Eureka Springs, AR; Day 2

WOW! What a beautiful day. We started out at 9:15 and it was 61 degrees.  The high temp today was 82 and it was all under blue clear skies.  The scenery was great too!  As I sit here writing the blog I’m enjoying a cold one.  It don’t get any better than this.

We started our day with our free breakfast at the Best Western Eureka Inn.  It was bountiful and tasty.  Some might say it was larrapin good!

We rode south on Hwy 23.  The road was good with twisties.  At first we encountered a minor traffic jam that threatened to delay our quick journey to the Pig Trail.traffic congestion (briefly) on Hwy 23One of the vehicles we had to pass was a a big truck hauling crates and crates of chickens (like the one that once made a mess of Gary’s Harley, which was being ridden by Rod).  We made it past with no chicken doo on our windshield.

We finally made it to the Pig Trail, which is part of Hwy 23 (http://www.arkansas.com/places-to-go/scenic-byways/pig-trail/).  The ride was superb and the scenery was great.Pig Trail

Just south of Ozark, AR we turned east and south on Hwy 309, which took us to Paris, AR (aren’t I romantic, taking my wife to Paris?) and on to Mount Magazine State Park (http://www.mountmagazinestatepark.com/).

We really enjoyed our time at the park.  First we went to the visitor center for maps and all that good stuff.  While there we saw three guys who were hauling their hang gliders up to the launch site on the side of Magazine Mountain.

We hiked 1.4 miles on the Signal Hill Trail that took us to the highest point on Magazine Mountain (and in Arkansas). It was described as “moderate” in difficulty as it climbed 153 feet in elevation to the top at 2,753 feet above sea level.  I worked up a case of swamp butt by the time we were done.Mt. Magazine State Park

We had a late lunch in the restaurant at Magazine Mountain Lodge (http://www.mountmagazinestatepark.com/lodge-cabins-restaurant/lodge-at-mount-magazine.aspx).  I’ve started making an effort to reduce my rotundness . . . so when I ordered my mountain burger I passed on the home made chips and picked the cole slaw.  Boy, did I get butt humped.  The cole slaw was terrible and I bet the chips would have been bueno.  The burger, however, was very good and Chris enjoyed her turkey pot pie.  Our view off the south side of Magazine Mountain was splendid.

After lunch we hit a scenic overlook.Mt. Magazine State Park

From there we went to the hang glider launch site and saw the three guys we’d seen earlier at the visitor center high overhead.  It would have been neat to see them launch.

We exited the south side of Magazine Mountain State Park and we were struck by how much closer the trees were to leafing out and how green the undergrowth was compared to the north side of the park.

We looped around west and north back to Paris and then east to Subiaco, AR.  From a long distance west of Subiaco we could see a large building on the horizon.  We found out it was the Subiaco Abbey and Academy (http://www.subi.org/homepage/), a Benedictine college prep school for young men.

We rode into Clarksville, AR and then north on Hwy 21 to Berryville where Hwy 62 took us back west to Eureka Springs.  GREAT RIDE of 300 miles!

For more pictures from today click on the following link: https://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/EurekaSpringsARDay2?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOb8hd-Pn_R4&feat=directlink

Comments

Frank Bryant said…
So you have been butt humped?
March 14, 2012 at 9:50 PM
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