Day 2: Pig Trail

Friday morning we’re all a little hungover from overserving ourselves. But, it’s sunny and nice. And we check the weather and Friday is looking like our best chance to ride. The rest haven’t shown up, but we decide we’re going to do a shortened version of our original ride and make sure (hopefully) we stay out of the rain. We’re going to take 187 to 62 into Eureka Springs and then get on 23 and do the Pig Trail. And then 16 and 21 back to 62 to Eureka Springs and home (looks to be about 220 miles roundtrip).

Off we go. First, we have to move our vehicles, unload the bikes, lock things up before we can get going.  The church parking lot is gravel and not very big and we’re supposed to “hide our vehicles.” Across the street, the “grass parking lot” looks flatter, is bigger and better. That’s the route we take and get unloaded. Al has a fancy trailer that raises and lowers and basically takes the bike off itself… Ours involves a little more maneuvering and “drama.”

187 is a nice ride to 62. 62 is a fun ride with curves and turns as it dumps you onto 23 (right at the motel we stayed at last time). 23 is a pretty boring ride most of the way. And, while we originally thought that it was more exciting, realize that we have now done the Tail of the Dragon in TN/NC and Devil’s Triangle in TN. There is a part of the Pig Trail (around 9 miles) that is great (http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/20/Arkansas/Arkansas-Pig-Trail---Arkansas-23.html#sthash.iDKeMznP.dpbs ). But pretty benign now. We turn around at Turner Bend and then turn around and do it the opposite direction to 16. Don’t get me wrong, the Pig Trail is a nice ride and is considered one of the Top 10 rides to go on. But, it’s a baby compared to the Dragon.

16 is nice and has a part of the ride that has been really newly paved (glad it wasn’t raining because it’d be very slippery). 21 isn’t bad either, but the condition of the roads has deteriorated – and we got a semi behind us. We’re getting hungry and wanting to fuel up as well. But, there really isn’t anything around on this ride.

We finally stop at the square (or circle?) in Kingston (Looks like they have a website that is a work in progress: (http://www.theplaceonthesquare.com/blog/ ).

They have the Waldron’s Valley Café and B&B so we’re stopping to eat. Burgers for us (and BLT for Eileen). We can’t complain too much because this is our choice, but I think they made each burger one at a time – and then served them as such. Over an hour for our stop. [Note: we all had No Service on our phones and there was no Wi Fi] There is a gas station down the street but the boys don’t want to stop because they only have regular gas. A guy pumping gas tells us that about 8 miles away there is a nice new Conoco (head to the “T” and take a left and go about a mile). But, when we get to the “T” we see that it’s not far to Barryville and rather than backtracking, we can all make it to Barryville to fuel up. The route to Barryville is nice in a farm kind of way (I personally like some curvy, hilly stuff, coupled with the slow curves and farm county).

Waldron's Valley Cafe and B&B

In Barryville we finally have cell phone service. Tom’s at the cabin already (he rode down the unpaved road). We told him that we could meet him in Eureka Springs at the Harley Davidson T-shirt shop on 62 (http://www.pigtrailhd.com/default.asp?page=hours). 8 miles to Eureka Springs. And, the Harley Davidson T-shirt shop has moved to nearer digs (and bigger). Tony and I almost missed the turn because we didn’t know about the move. Then, we find that Betty Lou and Rick are down the street having a beer at the Rockin Pig Saloon (http://www.rockinpigsaloon.com/index.php ) – we find out it’s next to the former Harley Davidson T-shirt store and Tony and I had stopped and had a beer there last time we were there.

Then back to the cabin. Betty Lou gets in the back of the Navigator with Al & Eileen. Tom and Rick ride down and we experience our first issue with a one lane road: car coming in opposite direction. Rick almost drops the bike since it was at the switchback. A bit of maneuvering with our vehicles and the car, and it works out.

Brats and baked beans for dinner. Hot tub. Our main hang out is the porch next to the pool room. Perfect set up.

 Note: remember sunscreen. We forgot and while it was overcast part of the day, pretty sunburned.