A Grey Day in East Texas (and LA!)

What with weather, work, and life, it’s been a few weeks since the R1200ST has seen anything but commuting. I needed a good ride too.

I really enjoyed the “East Texas Group Ride” of a few weeks ago, so I scoured the net for a good description of one of Scott Friday’s infamous E. Texas rides, finally found here. I adapted it slightly to my requirements and loaded it up into my Quest 2 GPS.

I like to say that anytime you make it into another state, it’s been a good ride. This was no exception.

I started by heading toward Huntsville and it‘s Starbucks for breakfast. My GPS acted up a few times. I think it doesn’t really like routes with more than 50 waypoints, because once I deleted a few from the beginning of the route, it stopped locking up after every turn.

Next I crossed Lake Livingston and headed for Colmesneil. I really love the swoopiness of the East Texas forest roads. I feel like I’m flying along and can really gun it out of the curves. The frequent elevation changes add immensely to the fun.

I lunched on fried catfish with hush puppies at the Elijah Café in Jasper before crossing the border. It was recommended in Scott’s route. I must admit that I was surprised when I saw it. While the food was good, I guess I was expecting something with a little more of a local feel.

The sky was very overcast and never really heated up. Many times I considered putting the liner into my jacket.

I found myself reluctant to stop for photos along the roadside in Texas. The scenery was somewhat monotonous. I mean, how many superior photos can an endless tunnel of piney woods provide? Louisiana was a little more interesting, I stopped beside a bayou to document the presence of some large water birds and snapped a shot of the ST beside the reservoir.

The day was waning, so I tried not to stop much on the way home. My new beaded seat cover seemed to help although my butt was definitely complaining as I pulled into my garage. 536 miles according to the GPS with an moving average speed of 70.1 mph.

My route: ( MS S&T File)