Today we had to climb back up out of the basin (the opening in the rock above Rachel’s head in the photo below) but then had a BIG downhill into Maverick Ranch our home for the night in Lajitas, TX

Kudos to Rachel and Shuresh who were the only pair on the whole trip to deliver us a hot breakfast . . .

French toast, butter, syrup and eggs prepared to your liking!!!

Oh, and bacon too!!!!!

Soon it was time to make lunches for today . . .

. . . take down camp . . .

Overlooking the ‘window’ . . .

Since we ate dinner in the dining room last night, we held the map meeting this morning before we headed up, out and to the west!!

After an 800 foot climb back up to the basin edge, it was a LONG downhill for 5 miles. Up ahead in the morning light I saw something HUGE crossing the road. At my downhill speed, it took a minute to stop and reverse course back up hill to see what is was . . . but it was worth it.

By now the brown tarantula, Aphonopelma hentzi, had walked into the ditch and I stopped for a photo or two. It was about 4 inches long. I searched in my handlebar bag for a coin to put down next to it to provide scale but found none. All the better because I’m not sure I would have put my hand so close to it!!!

It wasn’t long and this nice sign appeared . . .

. . . and I looked down at my gps and YIPEEE . . . another BIG downhill. Banzai!!!

. . . and what a ride it was, Sun at my back, blue sky, no traffic and the sweet smells of morning!!!

. . .  and I rolled onto the sweetest section of pavement we had on the whole trip. Actually just traditional asphalt with no chip seal rock. Smooth as a baby’s bottom. NICE!!!

What’s to come layed ahead . . .

. . .  so it was better to look around. Another form of cactus . . .

. . . and soon we exited Big bend National Park.

. . . up ahead I could see Lajitas . . .

. . . where the G and Jim were waiting for their cooking partners to arrive for the final grocery shop of the trip.

. . . and it was a good thing the Wisconsin boys had bought the five packages of brats way back in Alpine because there was only one package left in Cottonwood. Would have been a pretty meager dinner for 15 hungry souls, and not up to the usual gluttony associated with Wisconsin cuisine!!!

We had dreams of Marie Calendar’s frozen German Chocolate Cake for dessert and the store actually had two. Bought both. Two cakes for 15 people . . . sounds about right!!!

ACA does not allow liquor to be purchased with group funds. Makes sense because not everyone drinks (or drinks as much as some do) but for our brat fry we needed to ‘baste’ the brats in a ‘special sauce’ that included beer as an ingredient.  Here the G is trying to convince tour leader Russ we needed to purchase this hefty can with group funds . . . didn’t work!!!!

. . . oh, but Tom did replenish his personal stock before we left the store. What would we do without the van????

On the way to Lajitas we notice this sign . . .thirty miles ahead, we would worry about that tomorrow!!

Now it was time to pull off into the ghost town of Terlingua . . .

the population peaked at 2,000 . . . now it is 6!!!

there is even an International Society of Chili. Read about the festival here

But they still have a liquor store . . .

. . . a combination General Store and museum . . .

. . .  a working theater . . .

. . . interesting bar stools . . .

. . .  instruments at the ready for an importune hootenanny . . .

. . . and stuff I never understand why people buy when they are on vacation????

. . .oh, you can still get into trouble in Terlingua, where a night of ‘rable rousing’ may end you up in local houskao . . .

. . . up on boot hill!!!

. . . the local folk do have a sense of humor, though. As we exited ‘town’ we passed this defunked ‘water park’ (in the middle of the desert) called the ‘Passing Winds’ that had a schooner and submarine.

. . . a mirage ahead . . . no, actually water on the road. At each of these ‘natural water crossings’ there was a flood gauge (the yellow marker) showing how deep the water was at any given time. No problem crossing today!!!

If the water had been a little deeper, I might have taken a dip. The temp on my Garmin showed 100 degrees!!!

One last sign of the friendliness shown by Terlingua residents (all six of them). Even their ‘No Trespassing’ signs were ‘kinder and gentler’!!

I turned around, and looking back I could see our home for last night, Chisos Basin  . . .

. . . which at one point eventuality had been a working volcano that at some point collapsed, created the basin floor where we slept last night.

100 degrees and a 15 percent climb . . . glad it was not too long.

We have been riding on the Texas Mountain Trail the last several days and the Texans are very proud of it.

As we rolled into Lajitas, we were met by the mayor and his aide. The biggest tourist attraction in town but sort of sad for these critters to be penned up in such a small enclosure. Of course they ate a steady diet of junk food well wishers purchased at the store around the corner.

We were staying at Maverick Ranch tonight complete with a boulevard of palm trees leading into the camp.

A typical RV park with row after row of RV pads, we were located on the outside loop. George happened to snag the only piece of grass in the place!!!

This place, so far, did have the best amenities on the trip. Air conditioned ‘club house’,  many showers and bathrooms, full laundry and a POOL!!!! Nancy, Jim and Jamie were the first ones in the water . . .

. . . while the Wisconsin Boys began our ‘Wisconsin Brat Feed’ prep . . .  I was still on the wagon and enjoyed a nice lemon lime soda . . .

 . . . while the G broke into his new beer stash . . .

. . . and George emptied his three liter vino box.

. . . biking in 100 degree weather all day, starting to drink at 3:00pm, being dehydrated . . . it’s surprising we even got dinner on the table!!! (we were a half hour late because of a LP tank mishap . . . no explosion involved!!)

. . . no flames at this point!!!

. . . Megan rangled us up a new tank and soon we were back on track.

Spicy, cheddar and traditional brats, sauerkraut, diced raw onions and sauteed onions, relish, mustard, potato chips, potato salad, beans and colesalw . . . everyone happily became an ‘honorary Wisconsinite’ for a night . . .  

. . . in fact, Jim who lives in Indiana, is thinking of moving on over to the Badger state.

David, now living in Austin, TX, is originally from Poyentte, WI, and where I started my 34 year career with the Department of Natural Resources, enjoyed a plateful of goodness. The next night he raided the coolers for the leftovers, making a brat, cheese onion burrito in his motel rooms microwave!!!

Oh yeah . . . and we almost forgot the German Chocolate Cake for dessert. A sweet end to the meal.

At the map meeting Megan told us we were staying in a motel tomorrow night in Presido, TX. Yippee (especially since the winds were going to blow 50-60 miles and hour for most of the day). There are and odd number of men and women on the trip so there would be two folks getting single rooms. The hat was passed and Jo-Ann was the first to draw a smiley face out of the hat, and I was the second . . . sweet, my own room. No snoring but my own!!!!