Visited CP

In the latter part of July I decided to pay CP a visit at Otto, Ar. I decided not to run I-40 to Conway then take Hwy 64 East which is the fastest way of getting there. I was in no hurry, actually my intent was to ride or visit all day. Kind of like a mini vacation, and a much needed one at that. I won't go into details of my trip. There just is'nt a straight road North of I-40 to Vilonia (where I would turn South on 107 to Otto). I usually write my road numbers on the palm of my hand and this route took my thumb as well. It was a good ride though, nice weather and good scenary.
At one point I had to wait on a house to be moved across a creek.


I finally arrived at CP's house, we visited for awhile then took a back road to Hwy 5 and turned south to have dinner at a new Hispanic Restaurant at the intersection of Hwy 89 and 5. The food was great, I had the Chile Relano (cheese filled pepper, hmmm hmmm).
Myself and Cindy at Mi Ranchito Restaurant.

Charles with his Ultra Classic.

After dinner, Charles and I went North to M&M's Motorcycle Shop which is at the intersection of Hwy 64 and 5. I could kick myself for not thinking to take pics while I was there. M&M's is a well known shop. They have several things happening there each year, such as cookouts and poker runs. They have built onto there shop and now have a large inventory of used bikes, nice ones and at affordable prices.
I'll go back and get some pics, sometime soon.
After doing our window shopping at M&M's we headed West on 64, CP took the turnoff to his house and I headed on to I-40. It was a good day.

Just a little short clip of the ride towards Conway.

Im losing it.

I finally went for a ride a couple of days ago, but I forgot my camera. I went to Petit Jean Mtn. and it just so happens that Tuesday was the first day of the annual car show. It was a good ride, perfect weather.

Gas

Just thought I would let everyone know that the price of gas has not been conducive to a great blog on motorcycling. To put it lightly, it's just darned expensive for the common man (I'm fairly common)to just ride around. In the past I never thought about the gas I used, now its difficult to overlook.

I'm not giving up on my blog, I'm hoping things will change. If nothing else I may be forced into entering stories and pictures that did not involve my bike. It has'nt reached that point yet, hopefully it never will.

Check out www.facebook.com. Of course my name there is David Collins in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area. It has some fun stuff. If anyone wants to chat, send me a message, offer me a drink or buy me :),check it out.

Never forget

Today, Memorial Day, I remember my Dad, L.B. who was a veteran of the Navy, Marines and the Army. My brothers Robert and Jay were also in the military. Robert was in the Navy and then the Army as an Officer where he retired. Jay did a 4 year hitch in the Navy.


My Dad inspired me to join the Military. I joined the Army National Guard in 1971 and left it to enter the Air Force in 1972, when my enlistment was over I went back into the Guards. In November 1990 I was called to the Persian Gulf War. I was with the 224th Mobile Maintenance Co. out of Russellville, Arkansas. We were camped at Log Base Echo in Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border for most of our time in Saudi. Heres a couple of pics I took with my disposable 35mm camera.
Thats Michael in the hat, Hicks writing a letter.
Michael on the far right, Jay Briggs on the left, with a couple of Brits in a gold store in Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia.



On January 20, 2007, a UH-60 Helicopter crashed in Iraq. Two Arkansans were killed, Michael V. Taylor (in the above pictures)and William T. Warren. Michael was a friend whom I was tented with during the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. He was a good man that could make me laugh when I did'nt even feel like laughing. His loss was a real shock because I thought he had left the Army until I saw his picture on the evening news. Check out the link below for more on Michael.http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mvtaylor.htm

Taking the roads less traveled

Taking backroads can be a good choice. I don't mean any back road, for me it has to be paved. To start out it does anyway, if I run into gravel or dirt, I dont stop, I just roll on. I've been into some really messy spots by doing this but the end result is a great feeling of accomplishment.

