Thursday, September 10
Up at
7:15 a.m….sun is shining, started out at about 65o but already
warming...it’s gonna be a good day to ride.
J Eureka Springs, Arkansas…here we come!!!
Left the hotel at about 9:30 a.m., after
having breakfast and a nice chat with an older gentleman who stopped while we
were packing the bikes. He’s been riding
for about 50 years, the last 30 or so on Harleys. Had some good ride stories and we shared some
of ours. Just one of the many people
we’ve met along the way.
Poplar Bluff bills itself as The Gateway to
the Ozarks….I’ve always thought the Ozarks were an Arkansas thing. But I guess Missouri wants in on the action,
too.
Today’s entire ride was on roads that were
like a gentle roller coaster. Hills and
curves….some tight and some big and sweeping.
Mostly we were on 2 lane 55 mph roads, but occasionally a divided
section would pop up. There were a few
Kodak moment spots that would have captured the up, down and swooping around of
the road we were on, but 1) there wasn’t a shoulder to pull off onto, 2) a car
was behind me so I couldn’t even stop at the edge of the road and 3) Kim would
rather I give him some kind of notice (pull beside him or get in front of him)
before just stopping. The road didn’t
allow for either of those options and it caused me some angst that I couldn’t
capture what I was seeing but this is one of those times I’ll have to keep the
beauty of the roads in my memory. J
Blue sky today with big fluffy clouds…temps
in the high 80s…nice breeze. With the
clouds, there was a good mix of sun and shade…and the air didn’t seem as
oppressive as it has the last couple of days.
Of course, the rain that came through yesterday may have helped in that
area, also. We did take a break about
mid-afternoon but that was more about getting our butts off the seats as
opposed to our bodies out of the sun and heat.
There is a little town called Flippin,
AR. We were on Hwy 412 and saw a sign
indicating a right turn would take us to the Flippin Business District. As
we’re going along, there are Adopt-a-Highway signs. First, I see a sign that indicates the next 2
miles are maintained by the Flippin Boy
Scouts…..and then a sign says that the Flippin
Church of God is in charge of cleaning up the next section of road. Somebody HAD to have seen the hilarity in
those signs….. J
We needed gas, saw a couple on a bike at a
gas station and pulled in before we realized the station was closed. We took advantage of the canopy to just get
out of the sun for a few minutes and check ‘Gas Buddy’ to see if there was a
nearby station. The man came over to
check out our trailer, etc. We talked to
him for a few minutes…then they were on their way and so were we. We knew that we had to make a left onto
63….came to the Missouri/Arkansas line, stopped to take a picture….got back on
the road. About 10 miles down the road,
Kim realizes that he’s not getting directions from Phil. Eventually figured out that when we sat under
the canopy chatting with the other bikers, Phil stopped talking to the Mother
Ship and left us to wander on our own.
Corrected that problem, then we decided to go back a mile to check out
an intriguing looking collectors paradise we had passed. Get back on the road and Phil wants us to do
a u-turn….we follow his directions right back into Missouri! At this point, we both knew that was wrong….so
we went to lunch and reprogrammed him.
Made an online reservation at the Eureka
Springs KOA before we left, although Kim said that reservations probably aren’t
necessary because the summer camping rush is over. That’s true….but it’s a good thing we did
because, apparently, on Thursday the office closes at 6 p.m…..and we arrived at
about 6:15. We found our notice waiting
for us, so we headed back to site #10 to get our humble abode set up. We are getting really efficient at it, in
spite of sweat dripping into our eyes, down our backs, etc. Earlier today we had decided that hot dogs
were NOT on the menu tonight…Kim didn’t want to cook ‘em again and I didn’t
want to eat ‘em again. Maybe in a few
days but not tonight. Did some shopping
on our way and Hamburger Helper is on the menu for this evening. No fire tonight….Kim cooked on the cook stove
and it was a bit warm for a fire…plus we didn’t want to walk up to the office
area and get the firewood.
Observations from the road:
*Gatorade tastes best when it’s
cold
*Soft Southern accents are charming
*Sometimes you just have to
turn off the music and think
*Dead armadillos tend to end up
on their backs
Today’s mileage: 252 miles Total mileage: 1296 miles
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