Russ's Pics: Talihina, Talimena & Mena Run 21/22 Jun 08 Day 1

On Saturday, 21 Jun 08, at approximately 0630 hrs, Russ, my soon to be son-in-law Dustin and I met at the McDonald's on Southwest Parkway & McNeil for a 2 day run up to Oklahoma, into Arkansas (where we spent the night),then back through Oklahoma and back home to Texas. These are the pictures that Russ took of the run. Scroll down and check the ride out. Also, don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of the page as it loads a new series of pics of m/c rides & events. REMEMBER: if you want to see the picture bigger, click on the picture...



Here are the bikes & me & Dustin at the jump off spot, McDonald's on Southwest parkway in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Here is Dustin getting a water out of my saddle bag for the trip..It was supposed to get in the upper 90's in North Texas and we wanted to be in the mountains of Eastern Oklahoma before it heated up..

Here are Dustin & I & the bikes in Muenster Texas, the first rest stop. Had to stop every so often to give the butt's a rest ya know.....

In Oklahoma, out in the boonies, we stopped on this little bridge to take a pic or two..Here is Dustin looking down at the water..

Here is a pic of the stream below us....Had a little set of rapids with it on the other side..

Here I am on the bridge, with the flag on Russ's bike waving in the breeze..

When in the boonies, ya follow boonie rules..When ya gots to go, ya gots to go & ya follow rules of the road trip...Here I am checking out some leaves....RIGHT!!!!

I had no idea Russ was taking my picture..If I had known, I would of still been doing this only with the knowledge that Russ was documenting it...

Me & Dustin at the entrance to the Talimena National Scenic Byway in the Winding Star National Recreation Area, located in the Ouachita National Forest. We were in the Oklahoma entrance..Notice the bikers coming down the road on the byway. For more info on this Scenic area, click on the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouachita_National_Forest.

Me & Dustin on the bikes fixing to enter the Talimena Byway

And it was a short trip to Arkansas..Now I get to color in another state on my Visited State Map (located on the left side of the blog)..

Me at the Arkansas state line..Although there were 3 of us and bikers everywhere, we still listened very carefully for banjo like sounds near the pull-off areas, called Vistas, before stopping...

Here is a view from the Panamora Vista.. This is where the guys & gals with hang gliders jump off & catch the wind currents.. That square cleared area ya see is 1 1/2 miles away and where they are supposed to land..If they miss it, they wind up as a nest in the trees surrounding it...

Another view from one of the many Vistas on the Scenic Talimena Byway..

A pic of me coming around one of the many curves on the byway. The byway is full of curves & steep grades..Perfect for motorcycles.. We saw a couple hundred bikes going our direction & heading in the opposite direction. A VERY popular run with the bikers.

Russ catches Dustin & me in his mirror as we ride along..

Russ gets another pic of Dustin & me behind him on the road..

Russ gets a pic of me & Dustin going down one of the many curves on one of the many mountains...

Here is Dustin coming around a curve on the Talimena Scenic Byway

Dustin & the bikes on one of the many Vista's we stopped at...Outstanding scenery!!!

Dustin & I behind Russ somewhere in Arkansas..I think it was on Hwy 259

Here is the plaque at the Deadman Vista..If you click on the pic, you should be able to read it..

Me & Dustin in front of Russ going into another curve...Behind the trees to our right was a big drop off...

Coming up behind Russ are Dustin & I and we are going up..

Dustin & I on one of the vista's on the Talimena Byway...

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Dustin & I going into a curve that drops down just in front of Dustin, as you can tell by this pic...

Dustin & I heading down on one of the many curves on the Talimena Byway..

Russ takes this unique pic as we approach another curve on the way around one of the mountains..Dustin in the light shirt & me in the black shirt




Here is a shot of Dustin as we near the Queen Wilhelmina State Park.

The sign as we enter the Queen Wilhelmina State Park

Here is a picture of the Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge that we stopped at & rested..Actually, like a dumb ass, I did not put my kickstand down in the parking lot when we parked and dropped my bike, pinning my left leg under it in front of a bunch of people..That being those on the porch, those in the restaurant facing the parking lot & about 30 bikers in the parking lot..Russ & Dustin had to lift the bike off me so I could get up...But, for more info on the park & lodge, click on the following link: http://www.queenwilhelmina.com/

When we got to Mena Arkansas, Russ saw this old Barney Fife looking Mena Police Car parked at the depot on the main drag through town. Naturally, being a retired cop,he took a picture of it.


And it was even more natural that since we are both retired police officers, that we got our picture taken with the Mena Arkansas Police Car.

We left Mena Arkansas and went down the road a ways to De Queen Arkansas. We got a room for the night at the Western Plaza Inn..It figures that the toilet was defective..Here I am trying to undefect the toilet. Russ sure gets pics of everything..

Still trying..About 5 seconds after Russ took this pic of me doing a nasty job, (but someone had to do it), that I flushed the toilet & much to our surprise it backed-up and flooded the bathroom with (no pun intended) some nasty crap...

Russ & Dustin went to the office & they moved us from room 113 to room 112. After moving our stuff out of the stinky, water logged room to 112, we found out the air conditioning didn't work..So back they went to the office & they moved us to room 111. Everything worked there so we moved our stuff into the room & moved the bikes down to in front of the door. Russ said management said they were having trouble with toilets in several rooms as well as defective a/c units. I would not recommend this motel..We will not stay there again when we go back with a larger group...Above is a pic of me on the bed yappin' at Janice..Dustin slept on the air mattress between the beds & Russ slept on the other bed.

This will conclude Day 1 of Russ's pictures of the trip..Thanks for sending me the pics and giving me permission to use them in this post on the blog, Russ. Ya did good!! Scroll on down & check out Day 2 & other posts of m/c rides & events. Remember to click on the older posts link at the bottom of the page to see more m/c stuff..Until the next ride & post, ya'll be careful and keep the rubber on the road & remember those kickstands!!.............JOHN