Spring Break 2014

We began our Spring Break with my riding up to Arlington to Courtney’s house to borrow Ethan’s trailer.  Sharon came later in the evening after work. 

The next day, Saturday, Ethan and I hooked up the trailer and loaded up my motorcycle…everything seemed tied down pretty well.  Within a few blocks of leaving their house, the motorcycle was already leaning to one side…not bad but certainly not riding straight up and down like I wanted.  We made a quick stop along the highway…one of many…to straighten the motorcycle and tie it down tighter.

Our plan was to arrive in Melbourne, AR at Christopher’s house by 7pm that evening.  The weather was not great…a little rain and cold almost all the way.  The forecast was for nicer weather the rest of the week…at least in Melbourne. 

We spent the first day…Monday… babysitting the three kids…who skipped school to stay home with us.   On day two…Tuesday…after everyone left for work and school, I unloaded the motorcycle and took off for Mountain View.  My route there took me over the mountain on scenic AR 9…about 30 miles of twists and turns.  The weather was pretty good…sunny and cool.  I planned to be back at the house in Melbourne in time for us to pick up the kids at their school.

The ride over to Mountain View was uneventful.  I rode around the little downtown a little and then started looking for a place to eat.  I stopped at a local hamburger place…where there just happened to be several other bikers eating.  That’s when I knew I picked a good place.  The burger was a good old fashioned type burger and was very good.

After a very nice visit with the Arkansas Jacksons, we left Melbourne Wednesday morning headed for Hot Springs, where Sharon was speaking at the Arkansas Head Start Conference.  We took our sweet time getting to Hot Springs and arrived at the Arlington Hotel around check-in.  We entered the parking garage…under the hotel…with trailer in tow and wondered if that was going to be a problem.   Luckily, we were greeted by a very helpful valet who found a suitable location to leave the trailer and motorcycle and even helped me unload.  I gave him a nice tip.

On our first night in Hot Springs, we ate at the Back Porch Grill…recommended by Christopher’s in-laws in Melbourne.  We had a hard time finding the place because it was on the back side of a hotel/resort and only had a small sign with their name.  We easily passed it by twice before seeing the sign.  Even though the place did not have great ambiance but the food was pretty good.

On Thursday, Sharon and I got up early…her to get ready for her sessions and me to ride to Eureka Springs…219 miles to the north.  The temperature at 8am that morning was 32 degrees but was supposed to get into the high 60’s before the end of the day.  I figured I could get to Eureka Springs in 5 hours…turned out it took exactly 5 hours to get there…then I’d find a place to eat lunch and then start back.  I thought my return route would be faster but as it turned out, it was longer.  More on that below.

My reason to ride that far to Eureka Springs was to travel along a twisty route called the Pig Trail…or officially known as AR-23.  The origin of the name “Pig Trail” isn’t known exactly but one of the theories is that it was named this because for decades students from the University of Arkansas used the road to and from Fayetteville before the interstate was built.  The most scenic part of AR-23, and called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway, is a 19 mile stretch of AR-23 through the heart of the Boston Mountains within the Ozark National Forest.   In Arkansas, it’s famous.  I’m sure that when the trees get leaves it will be much nicer to look at but at this time of the year, everything was still brown.  However, the ride was great…twists and turns, ups and downs and very little traffic.  With all the sharp turns and twists, there wasn’t much opportunity to take in the scenery but that’s alright, the ride was enough.

Another of the more famous motorcycle routes in Arkansas is AR-7, which just happened to be the road I was taking from Hot Springs up to I-40 in Russellville.  I’ve driven the road before, several years ago, and much of it is as I remembered…narrow road with little or no shoulder, many sharp turns and up and down roadway.  I have to say that the road surface was very good so riding wasn’t a problem.

I had only been on the road about 15 minutes…not even to Hot Springs Village, 15 miles from Hot Springs…when I thought my fingertips were going to fall off from being so cold.  I would have sworn that I wasn’t even wearing gloves.  I came upon a little Wal-mart and quickly turned in to find some cloth gloves I could wear under my leather gauntlets.  I found a pair of work gloves that worked…although it was a tight fit.  Back on the road I went a few more miles until I came upon a wide spot in the road called Ola about 30 miles from Russellville.  Since I was still cold, and hungry, I thought it might be a good time to stop for breakfast.  Well, the little service station/grocery store/general store didn’t have too much that was appetizing so I bought some chocolate milk and little chocolate donuts…yummy.  I warmed up, filled the hole in my stomach and continued on to Russellville where I got on I-40 headed west.  AR-7 took me over the Arkansas River, the Petit Jean River, the Fourche LaFave River and multiple smaller waterways.  Passing over the Arkansas River I saw the Port of Dardanelle, which seems strange due to our proximity from the Gulf until you notice all the barge traffic on the river. 

