2008 Bavorak Winter Trip
to the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend

The participants in the third annual Bavorak winter trip to the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend were:
Click on thumbnail for larger photo.

Kennet DeJesus	Dan Dunlap	"Big Dave" Edwards
Chris Hancock	Valdimir Roznos	Steve Shoemaker

When we left the tri-state, the weather was sunny, if a bit cool and windy.

But by the time we got to Texas, the weather was great, as shown by this photo of Dan in Luckenbach.

And speaking of Luckenbach, there was a rare siting of Vladimir opening his wallet while we were there.

This narcissistic rooster apparently enjoys seing its own reflection in the chrome of Harleys.

From Luckenbach, we headed to Alamo Springs Cafe. Despite the dive-like appearance of the place, I was served what was probably the best hamburger I've ever had.

Luckenbach's catchphrase is, "Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach." But we learned, "Nobody's anybody in Alamo Springs."

We rode the Hill Country for the next couple of days.  As we had discovered on past trips, there is some excellent riding there.

Boys will be boys.

There were several water crossings...

After playing in the Hill Country, we headed west toward Alpine and Big Bend.  Along the way, Chris' GS earned the nickname, "Deer Slayer."  Fortunately, the bike faired much better than the deer.

Alpine and Big Bend are, of course, "West of the Pecos."

After crossing the Pecos River (yeah, we did it on a bridge), we stopped at Langtry, home of the legendary Judge Roy Bean.  While Kennet performs a roadside repair, Dave and Steve demonstrate they are true Adventure Riders.

After a brief stop for gas at the luxurious Langtry Depot, we continued westward and on to Alpine.

Once in Alpine, we checked into the downtown Edelweiss Hotel.  It houses a German restaurant and micro-brewery! After offloading our gear, we headed out for the Fort Davis and McDonald's Observatory Loop.  What a ride!

And it was on this leg that Steve earned a performance award from the Texas State Patrol.

	Chris King joined us for dinner that night at the Edelweiss. Chris is a renowned BMW rider and wrench who we had met a couple of years ago while in Alpine.

The following morning at breakfast, we enjoyed meeting Ted Gray.  Ted is an honest-to-God Texas cowboy and rancher.  He's a spellbinding storyteller who has written a couple of books about his experiences on the range.

	After breakfast, we headed down to the Big Bend area, where we rode the River Road that follows the Rio Grande, lunched at the ghost town of Terlingua, and visited the Big Bend National Park.

After breakfast in Alpine the next morning, it was time to head back east toward the Hill Country.

We encounted a group of javelinas on the highway.

Another stop for fuel in Langtry.  Kennet and Valdimir relax while Big Dave makes a friend.

Following another night in the Hill Country, we eventually made it back to Bourne where we loaded up for the trip home.

Arriving back in Illinois and Indiana reminded us how nice we'd had it in the Texas sunshine.

Photos courtesy of Kennet DeJesus, Dan Dunlap, Chris Hancock, and Steve Shoemaker.