Good friends, lots of rain and too many memories to count.
Just a little bit of rain but a lot of smiles.
You may be asking yourself, what does TBIT stand for? On this blog it will be Travel Back In Time. I get lots of comments asking about our trips from the past. This could be about a certain destination, group of riders or pretty much anything else concerning our two wheeled adventures. So I decided that each week, I would link to a ride from the past and post a few pictures as a reminder to myself on why we love this hobby and for you all to see some of the great times we have had over the past 13 years as documented on our blog. I hope you like this idea. Shoot me a note either way.
The gang is all here ready to head out
I get asked all of the time, what trip sticks in your mind as your favorite and most memorable? Hands down it was this trip. It had everything. Great friends, nice roads, lots of rain with some sunshine mixed in to keep us smiling. This is the one – Mena Arkansas – Cook out & Ride
RIP my friend. You are missed PaulWhat a great group of friends to ride with.
I have a little confession to make. I used to be one of those riders that would see someone riding a Harley, a scooter or any other machine “I” did not understand, and I would ask myself, “why would anyone wanna ride that?”
Looking back at it, why would I care about what machine you have decided to ride and enjoy the open road on?
The older I get, I can see what the appeal is for certain types of motorcycles.
When I am on a longer road trip, riding down the road and I have logged 300 miles and still have a good 300 to go, my mind drifts off on what it might be like to be behind the windscreen of a nice comfy, mile eating machine like a Honda GoldWing, BMW 1600 GTL or a Harley Ultra Classic.
The days that I am riding around town, doing errands or just enjoying a few minutes of free time, my mind wanders to machines like a Ducati Scrambler, Triumph Bonneville or a BMW Nine T. Something small, light and agile to maneuver my way through the day.
As I lean into a corner on my favorite Arkansas road, not a straight stretch in sight, imaging myself on the latest and greatest sport bike, like a Ducati Panigale V4R, BMW 1000RR or a Kawasaki Ninja H2 . Carving the corners “Just” like my favorite MotoGP rider.
My point is this.
No matter what machine you decide to enjoy our fabulous hobby on, it should not matter to me or anyone else.
I would rather be a rider for a minute, than a spectator for a lifetime.
I know and understand, the excitement felt when I throw my leg over the bike, the feeling of the wind rushing by me and the freedom that comes with riding a two wheeled machine. I love the fact that being a motorcycle enthusiast has brought so much happiness into my life.
I have gained many great friends, enjoyed miles of beautiful scenery with my wife and friends while enjoying my two wheeled steed. I understand that no matter what machine you ride, we all experience and enjoy these same feelings. We are one. We have more in common than the type of bike we ride. We are connected by two wheels, no matter the badge or name on the tank.
In closing I want to apologize. I want to say I am sorry for ever asking myself “why would anyone ride that?”
I hope that in the near future our paths cross and we can tell stories and share some of our riding experiences together, No matter what brand of motorcycle you have chosen to enjoy the journey on. Seize the moment and enjoy the ride.
So tell me what you ride and why you ride. I am sure we have a ton in common.
I am looking forward to seeing the new Versys in person. I love the redesigned fairing and all of the electronics are a nice touch. Cruise control has never been my thing, as I have never used it. However it looks like it would be a great addition to this bike and friends say once you start with cruise you will never go back.
The price tag is a little steep. With that said I am looking forward to riding the new Versys and seeing if it would be the right choice for us at this time in our riding lives. Stay tuned everyone.
So I have a question. Those of you who ride a bike with a lot of electronic gadgets, is it worth it? Does it really enhance your riding experience? Shoot me a note in the comments.
As you all know I have been looking to move our motoadrenaline.net site to WordPress. Blogger has become very limiting. The bad news is they make the transfers of domains a nightmare. So we decided that we would just get a new web address that would go with our branding for the Motoadrenalinetours.com site.
We are sorry for any confusion that this may cause, but please bear with us. Remember to update your bookmarks and any links that you may have established to the site. We will have the motoadrenaline domain until it expires next year.
Tell us your thoughts on the new home. We hope you enjoy the new look. As always Ride Safe everyone!
I have finally sat down and updated the site. I hope you all like the new look. It is my goal to keep it updated and loaded with updated information on rides with lots of pictures. You can check it here: motoadrenalinetours.com Tell me your thoughts. Thanks everyone, ride safe!
Jamie and I had decided to attend our first Overland event. The Natural State Overland event was being held at Byrd’s Adventure Park, in one of our favorite areas of Arkansas, so it was an easy choice. Besides our friends from Dallas, OKC and the Hill country would be attending so we had to go.
We loaded up the jeep and hit the road on Saturday. We took the fastest way there so we could get set up and walk the event and catch up with our friends. Camping is always so much fun. Doing it with friends is even better.
We got all set up with no issue. You could tell it had been raining a ton, as the site was rather damp and all of the roads were muddy. We had fantastic weather the entire time we were there. We caught up with friends and then just walked around and enjoyed all of the rigs in attendance. There are some amazing machines out there.
Another cool thing from this event was the Fly in. There were a number of small planes, coming and going all afternoon. It was so cool camping right across the road from the run way. What a cool idea.
Now I have never had the flight bug, however this was really cool. It was fun walking around, looking at the planes and chatting with the pilots. Then I saw this..
I decided to walk back to my safe Jeep that has been approved. haha! It was a great afternoon of catching up with friends. We did a short little drive to get some lunch, before heading back and doing some sight seeing in the vendor area.
