and then head down to Big Bend Thursday, Feb. 25th. Relaxed and went over the Urals again. Colleen made us a delicious beef stew in the dutch oven, not the Dinty Moore stuff. Monday night or early Tuesday morning a storm blew in and began raining. Sometime during the night the rain stopped and it got quiet. The next morning we found out why it got quiet. The rain turned to snow. The storm dumped approx. 3 inches of snow. We already posted pics of the storm, so I only posted one on this thread. Temp. got to around 23 degrees, but warmed a bit before Colleen could get the picture of the thermometer. Stayed huddled up in the tent most of the morning due to snow and a cold wind. By the late afternoon the sun came out, temp warmed up and the snow was gone before you knew it. Glad we got the pics. Nobody would have believed us.;) Thursday came and we headed toward Big Bend via Hwy. 385 southbound from Fort Stockton.

Pic#1-Balmorhea. Pic#2-Our site at Balmorhea. Pic#3-Fort Stockton large road runner. Pic#4-Our campsite at Fort Stockton RV. Pic#5-The snow.

[Black and Blue]

Heading to Big Bend...
The ride south toward Marathon, Texas was nice. Hardly any traffic. Nice day to ride. Stopped in Marathon to gas up and take a break. After the much needed doggie break, we continued south on 385. Very uneventful ride into Big Bend itself. Stopped at Persimmons Gap Entrance Station to pay for our entrance fee. When I came out poor Colleen was surrounded by people dying to know about the Urals and the dogs riding in them. After the guided tour we headed down toward Rio Grande Campground and to meet fellow MotoCampers.

Pic#1-Entering Marathon. Pic#2-Big Bend north entrance. Pic#3-Posing at the Big Bend sign. Pic#4-G Wizz, (George and Deb) campsite. Pic#5-Our campsite in Big Bend.

[Black and Blue]

While spending the weekend at Big Bend we met some great and friendly people there.:) I won't mention any names because we don't want to offend anyone in case we didn't mention them. We were very happy to make this trip to Big Bend. We didn't ride around as we should have, but our main goal was met, meeting other MotoCampers.P^ We figured we did enough riding just getting to Big Bend.:D Great weather.

Pic#1-Motomac, Dinkie Diesel and Womantriker. Pic#2-Dinkie Machine...what a platform. Pic#3-Kirby, Audrey and I,(Ernie), relaxing. Pic#4-Deb, (G Wizz SO) and G Wizz. Pic#5-G Wizz and Deb making Camp Pizzas.

[Dinkie Diesel]

Ernie & Colleen, You guys are enjoying life way too much! Enjoyed meeting both of you at BB. I got a kick out of your panda and wiener too. All of your pictures are great! That motorcycling and snow may be a wee bit too hardcore for me. P^

Jeff

[Black and Blue]

Continuing...We just kicked back, relaxed and enjoyed the time and weather. It was nice to be warm. Walked around and saw the nearby sights. The last night there we had a pretty good dinner. Between Colleen, Deb, and G Wizz himself, we had a great meal. We had Burritos, camp style pizzas and G Wizz excellent Peach Cobbler, made in his dutch oven. I think Mr. Guy would agree on the dinner. There are other pics posted on Mr. Guy's Big Bend Bash 2010. On Sunday we said our goodbyes to a bunch of all around good people, and we do mean good people and headed home. Thanks for the great time folks.P^

Pic#1-Colleen (Black of Black and Blue). Pic#2-Ernie (Blue of Black and Blue). Pic#3-The Rio Grande River, as seen up close. Pic#4-Great scenery. Pic#5-Mr. Guy's pic of Ernie leaving.

[Black and Blue]

Ernie & Colleen, You guys are enjoying life way too much! Enjoyed meeting both of you at BB. I got a kick out of your panda and wiener too. All of your pictures are great! That motorcycling and snow may be a wee bit too hardcore for me. P^

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. It was great meeting you too. I think Kirby was really enjoying the meet too. He likes being around other people. Audrey, being a Dachshund, was tolerating us.:D Colleen liked your motorcycle rack.

[Mr. Guy]

That can't be all. What about the trip home? Didn't something exciting happen on the way home? LOL

Great report and pics, Guy

[Black and Blue]

