8-8-13 (Day 15 - Back to the Ross Barnett Reservoir)

We traveled a couple of hours today to our campsite on the reservoir. Ferny meowed almost all the way.  She hates it when her vacations end.

After getting the camper parked, we went to Salsa's for lunch.  After 4 hours of working in the heat we got things back in order.  Lauren informed me that I need to choose a cooler time of year for our vacations.

We sat around with friends lasts night and had take out from Penn's on our patio.  A great meal, with great friends, and a wonderful view.

Just think, when I work, I have to stay here.  Dang, life is good!!!!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/CJpcZNzVjMvaWEaQ7

8-7-13 (Day 14 - Poverty Point)

It's  HOTTTTTT

 

We left around 10 clock this morning from the mountain top at Queen Wilhelmina Campground..  Lauren was able to hook up the camper without any complications.  He felt like a pro!!!!  He only sweated a little bit when the sun beamed down on him at the dump station.

Lauren decided to take the 1.5 mile, 14 degree stretch of road that we took when we entered the campground a few days ago instead of the route that is a 13 mile stretch of downhill curves.  No brainer.

Lauren sighed a sigh of relief a little while later when he was faced with straight aways and flat country.  He loves riding the slopes and curves on the Harley, not a good thing in a truck pulling a 38 foot camper.

We rode for about  6 and a half hours and stopped at Poverty Point Campground in Delhi, Louisiana,  The state I was born in and retired from.  WOOHOO!! 

Ferny demanded to come out as soon as we got the camper set up.  She didn't last long.  She finally came back out around dark.  It was way too hot for a cat with that much fur.

We sat outside with a fan blowing on each of us.  When the temperature dropped from 99 degrees to 96 degrees we took a short stroll and looked at the lake.

We plan to go to the Rez and set up the camper tomorrow.

8-6-13 (Day 13- Scenic Talimena Drive)

We were supposed to get up early again this morning.  It didn't happen.  We got breakfast at The Royal Meal Trolley across from our campsite and headed out around 10.  We had a nice, hot, day to ride.  Although, when we were on the mountain it was a lot cooler than the valley.

We got on the Talimena Drive just outside of the campground. We were in Oklahoma in a very short time. 

We stopped at the Visitor's Center at the end of the Talimena Scenic Drive in Oklahoma.   We only saw 2 motorcycles on this stretch of ride.  They passed us twice. 

The views at the vistas were pretty, but after a while they looked about the same.  Lauren wanted to bypass some of them, of course, I insisted we stop at each one.

We took a nice ride through the town of Talihina then on to the Indian Highway.  Another pretty, curvy, road.  There were numerous signs of Big Foot Crossing.  We never saw him.

When we got here last night our water hose was not long enough to reach the faucet.  We used the reserve in the fresh water tank last night.  We stopped in Mena, Arkansas and bought a hose.  We got back on the Talimena Drive and completed the 13 miles loop we had missed this morning.

We returned to camp and walked to the train depot.  We had a milkshake, then took a 2 mile ride on the train.  Lauren tried his best to get out of this.  He didn't.  The engineer was nice enough to take our picture. You can tell by the picture he really enjoyed it!! 

They are building a new lodge and we were told by the engineer that there has been evidence that a bear or bears has been in the area.  We didn't see one.

I was planning on hiking the Lover's Lane Trail while we were here.  During the train ride the engineer told us about a woman that went hiking on this trail a few years ago and disappeared.  It is a mystery of what happened to her.  After hearing this story, hearing about evidence of bears in the area, and seeing Big Foot Crossing signs.  I decided to skip this hike.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/twR4zUJpFR8MbWVM7

8-5-13 (Day 12 - Queen Wilhelmina)

It took a while to maneuver the truck and camper out of the tight spot at Shady Oak Campground this morning.  Thankfully, we didn't tear up anything getting out.

Lauren has wanted an upgrade for our camera for about a year now.  Guess what, he got his wish.  I accidently dropped the camera on the pavement at a Wal-Mart in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  The camera we have had for 4 years is done.  OUCH!!!!!!!

It is the camera that I took pics through Stugis, Mount Rishmore, Cody, etc.

This camera also took our pictures at Yellowstone, Glacier National Park. etc.

Not to mention, it is the camera of OUR Alaska adventure.

We were broken hearted when we realized that this camera was DONE!!!

We saw a Best Buy and pulled in.  Lauren told the sales girl that we needed a new camera because we were on vacation and His wife broke ours.  She laughed. Thought he was kidding.  He wasn't.  Unfortunately.....

Before we went into Best Buy we decided to put Fernykat in the camper so she wouldn't be hot.  She decided to play hide and seek.  We couldn't find her when we got back.  She climbed under our bed, that is usually slid out.  Lauren had his flashlight and tools to dismantle the bed.  Thankfully, her highness decided to make her appearance before Lauren dismantled the camper .

