My trip to the VA and more

I made it to the VA on time. Left home at 0700, was at the VA from 0900 till 1100. I road to Little Rock on I-40 to Morrilton then took 9 and 10 on into LR.

On the way, I noticed this cool new shopping center with Roman, Arabic, English and French influences. Its called the El Promenade along Chenal Parkway, it has an IMAX theater.

Coming back on 10, I made a detour to the North on 113 then 60 to Conway. Hwy 113 is all good, but I made the video below of my favorite part. Turn down the sound. I still haven't taken the time to fix my loud mic.

If I'm not mistaken, this old building was very near the Little Italy cuttoff.

After turning right on 60 heading into Conway. I found this old church at New Dixie, Ar.

The St. Boniface Catholic Church, Established 1879. http://www.dolr.org/parishes/parish.php?id=88 I thought it was a nice looking old church. Interesting, with some old bells outside and the graveyard on one side. By the way, I don't really care what kind of church it is, it could be a Muslim Masque for all I care. I just like history and taking pictures.

I visited my brother at the new Caldwell Toyota/Scion http://caldwell-toyota.com/Default.aspx. Which by the way is the first "Green" Car Dealership in Arkansas. They don't even have water in the urinals, how they work, I don't know.

After having a free coke and coffee on them, I took 60 W to the road that cuts through the mountain to 64. At 64, I made a West turn and then a left onto 319. At the end of this section of 319 is Cadron Settlement State Park. Below are two links. http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1107 http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Village/7020/cadronpost.htm

The Cabin. Another view of the cabin.

You can probably see a tent shelter in the pic, which had some tables beneath it. They had something going on earlier in the day. The kiln was smoking hot and there was a campfire still smoldering.

Interesting, this was once the site of a court house. Am I reading this right? There was a massacre here in 1814. The Rebs last stand this side of the Ark River happened here? Also the Trail of tears, A french outpost, and a steam boat landing? Wow, this place really does have a wealth of history associated with it. Below are the plaque from the house. This is a park that for some reason I had never been to. To tell you the truth, I never even thought about a highwaybeing there, much less a state park. Its easy to miss. When on Highway 64 going East from Menifee, watch closely as you cross the bridge over Cadron Creek, 319 is to the right. Its a few miles out to the park. Not a very big park, but interesting with a log cabin with an informational walk including plaques about the history of the area, a river boat dock, bike trails, camping spot, pavilions, etc. This is a view looking West up the Arkansas River. Is that the Loch Ness monster in the lower left? (no its a bouy)

4 Days till BBBQ

If you don't count today or the day it starts :).

Something strange going on

On Sept. 15th, I put a post on my family blog with the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb". I found out on Sept. 17th, that Rick Wright, one of the founding members of the band had died on the 15th. I've always said Pink Floyd is probably my favorite band of all time.

Hmmmm, weird, I haven't even been listening to any of their music lately.

Then yesterday, on the way to work. I noticed I needed gas. I thought to myself, "what if I put the gas in and then did'nt have my debit card with me?". Well, I put the gas in at William's Mini Mart and well, you've probably guessed what happened next. Someone had borrowed my card. Luckily the lady inside let me charge it. She said since Mitch knows where to find me it would be ok :).

Coincidences, right? I guess now I'll be on the alert for any more premonitions. Not that I'm superstitious or anything like that.

I'll be riding to the Little Rock VA in the morning, maybe I'll get some pics.
http://www.veterans.arkansas.gov/index.html

Maybe I have a strange sense for what is interesting.

Maybe so, I decided to find more information on the Conway County Library (which I had mistakenly called the Morrilton Library). Turns out theres more to the place than one would expect. You can learn more about it by clicking the link below.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1B7C

Conway County Library, A Carnegie Library. Building completed in 1916.
This is a monument to a World Two Hero.

The Conway County Courthouse.
A little bit of History.

The Dirt Road

Zach asked about the dirt road I mentioned.
When you go North on 103 (one of my favorite rides) towards Oark, Hwy 215 cuts off to the West a shortly before reaching Oark. Its a good highway that goes all the way to the pig trail. The only thing about it is the dirt portion. Its only about a mile at the most. I heard the reason its not paved all the way is because of a one lane bridge that would be too expensive to replace. I was told they were going to leave it dirt so people would slow down to the one lane. Who knows, anyway unless its been paved since 2006 then its still dirt. Its a good dirt road though, don't worry about it.

This is the bridge across Hwy 215 between Oark and the Pig Trail (Cass, Ar.). Hwy 215 follows the Mulberry River.

7 Days till BBBQ

Zach says he likes the idea of leaving at 0900. Sounds good to me. PDQ @ Hwy 7 and I-40. Thats a good spot, if we have to wait awhile before leaving, we can go down to the Honda place and have a coffee and spend some money.

8 Days Till BBBQ

It was about 53 degrees this morning when I road home from work. I remembered something, I remembered that when it gets below 60 degrees, especially if there is a wind and some humidity, it feels cold. Anyway it doe's to me, because I am inherently cold natured. Also, my hands get really cold, even with good gloves. I think it has something to do with almost getting frostbit while in Alaska, on more than one occasion.

Maybe we should leave at 10 am. What do you think? We would still be in Fayetteville by check in time at the motel. I just really want to enjoy the ride and I can't when I'm cold. I guess I've gotten soft, but hey I ride a Honda nowadays, so I've got an excuse right?
Cindy is really going to be mad at me for saying that, she'll probably blow a gasket on the way to work tonight.

9 Days till BBBQ 2008

Only 11 days till our group loads up and rides NW to the greatest event in Arkansas. We're leaving on the morning of the 26th at 0800 hours. We'll probably meet at the PDQ, I-40 and Hwy 7. Sounds like a good place, food, coffee, etc. If anyone has a better idea, let me know.
Do we want to get there quick or go the scenic route?
If it's quick then its I-40 to 540 North. If it scenic, I'm thinking maybe I-40 to Clarksville, then 103 to Oark, 215 to 23 and 16 to Fayetteville. Sounds confusing but I've done it before. We will need to ride on about one mile of dirt on 215. I don't think that should be a problem, its not much and its never been muddy that I can remember.

It does'nt matter to me, those of you that are going, try to let me know what you want to do so we can have a plan before leaving instead of figuring it out at the meeting point.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is going to cooperate with us as it usually does. It's only rained on me one time in the six times I've went. Of course if its pouring, I mean pouring like dangerous riding, then we may need to wait for awhile before leaving.
If its like 50 degrees, I would probably like to just get the ride over with.
We'll just play it by ear. I think everyone that may be going knows how they can get in touch with me. Mike, Mike and Mike can get touch with Zach if theres a question.
I believe things are going to work out right. Its going to be a good break, a wild one as usual but a good one. I'm taking tylenol this time. I could use a gas mask around the Days Inn with all the rubber and fuel being burnt there.