Day six – I got up around 7:30 but didn’t hit the road until around 9:00. Not really on a set schedule at this point. Temps were in the 40’s again but it’s not raining and I don’t see anything concerning on the radar. Chilly is fine. Wet is fine. Chilly and wet equals cold, we don’t want that again. We hit the road and headed southwest towards Odessa. It’s time to start knocking off some of these stops.
With all my cold gear on, we motored the 75 miles to Odessa. Most of the trip in was Texas desert emptiness, empty brown plains filled with brown grasses and short green bushes. Aside from some electric/telephone poles, there’s not much out here. Getting closer to Odessa is a different story. Oil pumps pepper the landscape like cattle on a ranch, they’re everywhere. Every so often small processing stations appear, huge tanks linked together by pipes of varying sizes.
Had no problem finding our first stop, the Stonehenge Replica at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. This replica is slightly shorter than the real Stonehenge but is exact in horizontal size and is astronomically accurate. It also took only six weeks to build.
Time to head to the next stop.
Stop two is the Gage Hotel in Marathon, Texas, about 150 miles from Odessa. The sky remains overcast and the temps are hanging around 50. It’s a chilly ride but my hands are good and I’m not catching much of a chill. We jumped back on I-20 and headed west to Monahans, then cut south towards Fort Stockton. Not much change in scenery, it’s either oil stuffs or nothing. The roads are mostly two lane from here on out.
By the time we hit Fort Stockton I’d still not seen any kind of precipitation. I was feeling pretty good about today’s chances. Then the rain started. Wasn’t bad but pulled over and threw on the rain suit. Barely got wet while suiting up but the road was getting wet. This rain didn’t last very long but I was glad I’d suited up. Getting that suit on or off is a chore when you’ve got a sweater, jacket and vest on. Opted to keep it on until I was confident the rain was gone.
We finally hit Marathon around 1:00. Though it’s in the largest county in Texas, you could barely call this place a town. Population is less than 500 and it has one gas station with only two pumps, a few touristy shops and the Gage Hotel.
Alfred Gage left his home in Vermont in 1878 and moved to the area to try his luck in the vast ranching opportunities here. The town was founded four years later and by 1926, Gage had amassed a ranching empire of over 500,000 acres. He had the hotel built due to the lack of lodging options in Marathon, and to use as a way to oversee his ranching operations. The hotel first opened in 1927, Gage died a year later.
We hit the only gas station in town to fill up then took TX-385 south out of town. It’s 40 miles of two lane desert just to get to this sign and aside from a border patrol check point five miles from town, there’s nothing out here. But, even under overcast skies, the landscape is beautiful. Mountains on all sides of me, the tallest peaks hidden in the clouds.
Didn’t take long to get here, speed limit is still good – 75mph if I remember right. Speed changes to 45mph right before this sign, state park laws. Decided to take a break and enjoy a cold beer. Lunch was pretty much out at this point. Nothing much in Marathon aside from the hotel and certainly nothing out here. Had a group of two couples show up and helped them get a group photo with the sign, then headed back to town.
Caught a few sprinkles on the way back which killed any thoughts of getting out of the rain suit. I did get a couple of roadrunners dart across the road in front of me. No coyotes or Acme products though. Got back into town and started on the 60 miles back to Fort Stockton for stop number four.
Stop four – Paisano Pete. I could have gotten this one on the way out to Marathon but this way gets me off the bike for minute and breaks a 265 mile ride down to 165 miles. We started to catch a little more rain coming back into town and at the time that we stopped to take our photo it was sprinkling lightly.
Paisano Pete is a 22ft long and 11ft tall roadrunner in the middle of town. He was constructed in 1980 and was the largest roadrunner statue until being dethroned by a larger statue in New Mexico. I don’t know about the New Mexico statue, but Pete gets dressed up for Christmas time.
It’s now 3:30 and our next stop is 165 miles out. This will be our final destination for the day.
We headed out of town and filled up before jumping on I-10. After a short 10 miles we were back on two lane 385. It wasn’t a few miles before the rain started. Never got heavy but it was consistent and the roads were very wet. After 150 miles of constant rain and passing semis, I was soaked.
After several miles of riding in the rain you might get water dripping down your neck and into your shirt. This is bound to happen sooner or later, water always finds a way. However, I also managed to spring a leak in my pants. Cold rain water found it’s way to my crotch (instantly noticeable) and eventually soaked the seat of my pants. I found myself standing up a little, not to relieve some saddle pains, but to drain some water off my butt. My legs ended up soaked as a result.
I was able to safely maintain speed but the miles slowly ticked away. Eventually we made our way into San Angelo. I’ve got two choices at this point – continue to the stop or find a room and wait until morning. I decided to get to the stop. If it’s raining too hard I can still come back in the morning, a few more miles isn’t going to hurt me at this point, I’m already drenched.
The San Angelo Army Air Field Mural is a tribute to the Army Air Forces bombardier training base activated here shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. The base was built on the not yet complete Carr Field Municipal Airport and was used to train bombardiers using the highly classified Norden bombsight. After the war ended, the original land and most of the government-built buildings were transferred back to the city. The field was renamed as Mathis Field in honor of Lt. Jack Mathis.
The rain had lightened to a sprinkle by the time I arrived and I was able to get my photo. We can head straight to our next stop in the morning. It’ll be chilly in the morning and possibly wet but we’re headed out of all this mess and into warmer temps.
I don’t remember any trip having this much rain. I’ve spent more time in my rain suit the last three days then I have on any other trip, and I tempted fate with more than one hurricane. It’s been crazy to say the least and at least once on each of these last few days I’ve thought about cutting bait and heading home. But I committed to this on day one and I can’t quit just because Mother Nature has decided to pay me back for burning those ants with a magnifying glass when I was a kid. I’ll get as much done as I can before I run out of time.
So, I’m good. I’ll start my day in a dry set of clothes, and hopefully a dry sweatshirt and jacket. We should be able to hit several stops tomorrow if all goes well. Libby is running great but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the poor lady this dirty. She’s in desperate need of a bath.
A few more photos below of the landscape between Fort Stockton and Marathon. Good night, friends.
The Motorcycle Diaries of an Easy Rider 