After yesterdays extended freeway stint on IH-10 we had enough of freeway riding. Getting across Texas without going on the interstate is a bit of a challenge and naturally will take longer. That’s OK. From El Paso, there’s only IH-10 or US 180 that go west, so US 180 is what we took.
We started out going over the Franklin mountains on Trans-mountain road to meet up with Montana Avenue which turns into US 180 heading up in elevation towards Guadalupe Mountains National Park. What a beautiful ride.
The landscape soon changed once we turned on FM652. No more mountains, but rather open, plain, almost flat – welcome to west Texas. I was low on gas since there was no place to fuel up after we left El Paso. Rather than risk running out of gas we continued to Pecos altering our original plan to turn on 302 towards Kermit – a 34 mile detour.
Weather was an issue again. We were dodging storms and sat it out in Kermit for a major one to pass. A fun riding day overall, though long. When we pulled into the hotel we were both mentally drained.
Todays route.
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- Some guy with his non-poisenous snake hanging out at the gas station
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- Some guy with his non-poisenous snake hanging out at the gas station
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- Some guy with his non-poisenous snake hanging out at the gas station
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- Some guy with his non-poisenous snake hanging out at the gas station
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- just outside of El Paso, past Hueco Tanks going up in elevation
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- just outside of El Paso, past Hueco Tanks going up in elevation
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- just outside of El Paso, past Hueco Tanks going up in elevation
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- just outside of El Paso, past Hueco Tanks going up in elevation
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- just outside of El Paso, past Hueco Tanks going up in elevation
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- just outside of El Paso, past Hueco Tanks going up in elevation
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- up on the plateau, still heading north on US 180
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
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- FM 652
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- FM 652
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- FM 652
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- FM 652
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- Orla, TX
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- lunch stop in Pecos
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- just next to our lunch stop in Pecos
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- just next to our lunch stop in Pecos
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- just next to our lunch stop in Pecos
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- green grass – they have been gettin rain
