Hot Springs, Arkansas

Our good friends, Mel and Trish, invited us on a ride to Hot Springs, Arkansas to take in a hot air balloon festival, which was to include two free concerts.  How could we say no?

Day 1; Thursday, September 26, 2013

We departed Shawnee at 3:15 under blue clear skies with a temperature of 88 degrees.  It was a good afternoon for a ride.  Our first stop was at Chicken Annies (http://www.chickenanniesoriginal.com/), which is located just north of Pittsburg, KS.Chicken Annie's north of Pittsburg, KSWe had a LARRAPIN good dinner of fried chicken.  After refueling in Carthage, MO we stopped for the night at 7:40pm at a Quality Inn motel in Joplin, Missouri.  We rode 185 miles.

Day 2; Friday, September 27, 2013

Today we rode west and south from Joplin starting at 8:00.  It was 68 degrees.  Mel and Trish led us on a circuitous and scenic route through Seneca and South West City in Missouri, into Oklahoma (briefly) before entering Arkansas and then through Maysville, Decatur, Bentonville, Rogers and past Beaver Lake.  We continued south and east through Hindsville, Huntsville, Aurora, Witter, Boston and Fallsville to the Ozone Campground located along Hwy 21 just north of Ozone, AR.  After a picnic lunch we rode south and east to the city park in Dover, where we met up with Gary and Judy.  They left the Kansas City area at 7:00 this morning to hook up with us.Mel, Trisha, Judy and Gary at Dover, AR city park

Hwy 7 took us all the way to Hot Springs, where we rode through Hot Springs National Park on our way to the motel that would be our home for the next two nights..  After a dip in the motel pool we all went to McClard’s for some LARRAPIN good barbecue.  McClard’s has been a family run business in Hot Springs since 1928.  I recommend it if you are in the area.  (http://www.mcclards.com/mcclards-bbq-history.htm).

With satisfied palates and full bellies we rode to the Hot Springs airport for the hot air balloon festival and Styx concert.  We paid to park on the Moose Lodge property and walked to the airport.  People were parking all over the place and we saw a guy who tried to park his pickup in a ditch that was way too deep.  He ended up high-centered with his left rear wheel well off the ground.

We saw the “balloon glow”,balloon glow; Hot Springs, AR; they never took offlistened to the Styx concert from a distance (to protect our hearing) and then retired to our motel rooms for the night.

Mel, Trish, Chris and I rode 318 miles today.  Gary and Judy rode well over 400.

Day 3; Saturday, September 28, 2013

At 9:00 we left our motel and rode back north on Hwy 7 to Hwy 154 eastbound to Petit Jean State Park.DSCN2455aWe enjoyed the ride, the sights, a hike, and a picnic lunch before returning to Hot Springs.

After another dip in the motel pool and dinner at a Mexican restaurant we rode back to the Hot Springs airport for a Travis Tritt concert.Travis Tritt concert; Hot Springs, ARJust after we arrived it started to rain and it continued off-and-on until we left.  We avoided most of the rain by sitting on a covered sidewalk of a nearby business.staying out of the rain at the Travis Tritt concert; Hot Springs, ARIt was raining when we rode back to our motel and we got a little moist.  We logged 170 miles today.

Day 4; Sunday, September 29, 2013

Our group was splitting up today.  Judy had to be back at work on Monday so she and Gary took off shortly after 8:00 to ride back home.

It was raining off-and-on so the rest of us delayed our departure until 9:20.  Although we rode on some wet roads it never rained on us.  We rode north on Hwy 7 through fog riding in fog; Hwy 7to partly cloudy skies.  We enjoyed a picnic and the scenery at the Rotary Ann rest stop.scenic overlook; Rotary Ann rest stop along Hwy 7

We rode scenic Hwy 123 and Hwy 65 north to Branson where we enjoyed a swim at the Lynina Inn (http://lyninainn.com/) pool and dinner at Florentina’s Italian Restaurant.  It was  a great meal but I (we?) ate entirely too much.

Mel, Trish, Chris and I rode 235 miles today.  Gary and Judy rode well over 400 – again.  We heard today that the Chiefs beat the Giants.  WOW, the Chiefs are 4-0!

Day 5; Monday, September 30, 2013

We left Branson at 9:00.  It was cloudy and 68 degrees.  The temperature fluctuated between 68 and 70 all the way to Clinton, MO, where we had lunch at the Dairy Queen.  We stopped again in Harrisonville for gas where we said our goodbyes before riding on home.  We rode 235 miles today with a high temperature of 80.

THE END

Mel (pilot) and Trish (navigator) planned and executed a great trip through some beautiful scenery.

For more pictures from this trip click on the following link: https://plus.google.com/photos/104542123131082631220/albums/5929567100087654385?authkey=CIjiuYTmxYWRGw

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