In my last post I went to Jerusalem, and I did it by taking back roads when I could, there and back. I'll give you a run down on how I did it even if it doesnt make sense. First of all, all the roads were good paved roads. Even with that being the case there are some safety concerns to consider.

1. Watch out for loose gravel and washouts on these roads.

2. Watch out for people who are pulling out and are not used to seeing traffic.

3. Animals, all kinds, they are a menace, the dogs, guineas, cows, goats, deer. I've had my meetings with all of them.

4. Trees and limbs.

5. Curves that just suddenly appear after topping a hill.

6. Most of all though, watch out for the country driver that does'nt understand why he can't drive on the left side of the road, and of course there are those that are too drunk to know which side is right. These people are everywhere. Thats why on backroads especially, I always top a hill next to the right side and I hug the right side on blind curves. I'm tellin ya these people are a menace and they come in all ages.

Thats just a few of the things I watch out for on backroads. Now, I won't get too detailed about my ride, I'll leave out alot or it will be too confusing. If you would like for me to show you exactly how I did it, we'll just have to go for a ride :).


This is it in a nutshell.


I live on Crow mtn. so I took those country roads to Atkins, I made a left North on 105 there and proceeded on to St. Joe Rd where I made a right (St. Joe is just past the Hwy 326 intersection). I followed it until I made a left on Buttermilk Rd. I ended up at Hwy 124, I went to Appleton, Jerusalem and the Point Remove Bridge across Hwy 124. From the bridge I made a big circle on 124, 247/213 and 213 back to 124 back to Jerusalem. At Appleton again I took a right on Pine Street (just a country road) and followed it to Hector. At Hector I turned right, then left at the Store. I took Elm St. to Gunter Mtn. Rd. which took me all the way to Hwy 164, I made a left and after crossing the old wooden bridge http://bridgehunter.com/ar/pope/M2159/, I arrived at Scottsville where I made a right on Hwy 27 South. A few miles down the road I made a left on Buck Mtn Road and followed it all the way to Hwy 124 where I made a right then a left on Crow Mtn Rd to Home.


All together the ride was right at 100 miles. The scenary was fantastic, I did'nt have to be concerned with semis or tailgaters. A great ride. Heres some pics.

An old bridge on Buttelmilk Road.

Point Remove Bridge on Hwy 124 South of Jerusalem. http://bridgehunter.com/ar/conway/remove-124/

Notice the graffiti on the pylon, could it have been the Outlaws MC?
Cindy at the Point Remove Hunting Club East of Hattieville. This was unexpected, I guess it looks new. I don't know what they hunt here but it has a really nice entrance.
This is the Walnut Grove Cemetary, on Walnut Grove Rd just off of Pine St. I had to go there and search for remnants of that little house on the prairie http://www.littlehouseontheprairie.com/ but I had no luck. It was a big Cemetary though.
Wonder why they called it Walnut Grove?
Thats it for today, I realize these pictures were'nt all that great, I'll try harder next ride.

My trip to Jerusalem

I thought to myself....what to do with seven days off...hmmm..go for a ride to Petit Jean or maybe Mena or Hot Springs? I've been to those places, I wanted to see something different, something kosher. Ahh haaa, I'll go to Jerusalem. What an idea, especially since this is Israel's 60th birthday. Thats right, the state of Israel was founded in 1948 and is still around today.
It was a tough ride, I had some real ostacles to overcome, but I did it and above is the first pic I took after stopping on the shores and on top of that bypassing all of Israel's security forces. I cant believe those motorcycle skis I bought from ACME actually worked as well as they did. The hard part was getting gas and the food was a little salty...here I am though.

All kidding aside, here I am at Jerusalem.

Theres not much to Jerusalem, thats why I only took one picture. The metal siding gas station just did'nt appeal to my Pentax. The town sign didnt say how many people live there but I counted no less than three churches. No Falafel or Shawarma at this Jerusalem but it was a good country ride.

Not far to the West from Jerusalem is Appleton. There was a road sign when going into town that read Mt. Zion...hmmmm...I did'nt see a mountain anywhere close. I went down the road anyway and it came to the Appleton Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was a nice looking old church so Pentax went to work.

