Hill Country Blue Bonnets

["Scott" <98-VFR800@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Howdy,

	Well, despite the less than agreeable weather, we have a
great trip out to the Texas Hill Country this weekend. For most of
the weekend, it looks as if it will rain any minute but it never
does. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we have a nonstop harsh south
wind blowing at 15-20mph with gusts of 25-30mph (according to the
local weather gurus). Spending all day Saturday on the bike
fighting those winds, I believe them.
	Saturday, we start early and ride out to Marble Falls from
Austin on FM 1431. It is a great road. Right where it drops to one
lane each way, a Travis County Deputy Sheriff let us pass him and
then procedes to tail us all the way to the county line. It is a
bit nerve wracking. However, he does let us get by with 70mph in a
60mph zone. But for the occasoinal cattel guard and the free
roaming livestock, this is a fanstastic road, very popular with the
locals. We hook up with some other friends in Marble Falls.
	From Marble Falls we head South on FM 2147. This is another
fun road. There are tons of flowers of all sorts all along the road
and back in the distance covering the pastures. I typically like to
hang at the back of the pack. This time there are nine bikes. We
have my VFR 800, Beth's SV650S, a mid 80's Yamaha Virago 500, some
kind of big old touring Beemer blaring country music from it's
in-dash speakers, a Triumph Thunderbird and a new Bonnie, a
Kawasaki Concours and a ZRX-1100, and lastly a 92 Honda ST-1100.
Quite the motely crew. I really enjoy watching the line of bikes
snaking along the road in front of me.
	We pick up Hwy 71 and ride Northwest to Llano. The Blue
Bonnets along 71 are great. There is also some kind of white flower
with a tall stalk and large individual blossoms on the ends that is
growing everywhere. When these and the Blue Bonnets are clustered
together, they really highlight each other nicely.
	Upon reaching Llano, we turn South on Hwy 16. At this
point, we have been seeing motorcycles everywhere. It seems that
the overcast and high winds have not discouraged very many folks
from getting out. We reach FM 965, the turn off to head over to the
Enchanted Rock State Park. Part of the group rides right past the
turn off. The others wait as I go off to chase down the lead pack
and get them turned around. My wife and I are using Collett 900Mhz
Communicators. They are real handy. She stays with one group and I
go with the other, that way we kind of keep every one together.
Right as I get the lead pack back to the turn off, the park ranger
puts up a sign stating that the park is full and is now closed
until 5:00pm, it is only about 11:30am now! We ride in anyway just
to see it. Enchanted Rock is a giant dome of pink granite sticking
out of the ground. By giant, I mean it is easily a few hundred feet
high and half to three quarters of a mile long or more. I take a
few pictures while some of the others make a pit stop. We don't go
into the park proper.  Then we continue on 965.
	At a very very small town called Crabapple, we turn off
onto Crabapple cove road. This is basically a one lane road that
winds through the country side. I doubt if there were any heavy
earth movers involved with the making of this road. It follows the
hills and creeks. There are huge patches of Blue Bonnets growing
all over the place. Every direction I look is a postcard scene. Top
speeds are about 40mph here which is fine because most of us are
looking away from the road more than we probably should.
	Crabapple road eventually drops us out in Willow City. This
is the start of the locally famous Willow City Loop. The road
pretty much sucks. Speeds of more than 30mph take you to the edge
of risking life and bike. But the scenery is rugged, colorful and
choked with motorcycles! I have never seen so many Harelys in all
my life in the same day (and so few helmets). These 50 yr old guys
trying to look tough with their 25 yr old babes on the back are
everywhere. And don't even get me started on the loud pipe issue.
If I was a local there I'd probably be driven to take drastic
measures to cut down on the amount of traffic. My defense would be
insanity from the racket! Anyway, there are some spectacular views
from on high of the valley below with a river of Blue Bonnets
lazily drifting in and around the rocks and trees for as far as we
can see. There are several places where we have to slow and ride
through water as the creeks actually flow over the road rather than
under it. The loop eventually drops us back out onto Hwy 16 and we
head South towards Fredericksburg (tourist haven!).
	When we roll into Fredericksburg, we park the bikes and
start thinking, "lunch!" Did I mention that there were a ton of
Harleys out and about today? Apparently every Harley rider within
two hundred miles is in Fredericksburg for lunch. The racket is
apalling. I am standing outside the restaraunt waiting to be
seated. I'm trying to talk to this nice elderly gentleman sitting
on his Goldwing trike about his trips all over the country. And I
can barely hear a word he says because of the constant stream of
Harley idiots going by at five miles an hour revving their engines
because they think it makes them look cool. Jeez! Sure, I know they
are not ALL like this, but I have met or seen very few that aren't.
If they weren't spending so much of their yuppie money in town at
the tourist traps I imagine they'd be run out of town by the Law.
Anyway, the lunch is great.

Continued in part II


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