Ozarks 2025

  All good things must come to an end, and on this trip our journey ended prematurely due to rain. The heavy rain and thunderstorms do not mesh with heavy motorcycles on mountain roads. And besides, there is much less to see. Accordingly, we called an audible, and ended the trip early. The Heritage was delivered to a trailer, and carted away.  With the trip being over, I have some time to reflect on our six days in the Ozarks. The Ozarks have wonderful scenery, but there are scenic roadways but little else (except for the ferry). There are few attractions, and few turnouts which allow us to take photos. This is different from most of our rides. On Route 66 for example, there were many, many things to see along the way. On the Blue Ridge Parkway, there were vistas around every corner.  I was impressed by the smells/aromas. Heading up to Missouri, there was the smell of burning wood. And even the sweat smell of burning corn husks. There were pine forests, with the light sme...

  This was clearly the best day of the trip, although the morning started a bit rocky.  Magellan brings a portable hair dryer to de-water his boots after riding in the rain. Following on his wisdom, I wanted to bring a portable hair dryer as I don't like wet feet either. And Sugar Magnolia graciously lent me hers.  The water infiltrating my brand new, waterproof, Gore-Tex boots was so severe, that I used the portable hair dryer on them.  What I didn't realize is how hot that little sucker gets, until I saw that the hair dryer had melted into my boot. Oops. I guess I'll be purchasing Sugar Magnolia a new one. Maybe I can find one that is used? Or, maybe she won't notice!!! Second, we're at breakfast enjoying ourselves and having a brief chat about the near disaster yesterday. An old woman walks up to us and declares: "Y'all be careful out there. A motorcyclist was killed last night by a car which didn't see him. Be safe." And then she turned and wal...

 We began the day in the rain. Yes, the rain. When you ride in the rain, the concern is not just the reduced co-efficient of friction between the tires and the asphalt, but the ability to see. Seeing the roadway is a big issue. Accordingly, when riding in the rain, we tend to drive slower.  We were riding down a two-lane road, with Magellan at point, Ironbutt behind, me in the rocking chair (third), and Buttercup at the tail.  We can see that a white semi coming up behind us is very agitated and wants to get around us. Accordingly, when we encountered a straightaway, the white semi pulled out into the other/left lane to pass all four of us. It was quite a distance to pass all four of us, and the white semi was not accelerating like a race car. It was a curiosity, until a truck came around the bend in the other direction - at highway speed. The other semi flashed its lights and honked its horn, which caused me (and Buttercup) to slow in the event the white semi wanted to p...

  We have nicknamed our newest rider, "Ironbutt." He rides his trike a lot! My day was a bust. I had a long mediation which did not leave much time for travel or adventure. This employment stuff is for the birds. But I still got in 99 miles, for a trip total of 406 miles. By way of comparison, when we rode to Alaska, we did over 700 miles the first day. We were younger then. On the way to Rolla, Missouri, I passed Rambo's church. I didn't stop.

 My fully loaded hog: ready and in the scramble position. When guys get old, they often transition to trikes: Magellan has a spiffy new trike. I'm a purest. The Ozark Mountains are largely found in Arkansas and Missouri: OZARKS Our travels have tracked this footprint. We started yesterday in Memphis, in the very southwest corner of Tennessee, and spent last night in the flatlands.  As we rode north this morning, the flatlands gave way to gently rolling hills. We stopped for our morning respite in Mountain View, Arkansas - which bills itself as the "Folk Music" capital of the world. I am not really sure how "folk music" differs from "Bluegrass," and didn't stick around to find out.  In Mountain View, we broke ranks. The others - all retired - went on a tour of the Ozark foothills. Francois, still being employed, went to a cheezy "motel" (the only one in town) to participate in a mediation. I needed quiet, and an internet connection. You kn...

  It is time for a reunion. Magellan, Buttercup and Francois are riding to the Ozark Mountains. It is also a reunion between Francois and his venerated Harley Heritage Softail Classic!  And we have a new traveling companion in Doug. He just may be the best "Road Captain" we've ever had.  The Memphis airport has self-service beer. How about that: With that, it is off to the Ozark Mountains.  We drove 116 miles today, through fields which looked a lot like Illinois. We are in the flatlands, where they grow rice. We stopped for the night in Searcy, Arkansas - where regular gas is as low as $2.57 per gallon. The B&B is roomy and quaint: We stopped for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant - which was pretty good: all for $14.00. I didn't have a margarita, as we are in a dry county. Before turning-in, we toured Harding University. I had never heard of it, but it is not a small school having 4,608 students in total, composed of 3,497 undergraduates and 1,111 graduate st...