Blogs from Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States, North America

Geo: 36.0632, -94.1579After some much needed relaxation at the Weaver Inn in Mansfield, it was time to head out en route to new sites and a new state! Breakfast on Sunday did not start until 8 so I did not get on the road until 8:30. My total trip today was projected at 162 miles so I had plenty of time to stop along the way as needed.My first stop today was Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. This is a national park site and is located just outside the town of Republic MO. It took me a little under an hour to drive to the park and it was easy to find, which I always appreciate. The exhibits in the museum are free, however there is an entrance fee for the tour road. The fee is $15 ... read more

Although the weather has been fantastic for the whole time, it's been gone-severe clear and in the 70's, the nights have been pretty chilly. Sunday night the low was in the mid 30's. So I figured I would hang around until the temperature warmed up a bit. Easy to do when you're comfortable, drinking coffee and eating sausage rolls. Jim had a conference call for work, but he decided to ride with me for a ways when it was time to go. We rode back to the Rogers airport. As I was riding there, following Jim, I was thinking how great it would be to just keep on riding with him. It would be great to be able to just head west with no particular destination or time frame. Maybe we'll be able to do that ... read more

(My apologies to Jim H. I should have called you about ths trip a long time ago, but I wasn't too sure if I would go here until I got back from Europe and I thought that would have been too short of notice.) I knew that if I took all two lane roads on this leg to Fayetteville, Arkansas, it would take me forever to get there so I took Interstate 44 for about 175 miles to Springfield, Missouri. At least Interstate 44 is pretty scenic with hills and curves. After getting off the interstate I would have about 175 more miles of riding two-lane highways through the Ozarks. Once again the weather was wonderful and the riding was a lot of fun. As I was riding the curves and hills of the Ozarks, I ... read more

Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, has become one of the top destinations for bikers, who rally at the Bikes, Blues and BBQ festival. The 2008 event attracted over 300,000 people and 100,000 bikes, and attendance has grown every year. This yearly celebration is fun for the bikers and the families watching from the sidewalks as the spectacle of thousands of chromed bikes with tons of attitude roll by! A great attraction for bikers to this festival is enjoying the spectacular fall color of the surrounding forests as they follow the many meandering highways of the Ozark Mountains. Since the event is usually held in September, the festival bikers are generally met with cooler autumn weather that makes for a great outdoor event. The headquarters for this jamboree is centered on Fayetteville’s Dickson Street. ... read more

The journey back to CIMBA was officially the worst time I have have ever had traveling. My flight was to leave NWA Regional Airport at 6am on Jan. 2, 2009. But before that: I had had a sore throat the for a few days and had now developed a cough with crud (yes, that's the technical term). As usual, Mom had asked me to go to the doctor the day before, but I didn't want to. But thinking that I didn't want to be responsible for spreading strep to all of Europe, maybe I should go to the doctor. I went to MediServe and saw the doctor. The doctor and I talked a lot of Italy and he told me he enjoyed having and "intelligent conversation for once." Thankfully, I didn't have strep, or was contagious, ... read more