Sunday, February 19, 2017

Hill Country Flight

No matter where we went in Texas Hill Country, we saw lots of trees—mostly  oak and juniper (also called cypress and cedar).  We also saw lots of water in lakes, ponds,

IMG_8768 

rivers, creeks, and streams.

IMG_8785

All of the water was tinted a pale green and was beautifully crystal clear.

IMG_8904

lots of interesting historical markers, settlements, towns, and cities,

IMG_9018

and ranches.  Most ranches raise cattle, horses, goats, sheep, or hay, or some combination of them.

IMG_9072

The other ranches, the ones with the high fences, are usually hunting preserves.  These places cater to trophy hunters, and usually stock their ranges with exotic fleet-footed horned/antlered animals like gazelle, antelope, ibex, fallow deer, etc. 

This is the only one where we spotted longhorn cattle.

IMG_9022

The main reason we came here was to ride the bike.

IMG_8753

One of the rides that caught our interest is called the Twisted Sisters.  This 150 mile loop consists of three connected county roads—335, 336, and 337.  First we had to access them by leaving Medina Lake and taking Tx16 north west to the town of Medina.  There we started our roller-coaster ride on 337.

IMG_8775

 

 

At the juncture of 336 and 337 is the town of Leakey.  When we saw this sign we cracked up.  Down the street we laughed harder at Leakey Liquors and by the time we saw Leakey Inn we were crying!

IMG_8842

That said, we did find Leakey very convenient for fueling the Eagle and ourselves.  One of the recommended places to eat is the Bent Rim.  The front of the building is a motorcycle (boutique) store.  Directly behind it is an open bar/eating area with a small enclosed café with a few tables.

IMG_8846

The rest of the ride was an amazing mix of blind curves

IMG_8811

IMG_8894

IMG_8914

some with sharp drop-offs,

IMG_8973

dip-se-doodles,

IMG_9042

IMG_8830

and a few gentle curves.

IMG_9100

In the late afternoon we arrived back in Leakey (snicker, snicker), and refueled. 

Instead of turning east on CR 337 and relinking with Tx16 (or SH—State Highway as they are called here), we continued south on US83 to County Roads 1050 and 470 before returning home via SH16.

IMG_9133

We had read about the Twisted Sisters in a magazine called Ride Texas.  After riding it we gave it two thumbs up.  It’s a great ride!

Louise and Duane

PS  Much later we discovered that the town calls itself Laky.  Too late.  We can’t get the picture of dripping eagles, liquors, and the inn roof out of our heads!

1 comment:

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

Twisted Sisters looks like a great ride for the Eagle, but not so much for our big a-- truck.

I especially love seeing the longhorns. Just amazing how they can walk upright with all that weight on their head.