Five of us went for a ride to the second annual Bikes, Babes and Bling Saturday, We were expecting crowds and motorcycles on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Ar. There were few bikes, few babes and no bling that I could see. For one thing, it was being held at the Washington Co. Fairgrounds. I guess they like fencing the bikers in. When we arrived the gate guard said there were maybe 50 bikes inside. We didn't add to the number. Maybe someday we'll be back if it gets better.



On our way out of Fayetteville we stopped and had lunch at the Golden Corral. You just can't go wrong with Golden Corral, most of the time. Don't ever stop at the one in Muskogee, Ok., it is not good.

The bunch getting ready to leave after a good meal.
In the pic are Zach, Chris, Mike (Cooner) and Mike (Ham). I'm always the one behind the camera.

Old Toyota.

On our way up to Fayetteville, we went via I-40, the Pig Trail and Hwy 16. Leaving we took Hwy 412, 74, 21, 16 and 7.

This is at a roadside park on Hwy 74 between Huntsville and Kingston.

There were a few bikes going by.

At a gas stop in Kingston, Zach decided he was going to make his shirt sleeveless. With Chris yanking on the shirt and a local guy cutting with his pocket knife, this is end result. Definitely cooler, Zach decided he wasn't going to ride with his tit hanging out so he put on his spare tank top.

This is at Rotary Ann on Hwy 7. Everyone tried to get some shade. The morning ride was nice and cool all the way North, the afternoon ride was not.

My self portrait showing my hillbilly air conditioning (notice the water poured onto my shirt).

There was a really big group of bikers that came by, probably at least 50 to 75 bikes. I didn't catch the groups name.

This is my famous helmet camera shot. Notice the new pavement on part Highway 7, very smooth.

Last leg of the ride, going South from Dover. It was a great ride.

Oklahoma visit

Saturday, the wife and I went to visit my Daughter and Son in Law in Muskogee, Ok. No motorcycling on this trip but I need some content on my blog so I'll use what I can.
Saturday morning we went to Paul's Diner in Muskogee. Now I can't tell you how to get there, it's kind of in a out of the way place but I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to get directions. At Paul's Diner I spent $9.46 for two meals, bigggggg meals. They are known for their huge biscuits. I didn't eat again until around 9 pm. The food was excellent, a great choice for anyone traveling to the area. They also have lunch and dinner but breakfast can be ordered at anytime. The place isn't much to look at but the food is fantastic.

The huge biscuit minus one big bite. My Daughter and her Husband look like they're praying, I think they were just thinking how they were going to eat all the food.

I found this nice looking and friendly lady at the Three Rivers Museum.

I just don't understand Shriners.

There was some type of Parade downtown Saturday. We thought it was a Memorial Day parade but there were no military to be seen anywhere. There were a lot of Shriners though and about 50 to 100 people in attendence.

One reason there were not many people attending could be the Muskogee Renaissance Fair that was going on every weekend in the month of May. If your interested, heres the link www.okcastle.com/ .

There is an organ in the trailer being played as they roll along.

Indians.

More Indians.

This three wheeler must belong to his wife or else he's just a colorful Shriner.

The Joe Dirt clown.

The Shriners M/C ?

Cool ride in late May

Today, Zach, Chris and myself went for a ride North and South of I-40. We were going to ride up Hwy 27 to Clinton then back down 65. By the time we arrived at Hector, we had decided it was too cool for a ride in the mountains. We went back West then over Buck Mountain road to 124 and over Crow Mountain. From there it was 247 to Dardanelle and 7 to Ola. We gassed up at Ola then took Hwy 10 to Perry. After all the country road riding it was nice to get on Hwy 10 and twist the grip a little more, Hwy 10 is great for that, being wide and smooth, making it possible to watch for deer, dogs and other hazards.

At Perryville we took another nice road, Hwy 60 East, to Conway. This road does have one left turn going East with a guard railing but the curve is quite a bit more of a curve than you would think, so be ready for that one. I went through there a few years ago and had to help with an injured Motorcyclist on the curve.

When we got to Conway we were hungry. We should have followed the rule that if there are not a lot of vehicles in the parking lot, don't stop.
We stopped because it was New China and I've been to two and they were good so I thought this one would be the same. NOT the same. This place sucked bad. I won't go into detail, just don't stop there, it is bad.
Zach had a Doctors' appointment, so he went on his way and Chris and I rode on back to Russellville via Hwy 64, 113 and over Crow Mtn from Atkins.
We stopped at Morrilton and I took a few pictures of the building that had fallen there not long ago and of the new Caboose at the Train Station Museum.


