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The ET450 has been around for years (anyone know who originally put it together?), and I've been blessed to have ridden it several times over the years. We don't have much good dual sport riding in this part of the country, but the ET450 is about as good as it gets. The first few times I did it, it was a three day ride with overnight stops in Milam and Rusk. The last few times though, I've done it in two days, with the overnight in Center. I've always thoroughly enjoyed it, and after trying to explain how much fun it is to my wife, and telling her about just how pretty the woods of East Texas can be, I knew there was no way that she could really appreciate it without actually experiencing it. So I decided to do something about it! I recently purchased a 4WD Tacoma, so slapped some all terrain tires on it, packed up some camping gear, and loaded up the routes on the ol' GPS. Since we'd be going slower than we could on the bikes, I figured we'd just do like the old days, and make it a three day trip, so we spent the first night at the Holly Park Marina in Milam on Toledo Bend. Weather was perfect, and they have done a really nice job of updating their campsites since last I was there. Since we were the only ones tent camping, we had the choice of any site we wanted. I think we chose a good one:
Wish I had taken some pics of the great dinner Anna whipped up for us, but guess I was too hungry, and it was too good
! The night got down to a comfy 65 degrees, so sleep was great, and we headed out after a hearty breakfast and coffee. The drive to Center for lunch was fun, and we made it there in good time. Second leg to Rusk was a bit more eventful though, starting with us meeting a couple of fellow TWT'ers along the route:
That's KZRider on the right; he was on a very nice KTM650. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the name of the other feller, but he was new to the TWT family, and was riding that really nice DR650. Looks like they were having a great time, and the weather was just about perfect for riding. Hope you guys had a great ride, and made it home safe. Oh yeah, here's that KTM:
As everyone who's done this route knows, there are bridges. Anna thought they were pretty cool, especially since they are so narrow, and have no guard rails:
So far, we had not met anything that was any type of a challenge, and driving it in the Taco was actually pretty smooth. Finally though, we came upon a pretty good mud hole:
That was fun!
We got to Rusk in pretty good time, and found that we were again the only folks tent camping, so had the choice of spots again. Found a nice one, and spent another fun night of camping again. Wish I'd have taken more pics, but here's just a couple I took of the Texas State Railroad, Rusk Depot campgrounds:
Unfortunately, the weather was supposed to turn rather nasty as the cold front came in that next morning, so we decided to skip day three of the route, and just head back home. Still had a great time though, and we think we might start doing some more of this "overlanding" thing.
East Texas is a really pretty area, but it cannot really be appreciated unless you get off the paved roads and do some exploring on the great dirt roads that spiderweb their way all across that area. Unfortunately, a lot of them are inaccessible due to being on private land, but I am eternally grateful for our own ET450, and would sure like to know who originated the route. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the route, and was genuinely surprised to know that there was that much elevation available in our part of the state. Hope these roads always stay accessible for us, and hope this ride continues for years to come. Get out and enjoy it, y'all!
Wish I had taken some pics of the great dinner Anna whipped up for us, but guess I was too hungry, and it was too good
! The night got down to a comfy 65 degrees, so sleep was great, and we headed out after a hearty breakfast and coffee. The drive to Center for lunch was fun, and we made it there in good time. Second leg to Rusk was a bit more eventful though, starting with us meeting a couple of fellow TWT'ers along the route:That's KZRider on the right; he was on a very nice KTM650. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the name of the other feller, but he was new to the TWT family, and was riding that really nice DR650. Looks like they were having a great time, and the weather was just about perfect for riding. Hope you guys had a great ride, and made it home safe. Oh yeah, here's that KTM:
As everyone who's done this route knows, there are bridges. Anna thought they were pretty cool, especially since they are so narrow, and have no guard rails:
So far, we had not met anything that was any type of a challenge, and driving it in the Taco was actually pretty smooth. Finally though, we came upon a pretty good mud hole:
That was fun!
We got to Rusk in pretty good time, and found that we were again the only folks tent camping, so had the choice of spots again. Found a nice one, and spent another fun night of camping again. Wish I'd have taken more pics, but here's just a couple I took of the Texas State Railroad, Rusk Depot campgrounds:
Unfortunately, the weather was supposed to turn rather nasty as the cold front came in that next morning, so we decided to skip day three of the route, and just head back home. Still had a great time though, and we think we might start doing some more of this "overlanding" thing.
East Texas is a really pretty area, but it cannot really be appreciated unless you get off the paved roads and do some exploring on the great dirt roads that spiderweb their way all across that area. Unfortunately, a lot of them are inaccessible due to being on private land, but I am eternally grateful for our own ET450, and would sure like to know who originated the route. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the route, and was genuinely surprised to know that there was that much elevation available in our part of the state. Hope these roads always stay accessible for us, and hope this ride continues for years to come. Get out and enjoy it, y'all!
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