Down the interstate a few miles was the exit for AR-23 and the Pig Trail.  I chose this route because of the notoriety of the route…and I wasn’t disappointed.  Along the route there were several creeks, rivers and other waterways…and I use that term loosely…such as Turpentine Creek, War Eagle Creek, Soda Cave Creek and the Mulberry River.  I passed by Slow Tom Hollow…not quite sure what a hollow is…and several others with not so interesting names.  I even rode through a little hamlet called Cass, AR.

I arrived in Eureka Springs exactly 5 hours after leaving Hot Springs…including a quick stop near Hot Springs Village for a pair of cloth gloves to go inside my leather gloves, a stop in a wide place in the road called Ola to warm up and another in Russellville for gas.  It was a very cold morning but by the time I arrived in Eureka Springs it had warmed up a little.

I drove to the local H-D dealership…clothes only, no motorcycles…and on the way, made a stop at the local visitor’s bureau, which I just happened to find.  I picked up a few brochures about the area and received instructions for a quicker return route to Hot Springs…as it turned out I should have just followed my original route plan.  I also asked them about a good place to eat and they recommended Sparky’s.  I took their recommendation and had a nice little lunch special of Mexican Food.  

After a good lunch, I began my return trip to Hot Springs…following the route I had received from the ladies at the Visitor’s Bureau.  They told me to back track down AR23 until I hit AR 45 and then that would eventually hit Interstate 540 just south of Fayetteville.  Beyond that, I didn’t remember but I was counting on my trusty GPS to get me home.

As luck would have it, I missed the AR 45 cutoff but found another highway that ran almost due west into Fayetteville.  Just outside the city I saw a sign for AR45 and eventually to I-540 so I took it…turned out it took me into the city on the south side, past the University of Arkansas, but eventually to the interstate.  I broke the speed limit a bit trying to make up for lost time.  By the time I came to the intersection of I-540 and I-40 I was ready to be there so I just followed the GPS…I was tired of trying to figure out the route I had originally wanted.

I ended up riding east on I-40 back to Russellville and then down AR 7 back to Hot Springs.  At least the temperature had warmed up considerably so I could enjoy the ride a little more.

The next day…the last full day in Hot Springs…I took a couple of short rides…one 11 miles and the other 16 miles.  Interestingly enough, neither took me out of the city limits of Hot Springs.  After a terrible breakfast at The Waffle House, I drove up to the top of the mountain just east of the Arlington Hotel…11 miles of 180 degree switchbacks and uphill roads to where the 216 foot observation tower was located.  I went up in the tower and from 1,256 feet above sea level was rewarded with an outstanding 360 degree view of Arkansas around Hot Springs…pretty cool.  I had never been there before for some reason.

Following that little trip, I rode up the West Mountain Road on the other side of the downtown area.  Again, a fairly steep climb with several switchbacks led me to the top of the mountain where one could see Hot Springs down below and a view to the east.  The weather was about 10 degrees warmer than the previous day so the ride was much more enjoyable.  I don’t think I went over 25mph the whole day so that helped.  After coming down from the top, I went back to the hotel where I waited for Sharon to finish her conference. 

We drove out to Hot Springs Village…in the car of course…and visited the Rodgers’s old homestead.  Sharon even took pictures for everyone…knocked on the front door and asked the current resident if she could do so.  The Village is as beautiful as always and not much has changed, either there or on the road between there and Hot Springs.

Following this little trip back to memory lane, we had lunch at a girly place called Zoe’s.  It really wasn’t bad…good food and great desserts.  We also had an interesting visit with the owner, who happened to be from Texas and had two daughters living in Oklahoma City.  We are never surprised at how small this world really is sometimes.

We did a little shopping, had dinner at a not so impressive Brickhouse Grill and retired for the evening fairly early.  We had a nice night’s sleep and hit the road at 9am the next morning.  I might mention we had breakfast at the famous Pancake House, which just happened to be right across the street from the Arlington.  I had pancakes…of course…and they were pretty good.  We arrived early and by the time we left, people were waiting on the sidewalk for a seat.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  We drove to Arlington, spent some quality time with the McDaniels and headed home the next morning…Sharon in the car and me on the motorcycle.  Even though the temperature was 46 degrees, the wind was blowing about 25-30mph and it was cold.  I bundled up with everything I had and hit the road.  By the time I pulled into the driveway at our house I was beat.  Total mileage for the week…725 miles.

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