The building that fell killing a two year old child.


A rare picture of yours Cindy and I.

Pyatt, Everton and more in North Arkansas

This is the way it looked this morning at Rotary Ann, the roadside park just South of Pelsor. The morning was Chrisp and clean with no hint of incoming rain.

We had started North on Hwy 7, Rotary Ann was right at the 38 mile mark.
After a short break to take in the view, we continued North and took Hwy 123 at Lurton. Arkansas's Dragon Tail is a ride no one should miss.

Chris's Wide Glide looking good in the morning Sun, at a pull over on 123. There wasn't a lot of sand and gravel on the road but there was one really bad gravel spot on one of the tightest curves.

A view from the pull over. After a break, we continued on 123, going through Mt. Judea and crossing the Buffalo National River at Hasty landing.

After making a left on Hwy 65 then a right onto Hwy 206, we arrived at Everton, Ark.

I had never been there, it was a really interesting little town.

The old store.

This may have been the old Post Office. The flag pole was old, as was the Confederate flag blowing in the morning wind.

The door of the building had a more modern flag draped across it.

The old Everton Hotel, a huge old building. Next time I'm in the area, if I have time, I'll gonna ask about a tour.

Hwy 206 was a good ride, narrow with shoulders needing mowed. We finally reached the Junction with 125. In front of us was the old Eros, Ar. school house, the new one was next door.

We made a left on Hwy 125, passing the old Eros store and a newer boat. The buildings were all built with small rocks in this town.
We eventually reached Hwy 62 and made a right turn where we would again turn onto 125 N in a few miles.

Making a turn off of 62 onto 62B we crossed a one lane bridge and some railroad tracks and checked out the town of Pyatt. Not much in Pyatt anymore. Some old buildings and houses, which is what I like to photograph. I'll be back again for some more pictures.

Chris on Pyatt's main street.

Heading out the way we went in, on the one lane bridge.

We went back out to Hwy 62, found 125 N again and followed it to Hwy 14.
We made a left to go West on 14 all the way to Hwy 65, where we turned South towards Harrison, Ark.

We stopped at this Chinese place in Harrison. The buffet was very small, I didn't think the food was all that good, but we were hungry and it was good enough.

After eating, we continued on South on Hwy 7.

Which brings me to the "some people are stupid or something category".
We were going around a tight right hand curve just North of Jasper and there were two motorcycles stopped in the road, one was probably 2 or 3 feet out into it. That's all I have to say about that.

Nice view from the pull over South of the Cliff House.

Same pull over, our bikes.

Quite a few riders out today.

Looks likes they're having a good time.

We put over 250 miles on the bikes and if I didn't mention it earlier, most of it was curves.

After one more stop at Rotary Ann, we made it to our homes, it was a good day.

Beebe ride, an attempt to reach Des Arc.

A few days ago, after all the rain, Zach and I attempted to ride to Des Arc. We didn't make it. We met at Morrilton and then rode on to Conway via I-40. We then rode Hwy 64 to Beebe, Ark. Along the way we passed through Vilonia and saw the destruction caused by a recent tornado. I didn't get to take any really good pics due to the time we had for the ride. I can say this though, unless you were there you just can't imagine how much damage was done. It started at the edge of town and went for a while. It must have been a huge tornado.

We stopped in Beebe at the old train station. Apparently the station is now privately owned unless it's rented because it houses an antique shop now.
I guess Beebe is not really into the preserving history ideology.
We took Hwy 31 South from Beebe and then made an East turn on Hwy 38, going through Butlerville and Hickory Plains communities.

About ten miles West of Des Arc we hit water in the road and were told we would need to make about a 21 mile detour to reach Des Arc. Thats where we decided to save Des Arc for another day. I was wanting to cross the White River and see how bad it was flooded but didn't make it.

Headin home we took 38 W into Cabot and had a Chinese lunch at the King Buffet with my old friend Charle P. Going home we rode with Charles to Hwy 107 N to Vilonia and then back home.The weather was cool to warm that day and riding on the interstate was bad windy. All in all though, a good ride.

Don Juan talking to Carlos Castaneda about becoming a Warrior

You think about yourself too much and that gives you a strange fatigue that makes you shut off the world around you and cling to your arguments.
A light and amenable disposition is needed in order to withstand the impact and the strangeness of the knowledge I am teaching you. Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy, and vain. To be a man of knowledge one needs to be light and fluid.

One has to reduce to a minimum all that is unnecessary in one's life.