We got back in to time to attend the raffle. I was amazed at how many gifts were handed out. We wanted to win the portable fridge but it did not work out. The Roof Top Tent would have been great as well but alas we did not win that either. It was cool sitting around and chatting with all of the folks in attendance. It is truly a family affair as kids young and old were there enjoying the activities. Everyone was so friendly and it was a great vibe hanging out with people who enjoy the great world of off-roading and camping.
We enjoyed a great evening. It was a little chilly but nothing unmanageable. We got to use the new table that I just installed on the JK to prep for dinner. My only bummer for the night was that my coleman stove would not fit on the table as the bottle was to large. So we cooked in the back of the JK and that worked well. That is until I decided to make some coffee to go along with my Baileys and pie. I left the lid on and so BOOM, it exploded all over the back of the jeep. It was actually funny, but it was a mess to clean up. The steaks came out great and tasted amazing! I love the taste of camping food.
We woke up Sunday morning to a chilly 38 degrees. It was not bad, just a little chilly. Today was going to be a great day. It was our wedding anniversary of 13 years! I love that my girl enjoys these types of events. It seems we spend every anniversary on the motorcycle or in the jeep. I love Jamie and I am so glad that we are living our life adventure together!
Jamie and I cooked breakfast for the guys before we picked up camp. We were going to take the Dallas crew to Spainhour falls for a little off road fun before breaking off and heading back to the house. They were staying another day to enjoy more camping and wheelin. What a great little trail. It was a beautiful day and the company made it even better. I miss our friends from the DFW area, however I DO NOT miss the Dallas area itself. The move to Arkansas was the best thing we have done in years and we are so thankful for all of the cool things this beautiful state has to offer.
We ran into Clarksville and had lunch before saying our goodbyes to Rob and David. It was such a fun day. Can’t wait to do it again soon.
We really enjoyed our first Overlander event and will be looking to attend more in the future. It was a great time and we look forward to meeting more people with similar interests. We got home, enjoyed a tasty beverage while setting up the camping gear to dry out. It was a great weekend and not a bad way to spend our anniversary. You can see all of the pictures here: Natural State Overland Event. You can see all of the videos here: Jerry’s YouTube Channel
Jamie and I are starting to think that every time we want to attend a MSTA get together it is going to rain. Just like Bull Shoals, the weather report was not looking very promising.
We headed out Friday afternoon and decided to get to the hotel the fastest way possible as the skies were looking very ominous. We had an uneventful ride and arrived at the Sherwood Inn – Best Western around 4PM. While checking in the phone rang and it was the group getting a late lunch at The taste of Italy next to the hotel. We had already eaten so we took our time, got a little warmed up and just enjoyed the slow rain.
The gang came back to the hotel, it is always great catching back up with MSTA friends. Barbara and Steve were there along with Gayla. As we were kicking tires, Denise arrived in her cool little convertible and Bill showed up just a little later, as he had to wait and finish work for the day before joining us. The rain was pretty steady, so we just sat around told lies (..err stories) and enjoyed the company. We also got to speak with the guys who braved a lot more miles than we did to attend. Jerry S from Kansas, Doug F from Mo, Jon N, John Campbell from Iowa along with Roger & Virginiahad rode in earlier and were just drying off and thinking about the routes to pursue the next day.
The Texas gang of Kris, Linda and Lisa arrived in the late afternoon. The gang was all here. I was delightfully surprised at the turn out as the weather was not being very welcoming.
That evening a group of us headed out to dinner. Our first choice was the Italian place next door, but it was slammed! They had an hour wait, so we decided to walk down to the pizza hut. (Jamie & Linda did the speed walk) It was a fun evening. We decided that the rains would hold off on Saturday until 1pm or so. We all decided to do a quick jaunt to the Ozark Cafe in Jasper for breakfast. Good plans always have some sort of flux.. stay tuned.
Saturday morning arrived and the weatherman seemed to be on his game. It was not raining, however it was a little chilly. We all loaded up and headed out for a little Arkansas fun. The group was a large one as we all had the same idea, to get back before the serious rains came. Somehow Jamie and I decided to pick up the pace and go hunt down the quicker group. Well this was a great plan until we hit the cut off at 16 and 21. My GPS said to go right, my wife said I needed to go left. The wife is always right, so left we went… wrong! No big deal, as life is always an adventure. Once we realized the mistake, it was way out of the way to head back to Jasper so we decided to venture out on our own. Jamie had not been to Oark and the General store, so we went that direction.
It always amazes me when we ride in Arkansas on how beautiful the roads are. It is hard to find a bad experience. We enjoyed the having breakfast and warming up with a nice cup of coffee. We decided to take back a pie for the group since we figured they would be a little baffled when we did not show up. We texted everyone to let them know we were safe, but as most of you know the cell service on the back roads of Arkansas can be very spotty at best. We headed out to make sure we would get back before 1pm as the rains were coming.
Our timing could not have been better. We rolled up right as the skies opened up! The rest of the gang arrived, right after that so no one got really soaked. The afternoon was filled with fun times of story telling, college football and nap time. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Dinner was at 6:30 at La Chiquita. Everyone attended. The food was very good and the margaritas were amazing. This is the best thing about staying at a hotel close to food options. We had an enjoyable evening. Thanks to Bill and Gayla for arranging all of the activities. It was so much fun!
The sad part about these rallies is saying goodbye on Sunday morning. The weather looked gloomy but it was not raining so we were all ecstatic. Jamie and I rode home with Bill and Gayla. We encountered some cool temps, a few miles in pea soup fog and then all of a sudden the SUN! The last hour home was sunny and bright. All and All it was a great weekend. Our hosts Bill and Gayla did a fantastic job and we look forward to next years Byway Boogie. Until then Ride Safe my friends.
