Monthly Archives: September 2012

Day 2 – Trail Of Tears Motorcycle Ride: Bowie, TX to Wewoka, OK to Holdenville, OK (193 Miles)

Posted on September 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

Our route for the day

It was a foggy morning today. We waited until 9:00 to leave Bowie. It soon cleared up so we had a nice ride to Wewoka, OK where we meet friends riding in “Trail Of Tears Motorcycle Ride”. We rode to Whitesboro, Tx where we took Hwy 377 into Oklahoma. It was a clear cool day to ride. We rode through Madill, OK, Tishomingo, OK, and Ada, OK before arriving in Wewoka, OK.

Several years ago Tishomingo  was the trail end for one of the “Trail of Tears Remembrance Motorcycle Ride”. If you are ever there you need to stop and see the Chickasaw capitol building.

Seminole Nation Museum

We arrived early at the Seminole Nation Museum were the trail end ceremonies were to be held and toured the museum and relaxed waiting for the ride to arrive.

Lots of motorcycles

We met our friends, Alfred, Larry, Larry and Shirley, who rode in the “Trail of Tears Remembrance Motorcycle Ride”.

We have ridden in parts of the ride over the years but have never ridden the complete ride. The ride starts in Chattanooga, TN rides to Florence, AL then continues the next day to Hot Springs, AR. The following day they ride to the trails end somewhere in Oklahoma. Each year they end the ride in different places in Oklahoma. Besides being a remembrance ride they raise money to preserve the history of the original “Trail of Tears” and provide scholarships to the various Indian tribes.

The sponsoring tribe provides a meal at the ride end. This year we had an Indian taco. We have had Indian tacos before and they are very good.

Indian Taco

The Plaque of Seminole Trail of Tears

At the end of the ceremony a Plaque was given to the Seminole people commemorating the “Trail of Tears” history.

Seminole Princesses

We were treated to music and some dancers from the Muscogee tribe. One of the dancers was the cutest little girl. She was a sweetheart. See picture below.

Cute little Muscogee dancer

Muscogee Dancers

It was a fun day riding, seeing our friends, making new friends, enjoying the Seminole people and learning about their heritage.

From Wewoka it was short 9 mile ride to Holdenville to spend the night at the Country Club Hotel.

Tomorrow we head to Harrison, AR to spend 3 days riding the many twisties there.

Please follow along on our journey by clicking on the links below…

Ride Introduction…
Day 1 – Georgetown, TX to Bowie, TX via scenic FM 4. (250 miles)
Day 3 – Holden, OK to Harrison, AR 
Day 4 – Ride 1 out of Harrison, AR
Day 5 – Ride 2 out of Harrison, AR  (120 miles)
Day 6 – Ride 3 out of Harrison, AR  (207 Miles)
Day 7 – Harrison, AR to Jessieville, AR (149 miles)
Day 8, 9 & 10 – Jessieville, AR to Scroggins, TX to home

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Day 1 – Trail Of Tears Motorcycle Ride: Georgetown, TX to Bowie, TX via scenic FM 4. (250 miles)

Posted on September 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Route Map

Hospital at Fort Richardson

Today we are headed out to meet friends riding in the Trail Of Tears Motorcycle Ride. Our route will take us from Georgetown to Lampasas via Hwy 183, Lampasas to Santo via Hwy 281, Santo to Jacksboro via FM 4 and the on to Bowie down Hwy 59.

We were on the road by 8:00 am with a light rain falling with temperature around 69 degrees but it felt much cooler with the rain. The rain got heavier once started and rained fairly heavy until we got to Lampasas. We had pretty much ridden out of the rain by then. Because we were expecting the heavy rain we opted to wear or rain suits today.

We stopped at the Sunday Creek Restaurant at the intersection of I-20 and Hwy 4 near Santo, TX. We took this opportunity to shuck the rain suits. For lunch we ordered their lunch special of Enchiladas, rice and beans. Janet liked the sour cream sauce and we split a piece of coconut cream pie. Good stuff.

We finally got the chance to wear our new Olympia Airglide 3 jackets and continued on down FM 4. We did not ride the entire length of FM 4. I had read about FM 4 in several publications and internet post and always wanted to ride it for myself. It turned out to be a great ride. The section we rode was from Santo to Jacksboro. It was scenic, rugged and actually hilly with great views from the hill tops. If you are in the area this is a must ride… Don’t miss it.

Mess Hall at Fort Richardson

Kitchen at Fort Richardson

Our next stop was Fort Richardson in Jacksboro, TX. Janet and I both enjoy touring the many old forts of Texas and this is another good one. It was our first time to visit here. In the interpretive center we met Ranger Glenn Barnett. Who was a pleasure to chat with. Glenn was very knowledgeable of the fort and Texas History. If you get a chance to visit Fort Richardson be sure to say hi to Glenn and tell him you heard about him here. I’m sure he’ll get a kick out of it…

Hospital at Fort Richardson

Fort Richardson

From Fort Richardson it was on to Bowie, TX where we stayed the night at the Best Western. The clerk at the front desk recommended the Armadillo Grill for dinner. They had a wide varity of food but we settled for soup and salad… Again good stuff…

Inspite of the rain initially it was a good days ride. Great scenery all along the way.

Checkout the post of the other days of this ride below…

Ride introduction…
Day 2 – Bowie, TX to Wewoka, OK to Holden, OK  (193 miles)
Day 3 – Holden, OK to Harrison, AR 
Day 4 – Ride 1 out of Harrison, AR 
Day 5 – Ride 2 out of Harrison, AR  (120 miles)
Day 6 – Ride 3 out of Harrison, AR  (207 Miles)
Day 7 – Harrison, AR to Jessieville, AR (149 miles)
Day 8, 9 & 10 – Jessieville, AR to Scroggins, TX to home.

