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Family trip to Arkansas before Easter for some riding!

:tab So, if you find yourself in Huntsville, Arkansas, around breakfast time, or lunch and dinner actually, I can firmly recommend eating at Granny's. Hwy 23 makes a sharp bend in town as you pass the Shell station and the Sonic. Granny's is on the left past the car wash. They have the BEST pancakes of anywhere I think I've ever eaten. They are huge, light, fluffy, and have a hint of vanilla taste to them. They come with four strips of bacon. I couldn't finish them. I briefly thought about one of their massive cinnamon rolls and then came to my senses. They were tempting though! Beth had a giant Western omelette and said it was very good as well. Even the kids really liked the place. They had the pancakes like me.

:tab With everyone nicely stuffed after breakfast, we head back toward Kingston to find the Ranch. Daniel has decided to ride with me on the GS and the girls follow in the truck. It is a beautiful sunny day with a strong breeze. The ride back down 23, 74, and 21 is really nice. We find the turn with no problems and head down the gravel road. It is smooth and has no serious steep sections like Cave Mountain Rd., from last night. We easily find the Ranch, right in the corner where it is supposed to be, and pull into find a spot to set up camp. Donny and Lynn are here and he tells us to just pick a spot. We pull up in the field across the dirt road from the main house, it is wide, relatively level, and full of deep lush grass.

:tab We set about unloading the trailer and setting up camp. I get the bikes unloaded and drop the cross boards for the bed platform. The kids haul out the tents and Beth and the girls get them set up. The girls are active in a group called American Heritage Girls, similar to Girl Scouts but without all the PC stuff. They get badges for doing various things and Beth has them set up for knocking out a lot of the requirements for camping related badges this weekend. It involves things like setting up tents, cooking over a fire, planning and preparing meals for a group, etc,... Daniel helps me with the bikes but he is ready to ride NOW!

The grass seen here is typical of all the massive pastures on the property
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My GS in the background near Donny's trailer
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TONS of open spaces for Rachel to zoom around on the TTR50E for her first time riding without training wheels!
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:tab Once everything is pretty well setup and organized, Daniel starts to get up for a ride. I decide to head out with him and Donny will take us on a short ride out to check out a creek and waterfall. Rachel and Sarah aren't really ready to ride just yet. Everyone gathers up in front of the main house and then we leave as a group, Daniel and I bringing up the rear. We head out on a dirt road that runs through the pastures along the ridges between the hills. Then we cut off through a pasture, down some steep grassy hills and into the woods, crossing over a few small creeks as we go. Then we pick up a narrow two track road that runs along a fence line through some mud puddles that Daniel aims to hit dead center! One day he'll learn the lesson about unexpectedly deep holes under the water :-P

:tab We soon come to a sharp corner and the road starts dropping down pretty quick. Daniel has no issues with it at all. At the bottom there is another sharp corner, which if missed means going through a few trees and off a ledge... Just beyond the corner is a neat little creek that we ride through. Daniel is hesitant for a change so I ride on through to show him how to do it. As I am parking my bike to walk back to watch him, I see that he's already attempted it and he's picking up the bike. Apparently, he hit a slick rock and the front tucked. He's already back up and on the bike by the time I get to him and just needs a push to get the bike moving because the rear is just spinning in the mud.

Looking back. There's a large flat rock between the big puddle and the bend. It's covered in slick algae and that is what got Daniel.
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:tab Donny mentions needing to work on that last corner to get it marked to make sure no one blows it and goes over the ledge. So Daniel and I head up the hill on the far side of the creek to do a little exploring on our own. The hill climb is fairly steep with two good ruts and a fair bit of loose rocks, branches, and leaves, but Daniel gets up it with no problems. He's all about staying on the gas!!

