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,

 

rivers, creeks, and streams.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

 

 

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!

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.

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

some with sharp drop-offs,

dip-se-doodles,

and a few gentle curves.

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.

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!