Arkansas

Day 16, Thursday, April 30, 2015

Since we didn’t have J.B., Chuck roomed alone.  My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and I was already awake.  I got up and got dressed.  Jan got up and got dressed also.  We packed our stuff.  I took a couple of bags down to my Motorcycle.  Jan was right behind me.  We then went to breakfast.  It was very busy in the breakfast room.  We weren’t in any hurry.  We were waiting for 9 AM for the shops to open.  A couple of the guys, including me, wanted to go shopping.  We did go shopping.  I was waiting for 10 AM.  My Daughter, Dr. Lori Walfoort, contacted one of her Chiropractors in her Network in Branson.  She told him that she had her Dad (Me), and seven of her “patients” were in Branson.  He told her to send them to him, no charge.  By 10 AM, I was in Dr. Bo Bandy‘s office.  He gave me a great adjustment and when I was done, I felt like I was walking on cloud 9.  My body was reconnected.  My limp was gone and so was my pain.  Jan went with me and watched.  We returned to the hotel and J.B. was there.  He was going to lead us to his house in Hollister.  We left at 10:46 AM.

J.B. led us to his house in Hollister.  We rode for 11 miles and arrived at his house at 11:05 AM.  We toured his house and spoke with Susie.  We left them at 11:33 AM.

Chuck was leading us after getting instruction from J.B. as to how to get out of his residential community.  We got on Highway 65 South and away we went.  As we were riding on Highway 65 South, at 11:46 AM, we crossed over the Arkansas State Line.  We rode for 33 miles and at 12:09 PM, we stopped in Harrison, Arkansas for lunch at Subway.  For being a small town, this Subway was very crowded.  We finished lunch and left at 12:54 PM.

When we left Subway, Chuck took us onto Highway 7 South.  We followed that for 19 miles and stopped in Jasper, Arkansas at 1:18 PM.  We stopped for a short time so that Chuck could look at the map.  He saw what he needed and we left at 1:24 PM.

Chuck led us through some awesome roads.  There were twisties, curves and hills.  We kept the speed up at about 65 to 70 mph and didn’t slow down very much, except when a car or truck got in front of us.  We all passed them and continued the fun ride.  Chuck led; I was next then Jan, Ken and C.E.  Jake and Bruce brought up the rear.  Jake and Bruce, most of the time, were not in sight.  We continued and then stopped at the Rotary Ann Rest Stop of the Ozark National Forest.  We had ridded 35 miles and stopped at 2:00 PM.  Jake and Bruce arrived two minutes later.  We took a break and took pictures of this area.  It was beautiful!  We got ready to leave and did at 2:20 PM.

We continued on this fun ride.  We did the same speed as before and attacked the curves.  The road was great as was the weather.  We rode for 37 miles and at 3:00 PM, we stopped in Russellville.  We had just crossed over I-40 when we stopped at a gas station/mini-mart.  Were a little tired at this point.  I had checked the internet for any hotels in Hot Springs, Arkansas and found several.  We all had drinks and snacks.  We were ready to ride and we left at 3:32 PM.

We were off again.  We rode this fun road again and enjoyed the ride.  We came into Hot Springs.  This town was a lot bigger that we had expected.  We kept riding through the city, and riding and didn’t see the Best Western.  We thought that we ran out of city and it kept growing.  We finally found the Best Western.  Jan and Chuck went into the lobby to “make the deal.”  Jan asked the clerk for the price and was told somewhere in the $80 range.  He asked her about the discounts and was told that the best discount was for Government Rate at $72 a night.  She asked Jan, “What kind of Government?”  Jan showed the lady his Retired Badge and Commission Card.  She charged us $70 a night!  That was great!  I gave her one of my Police Patches.  She was very happy.  We all checked in and rode to our rooms.  We took our bags to the rooms and Ken rode and bought some beer.  I went into my room and started the blog.  Exciting, isn’t it?  I missed out on the fun.  They also cater to the Motorcycle rider.  They gave us towels to wash the Motorcycles and told us that there was a “Hog Wash” on the property.  There was a picnic table next to the ‘Hog Wash’ where the guys sat and drank.  Some of the guys used the “Hog Wash.”

Those who washed their Motorcycles parked them by their rooms and we walked to “Rocky’s Corner” restaurant across the street and had dinner.  When we finished, we walked back and we tucked our Motorcycles in for the night.

Today we rode 328 miles and crossed into Arkansas.  We rode to J.B.’s house and “inspected” it.  It is a nice home.  We had fun on the roads and hope to have more fun tomorrow.  We are down one person.  The line-up for tonight is:  Jan/Ken, C.E./Bruce, Jake solo and Chuck/Me.

Tomorrow we are going to head west towards Oklahoma.  Who knows where we will end up?  We shall see.  So, until tomorrow…