Typical of the "roads" that go off into the woods around the property
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:tab We head off down another little road, crossing a few small creeks without issue, and then come to a gate. We stop short of the gate to have a look because I can see that the road goes down quite steeply. I pull up to the edge and consider whether or not to attempt it. I tell Daniel to wait while I go first. Almost immediately the back end of my KTM is trying to lead the way and is sliding on the loose rocks. I get about 20 feet down and the road gets even worse. I manage to get the bike halted and decide that we might not want to do this one just yet. I look back up at Daniel and shake my head. He seems to agree. So I manage to get my bike turned around and remount, starting back up from a dead stop. The rear is kicking out and spinning in the loose rocks but I am able to get back up without much trouble. Climbing this from the bottom would be a major challenge! We decide to keep exploring elsewhere.

Just past that gate, it drops quickly!
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:tab We ride around for a bit longer and then head back up to the camp area to see if the girls are ready to ride. Lynn offers to take Beth, Sarah and Daniel on a tour of the property in a Kawasaki Mule and they take her up on the offer. Rachel wants to stay back at the camp and start riding around out in the open. Unfortunately, her TTR50E doesn't want to start. It is as if the battery is totally dead!? Of course, when I put the bike in the trailer before leaving it was starting and running perfectly :doh: Now, push the button and NOTHING :argh: We discuss her maybe trying to ride Sarah's CRF110F. It is just a tiny bit tall for her, but she can reach the ground. There's no clutch, so it's basically just like her TTR50E. She decides to give it a try...

[Gotta run, heading to Austin for the TWT BBQ event at Woodbutcher's place. Will get back to this when I can.]
 
:tab So with everyone gone and it being just me and Rachel, she decides to attempt riding Sarah's CRF-110. She's able to hold it up on her own. I assure her that it works just like her bike. She is to keep it in first gear. I will walk some distance away and she is to just ride in a straight line to me then stop. We do this a few times and she does really well, barely even a bobble when she comes to a stop. So we decide she will try just riding a big open circle in the grass and work on keeping a nice steady throttle.

:tab She does several good loops, then stops for a break. I'm not taking pics because I am busy staying close to her and coaching her. When she's done resting, she decides to try again. However, for whatever reason, this time she goes wide open on the throttle directly away from me and between a few trees. She's got a hundred feet or so before she's going to come to a dirt road and hit it perpendicular to the direction it travels. This is an issue because there is a pretty good dirt ledge at the edges of the road where it has worn down into the ground. If that doesn't get her, then there is a fence a few hundred feet beyond that. I start in with the Marine Corp Sargent yelling, barking at her to STOP!! BRAKE!! OFF GAS!! Right as she passes through the first set of trees and before the road, she manages to steer hard left, killing her momentum and allowing her to just fall over on her side at a relatively low speed. She lands in the high soft grass, unhurt but obviously scared and a little shaken. I get the bike up and we walk back over to the trailer to sit down and take a few deep breaths together... :zen:

:tab She calms down pretty quick and decides that she still wants to ride. I decide to make another attempt at getting her TTR50 running. I'm thinking there has to be something wrong either with the remote kill switch that has been installed or perhaps the battery has just gone kaput. Unfortunately, there is no kick starter, but maybe I can bump start it? I've never tried that before. There's nothing to lose in trying though. I shift it up into the highest gear, sit down on it, and start paddling like a circus clown. To my amazement it comes to life and runs great! :dude: I let it idle a bit to warm up and then Rachel decides she's ready to roll!

Zooming through the tall grass. Just to the left of the near tree is where she dropped the CRF110. The dirt road is hidden in the grass just beyond these three trees. You can see the fence in the distance behind them.
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:tab She's doing really well, just making circles around and through the trees. She is having some issues with wanting to stare at the ground right in front of her, so every time she comes by me I am yelling, "EYES UP!" She'll get them up for about 15-20 seconds and then they start dropping again. I head over to the trailer to grab my Nikon D750 so I can get some better shots of her than with my cell phone.

