Rivers and More Day 6

Day 6

304 miles

This is the Lake at Heber Springs, we stayed on the river below it, The Little Red River.
It was foggy when we awoke and got going. No continental breakfast, instead we ate at the convenience store down the road. Talking to the clerk, discovered she was headed to Joplin this weekend to volunteer.

Was a cool morning, no rain as Keith did not polish his bike the night before. Riding the twisties down in Arkansas seems familiar to me, and we get good at it after a while in the twistie zone.

We crossed Bull Shoals lake on the Peel Ferry, about an 18 minute ride across the lake.

The sign said to remain in your vehicle, so we sat on our bikes. Entered Missouri a few miles up the road from the ferry, stopped for gas and food in Forsythe. Then the last leg of the journey up to Springfield and over to Joplin. Great to be home again, I think I'll stay a while. Total miles for the trip was 1765, about ready for a new back tire. Enjoyed the time with my buddy Keith.

Rivers and More Day 5

Day 5

345 miles

It started raining before we left Vicksburg this morning. I've threatened Keith against polishing his bike again tonight. This is the bridge across the Mississippi River at Vicksburg which took us to Monroe, Louisiana. Need to come back to see Vicksburg sometime, it is an interesting, historical city.
In Louisiana we headed north, the rain went away, and we passed through a town named Transylvania on our way to Providence Port where the above picture was taken. We stopped at the river port and watched rice being loaded onto a barge. The workers told us that cotton is not what it used to be, that mostly they grow corn, soybeans, and rice.

We stopped to see the Cotton Museum. Then we continued north, passing large lakes with cyprus trees growning along the edges. We really felt like we were in the south. We ate lunch at the Catfish Kitchen in Dumas, AR whick tasted like we were eating in the south--good! We drank massive quantities of iced tea, riding in the heat sure makes you thirsty!

This is a rice field. There are wells and pumps that flood the fields. They let the field dry out in order to get the harvesting done.

After harvest, the field is then burned, cultivated, replanted, and flooded again.

Next we crossed the Arkansas River. The fields changed to hay and cattle, with occasional pine forests. Looking and smelling like home ground now! It was a scorcher again, really hot. We stopped at Heber Springs and stayed the night at a fishing resort below the dam on the Little Red River, a trout fishing place. Was pretty rustic, but we were so tired that we slept anyway.

Rivers and More Day 4

Day 4

364 miles

Got up early at 530am and looked outside--the majority of the folks were allready outside fishing! We ate, loaded up, and headed out, taking the backroads in a southernly direction. Had the roads all to ourselves, it was great!

We soon found ourselves in Memphis, did the riding tour thing and stopped at Beale street. I stayed with the bikes and let Keith go explore on foot.
I found shade under this statue of Elvis. As had happened many times before, foreign tourists showed-up and wanted to take pictures of the bikes and talk to me about motorcycling.

We decided that BBQ was in order for lunch, punched in Corkys on the gps, saw a location 25 min south in Mississippi and headed there. This Corkys ended up being inside a casino, but we were hungry and ate there anyway.

So, while we were eating a big thunderstorm shows up. This pic is from inside the casino garage where we were parked. Waited an hour before resuming our ride. We rode in the rain for about an hour after that. I gave Keith a hard time for having polished his bike to perfection the night before, thus calling in the rain!

We made it to Vicksburg, MS. The motel let us park under the awning for the night, never hurts to ask (thanks Fisher!) We were tired, so ordered pizza delivered to the room and called it a day. Keith did polish his bike again, and we would again pay for it tomorrow.

Rivers and More Day 3

Day 3

324 miles

What a great way to start the day: 5-star breakfast at Bonnie's! Three eggs over easy, 4 strips bacon, toast, juice, and gourmet coffee! I love her!

The day was sunny and clear, was hot early. As it was Sunday morning, the big 6-lane highways through St. Louis were almost deserted and the going easy. Stopped at a park in St. Geneveive for some devo time in the shade. Was going to cross the river on the ferry there, but it was closed because of flooding. Later I found the brige over the Mississippi at Cairo was closed and had to detour back north a bit. Seems like every day ends up being more miles than planned!

This is a tug on the Ohio River.
This is the Ohio & Mississippi River junction.

Got to Dyersburg, TN by 3:30 and Keith had beat me there. He was waiting for me at the local Wal-Mart. The greeter there told us we should go back north about 25 miles and stay at Lake Reelfoot. This lake, named for an indian, was formed by the earthquake of 1810 or 1811 she said. Her advise ended up being good!

