Trip 2: Day 2: On the Road to Big Bend

We got on the road after a big breakfast and nice sendoff from Paul's family.  We headed southwest through the Hill Country of Texas with some great scenery and nice (but bordering on hot) weather.  We went a little out of the way to ride one of the best motorcycle rides in Texas, the Three Sisters, and then continued making our way towards Big Bend.

Here are a few photos from the road:

We made it to Big Bend National Park just before dark.  The ride into the Chisos Basin to our camp site was fun thanks to some nice twisty roads through a pass into the basin. After a nice dinner at a restaurant in the park, we made camp in the dark and rested up for the following day.

Trip stats: 490 miles in 11 hours 34 minutes on the road

Trip 2: Day 1: The Beginning

Paul and I met up in Northwest Houston a little before noon on Good Friday to start our trip.  We grabbed some lunch and hit the road.  It was a (relatively) short day, taking a detour down Doebbler Road on the way to Fredericksburg to stay with Paul's family.

It was nice to meet Paul's family and join them for a great dinner.  We all went to a music/comedy show in Fredericksburg for a little fun before Paul and I turned in for some sleep.

All in all, we had some nice weather and a nice and easy start to the trip.

Trip stats: 238 miles in 6 hours 25 mins on the road

Trip 2: Day 0: The Plan

Another year, another trip.  This year Paul and I are mixing it up with a little Southwest Spring Break action through the Texas Hill Country and southern New Mexico and Arizona.  Covering a bit over 3000 miles in 9 days (April 2nd-10th), it should be a slightly less grueling pace than last year.  We'll be detouring down some awesome roads, riding mountains and canyons, hitting up a few museums along the way, and checking out some natural wonders, including that one that eluded us last year: the Grand Canyon.  Here's the overall route:

Oh yeah, if you're reading this you've probably noticed something new on the blog.  That map up there at the top of the page should be tracking our progress in real time while we're on the road (and in cell range).  Enjoy stalking our progress and actually knowing what we're seeing and doing without waiting for my delayed blog posts.  You can thank Google's awesome Nexus One Android phone and InstaMapper's great free tracking service for this feature - hopefully it works out well during the trip.

Wish us luck, follow our progress, and Happy Easter!

Apologies

So, umm, yeah... I'm almost a year behind finishing up the last few days of the Summer 2009 Moto Psyco Trip.  I lost a good chunk of my photos and other random excuses but basically I lost the motivation and time kept on ticking.  Maybe I'll finish the story soon and maybe I won't but I will at least try to post the rest of the photos in the near future.  In the meantime, Paul and I are about to embark on another adventure, so stay tuned for that.  I am trusting in modern technology and promise to keep the blog updated more often during this trip.

Day 15 (May 28): Yosemite to Vegas

We got an early start from camp and headed straight into Yosemite National Park.

         

Yosemite was definitely my favorite park to date, and I think Paul's as well.  The scenery and weather was great.

      

We continued through Yosemite and headed south to Death Valley.

         

         

We skirted the edge of Las Vegas and made it to the Hoover Dam just before dark.  I pleaded with Paul to obey the Dam warning signs, but sadly he just wouldn't listen and ended up having a Dam accident.

   

We left the Dam and headed back into Las Vegas.  We cruised down the strip but didn't stop anywhere - we had places to go.

      

We continued on to the Valley of Fire State Park.  We set up camp well after dark amidst swarms of bugs and had one of the warmest nights of the trip.