Ride to Hot Springs; Day 2; August 31st

We awoke this morning to rain.  The remnants of Hurricane Isaac were in the area.  We’re going to get wet today.  We rode away from the Baxter Inn at 8:30 in the rain and it was 73 degrees.Baxter Inn parking lot Friday morning

Mel led us to the Talimena Scenic Byway but he believed that if we rode west a ways that we could avoid the rain or at least the worst of us.  We rode by the following routes: 69 south, I-44 south, 69 south at Big Cabin, 64 south at Muskogee. 2 south, 31 east, 82 south, and 1 east to the Talimena Scenic Byway (http://www.talimenascenicdrive.com/).  This west end of the byway is in Oklahoma.  The Talimena Scenic Byway is in the Ouachita National Forest and is part of the Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area (http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/ouachita/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea?recid=10754&actid=30).

Before starting on the scenic byway we stopped for a picnic lunch at a shelter in the Talimena State Park.

It was misty and cloudy on the byway but the views were excellent anyway.view from the Talimena Scenic BywayJust before our lunch stop the rain had become sporadic and light enough that we could take off our rain suits so the riding was a bit more comfortable.

Mena, AR is at the east end of the Talimena Scenic Byway and we stopped here for gas and a butt break.  From Mena it was a short run on to Hot Springs, AR on highways 88 and 270.  We arrived in Hot Springs at about 5:30 and checked in to the Red Roof Inn.Red Roof Motel; Hot Springs, AR

After we unpacked and settled in we rode to Stubby’s BBQ(http://www.stubbysbbq.com/).  The food was bountiful and very tasty.  I highly recommend it if you are ever in Hot Springs, AR.DSCN6663a

We returned to our motel, took a dip in the pool, and turned in for the night.

We rode 355 miles today.  Rain suits were required until about noon.  After that they were just too warm and it is good the rain held off (for the most part) the rest of the day.  Ridemeister Mel kept us out of the worst of the rain.  The high was a very humid 90 and that was reached as we hit Hot Springs.

For more pictures from today click on the following link: https://picasaweb.google.com/104542123131082631220/Day2RideToHotSprings?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJarz7So6JyBDA&feat=directlink

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colorado; Day 9; June 30, 2012

Image
The evening of June 29th we saw the play, “Is He Dead” at the Creede Repertory Theater ( http://www.creederep.org/ ).  It was very entertaining,  one of the better plays I’ve seen. When we drove away from Creede at 6:05 am it was 41 degrees.  A short distance south the temperature dropped to 39.  We tried soaking up the cold for what we knew would be a hot afternoon. We rode South Fork and then east to Alamosa.  From Alamosa we took a detour north up Hwy 17 to see the UFO Watchtower ( http://www.ufowatchtower.com/ ).  It is a place for UFO enthusiasts to go to watch for UFO’s.  The lady who runs the place said something about some sort of vortex existing on the property.  Weird stuff, even for an open-minded guy like me. If the UFO Watchtower wasn’t weird enough we saw a male driving a Jeep with eye lashes over the headlights at a gas station in Alamosa, CO.  Hopefully it was his wife’s Jeep and he was just gassing it up for her. We continued east to Walsenburg, LaJunta, and La
Read more

Florida Trip; Day 15

Image
At 7:30AM we drove away from Russellville, AR on a cold 25 degree morning. At least the sun was coming up. Our route was 7 north to Harrison; 65 north to Springfield, MO; I-44 west; 13 north to Clinton; 7 north to Harrisonville; I-49 north; I-435 west to Kansas in the KC area and home. Hwy 7 in Arkansas is a scenic route with hills and curves galore. We stopped several times for photos. On the south side of Bolivar, MO we enjoyed lunch at Smith's Restaurant. It was 39 degrees when we arrived home at 2:20 but we saw a high of 44. It was a good day for our final of the trip. We drove 330 miles today and the total trip mileage was 3,109. I only have 6 photos today but you can click here to see them -  Final Day Pics
Read more

My Last Ride

On January 11th, 2017, I departed on a ride to Kelli's Korner (Paradise, MO - near Smithville, MO) for lunch with four friends (Carl, Gary, Bill and Larry). It was a beautiful day, which was all the excuse we needed for a ride. I was leading the group and we were taking a long way there. Riding north on county road N, about 6 miles north of Hwy 152 and I-435, the road turned and I didn't. I exited the road into a field. Fortunately there were no fences, trees, rocks, oncoming cars, etc. I have no explanation for this except that I was out of it for awhile. I remember crossing the center line but I was looking down at that time, which is weird. I have no memory of seeing anything after that until I was laying in the field separated from my motorcycle. I do remember a sensation of tumbling but that is all. My first thought was to drive my motorcycle out of the field and get it cleaned up so Chris would not know what I did. What a ridiculous idea that was. After I'd been up
Read more