USA South 2020 – Day 3 (Las Cruces, NM to Big Bend, TX)

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In August 2020, my wife and I purchased our home in Douglasville, Georgia (about 20 miles west of downtown Atlanta). As part of our relocation from Southern California to Georgia, I took the opportunity for another long distance motorcycle trip in fall of 2020.

This is day 3 of my USA South 2020 Motorcycle Trip riding from Las Cruces, NM to the Big Bend area along the Rio Grande in Texas. I camped two nights at the Grassy Banks Campground in Big Bend Ranch State Park (near Big Bend National Park). Much of the riding was on Interstate 10 from Las Cruces, through El Paso to Van Horn, TX getting off the Interstate onto US Highway 90, then US Highway 67, and finally onto Texas Farm to Market (FM) road 170.

Much of the scenery during the ride was that of desert shrub land characterized by Creosote flats, Yucca, and Cholla. I actually don’t mind riding in desert landscapes but will concede does not offer much for landscape videography. Being that I grew up in Minnesota, and have spent most of adult life in non-desert climates, I still find desert landscape to be intriguing. The landscape along the Rio Grand to include Big Bend however, is quite spectacular consisting of mountains, canyons, and desert and offered very entertaining riding on Texas FM 170.

Ride to Atlanta

On Saturday June 10th, 2023 I went on a short but surprisingly long in time ride from my home outside of Douglasville, GA to Downtown & Midtown Atlanta. I left home in the mid afternoon and as is typical for the Atlanta metropolitan area, traffic became a monster along with the Atlanta Metro’s uber aggressive drivers (being passed in no passing zones, being passed on shoulder, etc). For myself and Dexter (my motorcycle) the ride was uneventful. I did discover while I was walking the capital grounds that I had left my wallet at home DOH!!

So, there was no stopping to get gasoline or any beverages. In downtown Atlanta it was actually pretty warm right around 90 degrees. I ended up using my emergency 1 gallon of fuel and poured it into my tank…..emergency fuel used in downtown Atlanta LOL.

A video of the ride will be posted soon on my YouTube channel. In the meantime, here are some pics of the Georgia Capitol building and grounds. 🙂