Oh wait...? How did this beautiful scenery shot get in there!? :mrgreen:
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Right, so anyway, Rachel is doing great
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Still looking down though...
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This is better!
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Our campsite
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:tab Seeing that Rachel is riding pretty well and is controlling the bike without any issues, I decide that the way to get her to keep her eyes up is to have her follow me. I ask her if she wants to go explore some of the other pastures. She enthusiastically says, "YES!" So I fire up the XR80R and we head out to just ride across and around the seemingly endless pastures on the property. There are lots of great elevation changes so she gets to learn how to ride straight up, straight down, and cross grade on the hills. I have her riding in second gear now so the little unintended throttle inputs from bumps don't make the bike jerk around as bad as it does in first gear. She likes this.

:tab We wander around the pastures near the entrance to the property, ride along the fence lines, and ride down into a little valley area and around the stock pond near the bottom. Some of the climbs are long and she enjoys getting on the gas to make it to the top. She even stands up occasionally when things get a little bumpy. For the most part, the pastures are quite smooth. Every now and then there might be a big rock set in the ground, but they usually stick up high enough to be easily seen and avoided or they are set deep enough that riding over them is not too bad at the speed we are traveling. After a short while of riding around near the main house and our camp site, I ask her if she'd like to see some of the other pastures. Again, "YES!"

:tab The road that comes in from the main property gate goes right past the house. A few hundred yards beyond the house it comes to the peak of another hill where several pastures come together. It makes a hard right and then runs out through many pastures up and down along a ridge. Just beyond the turn, it heads down at a fairly steep angle and has lots of loose rocks and a few rutted spots. Rachel and I sit at the top of it contemplating. She doesn't seem worried though. I tell her to keep it in second gear, keep her foot over the rear brake and NOT to GRAB the front brake, and then just follow my line down the hill. She's say's she's ready, so I pull away.

:tab There is a top section, a relatively flat section, and then a bottom section to the hill. I head down, taking the smoothest and cleanest line I can. I glance back to keep an eye on her as she works her way down. She's doing a great job of keeping up enough speed to stay stable but not letting the bike get away from her. When I reach the middle flat section I wait for her to catch up to me. I motion for her to stop next to me and I ask how she's doing. She says she's doing fine and wants to tackle the next section! :clap:

:tab The next section is about the same as the top. However, there is a small part that is kind of rocky and loose just before the bottom. I wait for her to get closer so she can see the line I take through it and then head for the bottom and wait again. She rolls right through it without issue. We cut across a short flat section that has some sand and a lot of ruts. She rides along the edge of it, almost in the grass, but not quite in the mud beyond the edge. This is another spot where there are numerous pastures coming together and there are gates all around leading into them. The road cuts straight across through an open gate then turns into a long climb. This climb is kind of steep and a bit rougher and rutted than what we just came down. So I pull into the grass just beyond the gate and we ride through the pasture.

:tab We spend the next 45 minutes to an hour just wandering around, cutting back and forth across the pastures, riding across the earthen dams on the stock ponds, running back and forth along different sections of the main road, cruising along the edges of the pastures near the woods, and just having fun. She's doing really well. At one point we go down a pretty steep hill into a hollow, cut around another small pond, and then start climbing out the other side. I look behind and she's coming along great. I reach the top and crest the hill. Just beyond I glance back and notice she's no longer with me!?

:tab I spin around and zoom back over the hill scanning for her and see her laying at the edge of the woods with the bike on top of her. She's sitting up and doesn't seem to concerned. She's struggling with the bike but I holler for her to just wait so I can lift it off of her. I get it up and she's fine. She's completely calm and seems totally unfazed. A quick check of her and the bike reveals that all is well. She then points out a large rock embedded in the ground. Apparently, she hit it and it deflected her toward the trees. She went over and the bike hit a smaller rock, slightly larger than a football, and came to rest before going into the trees. That smaller rock is cracked almost perfectly in half! I point that out to her and she seems to find that amusing. She assures me she's good to go so I bump start the bike for her and we carry on riding.

