Belated SFO

[Joe2Lmaker]

Rewind to last Fall.

I'm over at my buddy's house for his birthday. Still feeling guilty for ditching him and my 'other bike' riding buddies so I could go to CFR, I ask "Where are we going next year?"

His Dad replies "How about the Ozarks?"

"Where are those?"

"Missouri, Arkansas"

*thinking to myself* 'Looks like I'm going to be ditching these guys again.'

After looking into it a little more, I have a change of heart and decided to go along with the idea of a tour of the Ozarks.

My FJR riding buddies have met my 'other bike' riding buddies and everyone seemed to get along. I suggested to my 'other bike' riding buddies that we also invite the FJR riding buddies.

Because the 'other bike' rider group out numbered us FJR riders, I didn't push the SFO idea too hard. I just sort of suggested it last Winter and it was voted down. Long after the dates were set, three of the 'other bike' riding crew bowed out. It was going to be three FJRs and one C14 meeting up with a fourth FJR in Arkansas the week after SFO. We didn't know it at the time, but the timing of the trip turned out to be Lucky Coincidence #1.

The weather on the day of our departure was perfect.

I found a truck along the route that my wife would have loved. Unfortunately, I had just bought a F-250 the day before. Lucky Coincidence #2

Not long after spotting the truck, we are crossing the Mississippi... going East! '****!' I think to myself; 'Where the hell is this guy taking us?' I begin talking to myself in my helmet. 'The whole auxiliary tank project has really bitten me in the ass.' 'East?!' 'Into Illinois?' '****, I knew I should have been more involved in the planning of this trip.' 'That'll teach me to sit back and let someone else to all the work.'

I probably wouldn't have had to deal with Satan inside my helmet, but I'm going to blame my wife for that one.

I had all sorts of music loaded on the iPod last year, but my wife has had access to the iPod since then. 'This woman has never made a mixed tape in her life!' (again the voice in my helmet) I can't take it! I swear; 'My wife could work for the FBI, or the ATF!' 'If (my wife) had made the tape for the the FBI, that whole Waco debacle could have been avoided! Koresh and his followers would have run screaming from their compound begging for that music to be shut off!' (again, the voice in my helmet... if there was any doubt)

I try to skip ahead to the next album. I try to use the shuffle. Anything! If it wasn't bad enough to listen to these ****** songs once, the iPod is playing some of the songs twice! What the hell? Did my wife record these twice?

I can't take it! I'm flying down the road with both hands on my jacket zippers and both hands on the iPod trying to skip to ahead. 'If the North Vietnamese had this iPod..'

I've lost one of my riding gloves, I'm traveling across Illinois, listening to songs designed to fill LPs after one decent song. These were unlucky coincidences (coincidii?) #1

We take an exit.

We're traveling in a generally westerly direction, which means we'll be crossing the river again eventually. I'm happy, but our navigator is being told by his Garmin that we need to continue South. We decide to just stay on the road we're on and cross the river into Missouri. The road we're on ends up being the road to the town in Missouri where we have motel reservations. Lucky Coincidence #3. (Lucky Coincidence #3a is the end of the torturous music. Lucky Coincidence #3b is the geography lesson about the path of the Mississippi and the fact that traveling through Illinoyance wasn't that far out of the way.

Day two...

Did I mention we were traveling to the general area where SFO was being held? Well, waking up on Day Two we are on the other side of Missouri and the last of the SFO weather is hanging over the direction we want to travel. We decide to try and duck South and see if we can avoid the heavy rains. We took Hwy 19 in a southwest direction. Very cool road! In Salem, MO the sky is looking blue/gray to the west and we decide to duck into BP to put on our rain gear. <Link> Just as we are standing there, the sky opens up and dumps buckets of rain; mixing in lightening and thunder for good measure. Lucky Coincidence #4

to be continued...

 

[Bugnatr]

Nice fire truck. I use a I-Jet wireless remote mounted on my clutch reservoir to control my I pod so I don't have to mess with it while riding.

No way I would let my wife put her music on my pod.

 

[TCMike]

Great report so far! Now get busy, and finish it up.

 

[Gramps]

Joe, I'll add some content later after I get my **** together...Scooby & I got video of Hwy 19.

Great play by play!

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

Day three, Monday: (I didn't take any photos)

Day four, Tuesday:

Nice weather, right?

