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

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