Best Western Alpine Classic Inn

... Inn Express and one Days Inn

-One pro life sign

Fort Stockton proved to be no different. We had a lovely night at the Sleep Inn which felt slightly like my Grandma’s nursing home room, but still clean and comfy. We saw an advertisement for the Fort Stockton 4th of July festival, complete with pageant, food, dancing and fireworks. After a little regroup at the hotel, Joe and I headed out to have some fun only to park and get surly “you’ ...

... it's one of the largest National Parks outside of California and Alaska. In order to explore the park, I spent a whole week there. I started in the Chisos Mountains. This is like an island in the desert. From the desert floor, the mountains rise up 5000' and have their own Eco system. The raise in elevation allows them to hold more moisture so the vegetation is much more lush with big trees. The mountains are very ...

... to ¼ mile and must have been blowing ½ a mile into the air. What a drive! Along the way, we observed: · Highway speed posted at 80 mph · Where there's grass - there are huge ranches, with lots of windmills that have water tanks at their base. The tanks are 50 ft in diameter · Where there is no grass, the sand has piled up around every shrub and willow. About half of the trunk is buried in sand and deep gouges are prevalent in between. · Fuzzy stuff on the highway spaced ...

... area, as they have a club, and provided me with their web page (www.elclanmotoclub.com) I was through the questioning is seconds and rode off a full tilt with no traffic. The only stop I had was by a USA Border Crossing setup. Being a Canadian opens the gate very quickly. I called ahead for a room at the infamous Motel 6 in Fort Stockton, so was able to take my time, knowing a room was guaranteed. By the time I arrived I was in the dark, which is not a thing I ...

... is the "smell of money" I ended my day at Fort Stockton as the heat rose and I started becoming tired, so I checked into a Motel-6, changed into my shorts, cracked open a diet coke and relaxed in the sun. Yes sun, and the temperature was over 80 degrees. Dinner was at a local restaurant called K-Bobs Steakhouse and it was amazing. The 8 oz rib eye steak, plus the salad bar and unlimited soft drinks came to less than $20.00. Distance Travelled: 648 Km

... to Mexico and just a few miles down the road from the US Border Patrol checkpoint; - A beautiful butterfly which probably kept us company from Mission to Del Rio, and quickly escaped through the window I opened, after kissing me on the cheek... Ahhh those Canadian butterflies...

... obviously been aptly named. It is also described as "the gateway to Big Bend", which is much more of a stretch, since the National Park is still over 100 miles away. We spent the night in the fabulous Holland Hotel, right in the middle of town. It is fabulous for several reasons. Firstly, because of its name, of course. Secondly, because it is a very friendly and trusting place. The reception was already closed when we arrived but we were told by a patron of the ...

... but no longer. An exit on I-10 put them back on the map. They have a giant Road Runner statue in "Downtown". (Wiley was nowhere in sight), and a sample Oil Pumper-thingy you can get an up-close look at. Pretty neat. All-in-all we saw a lot of open land. PHOTO_ID_L=road_runner.jpg] Tomorrow it's off to San Antonio and Brother John.

... but by the time we found an exit with a wide enough shoulder, the awning had unrolled part way another 2 or 3 times. The wind tried to take the door off when we opened it, too, but we managed to hold onto it. Of course, when things like this happen - I panic and Greg remains calm, assessing the situation and coming up with a well-engineered solution! This event was no exception, so while I held onto the ladder for ...

... the added poundage but less than 10 miles from Foss Lake - our truck couldn't go any further. We pulled over next to what very well could have been a meth lab mobile home(12 broken down oldsmobiles, duct tape on all the windows, spare tires to keep the roof from flying away and two sketchy lookin guys with no teeth). Preston messed around under the hood for a bit and found our fuel pump had broken. We called Coby and Yvette to pick us up- they arrived 15 minutes later with beer ...