We stayed at the Blue Bank fishing resort, this view from our room is the area the boats tie-up in at night. After dinner and showers, we sat out on the corner of the deck by the entrance to the lagoon while God provided the entertainment--after a while of peace, the wind picked up, it became pleasantly cool, the lake got very rough, and we watched the boats struggle to make it back to safty. Even the ducks sought shelter in the lagoon. Was a great day!

Rivers and More Day 2

Day 2

173 miles

Mark got me started off right with "cakes & eggs" for breakfast. I am anxious to come back to spend more time with Mark. Got away at 0745, was hot in the driveway allready, but cool on the road once I was moving.

Back to Jefferson City, got on highway 94 and headed east along the Missouri River. The road had little traffic, houses were sparse, a very peaceful ride. Shared the valley with the Katy Trail, an old railroad line converted to a bicycle path. There were bluffs to one side, and lush fields of corn next to the river. Saw occasional signs of flooding.
Stopped at Mokane and took a picture in front of the post office. Harley Davidson has a promotion called ABC's of Touring, and to participate you take photos of your bike at post offices along your way, accumulating points for each letter of the alphabet, each state, each National Park, etc.

Stopped for lunch in Herman, has the biker's favorite lunch: pulled pork sandwich!

Back on the road, and 4 miles later I came upon a motorcycle accident that had just happened. Helped an injured biker who lay cut-up by a barbed wire fence out in a field, while someone else went for help. Cold bottles of water in my cooler came in handy. Ambulance came in 20 minutes, he will be okay after some surgery. Followed them to the hospital in Washington to make sure.

On to St Louis, passed the August Busch Wildlife area. It got SUPER HOT! Ughh! I was glad to get to my mother-in-laws house early, shower, change into shorts, and enjoy a great home-cooked meal with my St Louis family.

Rivers and More Day 1

Day 1

255 miles

Left Joplin at 745am, was relatively cool with clear skies. Was nice to be riding in Missouri on my way to Columbia. Missouri is really quite pretty to behold. Especially enjoyed the stretch of road between Buffalo and Camdenton where I saw and smelled the hay fields, corn, and oak trees. All senses are hightened on a motorcycle. This same route I have done grudgingly in a car more times than I can remember, was a pleasure from the seat of a motorcycle.

Stopped at the Harley Dealer in Lake of the Ozarks. Their mascot dog is a Bull Mastiff. I like Barney much better. Lunch was an Ozark Turtle Sunday at Randy's Frozen Custard, becoming my tradition. My sister's tradition is a Blizzard at DQ in Lebannon which is not bad either. The roads in and around the lake have changed a lot. The Lake is not as appealing to me as it used to be, I'm not a crowd fan anymore.

It got really hot after lunch. I called my cousin, Susan and she was able to meet me in Fulton for a nice visit to catch-up. It was so nice to see her again. I bet I drank about 6 diet Pepsi's there! Took the backroads from Fulton to Columbia, stopped and visited Little Dixie Lake where Mark and I had fished many years ago, hadn't changed much.

Had a wonderful evening with my old friends Mark & Jo in Columbia. Mark has become a chef of sorts, made some great steaks, corn on the cob, and salad. Yum! We visited and visited and visited. Mark made cakes and eggs for breakfast, and good coffee, too! We are planning to hook-up again soon for some fishing.

Grand Canyon Trip Day9

Left Woodward, OK at 7am on the last leg of the journey. Cool and clear again. Except for a shower on day 1, the rest of the trip has been dry.

I'm pleased to report to you that eastern Oklahoma is nice country! The grass and crops were green, there were hills, trees, wildlife, and towns. I plan to come back some day, will start on highway 60 as it was nice to me today.

I would like to give glory and praise to God for giving us a good trip and keeping us safe the whole way!

I made many new friends, and have no regrets going on the trip. Group riding, I will warn you, is a little slower and you stop where and when the group wants to. Thanks to everyone who rode with me and helped make my trip memorable. Special thanks to my roommate, Roy, who is so easy to get along with, I appreciate you.

Rode 327 miles today, 3035 miles total for the trip, rode in 7 states, and crossed the continental divide twice. Lowest temp was 37 and highest was 104.

It was so incredibly good to get home and hug my wife, daughter, and dog. No sign of the boy yet, but will hug him when he shows up. Next, I will see if I remember how to drive a car!

Grand Canyon Trip Day 8

Had no good photo opps today, so here is a pic of the T-shirt I picked-up in Bellmont, AZ

Left Pueblo, CO today at 7am to head home, will take two days to get there. The weather once again was cool with clear skies. The scenery wasn't scenic, it was eastern Colorado and western Oklahoma, a bit on the plain side. Feeling a bit fatigued, and without good things to look at, staying awake was at times difficult for all of us.

