We are on another motorcycle adventure. We are headed to West Texas to see the McDonald Observatory in Ft. Davis and Big Bend National Park near Terlingua, TX.

We left early Saturday and took the our usual route north on the Suncoast Parkway and US 19 to I-10. We had unusually good weather and made good time. At I-10 we headed west and just let the miles roll by. What is unusual about this trip is that we are both on new bikes. I’m on my Triumph Trophy and Beth is on her Harley Ultra Limited Low.

The best rest area on I-10 and perhaps in the country is 30 miles west of Tallahassee. It is way off the highway and surrounded by woods. We made a picnic lunch, answered a couple of emails, and kept going.

We were very fortunate to get through the tunnel in Mobile, AL, without a delay. In Gulfport we encountered the worst drivers on I-10. They dart in and out of lanes without looking. This happens to us every time we ride through there.

Our destination was Mandeville, LA, and the home of fellow Motorcycle Travel Network members, Karen and Skip, pictured above. We had a delightful visit and were treated to wonderful home-cooked meals. Karen and Skip’s home is very close to Lake Ponchartrain. It was damaged in hurricanes Katrina and Issac. After the second flooding they decided to tear it down and build a new house. It’s raised above the ground a full story. There’s little chance they will experience flood damage again.

Sunday we got a little later start and spent the day on I-10 on our way to San Antonio. We ran into some heavy mist and the clouds to the west were rather dark, so we decided to put on our rain gear. By the time we got back on the road the rain stopped. We did, however, enjoy having our gear on as it was chilly and damp all morning. This section of I-10 is more challenging as it goes through industrial towns in Louisiana and East Texas and through Houston.

We stopped for lunch at a Buc-ee’s gas station. I’ve never seen a place so large. Beth counted 96 gas pumps.

We had another picnic lunch and sat on the curb.

Thanks to the University of Florida’s experiment decades ago, there are now love bugs in Texas and we caught many. The first thing we did after checking into our hotel was to clean the bugs off the bikes. Here they are shiny-clean and ready for the night.

We are also ready for the night and will post again from Ft. Davis.