:tab We eventually make our way back to the bottom of the hill on the main road. We stop to talk about how to best get to the top. I make sure she understands to keep her momentum up so she won't stall or lose her balance. I head up first so she can watch me, keep her eyes up, and see the best line to take. I glance behind to keep an eye on her as I go and she just keeps chugging until she reaches the level middle section. "How was it?", I ask. "GREAT!" So we head up the top section. I see her front end kick around a few times on some loose rocks, but she stays on the gas and keeps going without and issues, soon reaching the top. We had back toward the house on the dirt road. I get a little zippy on the XR80R and reach the house before her and when I look back, she's laying in the road with the bike about half way between the house and the hill top. I zip back over to get her. She caught a decent sized rock with the front tire and it just rolled the bike right out from under her. Now she's crying because she apparently had something whack her shin between the top of her boot and the bottom of her knee pads. I right the bike and check her over for any serious injury and she's fine. I ask if she wants to ride the bike back to the trailer and she does. Sniffling, she remounts and heads on over to the trailer. When we get there I let her know that I am very proud of her efforts this morning, especially her not wanting to give up at the first sign of difficulty.

:tab Daniel and the other girls have returned from their trip. It must have been great because he and Sarah are talking 90 mph an trying to tell me about all the cool stuff they saw and how much I'll like it when we ride out to see it!! Rachel has decided to take a break. Sarah has decided she wants to finally wants to do some riding. She thought about riding the XR80R, but it still a bit intimidated by the clutch. She thinks she's too big for her CRF110 though. I point out that I spent several hours earlier riding it around with Rachel following me and that if I can ride it, it is plenty big for her :roll: She gives me her pre teen eye roll and then gears up to go riding.

:tab I take Sarah to pretty much all the same places I took Rachel earlier. Unlike Daniel, she lets her fear get the better of her and she can talk herself out of trying things. With some gentle nudging, I can usually get her to try and then once she does it for a while, her confidence comes up and she actually has fun. Today is no different. Knowing that Rachel was able to ride everything we'll be riding and did it on her TTR50 gives Sarah confidence. She does great on the steep sections of the main pasture road and has a lot of fun just running off across the pastures. I can her getting more relaxed and comfortable on the bike. Her helmet has the other Sena 20S mounted so we can talk while riding, something Sarah really likes. I don't know how long we ride, but the sun eventually starts getting lower on the horizon and we head back to camp for dinner. Sarah is supposed to help with the cooking.

:tab Everyone is gathering in front of the main house where Donny already has a nice fire going and burgers cooking on the grill. We've got hot dogs and the stuff to make smores. There is a slight chill in the wind as the sun slips behind the hills and trees. The fire feels good. It's been a fun day of riding. No doubt, there will be more tomorrow. There's talk of some bad weather off to the West moving through the area some time tonight. We gather up our stuff after dinner to make sure nothing is left out in the rain if it comes our way. We eventually get the kids off to their tents for the night and we settle into the trailer for the evening. I close up the ramp but leave the side door open a bit. It creaks and groans occasionally when a gust of wind catches it. I toss and turn most of the night trying to get comfortable on the air mattress and often waking at the sounds of the wind and the door.

:tab When morning comes, Beth gets up and the kids are soon outside the trailer. I roll over and try to sleep another hour or two. I've not slept well all week long and it is beginning to catch up with me. I occasionally hear the sounds of bikes starting up and motoring off into the distance. Eventually, the smell of bacon overwhelms my sense of fatigue and I get out of bed to find a mountain of bacon sitting on a table outside the trailer. It is a beautiful morning. I heard people arriving in the wee hours of the night and now see that there are several new trailers nearby, one of which belongs to Dave "Cagiva 549".

:tab After milling around a bit, eating some bacon, visiting with some of the new folks, and taking care of morning business, I ask Daniel if he's ready to do some more riding, a ridiculous question I'll admit. Of course he is ready, RIGHT NOW! I tell him to gear up and head over to the house so we can group up with Donny, Brad "Hail", and Doug (the boyfriend of Donny's daughter). Donny is going to take us on a tour via the bikes.

