Fall Foliage Ride II

Day 1; Friday, November 7th, 2014

Chris and I left home today at 8:25. It was sunny and 45 degrees.  We rode south to Gail’s Harley Davidson in Grandview, MO, where we met up with the other folks participating in this weekend’s ride.  There was Gary (ride leader) and Bambi, Carl and Marge, Rod and Maureen, Bill and Shannon and Chris and I..Day 1; meeting at Gail's Harley DavidsonGary, Carl and I were riding Goldwings,  Rod was riding a Harley, and Bill and Shannon were driving their Dodge Ram pickup.  When we left Gail’s it was 9:10 and 48 degrees.

Our route took us east and south through Greenwood, Pleasant Hill, Holden, Chilhowee and Windsor to Cole Camp, MO, where we stopped for gas and a butt break.  We then continued east and south through Stover, Sunrise Beach, Camdenton, Lebanon, and Mansfield to Ava,MO, where we had another break.  Our very late lunch (we started eating after 4:00) was enjoyed at the Rainbow Trout Ranch in Rockbridge, MO (http://rockbridgemo.com/).Day 1; Shannon and Chris; Rockbridge, MO

From Rockbridge we rode south and east to Harrison, Arkansas.  Along the way, on Hwy 178, there were some chunks of wood on the highway.  One of the chunks struck and knocked off the spring that holds up the center stand on Gary’s Goldwing, which caused the stand to drag on the road and throw off sparks.  It was very dark by this time so we all stopped at the side of the narrow highway to assist Gary in getting his stand secured.  Then, when we all started to go again, the flashers on Rod’s Harley would not turn off.  This resulted in more time stopped along the highway while Rod fixed his problem.  We rode about one and a half hours in the dark before calling it a night at the Holiday Inn Express in Harrison.

We rode 387 miles today.  The high temperature was 63 but it was back down to 48 when we stopped.

Day 2; Saturday, November 8th, 2014

Rod, Maureen, Bill, Shannon and Bambi opted to ride directly from Harrison to Eureka Springs today so they would have plenty of time to shop and walk around Eureka.  The rest of us, Gary, Carl, Marge, Chris and I took a scenic route through Arkansas.  We rode south on Hwy 65 and then Hwy 123, where we started to see some beautiful fall color.  North of Hagarville, AR we stopped at the Haw Creek Falls campground area and walked around the falls.  Another motorcyclist there was kind enough take our photo.Day 2; Carl, Marge, Gary, Chris and Charlie at Haw Falls

We continued south and east through Clarksville to Ozark, where we had lunch at the El Puerto Mexican Restaurant before heading north on Hwy 23, which includes the infamous Pig Trail, Day 2; on the Pig Trailto Eureka Springs.  Our lodging for the night was the Edelweiss Inn, where we reconnected with the rest of our group.  Before calling it a night we enjoyed a dinner of Italian food at the Café Amore that was directly across the parking lot from our motel.  We watched part of the KSU vs. TCU football game before it got too ugly to tolerate.

We rode 197 very enjoyable miles today and the high temperature was 66.

Day 3; Sunday, November 9th, 2014

Rod and Maureen took off early this morning when the temperature was still in the 30’s.  They had to get home early.

The rest of us departed Eureka Springs at 8:40.  It was sunny and 45 degrees, a beautiful day for a ride.  We rode north through Holiday Island (AR), Roaring River State Park (MO), Cassville, Mt. Vernon and Golden City to Chicken Annies (http://www.chickenanniesoriginal.com/) north of Frontenac, KS, where we enjoyed a LARRAPIN good lunch.  I loved my fried chicken livers.DSCN6371

Our day was concluded by blasting north to our homes.  We rode 276 miles today and, again, it was sunny with a high of 66.

Chris and I enjoyed this, our second, Fall foliage ride into Missouri and Arkansas.  The total trip covered 860 miles.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “LIFE IS GOOD!"

For more pictures from this trip click on the following link: https://plus.google.com/photos/104542123131082631220/albums/6079869887421394129?authkey=CJ7x4oiwrO_ETg

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