2011 Summer Trip Day 01

Started the trip late, I left out of Houston Texas around 1:00 PM after finishing my to do's.

Ran straight down Highway I-10 to Beaumont, Texas and hopped on Highway 287 to US 96 and over to Louisiana on Highway 363/190.

Stopped for Lunch In Deridder Louisiana at Cecil's Cafe and had a great burger.

I continued on Highway 112 and after Sugartown Louisiana the road was closed and I had to detour around to Elizabeth Louisiana and Jumpped on Highway 10 to Oakdale Louisiana, Then headed North on Highway 165 to Alexandria Louisiana where I found a local hotel and called it a night.

I had a few light shower, but no reason to put on the rain gear. It was a good ride today.

Photos • Video • Route • Spot

2011 Summer Trip Part 3 & 4

Part 3 & 4 are general area I want to go and see.

2011 Planned Summer Trip Part 3 at EveryTrail

2011 Planned Summer Trip Part 4 at EveryTrail

Planning 2011 Summer Trip: Routes 1 & 2

Been getting things together for my summer trip coming up in a couple weeks. Here are a couple of routes for the first and second part of my trip.

2011 Planned Summer Trip Part 1 at EveryTrail

2011 Planned Summer Trip Part 2 at EveryTrail

A Bloggers Centerline Day Challenge

Do you know how hard it is to find a road with a center line in Houston Texas with little or no traffic? Well I found one near Cullen and Belt way 8 South, late in the evening. I had to move four times just to get this photo.

Thanks Gary for the challenge it was fun to do!

You can see more about the challenge By Clicking Here.

Here are a few others I took.

My Bandera Trip Day 4

We headed out of Bandera and stopped at Pipe Creek Texas and had breakfast at a Mexican Restaurant, which I can not remember the name, but the food was good and cheap.

We ( Me, Sherri, and Bobbie ) took a straight shot back to Houston on Highway I-10.

It was a great time and I wished we had the rest of this week to spend in the Texas Hill Country.

May 1, 2011 • Photos • Spot

My Bandera Trip Day 3

We ( Randy & Te-Ann, Bobbie and Sherri ) had breakfast at the River Oaks Inn & Restaurant. Our Breakfast yesterday at OST Restaurant was much better than today, but it was good.

We headed North out of Bandera on Highway 173 to Elm Pass. Elm Pass is a great road to Center Point Texas.

Our first stop was Dave's Place ( Map ) in Center Point Texas. This is a must stop, just to kick back and soak in the river view and look around at some of the amazing stuff there. I heard they had some pretty good food, but it was to early for that while we were there.

We jumped on to highway 27 and headed East from Center Point. At Comfort Texas, we turned Right on Ranch Road 472 and continued on to Old Highway 9.

On the map Old Highway 9 also show it as Old San Antonio Road, I do not think it is the same highway as "El Camino Real" or "Kings Highway", seem a little confusing. It also showed it as Old Fred Road, and I'm sure it got that name because it takes you towards Fredericksburg, Texas. Anyway, Old Highway 9 is a great ride and since you are on it don't miss the Bat Tunnel and Alamo Springs Cafe, we stopped at both places.

After a long wait for our burgers at Alamo Springs Cafe ( Which were great ) we headed over to Luckenbach, Texas using Grape Town Road. By the way, Waylon and Willie were not there.

We had a short stay in Luckenbach and jumped on Ranch Road 1376 to Highway 290 through Fredericksburg, Texas and turned South on Highway 16.

Just South of Fredericksburg We turned left on Ranch Road 2093, when we reached Ranch Road 783 we turned left and headed South. Ranch Road 783 was well worth the time.

We stopped in Kerrville, Texas for a quick break and to discuss if we were going down to the Apple Store on Highway 16 before they closed at 5:00 PM or take the roads South of Ingram, Texas. The Apple Store won!

I love Highway 16 in between Fredericksburg and Medina Texas, it's a great ride with some great switchback.

We made it to the Apple Store with five minutes to spare for some Apple Ice Cream and Apple Turnovers. We continued on Highway 16 to Mansfield Park in Bandera. We spent the rest of the evening there for the Twist Off.

What a great day! Some great roads, riding, food, and friends. A Perfect Day!

April 30, 2011 • Photos • Route • Spot

My Bandera Trip Day 2

Randy & Te-Ann came in late last night and they are stayed in the cabin across from us. It was good to see them this morning, it's been a while.

We ( Randy & Te-Ann, and Sherri ) had Breakfast at the OST Restaurant (A Must Stop for Breakfast).

After a great breakfast we checked in at the Twist Off and picked up our packages and said hello to everybody.

