Nice to see everyone again.
We are about half way through our "Great Texas Border Ride" trip. Had a few snags getting started and a few along the way (bike not running right), but still going strong. In El Paso now, heading south tommorrow. See y'all, ummmm......... next year? 
Todd (&Linda).
Those d@mn 1800s...can't trust 'em for anything! 
You guys be safe and bring back lots of pictures!
WE'RE BAAAAACK! 3,500 miles of riding - Texas is BIG!
Weirdest thing - my bike would only start if HOT or completely COLD, not in between. 
It cranks over just fine but will not fire. I can get it to run off of starter fluid (when in between). This made for a few unexpected stayovers 
(until I figured out the pattern). We completed the trip by either making 1) short gas stops, 2) overnight hotel stays, or 3) idling during lunch - but we made it all the way around the border! 
See y'all 'round Texas.
Todd (& Linda)
That sounds like something i would like to do. You should post a new topic with all the details, well, not so detailed, but at least the places you thought were the most outstanding and how the roads are. Excellent trip and sorry to hear about the scoot glitches.
Well, I still need to write up a trip report on our Alaska KLR trip last summer. And seeing as how I haven't had the time to write one word yet - "The Great Texas Border Ride" trip report isn't comming anytime soon either. (Hold your breath.)
Did you know that Ride Texas Magazine wrote an article in March(?) 2002 with that title? My riding partner Googled it on the net - so its still available. They include a column with all the roads to take - all 3,500 miles. That's what I plugged into my GPS before we left - and we stuck to those routes, pretty much so, with side trips. We started and ended in Galveston and rode counterclockwise - only because that's the direction the article was written.
A few comments (don't get me started or I'll never shut up - I warned ya.):
There was a nice mix of roads - nothing technical at all, but not too much freeway, either. If you are looking for a slow paced nice ride through small towns, with side trip exploration, this trip may be for you. If you want anything in particular (snow capped mountains, technical twisties, scenic national parks, etc) - this trip will bore you. We had no reservations or any plans to cover any distance/day at all - just ride till we got tired, or we saw someplace we wanted to stay, or stop where ever we were at dusk, get a cheap room, check out the local haunts, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again.
The coastal ride fromn Galveston (once across Boliver Ferry) was interesting - still some IKE damage.
East Texas is still East Texas - some curves to the roads and allways surrounded by pines (it gets dry in places as you go north - BYOB
).
Small towns on the way to the panhandle were nothing special (but the "rib sandwich" was - it consisted of a bun with two rib bones in the middle with very little meat attached - LOL - no sheet!)
The panhandle consisted ONLY of a few houses around a silo every 20 - 40 miles. Its a long way round - so go during the growing season so you can at least look at something besides brown dirt. Stop at the donut shop in the small town in the NE corner of the panhandle to get a tast of the local life (.50 for a cup of coffee and .50 for a plate of cobbler - they were all out of donuts by noon).
We took a side trip to visit my sis in Midland. You may want to make note of this: There is no gas in No Trees. Gas up in Kermit 'cause there is
NOTHING until the Dell City turn off (the straight one). If closed. there is gas in Dell City (at the NAPA parts store when the Merchantile is closed). I should charge big bucks for this info!
Also, buy breakfast in the " panish Angles Cafe" while in town (any time of day).
If for no other reason than to be able to talk about how good it was with Linda - I'm tired of hearing about it!
Take a detour at El Paso "the backway" (NOT I-10) to Old Messilla (just south of Las Cruses, New Mexico). But Make a stop in La Mesa(?) and eat chile rellenos and split a 40 0z bottle of beer at the Chope's biker bar (resturant attached too, if you don't like bikers
- look it up; it's on the net). Nice ride through pecan groves. Then eat at La Posta in old Mesilla. Say hello to my bird. Then get back to riding - you're not near finished yet!
Back in El Paso the directions take you down I-10. If you have the time, change that to Hwy 20 (right along the border) through small towns, till Sierra Blanca and hop onto I-10 there. Oh you will be going through half a dozen border patrol stations on this trip so leave the weed at home - they all have dogs - not implying anything - just saying. Eat at Chuy's in Van Horn - go ahead and sit in John Madden's chair (best view of the TV anyway). Might as well get the #21 too, while your at it.
It gets a little hillier on the way to Presidio - by now you'll need something to break up the monotony of the desert. Presidio is a sleepy border town - kinda cool to explore, on both sides of the border (you didn't forget your passport did you?).
NICE(st) road along the Rio on the way to Big Bend Park. In fact there are a lot of cool roads down that way. Lajitas has a beer drinking goat. We missed the Terlingua chilie cook-off by a few days! Park entrance fee is $10.00/bike - might as well get your money's worth and explore the park - very nice scenery.
Stay in the historic Gage hotel in Marathon (yes, inland to Marathon - no thru roads along the border). Community showers aren't that bad every once in a while! (OK, pay more for a room with a private bath if you must). Reminded me more of a B&B than a hotel. Eat at the adjacent resturant (get the quail appetizer, or dinner, if you really like quail). BRING MONEY!. Fill out 2 dozen post cards in the White Buffalo Saloon, untill they run out of Miller Light (walk-in cooler was broke down).
Enjoy the larger towns, small towns, rivers and lakes on the way to Brownsville. Some were very pretty blue and worth a stop (ummmm, find your own private spot to cool off - the Rio has few thoudand discrete places too, but be very carefull!). Take 281. as opposed to 83 into Brownsville and pass right on through Brownsville without stopping, till you get to S. Padre Island and stop there. HUGE, nice rooms on the beach w/ jacucci go for $34.00 IN THE OFF SEASON - cheaper w/o jacucci - $28.00 (dang riding partner likes to splurge!!!
). Can't say the food was exceptional, but the local bars on the beach were just what I wanted.
Local Kareoke (sp?) bar was hilarious. $5.00 cab rides anywhere on the island. Nice weather, but water too cold for swimming, but those room rates were so good we stayed 2 days!
Not much coast to see heading toward Corpus Christi. Get onto Padre Island (not as nice as S. Padre) and deviate from directions to take the Port Arthur ferry back to mainland (can get crowded on weekends - no wait for us).
From there is back into tree country, but still not many coastal views (pick a few small sleepy fishing towns to explore). Eat the chicken at the Pickled Pelican in Rockport (Hey! they love it!).
OK, here is where the writer got lazy and took 2004 to I- 45, then back south to Galveston. Don't. Stay closer to the coast and get on Galveston Island (near Freeport) and ride that, with coastal views, and vacation homes built on sticks until the next hurricane hits, all the way back to Glaveston. We often stop at Woody's (or the Poop Deck), but since we started this trip at The Spot (during the LSR Meet-n-Greet) we finished our trip with a beer at The Spot.
Well there you go - I wrote my first fricken trip report (I didn't say it was a good report).
Moderators, feel free to move this anywhere you like.
Gotta go and fix my bike!
Todd (& Linda)
