Just came back from my (almost) annual cycle trip with my son last Saturday. We hadn't gone for a few years due to my lack of a bike, but I bought a 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 last year and so we decided to visit Arkansas this year.
We went from 6/23 to 6/30 so it would be a little cooler than our other possible date (early August) - wow - it was 90+ most days (except in the "mountains") and rainy and/or very humid. But it was still fun.
Drove 400 miles in the rain on the 23rd going from Chitown to extreme southern Illinois. Had to stop a few times when it was pouring and got totally soaked - found out that the waterproofing on my jacket was long gone and my rain boots ripped. My rain pants worked fine - the only part that remained dry. Had "water proof" covers for my saddle bags and sissy bar bag and found out that the saddle bags could have used trash bag liners - next year! In six previous trips we had never hit rain anything like this!
On Sunday we cut through MO to Arkansas. Stopped by the Stars & Stripes museum and the new MO Veterans cemetary for a little bit. Went over about 15 miles of milled highway, which is always fun. Also saw miles of rice fields. We camped at Ft. Davidson State Park on Sunday and went canoeing on the Black River on Monday. The camp was pristine and not full. The folks were nice and we explored around a little also - saw the plat for the original Ft. Davidson.
This area of Arkansas, NW, seems particularly poor. Housing not very good, so many storage lockers I was wondering if folks are living in them. Started to see horses on almost every farm - everyone must ride! Saw herds of cows standing, sitting, and doing both - Jeff''s wife says that sitting cows predict rain - we had rain, but not too hard. As we got over to the middle of the state in the Ozarks area, things started to look better. Nicer homes, not so many storage buildings, still many horses (and a few Shetland ponies and mules) - I think the tourism business is better here in the Mountain Home area.
Stayed at the Buffalo River National Park on Monday and Tuesday nights. A pretty place and it was nice to stay in one place for two nights - I'm not as young as I used to be. On Wed morning there was just a light sprinkle as we are breakfast and I tempted Mother Nature by saying that this wasn't too bad. Then the heavens opened up and we and our gear got drenched. But we started out and it finally stopped raining. We made it to Mount Magazine, the highest point in Ark., almost 2800 feet high!
Again a beautiful ride and a nice campsite. They warned us about bears, but all we saw was deer, and learned what sounds deer make - very peculiar - never heard it before. They have special waste containers there that were supposedly "bear proof", but we were told that some bears had already figured them out.
Then the next day took Arkansas Route 7 most of the way to MO. On the map 7 is marked as a scenic route, which really means lots of ups and downs and curves with mostly double yellows on the road. No passing anywhere! It took a long time on these scenic highways, although it was very beautiful and enjoyable.
While our speedometers said about 55, I think that we were really going about 50, with everyone in the world passing us by. This was the hottest day of the trip and we were just dripping. Beautiful country though.
We got back to Missouri on Thursday and camped at Tam Sauk park. Not much going on there. Then we headed up 44 on Friday to get to Eureka, which would be our last stop together. Then on Sat I would head up to Chicago and Jeff back to Jeff City.
On Sat I stopped at a little town on 51 for gas and a late breakfast and discovered it was Hank Williams home town - nothing too memorable, but the cafe was a fun place.
I finally sped up a little on Saturday as, on the way back, we had been staying to 60 or 65 mph on our speedometers. There were not many people on the highway so I sped up to the flow of traffic, which was about 80 mph - othersise it would have taken forever to reach Chicago. Finally got back into the Windy City in time to help with the condo garden and get cleaned up for a party. Over 1700 miles in 7 1/2 days.
What a week. What a day. What fun.
Take care.
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