Yesterday several folks said, “You sure picked a beautiful day for a motorcycle ride” or words to that effect. This morning those people were silent. This is what it looked like less than an hour after I checked in yesterday afternoon.
It rained the rest of the night. I was pretty sure that today was gonna be the day I had to suit up for the rain. I got everything I could inside the hard bags on the bike and a trash bag over my “suitcase” on top of the trunk. I was just hoping that I would have some cover to get under when it was time to put my waterproofs on. Doing that on the side of the road is much more difficult – especially a road like this.
I was watching the weather radar and timed my departure between two bands of rain. The roads were fairly wet but not wet enough for the tires to splash up very much water. The last time I was in the area, Bert and I rode along the border of Arkansas and Missouri on our way to Branson. That was an amazing road so I headed that direction & was not disappointed. I took the turns more slowly since the traction provided by wet asphalt is considerably less than dry asphalt, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying myself. These are country roads and I had them all to myself. I highly recommend Missouri’s Arkansas border road. I’ll be back!!
I was thinking I’d head for Branson, but more than that, I was trying to outrun the rain behind me and not catch up with what was in front of me. I call it riding into the light. It’s a little game I play with Mother Nature – I rarely win. I was ahead in our little game until I got to Bakersfield, MO. I stopped for some gas station brunch and to stretch my legs, and stayed a little too long – it started raining – sigh. It took 20 minutes to get out in front of it, and by then I was pretty wet. Another win for Mother Nature.
The skies ahead looked promising. High clouds vs low clouds and much more light coming through them. Bonus – the road is dry.
These folks are cleaning up from tornado damage. Looks like a double wide that was split in half and demolished.
This little piggy decided to put up a stick built home. The remains of their trailer are behind the pile of fallen trees on the left. There was other tornado damage in the town as well. I’m so glad I don’t live in tornado alley with The Big Bad Wolf.
Do not despair, the whole day wasn’t rain and tornado damage….
He’s cute for sure. My wife could probably tell you what kind of horse you need to breed with that black mare to have a chance to get a foal that color.
Then there was this little guy. When I came around the corner there was a doe in the road. She continued across and this fawn came out behind her. I stopped the bike so he could go any direction safely. I thought one of his legs might be broken by the way he was walking but he was fine – he just wasn’t old enough to know how to use his legs – a newborn for sure. His mom went through a hole in the fence but he missed the hole. He bumped his nose against the fence then curled up, hiding until his mom could return for him. I was tempted to go somewhere out of sight and see how long it took her to come back – but I had to be satisfied with the encounter.
Other than a few sprinkles, the rest of the ride was dry, and by the end of it, I was in the sunshine and totally dried out. From what I hear on the weather channel (about the only thing I watch on these rides) the rest of my ride will likely be hot and dry. Not my favorite but cold and wet is absolutely the worst. Until tomorrow…….
