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.