It was time to do some riding so we headed East on Highway 16 and Turned South on Park Road, which took us by Medina Lake to County Road 271. County Road 271 had in one section of gravel road about a mile long. County Road 271 was wonderful and the highlight of todays route. County Road 271 ended at FM 471, We turned right and continued South and stopped in Castroville, Texas for a break.

After our break we headed North back up FM 471 to Highway 271 and continued North to Highway 16 back through Bandera and rode over to Medina Texas to The Apple Store ( A Must Stop & It's Not Apple Computer ) for some Apple Turnovers and a cup of Apple Ice Cream, Damn Good.

We bumped in to our room mate, Bobbie as we were leaving and headed back to our cabin, It was good to see Bobbie again!

After cleaning up and resting we went over to the Twist Off and enjoyed the party for the evening.

After hanging out at the Twist Off we grabbed some dinner at Mi Pueblo Mexican Restaurant, yes again.

April 29, 2011 • Photos • Route • Spot

My Bandera Trip Day 1

On Thursday, April 28, 2011, Sherri And I headed to Bandera Texas for the San Antonio Southern Cruisers Annual Twist Off. We left Houston Texas around 1:00 PM and did a straight shot on Highway I-10 To San Antonio, Texas and loop around North on Loop 1604 to Highway FM 16 To Bandera Texas.

We arrived in Bandera Texas and went straight to our cabin at Bandera Resort And Sports Park. I would not say our cabin was in a "Resort" but they were great and a great price.

After we settled in and cleaned up, we rode in to town to the local Market for some snacks and to the liquor store for some margaritas and wine for our weekend.

It was past time for dinner and most restaurants close early in Bandera. We pulled in at Mi Pueblo Mexican Restaurant. Sherri and I had the Barbacoa and it was very good.

After stuffing ourselves we headed over to Mansfield Park where the Twist Off was being held and check to see who was around.

There were a few people who arrived to day, we said our hello's and called it a day and headed back to our cabin.

April 28, 2011 • Photos • Spot

Southern Cruisers Galveston Ride

Rode with Houston Southern Cruisers to Galveston. We started out In Sugar Land at 8:30 AM, John Butler led the ride with me & Sherri, on my Bike and Jodie Orlando rode Tail Gunner.

It was a great day for a ride except for the wind, the wind blew us all over the place and when we got near the coast we were getting sand blasted all the way to our destination.

Our destination was Casey Seafood on the sea wall in Galveston Texas. We met up with a group from the Chisholm Trail Southern Cruisers for lunch.

After lunch Sherri and I tagged along Chisholm Trail Southern Cruisers to see some Tree Sculptures in Galveston.

Sherri & I headed home around 1:00 PM. Thanks to John for leading a great ride and thanks to the Chisholm Trail Southern Cruisers for letting us tag along with them.

The map above was done with a new App (Trip Journal) I was testing out on my iPhone. So far I kinda like it, it did a great job tracking me, but the interface was a little confusing at first for adding and tagging your locations. I will be testing it out more on future rides.

Photos • Route • Spot

ABCD - Will You Take Part?

Gary France over at USA Tour on a Harley - Davidson came up with this idea.

A Bloggers Centerline Day, or ABCD, will take place on Sunday 1st May 2011.

The plan is to inspire as many bloggers as possible to go outside and take a photograph of themselves on this day, wherever they are in the world. The photo can be creative, arty, contain more than one person, be in any type of location and can contain anything else you like. It must however contain the centerline of a road and at least part of you, the blogger.

There are 5 rules....

Rule 1 - the picture must be taken on 1st May 2011.

Rule 2 - the picture must be of yourself, and you must be a person that publishes a blog. You can include whatever else you like in the picture, including other people if you wish.

Rule 3 - the picture must include the centerline of a road.

Rule 4 – you should publish the picture on your blog on 1st May 2011, along with a few words about the picture and why you chose that location or pose.

Rule 5 - when you have posted the picture on your own blog, put a comment on http://garysusatour.blogspot.com/2011/04/abcd-will-you-take-part.html and include in that comment the address of your own blog post containing your own picture.

Gary France will then pick his favourite photos and publish these as being the winners. There will be a prize of $100 awarded to the overall single winner, as chosen by Gary.
In order to get this event known as widely as possible, please copy and paste this posting onto your own blog, including the title. Please do that today!
As a reminder to yourself to take the photo and post it, put an entry into your diary for 1st May 2011.
Let’s see if we can get as any people to join in as possible.

Southern Cruisers Bluebonnet Ride

Not very many Bluebonnets, but had a great ride with some good friends.

We started out on Highway 6 near bear Creek Park, and headed west on the back roads , stopped in Sealy for a break. Then we rode North through Industry Brenham and ended our ride at Chappel Chill in Washington, Texas.

The only bluebonnets we saw were near Washington, Texas at the end of the ride.

Photos • Route