I'm content just following the pack, taking it easy.

On a side note, look how clean the bikes are. Sunday we had managed to find, and ride through the trailing edge of the system that generated the thunderstorm that rolled over us in Salem. Of course I'm wearing the same gear that failed me miserably last year. I'm not sure why I thought I would have better results this year. :dribble: On the upside, the cabin Scoobyvroom arranged for us had a washer and dryer. I was able to dry out all of my gear Sunday night. I'm not going to number that on the Lucky Coincidences List. That was no coincidence. That was good planning on Chris' part. :thumbsup:

It turns out that one of the elective art classes I took was not a complete waste of money. I remembered something about vertical elements in the foreground adding contrast and a sense of scale to horizontal lines and vastness in landscape scenes.

In this shot, I tried that again using only the elements the scene provided:

Obligatory 'bikes in front of scenery' shot:

That night we arrived back at the cabin to find 0Face waiting for us. Very cool. ...and then there were five.

Day five, Wednesday:

"CROOKED AND STEEP NEXT 37 MILES..." This looks promising

I wish I had some photos of the road up to Mt Nebo State Park, but this is all I have:

I noticed something while riding through Arkansas. The signs are all shot up. I've seen road signs with bullet holes, bird shot, and even paint ball splatter before. In Arkansas, something was different.

There's enough information in those photos to guess what disturbed me. Can you see it?

Judging from the size of the holes and the close proximity of the dwelling, I'd bet that this little house has been hit more than once by stray bullets/buckshot. This wasn't the only time I saw this. This was the only time I took the time to stop and take photos.

When we got to the end of that perfect, twisty road we stood looking at the maps and weighing our options. A man hollerd at us. He asked us if we want any fresh baked goods. It turns out he is the proprietor of this place:

I only have one more photo to share.

This gentleman taught me a new way to say "**** you".

We were taking turns refueling at this town's only unleaded pump. The guy in the little red truck pulls up at an angle near the pump. I point to Scooby and explain "He's been waiting ..."

"That's awlright. I thenk eetl reach" he says and proceeds to fill up his little truck and his jug.

Here's a link to the Picasa album <Link>

That is all.

 

[0Face]

Awesome pics Joe. :yahoo: When I get it together I'll post up some too.

 

[Gramps]

I must say that it couldn't have been a much better trip.

Ok, I'll just post up some photos since Joe has given a pretty good story line.

Joe kinda disappeared but we found him at the pickup for sale. And yeah he explained why, but I don't think it was about his wife.

Then it was a stop at Pikes Peak Overlook in Iowa.

Getting close to Harrison now, just got to get the hell out of the rain gear.

Home sweet home for the next 5 days.

Sweet little place.

Chef Scooby all week and he just volunteered. Can't beat that.

Bull Shoals dam & reservoir.

Ferry crossing at Bull Shoals.

Hwy 7 south of Jasper...

Mt. Nebo.

Joe out to get the perfect picture.

Afternoon ride to Eureka Springs.

You're up next Chris.

 

[Scoobyvroom]

Well here is what I got.

Leaving for the trip 4:15 in the morning: zeroed out the trip all ready to roll.

Bridge over the river Mississippi:

Pikes Peak in Iowa:

Rain rolling in on Sunday. Better get the gear on.

I give you the Zumo 100:

Just south of Harrison on Monday.

Somthing is not right here...

Just south of Jasper, AR

[Judas_Preist] Breaking the law! Breaking the law!....... [/Judas_Preist]

Eureka Springs:

Eureka Springs the ghost town. Hardly anything was open.

On the way home: Should have gotten closer.

And the group shot:

From left to right: Chris(Scooby), Marc(Gramps), Rick, Joe(Joe2lmaker)

 

[0Face]

You guys got all the good pictures. Here's a few of mine.

I’m in Arkansas:

0Face, Scoobyvroom, Joe2LMaker, Gramps, & Rick

Gramps, Joe2LMaker, Rick

Ice Cream Stop!

 

[fjrchik]

Awesome, excellent ride report! Love the group shot pic! What day did you hit Eureka? I've been there on Mondays in the past and they are pretty quiet. I would imagine Monday- Wednesday is usually just the locals. This year was definitely the busiest I've ever seen Eureka, personally I enjoyed it being a bit busier. So if you found Jasper, I assume that means you found the switchbacks near there? Glad y'all had a good trip!