Bikes and Banjoes.....Deliverance....

[BA80]

That's abolutely right about the fisheye not showing how it really is. That first video, I haven't been to the second one yet, is pretty much all going up a steep hill and if you watch the signs along the road you can see that the recommeded speeds on a lot of them is 10 or 15 MPH. They are banked pretty good though so you can hit them pretty hard. Well, unless they are oily.

And the reason I didn't see the hand signals is it was uphill around a hairpin and the grass was tall enough I could just see Daves helmet. That's what I was looking at when that oil patch snuck up on me.

[trbig]

As I said, I didn't get many pics this trip for some reason. Some of us left out and met Thursday night in Harrison, Arkansas. Bob from Iowa, Arlan from Minnesota, Russ from Kansas, Harry from Missouri, and me and my son from Oklahoma.

Friday morning, we rolled out and got stopped by construction, which then caught us in a long line of cars. So, we pulled off for a pic and let the cars go ahead.









Harry marking his territory. You know what the sound of running water does to a guy!














Arlan at one of the overlooks we stopped at...









Back on the road to Petit Jean State Park.









There are some nice views at the top of the park. Here's my son, David, out on one of the rocks... buzzards circling.









Further on in the park, there's usually a nice waterfall, but the area was pretty dry, and I think more liquid was coming out of this can than there was over the falls.














We were going to go to Magazine Mountain, Arkansas' highest point, when we ran into a thunderstorm. We decided the tallest point in the state wasn't the best place to be during lightning, so we went around and headed to Eureka Springs where we met up with the others. Ivan from Kansas, Greg from Oklahoma, Vince from Kansas City, and Brent from Georgia all showed up for a total of 10.

Next morning, before we rolled out, I got a shot of a real biker's odometer. Make all the Harley cracks you want, but considering Brent has 3 bikes he rides, that's a ton of time on the saddle. There are no decimal points in that number.









We rolled out of town and basically just tore up some great roads. Here's a couple as we left town... I couldn't get everyone in the pic due to stragglers. Ride your own pace was the motto for the day.














Later, before we ate, we stopped at the overlook where we spread Bob Jones' ashes a few years back. Here's my son and Ivan. I was lucky to get a pic of Ivan smiling here.. He's not normally so happy.














Me and my son... Good times for me, hopefully for him also.














So.. not any group pics or anything. I was slacking.. and just riding. This was a great ride.. ranks among the best. Can't wait to meet up again with you guys.

[cruiser]

After Bob Falter and I met up with Russ and Harry in the middle of Missouri we all headed south to a ferry crossing in Bull Shoals Arkansas. Hwy 125 was my first experience with the much talked about Arkansas roads and by the time we reached the ferry crossing I sensed a huge grin on my face. It was one of many I had over the course of the weekend.




We ended up in Harrison Arkansas for the evening after a long trip from Minnesota and Iowa waiting for Trbig and his son David to arrive. Friday morning Tod led us over many great roads heading south, stopping at places I’d only seen pictures of from previous trips some of these guys had posted about. I remembered this place from some years back.




A rest stop here


A turkey vulture kept a close eye on us


Ozark National Forest covers a large amount of the land in North West Arkansas with many scenic views




All XS and XJ’s










On to another park in the Ozarks called Petit Jean


Some fantastic views of the Arkansas river and valley but David was looking the wrong way.


Crop dusting bi-plane, zoom is a great help from 5 miles away.


On to another stop called Cedar Falls Park. Not sure what to expect for a water falls in the mountains but did expect a bit more than this. Must be the really dry season huh?


A wider shot of the falls on the right and the erosion effects of many thousands of years. Look closely or you will miss it.


Pictures don’t show the real depth of this hole carved out so maybe this will give some more perspective. Yes those are people down there.


We made it to Eureka Springs Apple Blossom Inn by evening and the back yard or holler off our deck is a feeder to draw the wildlife. No not you Greg !!!! We had the whole group here together now. 10 riders total.


Saturday another batch of new roads and some of the ones we traveled Friday. We stopped at an overlook of Arkansas’s version of Grand Canyon and the site of the spreading of Bob Jones ashes a few years ago. Having talked to him by phone some years back but never having the chance to meet him, I felt a bit humbled here. I had a sense of him looking down with a big grin on his face looking at the group of Yamahas.


Ya this is me.


My traveling partner Bob Falter from Iowa.


We stopped for lunch a few miles down the road at the Cliff House.
Brent always has a smile on his face, a great guy and one of the first XS riders along with Bob Falter I met years ago.






A great trip to ride with great friends in a great area with awesome roads and little traffic. It doesn’t get much better. Thanks Bob for putting this together.