ARKANSAS TRIP.
JUNE 9th – JUNE 12th 2011.
With each consecutive ride being just as nice as the other, it has become so much more difficult to decide which one I have enjoyed over the other.
To this date, my friends, those who were along for these rides that we share in common, and I, have spent much time in debate and comparison as we constantly relive the wonderful and exhilarating experiences over and over and over again and still have not been able to rate one much over the other. We’ve agreed on so much together that we enjoyed about each trip and not surprisingly, have had relatively little to dislike. My personal dismay has been that I have not created enough “Nikon Moments” to compliment my logs. I have promised myself to make a better effort to change this fact in all of my future journeys. After all, it’s about the journey too right? Not only the destination.
It is my hope to better share these privileged times of my life with those of you who read this – riders or not and bring you along on this journey which depicts a lifestyle of being happily free and able to visit places and meet new friends along the way – this way and path we call life.
I have and will always continue to work hard and smart in life for these rewarding results. It has not been easy, but we (my wife and I) have made it so far. Our children are all grown up and responsible. We are very proud of them. They are our blessings! We appreciate them greatly.
That being said, one fact notwithstanding is that “My Bucket List” continues to grow!
So since the Texas Hill Country Ride in April 2011 which took us deep into the heart of Texas, the “Big Bend” ride which took us to the far western reaches of Texas the next question was: Where next? So we began to look east.
True to form with all his energy, encouragement and determination (as had been the case with the West Texas trip and all the other rides), Tony, our ever present “Road Captain”, posed the question: “How about Arkansas”? “They say it’s one of the most scenic to ride in the country”. In the following days as we all began to research, we were captivated by the magazine articles and photographs. Not to mention the websites. I think I visited almost every site with “Touring Arkansas” on “The Net”.
“Count us in!” This was a trip William and I were not prepared to miss - when and if we could make it happen. So our discussions began in earnest and our dreams began.
The “ride suggestion” was introduced at our next group meeting, which for the previous two months had also been held at Rudy’s. at Airline and S.P.I.D. – one of the more popular barbeque places in Corpus Christi. This was in the hope of garnering interest and participation for some, if not all of the rest of our riding group members to join us for what we were hoping would become a truly enjoyable trip for us.
That being said, we continued to make serious plans. Oh yes, plans that started out with weighing and measuring our “iron horses” to find out if “trailering” them to Arkansas would be possible and cost-effective for the trip. Since three of us were already committed to this trip by this time, we proceeded with plans.
Due to time constraints imposed on us by our respective job duties and requirements, we had come to the unanimous agreement that the long stretch of interstate highway between here and Arkansas would not allow us the luxury of stopping often enough along the journey as we would like to, thereby forcing us to rush and minimize the time spent on the journey between Corpus (short for Corpus Christi) and Arkansas.
So trailer in-tow that evening after the meeting and with the help of Dennis and Victor, we set about loading up the “Big Red Honda” and its “Yellow Sistah (sister) V-Strom” onto the trailer for measurement. Thanks to detachable wing mirrors on the Honda, we rested assured when we found that we had adequate space - width-wise. William’s Yamaha would have a perch of it’s own in the “bed” of Tony’s Ford pickup truck. With that “out of the way” all that remained was for us to get our respective permissions from our employers for time off, set our travel dates, put some “jingles” in our pockets to pay for the trip expenses and head out for what we looked forward to being another trip of a lifetime.

Travel dates were now our remaining stumbling block.
We turned our concerns to the weather. The storms were raging. This was becoming the worst year of tornadic activity for this area of the Midwest of America as we dreamed of this visit/trip. A lot of the activity was very close to the very areas of northern Arkansas that we were planning on visiting! Nervously, we talked about our plans. I remained concerned and resigned myself to the fact that there was a good possibility that we might not be able to make the trip as a result.

Five Days Later.
It’s really shocking how many tornadoes have hit the Midwest this year. I quietly prayed for and wished my condolences to all the affected people, their families and loved ones.

(Reuters) - A monster tornado killed at least 116 people in Joplin, Missouri when it tore through the heart of the small city, ripping the roof off a hospital and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.
Weather officials said the tornado that hit the city of 50,000 at dinnertime on Sunday was the deadliest single tornado in the country since 1947 and the ninth-deadliest tornado of all time, they said.
Emergency officials said on Monday 116 people were killed and about 400 were injured. According to local officials many had massive internal injuries.
Survivors told harrowing stories of riding out winds of 190-198 mph in walk-in coolers in restaurants and convenience stores, hiding in bathtubs and closets, and of running for their lives as the tornado bore down.
More severe storms were predicted for the region, in a year that has brought tornadoes of record intensity across several states. Further complicating the rescue effort, power lines were downed, broken gas lines ignited fires, and cell phone communications were spotty due to 17 toppled phone towers.
Roaring along a path nearly six miles long and about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile wide, the tornado flattened whole neighborhoods, splintered trees and flipped over cars and trucks.
The Joplin tornado was the latest in a string of powerful twisters that has wreaked death and devastation across many states, and it comes as much of the Mississippi River valley is underwater from massive flooding.
Twisters killed more than 300 people and did more than $2 billion in damage across southern states last month, killing more than 200 in Alabama alone.

That was it! I was ready to call my participation off! Within days, we all sadly but prudently cancelled our plans for the trip!
It was now the last week of May 2011. We were all “feeling down” – as all genuinely passionate motorbike-riders become when a couple of weeks go by without a good bike ride! So we chose Saturday the 28th for a ride around what we locals call “The Loop”.
William had opted to spend the day on his sailboat moored in Aransas Pass.
We chose to eventually return to Corpus via Aransas Pass. (Good excuse to go see William.) As we stood on the dock by his boat, I became keenly aware of the fact that it was such a lovely day – weather-wise.
My mind drifted to the storms in Arkansas and Missouri.
Hmmm! For close to a week now we had not heard reports of any more violent weather.
“Hey guys” I said, “if you’re all still up to it, I think we should “make” the Arkansas trip. I think it’s safer now and I’m willing to take the chance and go”.
William: “I’m in”.
Tony: “Hey guys, back up now. Let’s get serious. No backing out now. What the heck, let’s do it”!
And with handshakes and a group hug, we left William to enjoy the rest of his weekend on his boat and set off with a renewed vigor and excitement in anticipation of the trip.
Our convenient departure date of June 9th would be set later that week.

Next - AR 1 Day 1. Heading Out Of Texas.