Open Road

I would like to thank Crus'n Open Road for this video. It and his website is below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4mU8ZqMZPU


http://virtualhale.com/cruzn/openroad.php

I went and didn't go

I put a couple of better pics on the Telegraph Tree post (9/16/2009), hope you like them better Dick.

Zach and I went for a ride to Clinton with the intentions of going to the Rally of the Ozarks there. We took Hwy 95 from Morrilton and arrived in Clinton about an hour later. It still looked early for the rally. We both didn't have a lot of time to spare that day so we didn't bother paying the $5.00 to go in. There wasn't a lot of people there yet and we had already heard bad news about the rally T-shirt. I have a bad habit of collecting rally T-shirts but I refuse to ever buy another one with the back covered in business advertisements and we had heard that was the case with this rally T-shirt. That's too bad because the logo really looked good.

We decided to eat at Western Sizzlin in Clinton. WORD OF CAUTION-DO NOT EAT THERE. That was the sorriest buffet I have ever had. I won't go into details but suffice it to say it just plain sucked.
While at the restaurant more and more bikes came down the highway, giving me the impression that this rally has a late start. Next year I'll come back but later in the day, possibly stay the night in Clinton. I'll just bet this rally really picks up momentum late in the evening.

My thoughts are this... Don't get there early and it'll probably be a good one. Hopefully they will take off the ads from the back of the T-shirt next year. The Mountain View rally had the same problem in 2007, but this year they had a really cool looking T-shirt devoid of ads.

On the way back from Clinton we took Hwy 65 South to 285. Hwy 285 is a very narrow highway. It and parts of Hwy 95 got me a little nervous. This time of the year the deer move a lot during the middle of the day. We had one cross in front of us on both 95 and 285.
After 285, we took Hwy 25 into Conway, at Hwy 64 we made a right. We made a left on Salem Rd at the next traffic light, following it all the way to Prince St (you can go a little further if you like and take a left on Hogan Ln. it also takes you to Prince St) where we made a right, next make a right on Hwy 60, cross the Ark. River. We continued on 60 to Houston and then took Hwy 9 to Morrilton.
If you feel the need to go to Little Rock after crossing the River, a little ways up the road is the Hwy 113 turnoff to Bigalow that will connect with Hwy 10 into LR. It's an interesting and at times very curvy road.

You probably didn't need all that info, but if your looking for an easy way to get to the South side of Conway without going through the busy part of town, Salem or Hogan is a good turn off.

BBBQ 2009

Have I mentioned yet that I won't be attending the event this year. It just so happens that I work all four days of the BBQ and I won't have any vacation until January. I'll make up for it next year. Zach is in almost the same situation, he's going to make it there for one day though.
So have fun all of you that make it to the 10Th anniversary of BBBQ.

A new camera and reading glasses.

I finally bought a new camera. I opted for the small easily transportable Sony which is not even as big as a pack of cigarettes. It has 12.1 mp, which is awesome. It takes really good videos also.
It has a rechargable lithium battery which I hope will last a long time between charges. Until I figure out how long the battery lasts I'll take along my old camera as a backup. Which brings me to the reading glasses part of this post. Remember the ghosts I had on all the pics, which is the reason I bought the new camera? The other day my father in law was at the house, I was showing him my new camera. I told him about the old camera having the ghosts problem. He pulled out his reading classes, looked at the Pentax and told me that the smudge was on the outside of the lense. I borrowed his glasses and the rest is history. I used cleaning solution and the smudge came off fairly easy. So there you have it, stupid is as stupid does.

The end of the Telegraph Tree, Pottsville, Ar.

The last one. It's only a tree, I suppose that's why it hasn't made the news. I know how it is, these things stand around for ages, collecting dust and bugs, getting rained on, losing appendages, fighting off diseases, making it from one winter to another, soaking in the sun between naps, waking up without a complaint. Kids play around them, wagons stop, drivers have dinner beneath the towering branches. Lovers sit on blankets having picnics while the armies of ants and other insects crawl up the gnarly trunk. Year after year, home to thousands of birds, many calling it home. Squirrels, Raccoons and Opossums must have sit on the branches watching the world below. Possibly with old man Pott's hunting dog barking up the trunk.The Telegraph chattered for a time, the tree didn't care, they never do. A Civil War and World Wars have gone by and the tree stands solemnly, quietly, except for the wind through it's branches and the creaking of it's limbs. The road went from dirt with horses traveling by to asphalt and automobiles thundering past.


The tree is dead, there will be no burial, it will stand above the plaque, it's one recognition, waiting, rotting, until someone decides it time to move the corpse. Then in an instant in time, dust will be all there is, as it was and will always be.

The end of an era

The place where people that didn't have a lot of money could actually afford to take there kids once in awhile. I rode by to see what was playing and the old mans picture was on the window. Check out the website below.
http://valleycinematrio.org/default.aspx

The Tsubaki chain.

I've done it before, but this time it didn't work out the same. I bought a 39 tooth rear sprocket and a 120 link chain. The last time I did this, the chain stretched a little (wore out quickly is probably a better word for it) and it worked just fine. This time I bought a Tsubaki chain and it is obviously a very good chain. The old Honda model chain wore out with enough slack in it after about 50 miles. The Tsubaki was still as tight as new after 300 miles. So I decided it should come off until I get a 38 tooth rear sprocket.
I'm not the greatest or smartest mechanic in the universe but I know its not good to have a lot of pressure on the cam shaft, transmission or rear axle.
The 120 link would be great for a 37 to 38 tooth sprocket. For the 39 to 41 tooth, the 122 link will work great. Actually I probably could of used the 121 link chain but I'll not be cutting it that close again.
I'm back on the road again. Not that it will do me any good. It's really difficult getting used to not having a 7 day break every three weeks. It sucks really bad. Well, having a good job was good while it lasted.
I can remember when I was a kid watching tv (yes they had tv then). I remember watching news about how work is changing for the American family, how that soon instead of working 40 hours a week, it would be 20 hours a week. Plenty of time would be left over to use the camper and go on vacation. Higher wages and less time at work, what a dream, what a dream that was only that. Welcome to corporate america, the great American dream.
I think it's time for some "Northern Exposure", now thats the life.