Left the bottom of Big Bend and stopped for the doggies just outside of the park on 385. Ran into Mr. Guy, who stopped to make sure we were okay. Told him we were and said goodbye again. It was nice to see him again.:) Once we were west of Marathon, we ran head on to a strong wind storm. Headwinds are not a good thing on a Ural. Reduced our speed to approx. 45-50 MPH. Then down to 35 or so. Gusts were throwing us around. Not hard to do when you ride a box. Passed through Alpine and stopped at Marfa for gas. The winds became even stronger and dust everywhere. We headed out of Marfa via Hwy. 90 toward Van Horn and only got about three miles when the winds reached 35 and gusts up to 50 MPH. We didn't know that at the time until the news that evening, but we knew we didn't what to ride in it. It would take us all day just to get to Van Horn. We turned back and went back into Marfa. We stopped in town under a closed business sally port and was trying to decide on the best course of action. While there, a very nice man saw us and stopped. He offered to help us, complete strangers, with our situation. The man's name was Keller Doss, a rider himself. We told him we would be alright and was trying to find a motel, that also took dogs, for the night. We asked him about the Riata Inn we passed earlier south of town. He told us that was a decent place, but wasn't sure they allowed pets. We told him we would try. He gave us his name and his phone number and told us to call if they didn't take pets and he would find shelter for them for the night. What a guy. Found out that the Riata Inn did take pets and we got a room for the night. I don't mind telling you fellow Motocampers that we didn't mind spending a night in a motel that day. Way too much wind for us. While at the motel I called Keller Doss and told him that we were okay and thanked him again for trying to help us. He called back and asked us if he could come get us and take us out to dinner. He didn't want us riding into town for food with the winds as they were. We told him we were fine and that we had food with us, (Motocampers are always prepared.:D). We later sent him a Thank you card. We spent a relaxing night at the motel. Not ashamed to say that this time.:p

Pic#1-Marfa Courthouse. Pic#2-Strong winds and rain. Pic#3-Going into the storm. Pic#4-Border Patrol Surveillance Balloon.

[Black and Blue]

That can't be all. What about the trip home? Didn't something exciting happen on the way home? LOL

Great report and pics, Guy

Oh, yeah.:D

[Black and Blue]

We left Marfa the next morning. The winds died down, but we were heading into rain. Traveled up Hwy. 90 toward Van Horn. Without the headwinds we made good time. Got to Van Horn still in the morning and had breakfast from McD's. Ate, refueled and headed west on I-10 toward El Paso, Las Cruces, and eventually Deming. Traveled 278 miles from Marfa to Deming, New Mexico. Spent an uneventful night there and left for Benson, AZ. Right at the start, I got separated from Colleen in Deming. I stopped and thought she would came back around. Well, after a while I realized that she wasn't. Thank god we had a contingency plan. We knew where we were going and always had a rallying point. I headed on I-10 westbound toward Lordsburg, NM. There about 5 miles down the road I found Colleen and Kirby. Joined up again and headed toward Lordsburg. Arrived in Benson, AZ. Rode 166 miles and spent the next 2 nights at the KOA there. Meet up with our friend Ron again and kicked back. From there we left and headed toward Gila Bend via I-10 W/B, then I-8 W/B, Hwy. 85 N/B and then again on I-10 W/B and cruised into Blythe, CA. Rode for 310 miles that day. That was not a record for us. We rode from Pismo Beach,CA. to home, which was 395 miles. We decided to spend the night at the Mayflower Campground again. Got up early the next morning and headed home. From Blythe to Bishop was over 400 miles. We traveled north on Hwy. 95 to Needles. Then west on I-40 to Barstow, then west on Hwy. 58 to US 395 at Kramers Junction. We then rode from Kramers Junction north on US 395 toward home. We had a tailwind on the way home. Average speed was 65 MPH or at the speed limit. Yeeeha! Made it home at around 6:30 PM. Boy were we tired, but happy to be home. 422 miles in one day. That's a new record for us, beating the Pismo Beach trip by 27 miles. We were on the rode for 24 days. Only four days in a motel and traveled a total of 3,775 miles. No mechanical problems with the tractors.P^
End of report. Hope you folks enjoy the reading.

Pic#1-KOA Kabin. Pic#2-Ron making dinner for us. Pic#3-Kirby ready to leave Benson KOA. Pic#4-Audrey could care less.

[Black and Blue]

P.S. We found where the London Bridge is.:D

[Ironheadziggy76]

Great trip report you two! P^ After I talked to Ernie on the phone when y'all were snowed in, I almost talked myself into pulling an all nighter changing tires and throwing my gear together and heading out. But then it started snowing here, so that ended that. :( Looks like y'all had a great time. P^

[bigTom]

Quote by Black and Blue
P.S. We found where the London Bridge is

Well. I didn't even know it was lost:)

That's a great report. I really like reading about you and your traveling partners. Good trip, great report!

[Black and Blue]

Well. I didn't even know it was lost:)

That's a great report. I really like reading about you and your traveling partners. Good trip, great report!

Well, big Tom we knew it wasn't.:D I just loved the sign when we stopped and saw it. Glad you liked the report.

Ernie

[PaPa John]

:Popcorn. Great report. Keep it coming. Enjoying your pictures. It is sure nice to see so many places from riders who can ride, when some of us are snowbound and waiting......waiting......waiting.....

John

[Trailace]

Ernie and Colleen great ride and report. Sorry we did not hang out more but Mr. Guy, Ron and Phil kept me busy leading them all over the place. You guys are great and I love your dogs. I'm sure we will meet up again soon. Thanks for taking the time to do this ride report Ernie. P^

[Mr. Guy]

Well, if Ron and Phil could have gotten around earlier, we could have been back earlier to hang out. :rolleyes:

Great report Ernie! Hoping to see you guys again soon, Guy