When we pulled into Boise City, OK for lunch, we were suprised to see Scott and Nancy there! They had ridden out the night before so that they could ride back with us and spend some time with us. It sure was nice to have them with us again, sure did buoy our spirits. (Scott and Nancy are the owners of Cycle Connection in case you didn't know that)

The afternoon riding in OK was sick hot, we were toasted by the time we stopped for the night in Woodward. We ate pizza together in the lobby rather than go back out into the heat. Rode 408 miles today, have 308 still to go. Joplin here we come!

Grand Canyon Trip Day 7

Day 7 started with clean jeans, every 3rd day! Once again we had perfect riding weather--cool, crisp, sunny blue skies! Headed east on highway 50 and rode in the mountains, smelling the pine trees, enjoying the fresh air.

Our first stop was Cimmaron Canyon, steep cliffs, narrow pass, sharing the canyon with a stream.

Next, we came to Lake Fork, a lake that we rode next to for some 15 or 20 miles or so. Then it changed to the Gunnison River Canyon, then a wide, green valley until we got into Gunnison.
Did I mention the weather was perfect, the rodes were ideal, the sun was shining, it was cool, and we were surrounded by beauty every where we looked.

Started a long, twistie climb up the mountains until we got to Monarch Pass, which is the Continental Divide. We had lunch there, celebrated Roy's birthday (we suprised him, his wife tipped us off and he didn't know we knew). Took our time there, enjoying the snow and pine trees. A few snow balls were thrown. The ride down was fun, a long, twistie downhill run. By the time we got to the bottom it was HOT! Stopped and took off the cold weather gear and got ready for the heat. Rain clouds were starting to form, so we ran as fast as we could and got away from them, only to see our next obstacle come into view.

SMOKE! There were some fires, and the canyon in front of us was smokey. We tied bandanas over our noses and mouths and rode through it, not too bad really. The canyon we were riding trough had us next to the Arkansas River, the same canyon you see if you visit Royal Gorge. Watched the rafters on the river and saw trains on the train tracks.

Then it was just plain, super hot, drab landscape the rest of the way into Pueblo where we are spending the night. Nice to get in earlier today and cool off some. Traveled a meer 230 miles today, 2300 so far for the trip. Tomorrow we shart the long drive towards home.

Grand Canyon Trip Day 6

Best night sleep yet, loved the pillow at the Desert Rose Inn.

We had breakfast at this diner a couple miles down the road from where we stayed.
Tip of the day: tie a red bandana on the back of your bike somewhere to flap in the wind and cause you to be seen better by the car drivers (tip courtesy of Ken).

Riding through Utah this morning, warm enough to start the day in T-shirts. The Utah landscape is still very harsh, dry, and vast. They have signs that warn you to watch for cows and horses--we saw some of both. Also noticed jack-rabbit as a common road-kill. We crossed the San Juan River, a good sized river with a ribbon of green growth along both sides, a start contrast to the desert.

We stopped at "Four Corners", where Utah, AZ, NM, and Colorado meet. Happens to be on Indian land, so they charge you $3 per head to come in and see it, and then surround you with booths selling Indian souvenirs. The souvenirs were reasonably priced, though.

Stopped at the Mesa Verde National Park, a winding road takes you to a high elevation there in Colorado. We saw these wild horses. Roy had a bear run across the road in front of him. We spent a little too much time in there looking at these cliff dwellings (see pic below)

Stopped in Durango next, went to the Harley Davidson dealership, not a very nice one.

Then embarked on the last leg of todays journey, a 2 hr and 45 min ride through two mountain passes to get to final destination of Montrose. The concern was that the passes are closed at sundown, and we just had 3 hrs to make it through. We went high up winding, mountain roads, though the pass and down to Silverton, was super scenic, though.

I took this pic in Silverton. Then over the 2nd pass (longer and scarier) to end at Montrose. We saw flashing signs warning of elk that could be on the road, and we actually saw 2 or 3 elk. There was snow up in the mountains, and it was very cold, dawned our warmest gear. Rolled in about 8:35, quick snack, then get ready for bed. We went an even 300 miles today. Tomorrow we head toward Pueblo, CO.

Grand Canyon Trip Day 5

Tip of the day: dirty clothes can make a good lumbar support when placed in a pocket of your lugage near your back.

Left Flagstaff at 7am today and headed south to Sedona. The run down the canyon was a blast! Started off rather cool, but by the time we got to the bottom at Sedona it was hot! We saw folks with umbrellas at 8 in the morning!

This picute is out of order, it is the Sunset Crater Volcano, we stopped to see it north of Flagstaff, there was lava flows, black sand, the whole nine yards!

