Day 6: Dallas to Little Rock via Talihina and Mina Byways
Saturday 15 Jun 2024
386 miles ridden
A long mildly interesting day in some kinda hot weather. More a 'repositioning' day than anything exciting, though the highway east from Talihina Oklahoma had a great rhythm and almost no traffic. Had some fun making sped-up videos as well.
Took my time getting outta that comfy bed and cleaning up at Scott's, needlessly terrified that I'll forget something important, like the two Gatorades in the fridge, plotting a course for a Starbucks in Durant, Oklahoma as my first stop on the way through the Ouchita Mountains to Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Well, the Starbucks was inside a big massive 30 story tall spaceship plopped down just over the border called CHOCKTAW CASINO RESORT so that was a fail, and the McDonald's in Reba's hometown was the backup. Egg McMuffin and coffee to power my day, and friendly chat with a overly friendly local Stache Dad about his 2004 R1200C... "the same bike as in that Bond movie". He wanted to see my bike, so I said "let's chat" and he watched me fill the tires (note: the last 2000 miles since San Francisco I've lost two pounds in back and a pound up front). Fired it up and well whattya know, the flaky tire pressure sensor started working and worked all day. He also liked the keyless ignition and the central locking and the moveable windscreen... and then bid me farewell on my journey.
Turning east through Daisy Oklahoma the scenery wasn't what I expected--I thought it was going to be corn and sunflower fields, but no, it was a broad valley with low mountains, dotted with oaks and meadows. And it was empty--very little traffic in either direction--so empty it didn't really need the 12 foot wide smooth lanes with another 12 feet of paved shoulder. Pleasant enough to be interesting.
After Talihinia (gas stop) is when the road got interesting, swooping and turning. I made a video (and sped it up 2x) and that generally was the road for the next 50 miles. Arkansas really did a good job with signing the curves and the surface was nice and smooth without any potholes at all. Very pleasing, and the drivers were also super polite (unlike Texas, they almost always used their turn signals).
Stopped for a long while in Odon, AR at a school under a shady oak and realized that Hot Springs was just half an hour away. It's 2pm, and I was feeling pretty crisp and focused with the cooling scarf I'd rewet every stop (thank you Randy), so I decided to push on to Little Rock and get a motel. On the way there, I realized this is all kinda pleasant, but it's going to be in the upper 90s if I take the slower way through Tupelo and Huntsville, rather than the Fedex Freeway from Memphis to Nashville... and I'd rather not spend any more time in the afternoon heat, so I rerouted the trip to Dragon City Resort (which is Monday night's stay) via Nashville/Knoxville.
Hit up a buddy in Nashville for lunch too and he said he'd be up for it, so that's a win too.
Nothing much else for the day other than scribbling this down and posting pics and getting on the road early. Good night all.
