ES 2007 The Novel.

[spork]

Howdy. Thought I would throw out some thoughts on the recent trip to Eureka Springs, AR. Bottom line: I would be willing to go again tomorrow if I had the money and the time from work. Arkansas NEVER disappoints with the scenery and the quality of the roads. I hit some new routes this time and it was a crap shoot as to whether the roads would be rideable or not. I found some excellent routes this time. It was luck all the way around.

Day 1 -

Due to a death in the family we (Paul "Pablo", Brynn "Blinkerz", and Garry) had to adjust our departure plans a little bit. We ended up leaving the same route we had intended we just didn't get as far as we had originally planned. We took I-10 to SH12 through Vidor over to SH87. 87 was recently written of in Ride Texas Magazine and I was intrigued by the route. I have driven it in a car before and remembered making a note that I should come try it on 2 wheels instead of four and there was no better time. I really liked this route out of town since the largest town we went through was Beaumont. 87 is very scenic and a real pretty route to take. There aren't many gas stations on the route so fill up a little before you think you should if you have a short distance tank.

From 87 we hit US59 in Center and blasted up to Jefferson Texas for dinner at the Jefferson Hamburger Store. This was a total surprise since we didn't really have a "plan" for dinner but it looked exactly like what we were looking for. It was FANTASTIC! I have a little unwritten rule on my trips.... no chain restaurants and no chain hotels. Local flavor only. The waitress was an absolute hoot and she really got into messing with us. I had a VERY good ribeye (another first night on the road tradition) and the pie was out of this world. We paid up and pressed on.

We cut out of Jefferson on SH49 to SH11 and then hit 259 in Daingerfield. This was our cut north and I really like this road heading up through OK.

The gang agreed that we would ride until the first person said they were a little tired. That just happened to be in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Another stop I highly recommend. The people are nice and we had some fun there at the Wal-Mart. (I was picked on because I have a "need" to stop at just about every Wal-Mart along the way.) We stayed at the A-OK motel. Very clean and very well equipped for a $40 motel room. Fridge/Micro, GREAT mattresses and cable TV.

That completed Day 1 at 417 miles.

Day 2:
Breakfast in Broken Bow and then on up US259 to OK 63. This road runs along the foot hills of the Ouachita Mountains which is the location of one of my favorite roads... The Talimena Parkway. We cut across 63 to Talihina and then made a little detour as I missed our turn on OK 1. The guys were very understanding and I am sure the fact that the detour allowed us to see a very nice mountain for about 20 miles. Back in Talihina we picked up OK 1 to the entrance to the Talimena Scenic Parkway. If you have never ridden the Talimena, you should add it to your list. It is truly a great example of some beautiful creations.

We took the Talimena into Mena, Arkansas and since I wasn't familiar with a good place to eat, I asked a kind pedestrian where she would recommend we get some grub. She didn't hesitate one second when she said, Limetree Inn. I took that with comfort and we stopped there for lunch. VERY GOOD FOOD! And great sweet tea.

From Mena, we went up 71 to Highway 23. Better known as the Pig Trail! 23 is simply gorgeous. The guys all commented on the last 20 miles of 23 coming into Eureka Springs and how the entire trip was worth those last 20 miles of perfect road and nice sweepers.

Base camp was a really nice motel with more of a lodge feel to it. They really liked having us and were very accommodating. They serve C-breakfast and have pool and hot tub to help in the R&R department. I am planning a family vacation to ES for next summer and we will be staying at the Country Mountain Inn I liked it so much.

End of Day 2 at 316 miles for the day and 733 total trip miles.

Day 3:

We went over and kicked around the Ironhorse Stables for a little while and met up with JD. The proud new owner of a 1500 Goldwing. She shure is purty! And purred like a kitten. I can see many happy miles for the two of them....

After that we took off for the trek to the world famous Lambert's Cafe... Home of the Throwed Rolls. We of course took the scenic route.

We left ES on 62 and took that to 187. 187 has a couple of crossings of Beaver Lake and has what the locals call Little Golden Gate. A suspension bridge that is really a sight to behold in the middle of the mountains.

We took some pics, met a nice couple on a Nomad and the continued on around 187 to 62 again for a mile and then back on 187 to AR23. We then took AR23 to MO86.

MO86 is a really nice route as well. This took us around the Table Rock Lake Area through to US 65. US 65 then took us into Ozark, MO and the Lambert's Cafe.

Lunch at Lambert's, followed by a 30 minutes nap on the sidewalk, and we were ready to head back to base camp in Eureka Springs.

From Lamberts we took 65 south to 14 west. 14 west to 160 South. 160 west to 13 south. 13 south to 86 east for about a mile and then south on SH21. SH21 to 62 west and back to base camp.

End of Day 3 - 184 miles day total and 917 total for the trip.

Day 4 -

The decision was made to start back to Houston so we would not have a 650 mile day back. We left a little late and stopped for some real breakfast and a walk around downtown ES. After a little shopping and a ride past the historic and absolutely gorgeous Crescent Hotel we took off back down 23.

We took 23 to 12 and went over to the War Eagle Grist Mill. A water powered fully operational Grist mill. Good jellies, grains and it even has a restaurant up on the 3rd floor. After some pictures and shopping we left across the suspension bridge on 303 and went south to US 412.