The pavement ended at the church so I turned around and went back to the highway. A little ways down the road just after passing Buttermilk road, I saw this nice looking pasture.

I have more pics in my folder, Jerusalem was just the beginning. I'll save them for another day though.

David and Dicks Illinois trip - May, 1980.

My brother Dick and I decided to go on a trip before I got married in June. The destination was Illinois. We camped out... no Motels, it got a little cold at times and a little wet. We didnt take a tent, we slept under the trees and stars.

We took Hwy 27 North from Hector. A light rain started soon after our departure.


The first night out we stayed at Buffalo Point Campground on the Buffalo River.

I like to read a little when I first wake up. Kind of let the fog settle before getting out of the bag.

The next day, we went through Mammoth Springs, Ar. It was a beautiful area, the kind of place I'd like to live. I just wish I'd taken more pictures. Back in those days you had to pay for film and then had to get it developed. Some things have gotten alot better. I take all the pics I want now.


After having a burger at Mammoth Springs, we headed North into Missouri.

At one point on Hwy 13, we crossed Kimberling Bridge.



We did'nt take many pictures in the George Washington National Forest. We just kicked back around the fire, cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmellows. The trip was getting fun after having passed through the rain in Arkansas. I did have some problems with my battery, it wouldnt stay charged. We had stopped earlier in the day at a gas station and had it charged. Luckily, I could easily roll start my bike. It was embarassing but ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get the mission done.

We stayed in the forest that night, this is the only pic I took. Thats me sitting at the campfire.

The next day I believe I stopped at two gas stations to use there battery charger. This was costing me money and time. Most importantly time, who wants to sit around a gas station when there are roads to be ridden. I stopped and bought me a new regulater somewhere along the way, I have forgotten where exactly I got it. The thing is that it solved my problems, for the rest of the trip. Maybe a month later I had to buy another. I was having problems somewhere in my electrical system. I don't think I ever did fix that problem.

A day or so later we arrived in St. Louis and visited the Gateway Arch.
These two pics show the arch and a nearbye old church. Its not important I suppose but thats me standing in the parking lot.


We headed into Illinois next. Our destination was the Cahokia Mounds State Park, Illinois http://www.cahokiamounds.com/cahokia.html.
The mounds were not too far inside Illinois, they were very impressive. The view from atop Monks Mound was spectacular. The surrounding land is flat, its easy to imagine what the leaders of the original inhaditants must have felt like standing there looking out across all their land and subjects.

The pic below gives you an idea of how immense the top of Monks Mound is.

Monks Mound in the background.

Dick and I headed back into Missouri after visiting Cahokia. I know we were in a hurry to put St. Louis behind us. We got back into the mountains as fast as we could.
We stopped at this old barn somewhere along the way.

Not too far South of St. Louis is Elephant Rocks State Park http://www.mostateparks.com/elephantrock.htm.

It was interesting. The largest rock was named Dumbo.

I took my first ride through Branson, Mo. on our way back to Arkansas. It was a lot different riding past Presley's back then. There were only a couple of music places, a two lane highway and very little traffic. That place changed quick and probably because of the price of gas it will change again. I guessing there are going to be alot of shows closing for lack of business.

We camped out at Table Rock Lake. You can get an idea from these pics, what it was like bringing firewood to the campsite. It would'nt of surprised me if Dicks Honda 350 had of flipped backwards. It did'nt though and we enjoyed a good fire all night.




We decided to take Peels Ferry to get across the lake system and back into Arkansas. Peels Ferry the the only operating Ferry in Arkansas and its Free. Look it up on Google map, it crosses Bull Shoals Lake.

What a dork.



We spent the night in Northern Arkansas then it was a short ride down to Eureka Springs.

We spent some time riding around town then headed home. We were gone for five days and four nights. It was a good trip, one we'll always remember.