The ride started out different this year. For the first time in the history of this annual ride to Arkansas, we had more riders RIDING their bikes to Mena, Arkansas. We still had a few riders trailer their bikes, but don't worry, I won"t say who you were ( Sean, Stuart... Oops, sorry my bad ! ). The weather was just perfect. We had one of the largest groups attend this year. I think we had about 17 motorcycles and 18 riders and a few other family members who came but did not ride. The ride up on Friday was great. Henry finally put his new bike ( my old deer slayer bike ) the ST 1300 to good use. No more around the block rides for Henry. He finally noticed his bike can go 300 + mile on one tank of gas ( Woo Hoo, way to go Boy ! ). As for me, I was able to keep from hitting the wildlife this trip. Andy, well this was his second trip to Arkansas this year. Again he took his VTX 1700 but this time he was able to keep it upright and away from hay stacks ( YOU DA MAN ). Checo took his new VTX1700. I don't know how he swung getting that with his wife but... you did good. Okay, I'll stop talking and I'll get to the pics. But I will say this, No one got hurt ( wildlife included ). The food was good and everyone had a great time. Sorry, I did forget that Craig pulled a muscle in his leg on the last day ( he's not used to riding 350 + mile days) and was walking funny. Okay, okay, now for the pics!
Come on guys, what do you mean we're lost... How many years have we been doing this ride? I think Henry is the only guy I know who can get lost with a GPS. In the pic you can see Lee standing by his yellow Gold Wing saying... See Mom, I really do have friends. 
Here's Henry saying: Wow, Kim I'm glad you brought this map. That GPS I have sucks!
Here's Stuart saying: Yeah , yeah , I know I'm trailering my bike but hey... Who's got the girl ( Patti )? I have to give you that one Stuart... YOU DA MAN ! Who knows next year I might trailer my bike if it means I get the girl ( WOO HOO , YEAH BABY ! ).
Hey, Checo... Dude you look good on that new bike... But don't you think you should be looking where you're going? By the way, don't show this pic to your wife if you want to keep your bike ( LOL ).
Here's Kim. Hey Kim... how long did you think this trip was going to be? She packed enough stuff on her bike for a month. But I have to hand it to her, she keeps up with all the guys ( even beats some of them in the turns ). She's a great rider and a lot of fun ! And you know... GIRLS JUST LOOK GOOD ON A BIKE !!!!! 
Here's Andy: As you can see they all went to the same riders' safety course. Sorry... Andy says he's just looking through the turn like he was taught in the safety course ( let's just hope he sees the turn ). LOL
Here's Craig saying: Let a Harley man show you guys how it's done... One eye on the camera, one eye on the road.
Sorry Patti, this does not count. No matter how hard you try or which way you look at it. YOU STILL TRAILERED THE BIKE !
Here's Barry saying: Hey, let's stop at this mom and pop place called Sonic for lunch. We didn't have the heart to tell him, so we all just played like it was our first time. That Barry is just a good old boy!
This is the Willow Mena Mountain View Resort. We try to stay here every year. It's a great place with good food and great views. In the pic is Lee , Andy , Sean, and Barry.
Bad Boys , Bad Boys, " Buy a motorcycle and you too can look like this. " Bad Boys, Bad Boys. here you have from left to right... Checo, Barry, Andy, Elio ( Me ), and Craig.
Check out the road sign. WOO HOO , and the fun starts here!
This was on Saturday's ride. 17 motorcycles and 19 riders started out on the 350 + mile ride. 15 motorcycles and 17 riders finished the ride. One rider got sick on the ride. He and another rider cut the ride in half.
Here's Stuart and Patti. I wish I had gotten a pic of Stuart riding. Halfway into the ride Patti rode with Lee on his Gold Wing ( those Gold Wing guys have all the fun ). And Stuart was tearing it up on the corners. I hung out behind him for a bit just so I could see him ride that bike. It was great to watch. I don't think I could do or even have to balls to do some of the things he was doing on that bike. I think he wins the : YOU DA BIGGER MAN AWARD for the trip. 
This pic was taken on the Talihina Parkway ( Route 1 ).
This is Andy, Checo, Barry, Lee, and Craig pigging out... and the rest of the group sitting at the other table. We had no shortage of food as you can see by our plates.
This is where we ate Saturday night in the town, Mena. The ride back up the mountain that night was wild. Checo and I came across two skunks. One crossed in front of me ( that was dumb ) but we were going so slow that we had plenty of time to slow down. Then there was another one walking along side the road. I almost decided to zoom past the first one as he crossed to road so he would spray Checo behind me. But I thought " Wait, we have to ride back home with him tomorrow. "
Here's Andy having it out with the local residents. Andy, be careful, I think he can take you ! 
Now this is how to handle the locals.
Here's Barry saying: " WOW, I can't wait till I retire so I can do this every day. " 
Here's Henry filling up the re-fueling tanker. Luckily for everybody, no one ran out of gas and his services were not needed.
Here is one of the very few pics I got of Sean. He was always way ahead of everyone so we didn't see much of him. Every now and then we'd see him at a gas stop or at a stop sign or two. I think in this pic he was yelling at me to hurry up and take the pic because I was slowing him down.
This is at the southern end of the Pigs tail ( a realy windy road ). It's Route 23... we all stopped here to get our Pigs Tail pins
Here are the boys saying: " Man, did you see me in that last turn? I thought I was going to bite it." " Yeah, well did you see me scrape my pegs. " "Scrape pegs ? Did you see me scrape the whole underside of my Gold Wing ! " Yes, folks that's just how it happened, I heard it all.
I'm just going to sit here and look cool. Man, if my wife could see me now... She'd see that I've still got it, and maybe I'd get.... 
We stopped at this place on the way home. The owner of this plane flew in many of yesterday's war films ( MacArthur, BaBa Black Sheep Squadron, and about ten others).
Hey Andy, How come you always get to be the captain? Well, Elio, don't you think in the conditon she's in, someone with a pilot's license would be best? Oh, Andy, why do you have to be so negative? I can do it! I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Okay, okay I know this isn't a political website. And I won't say a word. I'll just let the picture do the talking. 
Arkansas is a great place to ride. It's picturesque scenery and great roads make it a popular destination for motorcyclists. I'm sure we'll be back next year, so if you didn't get a chance to go with us this year, plan on next year.
ELIO
posted by ELIO | 6:40 AM
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