 

 

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10 Days, 2035 Miles, With Thousands And Thousands of Twisties: Trail of Tears & Harrison, AR Motorcycle Ride

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 2 comments

Our route

Trail of Tears & Harrison, AR Motorcycle Ride

Every September we try to meet our friends from Alabama and Georgia who ride the “Trail of Tears”  motorcycle ride. We meet them either in Hot Springs Arkansas or at the trail end in Oklahoma somewhere. I say somewhere in Oklahoma because the “Trail of Tears” ride ends in different places each year. This year we met them at trail end in Wewoka, OK the home of the Seminole Nation Museum and where the closing ceremonies for the “Trail of Tears” ride took place. From there we road to Harrison, AR and took three days riding the many twisty, scenic motorcycle roads around Harrison. On our return trip home we took advantage of visiting relatives along the way and eating Aunt Imogene’s coconut cream pie… Aunt Imogene probably thinks that is my only reason for visiting…

It was a great ride with great friends, supporting a great cause, great scenery, great twisty roads and for the most part good weather.

Come follow along on our journey by clicking the links below…

Day 1 – Georgetown, TX to Bowie, TX via scenic FM 4. (250 miles)
Day 2 – Bowie, TX to Wewoka, OK to Holden, OK (193 miles)
Day 3 – Holden, OK to Harrison, AR  (263 miles)
Day 4 – Ride 1 out of Harrison, AR 
Day 5 – Ride 2 out of Harrison, AR  (120 miles)
Day 6 – Ride 3 out of Harrison, AR  (207 miles)
Day 7 – Harrison, AR to Jessieville, AR (149 miles)
Day 8, 9 & 10 – Jessieville, AR to Scroggins, TX to home.

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Update – Good Gear Makes For a Good Motorcycle Ride

Posted on September 28, 2012 | 2 comments

Olympia-Airglide-3-Mesh Jacket-Neon-Yellow-Men

On September 14th I posted about a pair of Olympia’s Airglide 3 Jackets we bought to replace several leather jackets we owned and why we chose the Olympia jackets over the many offerings from other jacket manufactures. Since we hadn’t had a chance to put any miles on them I promised to give y’all an update when we returned from our Harrison, Arkansas trip. So here goes…

We rode 2035 miles through rain, wind, temperatures as low as 45 degrees and as hot as 95 degrees. Someone commented that in heavier rain the mesh in the outer shell of the Olympia jackets tends to get pretty soggy. So in heavy rain we opted to wear our rain suits.

Janet and I both were very pleased how well the jackets preformed on our ride. The jackets did everything Olympia advertised them to do. In cooler weather we stayed warm. When the temperature climbed into the 70’s we removed the liners and stayed cool. When we returned to Texas the temperatures reached into the 90’s. The low 90’s were bearable wearing the jackets. When we were moving we had good air flow but when it reached the mid 90’s we removed the jackets after riding through larger towns with many traffic lights. When sitting at the lights with our jackets on it did get hot. When it gets that hot, riding nude won’t give you relief from the heat. Besides sunburn would be more uncomfortable.

We also like all the pockets the jackets have. We are still discovering all the pockets and other features of the jackets. We may have to update this post again…

Larry Talley a friend riding with us gave us a good tip that worked well. Instead of attaching the liner to the jacket, it is easier to put on the liners and then put on the jacket. It is much easier and quicker putting on the gear that way.

All in all it was a good ride… Great scenery, great friends, great weather and great gear made for a great ride.

Ride safe and we hope to see you on the road somewhere…

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Day 7 Big Bend National Park Motorcycle Ride April 2007

Posted on September 27, 2012 | 2 comments

195 Miles – San Angelo, Llano, Georgetown

Big Bend, motorcycle, ride

Heading home…

Big Bend, motorcycle, ride

Day 7 Route Map

This is the last day of our Big Bend National Park  motorcycle ride. Thanks for following along on our ride. We hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed riding it.

We had another good free breakfast here at San Angelo Inn. This morning was in the 60’s. Nice riding. We gassed up and headed for Georgetown. It was mainly a nice ride. We did see a lot of Blue Bonnets and other wild flowers along Hwy 71 between Brady and Llano. We stopped in Llano and ate at Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Q. Janet and I have never ate there but heard it was some of the best. We gassed up and headed home. Outside Llano we stopped to see the Bald Eagle nest but we didn’t see the eagles themselves. This is the first time Janet and I haven’t seen them there. We got to Georgetown some time after 2:00. Larry, Jo, Larry and Shirley were to spend the night and head back Saturday morning to Alabama and Georgia but because Shirley had to get back because of a family matter they loaded up and left around 4:00. All in all we had a good time in spite of some cold and wind. I’m looking forward to doing it again (soon I hope). The pictures don’t do any of what we saw justice. You just have to be there to really appreciate it all. I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did. I need to start planning another trip… Maybe we’ll ride the perimeter of the U.S. next. Does anyone know how far that is?? Links to the other days of our ride… Day 1 – 259 miles – Georgetown, Fredericksburg, Ozona Day 2 – 257 miles – Ozona, Ft. Stockton, Alpine, Terlingua Day 3 – 187 Miles – Terlingua, Santa Elena Canyon, Chisos Basin, Boquillas Canyon, Terlingua (all in Big Bend) Day 4 – 182 miles – Terlingua, Presidio, Marfa, Alpine Day 5 – 188 miles – Alpine, Ft Davis, loop 166, Ft Stockton Day 6 – 165 miles – Ft Stockton, Big Lake, San Angelo If you liked this post you may also like “Big Bend/Carlsbad Motorcycle Trip September ’09”  or “Our First Big Bend Motorcycle Ride“.

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