In Sedona, we said goodbye to Ken. He was formerly from Joplin, but now in Texarcana, TX. He joined us in Amarillo to ride with old friends for a few days. Our ride was enriched in many ways by Ken. Hope to see him again some day.

Here is a shot outside of Sedona in Red Rock Canyon. From there, we headed north again. The cars tried to run us over on I-17. We could ride 80 mph and still too slow for them, they would come right up behind and tailgate us, cut into us, it was tense!

North of Flagstff on our way to Utah, we stopped to see the Wupatki ruins. These were aboriginal people who lived in this area almost 800 years ago.

The desert we rode through was so harsh, so hot! I was glad that I always bring a small cooler on my bike with some cold water. A person wouldn't last very long out here if stranded.

In Utah, we rode through Monument Valley on our way to Bluff to stay the night. Utah wowed me, in that it is so big, vast harsh, and deserted. We had the roads all to ourselves--not many people live out here.

This is David and Carol, we were almost done, and we were pretty hot, dusty, and tired. The showers sure did feel good! We rode 359 miles today. Tomorrow we head into Colorado.

Grand Canyon Trip Day 4

Day 4 and that means clean jeans! Clean pair every 3rd day.

Did I mention we're staying at the Hilton? It's nice! Had a great full breakfast today.

Was a chilly 35 degrees at sunrise and about mid 40s when we headed out at 730am. We were wearing long sleeves, thermal socks, full leathers, and our warmest gloves. Face was only part exposed, but the crisp morning air felt refreshing. The sun was shining bright and the sky was blue. We took a route north from Flagstaff through the mountains on our way to the Grand Canyon.

About 10 miles before we got to the canyon it started warming up and we stopped to get those hot leathers off. The rest of the day was absolutely perfect riding weather. To me it seems that one's senses are five times better on a motorcycle vs. a car--sight, smell, sound, feel, hearing.

The Grand Canyon is just breathtaking in beauty and vastness! We rode a winding route along the southern rim from east to west, stopping at many of the overlooks. I enjoyed the riding as much as the stops to look.

Oh, I took a lot of pictures for sure, but showing you a couple. We were early and beat the big crowds. At one spot as we pulled in (it is a sight when 14 Harley Davidsons come roaring in) we saw about 12 girls excitedly waving at us. They were all from France and were spellbound by our bikes, wanted to sit on them and take pictures. Ken put one on the back of his bike and gave her a short ride, the look on her face was like a kid at Christmas! Ken got kisses on both cheeks afterwards, and had to pose for lots of pictures. All day long people came by and looked and took pictures of our bikes. Are we living their dreams?

This is a picture of a tower at the east end that you can climb to get a great view. Joyce and Shirley are cutting up a little. The group has gotten to know each other pretty well by now and are therefore having more fun!

We stopped at a pizza place after we left then canyon for lunch, then a nice leisurely ride south towards Williams.

Stopped at the Grand Canyon Harley Davidson dealership between Williams and Flagstaff on I-40. Most bought souvenier T-shirts. Mear minutes after we parked, three couples from Pittsburgh, Kansas pulled in. David recognized them and their bikes, he remembered selling them. It's a small world.

Tomorrow we will leave Flagstaff and head south to Sedona, then north to Monument Valley in Utah. Bring it on! I think I'm getting into my biker groove, when after a few days of living on a motorcycle, you get to be real comfortable on it. It is so much fun!

Grand Canyon Trip Day 3

Got another 8am start today, it was 50 degrees with sunny, blue skies. Didn't take long for the day to warm up and get HOT! And yes, it is still windy, we just deal with it. The air here is so dry, our noses are getting dry from being in the wind. I'm sure if you camped here there would be no dew in the morning.

Our first stop was the painted desert and petrified forest. We're talking really beautiful riding! We met lots of other bikers, talked to some from Germany, France, and South Africa!. Apparently Route 66 is a poplular destination for foreign biker tourists. We met a couple riding from Monett, MO, too. Motorcycling is really a very social, friendly bunch.

This is just a pic of our bikes parked at an overlook in the desert.

This is my roomate, Dave. Our second trip rooming together, we get along well.

Our second stop was Winslow, Arizona, where we "stood on the corner." There was an old flatbed ford there, too, in case you were wondering.

Next we went to the Meteor Crater, a big hole in the ground. The altitude was 5780 feet. The clouds rolled in and we rode the last leg for the day, a 45 min trek up to Flagstaff, we gained about 2000 more feet in that distance, it cooled off a lot more, and now we can smell the pine trees. We rode around 200 miles today.

Tomorrow we head out at 0730 to see the Grand Canyon itself. Supposed to get down to 39 degrees tonight. I brought warm clothes, but hope it warms up fast.