We left the Chisos Basin in Big Bend on the morning of the 14th and had plans to make it to Presidio by the end of the day, but we were 33 miles out of Big Bend and were getting hit with some pretty harsh headwinds and we rolled into the Terlingua Ghost Town and decided that it was too unique of a place to pass up so we ended the day early to spend the day there. Also, as a sidenote I hit my highest speed ever coming out of Big Bend topping out at 51 mph which was wild. But, back to Terlingua....
This was a crazy little town that was once a mining camp, had been abandoned for years, and now is home to a very unique group of West Texas artists, dropouts, and the handful of people that work the 3 bars and convenience store in the town. We were told by Doctor Doug, a wrinkly old fellow we met on the porch of the general store that there was 2 for 1 burgers at the Starlight Theater Restaurant and that along with the crazy atmosphere in the town was enough to keep us...
We were told to go talk to George down at the Boathouse, another bar in this town, about getting a campsite for the night, so we started working our way down there, but before we got there we stopped La Posada Milagro to get lunch. After lunch we walked down to the Boathouse and found George behind the bar drinking a beer with 2 other guys and a few dogs. We got a beer and talked with them and then walked down behind the bar and set up our tents in the ruins of an old house because the winds were pretty tough still.
That night we walked back to the Starlight and on our way over ran into another couple from the same campsite we were at in Big Bend and ended up eating dinner with them. They were really fantastic Texans from San Antonio and we had a great time with them feasting on the 2 for 1 burgers and hearing about their lives in San Antonio.
After dinner we got a 6-pk of beer and sat on the porch of the general Store and people watched for a few hours as the night started to come in. We found out while on the porch that a lunar eclipse was happening that night and we decided that we had to stay up for it.
We sat on the porch for a few more hours watching the locals playing hacky sack and hoola hooping all over the place... These things were actually happening. Then we walked back to the Boathouse where we met the other couple that was camping there and sat up drinking wine out of the bottle and watched the "blood moon".
The next day we rode into Presidio and faced our hardest climb of the trip thus far. It was a hill graded at 15% for a mile. This guy was a doozy let me tell you, but I'm proud to say that I was able to climb it without walking... Even if I did have to drop it down into my granny-gear and was putting along at 2.8 mph...
After the monster hill the ride was pretty nice and followed the Rio Grande the whole way into Presidio. Once in Presidio we ventured over to the local fire department to ask if we could camp out behind the station. They went one step further and gave us a camper that they had out back and we got a bed and couch to sleep on. And more importantly we didn't have to set up the tents! Winning!
April 16th (Day 35) we got breakfast at a really cool diner called The Enlightened Bean and then rode the desolate 60 miles non-stop to Marfa.
In Marfa we stayed at El Cosmico hostel, got to use their awesome outdoor showers, ventured around the funky little town, stopped in at Padres bar for their 2 for 1 burgers (Texas loves it's 2 for 1's) and then hit up Lost Horse Saloon for a few late night beers.
This has been a really cool town and we only scratched the surface of what it truly has to offer, but we are happy to have gotten a taste. As you can see we really don't want to leave as it is almost 11:00 a.m. and we are still sitting around at El Cosmico.... When we do eventually get back on the bikes we will be heading northwest up Highway 90 and hopefully getting to Van Horn by night.
Day 34: 65 miles into Presidio and stayed behind the Presidio Fire Dept in a camper
Day 35: 60 miles into Marfa and stayed at El Cosmico Hostel
Campsite in the ruins at
Terlingua Ghost Town
Terlingua Ghost Town
51 mph?!? You are so grounded when you get home!
ReplyDelete🚵💨🙊
ReplyDelete