Once you decide something put all your petty fears away. Your decision should vanquish them. I will tell you time and time again, the most effective way to live is as a warrior. Worry and think before you make any decision, but once you make it, be on your way free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting you. That's the warrior's way.
A warrior thinks of his death when things become unclear. The idea of death is the only thing that tempers our spirit.

To be a warrior you have to be crystal clear.

My acts are sincere but they are only the acts of an actor because everything I do is controlled folly. Everything I do in regard to myself and my fellow men is folly, because nothing matters.
Certain things in your life matter to you because they're important; your acts are certainly important to you, but for me, not a single thing is important any longer, neither my acts nor the acts of any of my fellow men. I go on living though, because I have my will . Because I have tempered my will throughout my life until it's neat and wholesome and now it doesn't matter to me that nothing matters. My will controls the folly of my life.
Once a man learns to see he finds himself alone in the world with nothing but folly. Your acts, as well as the acts of your fellow men in general, appear to be important to you because you have learned to think they are important.
We learn to think about everything, and then we train our eyes to look as we think about the things we look at. We look at ourselves already thinking that we are important. And therefore we've got to feel important! But then when a man learns to see , he realizes that he can no longer think about the things he looks at, and if he cannot think about what he looks at everything becomes unimportant. Everything is equal and therefore unimportant.
We need to look with our eyes to laugh. When our eyes see , everything is so equal that nothing is funny. My laughter, as well as everything I do is real but it also is controlled folly because it is useless; it changes nothing and yet I still do it.
One must always choose the path with heart in order to be at one's best, perhaps so one can always laugh.
You don't understand me now because of your habit of thinking as you look and thinking as you think. By "thinking" I mean the constant idea that we have of everything in the world. Seeing dispels that habit and until you learn to see you will not really understand what I mean.
Our lot as men is to learn. I have learned to see and I tell you that nothing really matters. A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting. A man of knowledge chooses a path with heart and follows it; and then he looks and rejoices and laughs; and then he sees and knows. He knows that his life will be over altogether too soon; he knows that he, as well as everybody else, is not going anywhere; he knows, because he sees , that nothing is more important than anything else. In other words, a man of knowledge has no honor, no dignity, no family, no name, no country, but only life to be lived, and under these circumstances his only tie to his fellow men is his controlled folly. Thus a man of knowledge endeavors, and sweats, and puffs, and if one looks at him he is just like any ordinary man, except that the folly of his life is under control. Nothing being more important than anything else, a man of knowledge chooses any act, and acts it out as if it matters to him. His controlled folly makes him say that what he does matters and makes him act as if it did, and yet he knows that it doesn't; so when he fulfills his acts he retreats in peace, and whether his acts were good or bad, or worked or didn't, is in no way part of his concern.
You think about your acts, therefore you have to believe your acts are as important as you think they are, when in reality nothing of what one does is important. Nothing! But then if nothing really matters, as you ask me, how can I go on living? It would be simple to die; that's what you say and believe, because you're thinking about life, just as you're thinking now what seeing would be like. You want me to describe it to you so you can begin to think about it, the way you do with everything else. In the case of seeing , however, thinking is not the issue at all, so I cannot tell you what it is like to see . Now you want me to describe the reasons for my controlled folly and I can only tell you that controlled folly is very much like seeing ; it is something you cannot think about.
Our lot as men is to learn and, as I've said, one goes to knowledge as one goes to war; with fear, with respect, aware that one is going to war, and with absolute confidence in oneself. Put your trust in yourself. There's no emptiness in the life of a man of knowledge, everything is filled to the brim and everything is equal. For me there is no victory, or defeat, or emptiness. Everything is filled to the brim and everything is equal and my struggle is worth my while.
In order to become a man of knowledge one must be a warrior. One must strive without giving up, without a complaint, without flinching, until one sees , only to realize then that nothing matters. You're too concerned with liking people or with being liked yourself. A man of knowledge likes, that's all. He likes whatever or whoever he wants, but he uses his controlled folly to be unconcerned about it.
My controlled folly applies only to myself and to the acts I perform while in the company of my fellow men.

You must talk to the plants you're going to pick before you pick them. In order to see the plants you must talk to them personally, you must get to know them individually; then the plants can tell you anything you care to know about them.
You fail to understand that I am not joking. When a sorcerer attempts to see , he attempts to gain power.
You think everything in the world is simple to understand because everything you do is a routine that is simple to understand.

You have to have an unbending intent in order to become a man of knowledge.

Im still here

Waiting on good weather so I can get back into riding. I look forward to posting some more rides.