We made it to the campground at Queen Wilhelmina State Park after about 5 1/2 hours.  It was a long ride.  It is very nice park,

Fernykat loves it.  If  Fernykat is happy, everybody is happy!!!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/T8iVCmaL8WnDSYho6

8-4-13 (Day 11 - Rained Out)

Rain early

 

Fernykat had enough of us sleeping this morning.  She jumped on me and meowed as loud as she could.  Glad she did. It was almost 8 o'clock.

It was really humid this morning.  We decided to wait and see what the rain was going to do before taking off on the motorcycle. We didn't ride.   It started raining around 1 pm. 

We washed clothes, stocked up at Wal-Mart, and loaded the Harley in the garage.  We stopped at McDonald's on the way back from Wal-Mart.  I had a dip cone and Lauren had a caramel shake.  It wasn't the dip cone that Zesto makes, but it was okay.

We took advantage of the cooler temps and built a wonderful campfire tonight. 

We are heading toward the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line tomorrow for a few days.  We are planning on riding the Talimena Scenic Drive. Fortunately, the prediction is for a lower chance of rain.   Unfortunately, the prediction is for the high temperature of around 102 degrees.

It has only been in the 90's and hot one day during the last week.  Most days, the temps have been staying in the low 80's.  Today it was in the mid 70's.  We are going to melt!

I hope our Fernykat alarm clock for the next few days goes off early enough to beat the heat.

campfire at the end of the day

8-3-13 (Day 10 - Ozark Moonshine Run)

 Grand Canyon Of the Ozarks

When we heard thunder at 6 a.m., we thought we were in for the day.  We weren't.  It cleared up around 1:30 and off we went.

We went around curve, after curve, after curve.......  Another pretty ride on some pretty curvy roads, on a pretty day, in Arkansas.

We looked up and saw a hawk flying above us with a snake in his claws.   Needless to say, there is no picture. I was too busy praying that he wouldn't drop it. 

We might get another ride in tomorrow if Mother Nature will let us.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/TfG9pw5xoyhTumZcA

8-2-13 (Day 9 - Branson, Mo.)

Peel Ferry Ride Across Bull Shoals Lake

We had another great day of riding today.  We rode the Peel Ferry Route. This loop extends from Harrison, Arkansas to Branson, Missouri .   It is 110 miles with 378 curves plus a few more miles and curves we added to the loop.

We left around 9:30 and got back around 3.  It was a cloudy day.  We packed our rain gear and helmets.  We didn't need the rain gear, but needed  the helmets in Missouri, state law.

We saw a buck with really big horns close to the Arkansas/Missouri state line.  Luckily, he saw us coming and decided not to cross the road in front of us.

The ferry ride across Bull Shoals Lake on the Peel Ferry was fantastic. The guys running the ferry were really nice.  The ferry started after part of Arkansas Highway 125 was covered with water when the White River was dammed up to make Bull Shoals Lake.   

Our timing of the ferry was perfect.  We arrived, was the first to load, waited about 10 minutes, then departed across.  There was only one pickup truck on the ferry with us. 

We rode around Branson and Table Rock Lake.  We stopped to eat at The Great American Steak and Chicken House, home of the tallest chicken.

We had a lot more traffic to deal with today in Branson and Harrison than we usually have.  This loop was well worth dealing with the traffic.  We enjoyed the ride today, but prefer the winding country roads over the congested roads in the towns. 

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/P2siBoCTMVNM7eiA7

 

8-1-13 (Day 8 - Eureka Springs Backroads Route)

The day started overcast and a little cool.  The sun came out and the temps got in the low 80's.  Perfect motorcycle riding weather.

We road the Eureka Springs Backroads Route.  According to the brochure this loop is 132 miles with 571 curves.  It took us 6 hours to make the loop. There was a lot of pretty scenery on this route. 

We had read in the brochure that there were elk in Ponca.  I didn't think we would see them this time of year.  I was pleasantly surprised when we saw several elk in a field. 

Eureka Springs was a bigger town than I expected.  It had a lot of shops.  We saw a couple of deer in town.  We stopped at the Pig Trail Harley Davidson shop in Eureka Springs, of course, I had to have a shirt.

We had a nice picnic lunch by a creek in Berryville.  We made it back to camp and went to Wally World to buy chicken to grill tonight.

After grilling and eating  our chicken, we turned on the TV.  We found Magnum PI and watched 2 episodes.  This brought memories of when we were newlyweds.  We would watch Magnum PI while eating Pork Chops and Stove Top Stuffing in the living room at the coffee table.  I thought Stove Top Stuffing was delicious.  Lauren was not quite as enthused about it.

Unfortunately, the chance of rain goes up starting tomorrow through next Wednesday.  Hopefully, it will wait till nighttime to rain.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/wtSk8fTKBPWcPvLN6