Carlsbad Caverns to Ozona Texas

Day 8 - 290 miles

I took the short jaunt to the Caverns, the local desert is in full bloom it seems, and drove up the canyon to the Visitor Center and Cavern Entrance. I'm kind of constrained to wear my leathers as the bike is fully loaded, so I passed on the Natural Entrance (a 90 minute descent to the Big Room, and took the elevator down. I've done the descent before, so I didn't feel too deprived, and walked the Big Room self guided tour.



I guess the full excursion of the Big Room is about a mile and a half or so... and that was plenty in boots, and heavy leathers. LOL.



Be sure to bring extra camera chips with you, I took nearly 100 pics just in the Big Room alone.



Leaving Carlsbad I entered (not Texas but) West Texas. A distinction all West Texans seem to like to make... The roads are great but they're flat flat flat. And straight straight straight. I'd say flat and straight, but that might imply more variety than there really is.

I decided to head down to the I-10 and head east. Once you cross the Pecos River the terrain starts to get interesting, lots of buttes/mesas. The few road cuts make you realize that the whole area is and has 'always' been flat, with almost no tilting of the layers that I could detect.

The wind was ripping out of the south and there were some storm clouds but I managed to skirt through with a few drips and drops here and there, nothing that one could call wet. But oh that wind. I filled the tank at every opportunity, but the last 106 mile stretch used 3.828 gallons... and I have an official 3.9 gallon tank. 8^O And I held my speed to about 65-70 mph despite an 80 mph speed limit. I'm used to getting 40+ per gallon... I'll just have to be more conservative when the wind picks up again.

I'm overnighting in Ozona Texas, and decided to get a cheap(ish) motel. I really needed a shower, and wanted the electricity to download my camera, not to mention the wind and weather and no campground that I could find on my handy Rand McNally.

The Texas Shadow Riders have suggested I ride Kerrville and the area just east of here... and I hear the bratwursts are great...

Total miles: 2048