:tab We gather up and once everyone is ready, Donny takes off across a pasture, up and down some hills, through a gate or two, and then into a pasture full of buffalo!! We ride fairly close to these massive critters as we loop through the pasture to another gate. It is really hard to appreciate just how big these animals are unless you see them in person! Anyway, once we get beyond their pasture, we start following a narrow winding two track road into the woods and things start to get fun. At one of the gates I pulled up next to Daniel and mentioned that these guys were experienced riders and he might not want to try keeping up with them since he is not an experienced rider in terrain like this. No doubt, it was a Charlie Brown moment and all he heard was, "Wha wha wha wha....", because I could hardly keep his bike in sight once they took off into the woods! :lol2: It must be nice to be young with cat like reflexes and no fear.

:tab I do manage to keep Daniel in sight well enough to watch him. He has a few "moments" but those reflexes kick in and he reacts without thinking, correcting and staying on the gas. None of those moments seem to even remotely faze him. He just keeps going, focused on staying up with Donny and Doug. It is a strange feeling. On the one head I am filled with that simmering dread that he's going to get in over his head because he's not yet surpassed the limit so that he knows where it is. On the other hand, "LOOK AT HIM GO!!!" :rider: A Dad can't help but be proud when seeing one of his kids doing well! He's eating up the mud patches, flying up the hill climbs, and deftly picking his way down the descents. At the bottom of one descent, Donny pulls over to show us one of the camp sites he has to offer at the ranch.

Donny, Daniel in the cave of course, and Brad
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That is Doug over on the left. This is a cool campsite!
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:tab After checking out the cave, we take off again. More twisting through the trees. More rocky climbs and descents. Eventually we come to the top of a hill where there is a bit of a clearing. Donny has installed one of those grills you see in parks set on a steel post in the ground. There are some rock benches. This is another campsite and it is really neat! As we park the bikes, he mentions that I might want to lose my Badlands Pro jacket but keep the Camel-Bak. It seems we will be doing a short hike.

The going is STEEP. I literally go from tree to tree to keep from slipping in the loose leaves and pine needles.
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Fantastic views!!
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"What's the hold up old man!?"
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Daniel likes this tree...
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He hates it here... Can you tell?
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That's Doug on the other side of Daniel
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Great views from the ledge!
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Donny giving us some background on where the property boundaries are now and the how/when of when it was acquired.
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Image courtesy of Brad (Thanks! Love it!)
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:tab After soaking in the view, we start the climb back up to the campsite at the top of the hill. For those of us older than 10 years old, it is a bit of a slow climb with many stops to "enjoy the view" along the way. By the time I reach the top, Daniel is already geared up and sitting on his bike ready to go :giveup:

:tab Donny takes the lead and we backtrack through the woods. Somewhere along the way he takes a turn and we start going down a nice steep hill. The back end of my KTM is sliding around a bit but I get to the bottom without too much trouble. Daniel is already down and around the bend out of sight. At the bottom there is a nice muddy section that I have to skirt around and then there's a short climb to where I find Donny, Doug, and Daniel parked. Donny and Daniel are already on their way up the side of the hill, but where is Brad?

Daniel pauses on the stairs leading up to the cave in the cliff
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Brad comes riding up momentarily. It seems that wet muddy spot got the better of him! He and the bike are find though.
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:tab I climb up the stairs, large rocks that have been set in place to make it easier to get up to the cave above. Once there, the view looking out is like being in big tree house. The leaves on the trees are just coming out so it is easy to see through the trees. In a few weeks when the trees fill out, it will be really neat up in here!

One small part of the Cliff Cave Camp site!
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Brad coming up the stairs
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This ledge leads to another cave camp site
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There's even a spot for a shower... if you are patient ;-)
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This section is quite large and could easily handle a good number of people
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More ledges beyond...
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:tab After a nice break at the cliff camp, we keep riding. I'm pretty sure we are not going back the same way we came, but at this point I have no clue where we might be. I am just trying to keep up with Daniel :doh: We come down yet another hill and cross a small creek, then dismount to follow Donny off into the woods.

