Off to the twisty fun in Arkansas.

Day 1 N. Texas to Eureka Springs (414M)

I woke up before the alarm and ready to hit the road. I have been unemployed for a couple of weeks and the weight of the world has been on my shoulders. I really needed a break and this is what the doctor ordered. We had decided to meet at the Starbucks on Bethany and 75. We would have kick stands up at 7AM. We wanted to get out of the metro-plex as fast as possible. When I arrived around 6:30, Rob was already there drinking a cup of coffee and ready to start the day. Herman showed up a few minutes later. There was that excitement in the air. The start of any road trip always makes me feel great! By the way I love that feeling. I know it may seem corny, but these types of rides are the reason I love motorcycling. Jackie was going to be joining us in Paris Texas as it was closer and easier to get to from his side of town.

We loaded up and hit the road right on time. Another Arkansas trip was underway. We were meeting Jackie at Nancy’s café in Paris. No one in the group had eaten there in the past so we did not know what to expect. Jackie was already in the parking lot when we arrived. We got to the café around 8:30AM. The food was very good and very cheap. I ate 2 eggs, sausage, has browns and biscuits for under $4.00! Not a bad deal at all.

We always take pretty much the same route to get out of North Dallas. We run down 75 to 121 then head over to 82. We leave Paris and jump on FM 195 to 37 thru Idabel and then jump on 259 heading into Oklahoma. We usually head over the Talimena Scenic drive, but the weather was looking very dark up that way. We have done more rides than I can remember in the rain up there so we decided to go on 8 across the valley into Mena. We got some rain showers but it was not bad. The ridge was getting pounded. The scary part was the lightning. For a few miles it seemed like it was all around. We stopped in Mena and fueled up and had a drink at the local Sonic. The rain was nice as it really cooled things off some. Herman did have to cover his radio and Radar detector, so we stopped on the side of the road and let him do it. (more on this later) The ride was nice and the weather cleared up right after we left Mena. I tried to take some pictures, but I was very bad at it. I am used to Jamie sitting on the back and documenting the journey. Well she could not come with us, so I tried taking pictures while riding. I put my camera on a lanyard and had it around my neck. When I thought it was safe, I would turn it on (hard to do in gloved hands) and try and snap a few. The results were mixed.