Day 1; Friday, May 3
The Spring Ride is an annual motorcycle trip undertaken each year during the first full weekend (Friday through Sunday) in May. Gary, the trip leader, invited me to participate despite the fact that I'd be driving a Mustang GT convertible. I left home at 6:10 am under cloudy skies with a temperature of 53 and a light drizzle, which ended a short time later.
Our meet time was 7:00 am a Gail's Harley Davidson. I was the first to arrive when I drove into the parking lot at 6:40. My brother, Carl, was across the street availing himself of the facilities. The others trickled in until we had 10 people: nine motorcyclists (7 Honda Goldwings, 1 Yamaha Tenere and 1 BMW) and me. Chuck, who was holding the chicken from last year's ride, gave a brief presentation to announce that he'd made a box (coffin?) to hold the chicken between rides.
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| Thanks to Chuck the chicken now has a coffin to rest in from one year's ride to the next. |
Gary was expecting Joe to arrive and we waited until 7:20 with no sign of him. So we headed south on I-49, headed to Archie for breakfast at Mama's Kitchen. As we were eating breakfast, Joe showed up. He thought the meet time at Gail's Harley Davidson was 8:00. As a result Chuck was able to transfer the chicken to Joe.
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| Chuck (right) passing the chicken to late arriving Joe (left). |
After breakfast our group of eleven headed east on County Road B to Creighton, where we caught Hwy 7 southbound to Clinton. Hwy 52 took us east through Calhoun, Cole Camp, and Stover to Versailles. While waiting at the stop light (see pic below) Rob let Carl know he needed gas and Carl notified Gary.
We then continued eastbound on 52. Half way between Versailles and Barnett Rob ran out of gas. He has no gas gauge on his Beemer - only a light that indicates he's low on fuel. He said he usually has about 30 miles after the light comes on. Joe waited with Rob. The rest of us went on to Eldon, where gas was acquired and I ran it back westbound to Rob. For running out of gas Rob earned the Chicken.
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| Joe (left) passing the chicken to Rob. |
Our ride continued eastbound on 52 through St. Elizabeth to 133 south and 42 east through Vienna to Belle, where we stopped for lunch at the El Charro Mexican restaurant. After lunch we traveled east on Hwy 28 to Owensville, where Hwy 19 took us south to Cuba, where we stopped for gas.
With full gas tanks we continued south on 19 to Cherryville. Hwy 49 took us south through Viburnum, Lesterville, Piedmont, Mill Spring and Williamsville to Hwy 67, which took us south to our destination of Poplar Bluff. As we were nearing our hotel destination Gary's GPS had a fit and took us on a detour east on Hwy 60 for awhile until Gary was convinced the GPS took him on a wild goose chase. We returned west to 67 south to our hotel.
It was a damp ride with mist, drizzle and very light rain off-and-on all day. On at least two occasions we came upon signs that warned of water on the road but there never was. The motorcyclists never had to don their rain gear (except for Rob) and none of them got wet (except for Rob). I did not put the top down on convertible all day.
My trip meter showed I traveled 466 miles today.
After complimentary food and drinks from the hotel and some cleaning of the machines we called it a night.
To see all the photos taken today click on the following link:
Day 1 Photos
Day 2; Saturday, May 4
We departed our hotel in Poplar Bluff at 8:10 AM. It was cloudy and 63 degrees. I decided to take my chances and put the top down.
Our route began with Hwy 67 southbound into Arkansas through Corning and Pocahontas. We saw significant flooding in the area around Pocahontas and we drove through intermittent mist, drizzle and very light rain (just like yesterday).
Hwy 67 is a four lane affair south of Pocahontas so I took the opportunity to drive alongside each motorcyclist to take photos of them.
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| Chuck |
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| John |
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| Carl |
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| Joe |
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| Rob |
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| James |
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| Bruce |
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| Larry |
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| Bill |
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| Gary |
In search of gas, we exited 67 and took some back roads to Tuckerman, AR. We'd been traveling for about an hour and since the weather did not appear to be improving any time soon I put the top back up. Hwy 367 took us south through Diaz to Hwy 14 westbound in the area of Newport. Our next stop was in Mountain View, AR. We refueled again and hit a KFC for lunch. Most of us took advantage of their fried chicken buffet. Before leaving KFC I put the top back down on my convertible because Joe promised there would no more precipitation.
From Mountain View we rode Hwy 9 southbound to 16 westbound. At one point along Hwy 16 there was a sharp left turn. I was following James and saw him ride off the road while negotiating the turn. We stopped for a break at Sand Gap at the junction of Highways 16, 123 and 7. (Off-and-on along this route there was mist and drizzle, so Joe was wrong.)
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| Rob (left) passed the chicken to James due to James' off-road adventure. |
I took a group photo here and you can tell from the tell-tale spots that there were rain drops on the lens.
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| Left to Right: Rob, Carl, James, Joe, John, Gary, Chuck, Bill, Larry, Bruce, Charlie |
I put the top back up before leaving northbound on Hwy 7 and traveling to Harrison, AR. Headed westbound on Hwy 62 we finally saw some sunshine. Also along the way, Joe missed a turn which earned him the chicken when we stopped in Eureka Springs.
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| James (right) passing the chicken to Joe. |
After 379 miles we stopped for the day in Eureka Springs, AR. Larry, Bruce and Chuck had dinner at Myrtie Mae's while the rest of us ordered pizza delivery. We enjoyed eating, adult beverages and fellowship in the parking lot until we called it a day.
Again today there was off-and-on mist, drizzle and light rain but none of the bikers resorted to rain gear (except for Rob) and none of them got wet.
To see all the photos taken today click on the following link:
Day 2 Photos
Day 3; Sunday, May 5
Hallelujah! This morning we had sun and blue skies! It was 53 degrees when we left our hotel in Eureka Springs. My top was down but the heater was on too. We rode north out of town on Hwy 23 through Holiday Island and into Missouri, eastbound on 86, and northbound on 39. Along the way we rode through some fog but it cleared north of Shell Knob.
After a gas stop and break in Aurora, MO we continued north on 39, 160 east, 245 north, 32 east, and 13 south to Smith's Restaurant in Bolivar, MO, where we enjoyed a LARRAPIN good Sunday buffet of fried chicken, fish, meatloaf and assorted other goodies. Some of the less adventurous in our group ordered off the menu.
With full bellies we rode north on 13 and 7 to Harrisonville, where we enjoyed an ice cream break at Dairy Queen. Several of our group dropped off along the way to go home. After the DQ treat we rode west on Hwy 2 to Louisburg and 69 north to the KC area.
It was a beautiful sunny day today and we traveled 305 miles.
Our total trip mileage was 1,150 miles. Gary planned and executed another great Spring Ride and the chicken got to visit several of our group. Joe will let the chicken rest in the coffin until we gather for the Spring Ride in 2020.
We then continued eastbound on 52. Half way between Versailles and Barnett Rob ran out of gas. He has no gas gauge on his Beemer - only a light that indicates he's low on fuel. He said he usually has about 30 miles after the light comes on. Joe waited with Rob. The rest of us went on to Eldon, where gas was acquired and I ran it back westbound to Rob. For running out of gas Rob earned the Chicken.
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