AFCR: Day 1 – Rain and more rain!

Those are my gloves.. they were soaked.

Woke up this morning to the sound of rain hitting the window. The weatherman said that the rain would stop around 2 or 3 AM, so I figured by the time the alarm went off at 5AM, we would be in the clear. I looked out the window and.. YEP it was still raining. So I got going, knowing that I would be getting a little wet to start the day. My wife started to get dressed and I suggested that she call my brother and his wife to see if she could catch a ride in the cage. He pulled his back out this week, so he was driving up with his wife. I did not think it would be to much fun, sitting behind me getting soaked. We figured the weather would clear and she would be able to join me after the sun came up and the skies cleared.

I got all geared up and headed the Connie over to Starbucks to meet the rest of the gang. We were all there by 6AM. We chatted about the rain, but we were not going to let it…dampen.. our spirits. We hit the road and it started to rain like hell. Driving down a two lane state highway in pouring rain, SUCKS! We stopped in Paris TX, to have breakfast and try to warm up. Jennifer was the other pillion along on this trip with her husband Richard. She was being a trooper, she was wet, like the rest of us.. but seemed to be handling it ok. We had a great breakfast and then got all our wet gear back on to venture on.

Here is the summary of the day.. Rain… Rain… Rain. It did not stop until we pulled into the Inn at Eureka Springs. We were more than wet! It was not too cold, but we were as wet as can be. So 9 hours and 408 miles are in the books. Tomorrow looks like it will be cold, but the rain is supposed to be gone. The leaves are changing so it should be a beautiful day for a ride.

We had dinner at the Rockin Pig Saloon, the food was good and the beer was even better. Now Jamie and I are in the room trying to get all of my gear dry for tomorrows ride. Today was a good day, a little wet but good still. Tomorrow will be even better. Weatherman says it will get down to 36-38 tonight, so the start in the morning will be a tad chilly. I will post more pictures tomorrow.

This is the back of the dirty machine when we arrived after a full day of riding in the rain.
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