412 would take us across east to hit the Arkansas 7 Scenic Highway. Again, we were not disappointed. This route was new to me and I must say, I was overly impressed! We took 103 off 412 in Osage. Then 43 south into Ponca. Then we took 74 east to highway 7.

Since it was getting a little late, we decided to try and find a straighter road after we hit Russellville so that we would not be riding through forests in the dark. Not a good idea in any state.

By the way, there aren't any straight roads in AR. Just thought I would let you know ahead of time.

We took off on 40 and went east a little until we picked up 9. We then took 9 to 298 and hit some really not straight roads.

As we were coming into Benton, AR I felt the rear-end slip out on me. I thought, whoa doggie! I must have hit some gravel that I couldn't see since it was now dark (but with a very nice Moon out). Then I hit a turn the other way and it slipped out on me again...... hmmmmm.... something isn't right. We pulled into Benton and were about to hit I-30 when the bike began to shake like she was doing a dance. It was then that I realized what was happening...... I had lost all tread on my rear tire and the belts were exposed and broken. Can you say.... MY BAD!

I looked at the tire before I left and allowed my situation (lack of time to get the tire replaced) to affect my decisions. Although I talked with a couple of people about the tire and they agreed that I should have enough tread for the trip, I knew in my gut I should have gone ahead and done it. Live and learn.

So here I am 420 miles away from home on a Saturday night in Benton, AR. We thought we had some things going for us when the place I stopped happened to be a motel with vacancy. A Wal-Mart was across the freeway and there was just about every food establishment available in walking distance. Then we were told that the Uhaul store was 2 block down the feeder. Couple that with the fact that Brynn told me that Benton was the home of Wal-Mart and we were set for the night. WRONG! The motel had active mild growing on the walls from a busted pipe and the roaches out numbered us 5 to 1. The final straw was when I pulled the sheets back and there were roaches in the sheets along with droppings! That was it. Time to move on down the road. We checked out and went across the freeway to the Days Inn. (I know, I broke my rule but the situation was different now.)

To wrap this up, the Uhaul was $500 one way and they didn't have the truck I wanted only the 28+ footers. Progressive told me they would tow me to the nearest place to get a new tire, "Wal-Mart and Pepboys are close to you." Enough of there ignorance. Then I found out that Wal-Mart’s home was actually BentonVILLE! That was it. I was done. We tried to find a car tire to put on the rim..... no luck. Call was placed to my rescue team and the wife left at 530am to come get me. 421 miles later we hugged, loaded the bike and started the return trip.

At least this time I made it up there and the bike issues came down on me on the way home.......

In a weird sort of way, my wife enjoyed the solitude and we were able to spend some quality time together talking and going over our life together. It was good.

A huge thanks to my posse' they were great and I hope they know that if they ever need me, I have their backs!

Ready for the next one in April. I am planning on a stop for the HCR in F-Burg and then on to Marathon for my first Big Bend trip.

God, I love this stuff. Even when it doesn't work out completely as planned.

I will post a link to pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.

Take care!

P.S. - Not too many of the Nomad owners were aware of the KawaNOW excellence in motion. I caught them up to speed.

[Idaho]

Great write up Spork. Thank God that you were in tune enough with your bike to realize that something was amiss. Like you said, at least you got to spend some quality time with the wife. Made lemonade. Good for you. Sounds like a great adventure. Certainly one that you will remember for the rest of your life.
Idaho

[bluetongue]

Thanks spork for the detailed ride. I can't wait for the pics. Oh and glad you made it home in one piece

[scion0]

Glad you made it in one piece!

[dogdoc]

Thx for the short story, I enjoyed it. Glad the tire thing worked out.

[lw]

Hey Neighbor, sounds like you had a splendiferous trip. Glad you avoided the Spork Splat factor and made it home in one piece.

[socwkbiker]

Thanks for the story Spork. I'm looking forward to one day taking that ride...without the tire problem of course.

[spork]

Thanks for the story Spork. I'm looking forward to one day taking that ride...without the tire problem of course.

Thanks. I do receommend that you have enough rubber before you go. ;)

[spork]

Link to the pics:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/12340672@N08/89S08h

Let me know if there are any problems.

I will be adding more as the week progresses.

Hi Spork...cool vacation...glad you made it thru the worn out tire!!!
I tried to see your pics and it says they are set to private? or that i'm not approved to see them....something like that!!

[davidjones1]

Great write up on the ride, sounds like it was a real good time except for the hotel room [roaches no thanks!! <BG>] the tire thing well that happen's, glad you made home safe.

Like Sue said, can't see the pics.

[spork]

RATS!

I will work on the picture thing and repost.

Sorry.

[spork]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12340672@N08/

If it doesn't work as a link, try copy and paste. Proboards is doing something weird with the last 5 characters in the URL .

I tried this one through 2 different browsers and made sure that I was not signed in and it worked.

Try it again.

The set is public so anyone should be able to view it.

If that doesn't work, go to

www.flickr.com and enter bikerjoe@sbcglobal.net in the search bar. Then when it says it can't find me click on the people tab at the top and it should take you to my pics.

Sorry it didn't work. There are some really cool pics in there.

W/the email address...it didn't work....w/out it it took me to Lula Elise's photos...yours? saw some beautiful scenery & a nice nomad!