Riding the Ozarks rally

We left the house early on Thursday, October 5th headed to Harrison, Arkansas for the Riding the Ozarks motorcycle rally.  It was our first time for this rally and it's really beautiful country to ride in.  We were about three weeks too early to see the fall color but still enjoyed our rides.  We got to Harrison Village RV park, got checked in and set up.  Took a little ride around town just to see where everything was and decided to just eat a sandwich for dinner at the camper since we had eaten at Brown's Country Store & Restaurant in Benton, AR on the way up at the 100 foot buffet!  We neither one wanted a lot for dinner after that big ol' meal!!  Headed to downtown Saturday morning for one of the organized rides that turned out to be not so organized!  We left 45 minutes late, stopped way too frequently, ate at a place that had no beer and barely room for us all to sit and then waited two hours for the one waitress and one cook to get 35 meals ready.  Then the group couldn't finish the ride because we were going farther into Missouri (Tony's Pizza House, where we stopped for lunch, was just barely in Missouri) and all the riders didn't bring helmets.  That was our one and only "organized" ride of the weekend!  We do much better on our own.  After lunch, we went ahead on by ourselves and finished the ride - called the Peel Ferry Run - and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I guess the rides are good in that you meet some other people you normally wouldn't but my goodness, we wasted half the day that we could've spent on the road.  After our ride, we went back to the venue, drank some local craft beer and listened to some of the live music they had.  Back at the camper, we ate some leftover chicken casserole I had brought and then hung out for the rest of the evening with our new friends from Nebraska who were camping two spots over from us.  Saturday we got up and headed over to check in for the poker run.  The weather was quite gloomy and before we got to our second stop, we had to pull over in a parking lot and put our rain suits on.  First time riding in the rain for me and I'm not a fan especially since my cheap rain suit didn't keep me dry!  I'll be ordering a new one that cost just a bit more.  We made all the stops for the poker run, but cut off most of the route so we could get out of the weather.  After we dropped off our cards, we went to T's Barbeque right there in the square.  I got some really good ribs that stayed with me all day so I didn't need any dinner that night - just beer!  After lunch, the weather cleared up nicely and we picked another ride from our brochure - the Moonshine Run.  There was no alcohol involved; just another beautiful ride through the Ozark Mountains.  Hung out with Joe, Wendy and Wendy's brother Kyle again that evening and made plans to ride with them Sunday which turned out to be a beautiful day.  Stopped at a few places along the ride for photo ops and then for lunch at Blacksheep BBQ in Yellville and had a nice meal.  Took a little nap at the camper Sunday afternoon, had a sandwich for dinner and then outside for hanging out again but this time, we had a little excitement.  The guy staying in the camper between us had his ex-wife and soon-to-be ex-wife there and they were all fighting - the girls were on drugs and the guy was drunk - awesome.  He called the sheriff's department when his women got crazy and we watched the show for the next 30 minutes.  WOW!  On Monday morning, the Nebraska bunch headed for home around 7:00 and we left around 9:30.  So thankful for our travel opportunities and for God's travel mercies!

Headed out Thursday morning for another adventure with our little toyhauler camper in tow!

Staging up for our organized Peel Ferry Ride.

Getting on the Peel Ferry on Bull Shoals Lake

 

We must have seen eighty little white country churches...I just love them ALL!!!

Walking through all the vendor tents at the rally

Hanging out at the main stage, drinking beer and listening to music

Campfire courtesy of Joe and his Nebraska firewood!

This guy did the poker run with his driver!



Second poker run stop in the rain!

Saturday lunch while we waited for the weather to clear up

Barns and churches...I could take pictures of them all day long...love them both!

The views everywhere we went were just incredible.  We both love riding in Arkansas.

Kyle and Joe discussing the Sunday ride.

We went over the bridge and saw this beautiful place below and stopped in for pictures.

Wishing he had his fishing rod!  We could see fish swimming in the water.

The Arkansas Grand Canyon

These riders passed us - we were just cruising and enjoying the sights. They were in a hurry!

Joe & Wendy and Kyle leading the way. They loved the hills and curves - quite different than the riding in Nebraska.

Kyle, Wendy and Joe (Kenneth was paying no attention to my camera!)

Bull Shoals Lake from way up

Ol' dude waiting for the sheriff to come talk to him. He was drunker than Cooter Brown, too!

The tail-less cat Wendy and I fed at the campground while we were there.

Conway, Arkansas Harley shop - the prices for everything in here were double what every other Harley shop's are!

This dog!  His mom had all the windows down halfway and the sun roof open. It was the funniest thing to watch going down the highway - him popping his head out the window then up he came out of the sunroof!!