Daniel loves it when his bike gets dirty... He LOVES mud...
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That is Doug's CRF230L
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Slick rocks and mud... What's not to like?
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Heading into the woods...
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The narrow path...
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The surprise waiting at the bottom!
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Gotta be careful up there where Brad is walking... it's SLICK!
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The view downstream from the falls
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Daniel finds yet another stream and water fall feeding into the first creek a short ways down stream
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Brad soaking it all in...
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:tab We hike back up to the bikes and set off again. We wind our way through the woods and eventually pop out into a pasture I recognize. We are on our way back to the main house. In the open areas Donny really gets on it. At this point, Daniel is now second in line, having put Doug behind him :lol2: He tears off across the open field after Donny. I can't hear him, but I know he is laughing and cackling in his helmet like a wild man. I've heard him doing it over the communicators when riding with him at home. We arrive back at the house and we park the bikes near the trailer.
 
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Thoroughly enjoying the write-up! I finally had a chance to get caught up today. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. What a great family trip.

I have to admit, I don't envy the lead-up prep, just to get all the bikes ready. It's hard enough for me to keep up with just my one bike and the prep. But it looks like the pay-off is certainly worth it.
 
:tab Yeah, prepping the bikes and setting up the trailer was a good bit of work.

:tab Already, my GS light bar has lost a bolt and is in need of some work. That is a carry over from a drop on a slick water crossing in the Hill Country last May. I thought I had it fixed, but I think bouncing around the back roads of Arkansas may have undone my fix. Coming home from Austin Saturday evening I noticed the lights were hanging funny. I stopped to check and the bar was hanging by a few zip ties on one side! Fortunately, I rarely leave home without an assortment of zip ties and was able to secure it well enough to get home. The front tire is about done as well.

:tab I need to trouble shoot the little TTR50E and figure out why the electric start is dead. Not sure where to even start on that one!? The CRF110 has a broken left fairing, but I've not yet reached that part of the story... My 530 EXC's rear shock is leaking and I need to remove and fix that. It seems like it is a never ending process... The more toys you own, the more the toys own you...
 
Okay... Let me see if I can get this report wrapped up today...

:tab After getting back to the main area, Daniel is still itching to do some riding. Sarah now wants to ride as well. So I get all three kids together and tell them we are going to all ride as a group. Now right off the bat, Daniel is frowning. He realizes that riding with his sisters means not going full steam ahead at all times. He is especially not happy when I tell him I want him to bring up the rear! I tell him that this is a VERY important job. I am giving him the important responsibility of watching his sisters ride and helping them if they get into any trouble that I might not notice from the front of the group. I understand this means riding slow, but I promise him I will give him chances to let it rip. So he reluctantly agrees.

All set for action! :-P
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But seriously... :zen:
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:tab Group shot done, we head for the main road and for the top of the hill where the road starts down across the pastures. As I pass through a gate about half way to the hill top, I realize I don't have my iPhone and won't be able to get any pics of the kids riding. I spin around and when Rachel comes up I tell her to stop. She stops perfectly.

:tab Sarah is too close, panics, and runs right into the back of Rachel's bike!!

:tab Rachel and her bike flop over on their side, with Rachel under the bike...

:tab Sarah panics more and gets on the gas :eek2:

:tab Sarah and her bike ride right up on top of Rachel's bike and fall over!!

:tab For a few moments, I don't know whether to die laughing or to be seriously worried?! Sarah falls away to the side and before she can even get up Daniel is on the job! He's hefting bikes off and dragging Rachel clear. She's wigging out. Sarah is wigged out. Daniel is like, "Seriously...? What the heck!?" I check Rachel and Sarah while Daniel gets the bikes up. They are fine even though a bit shaken. Once I am sure everyone is good, I tell them to wait while I zip back over to the trailer to get my phone.

:tab "I stuck it in your Camel-Bak before you rode off!", Beth says after I get back...

:twitch: :huh2: :doh:

:tab I zip back over to the kids, make sure they are good, and we continue on our way... :oops:

:tab We make our way down the hill without any issues. Every now and then I point out a landmark to Daniel, tell him to wait for us when he gets there, then turn him loose. Then the girls and I make our way at a slightly less than light speed pace... He spends a lot of time waiting, hehe. But he's cool about it. We eventually reach the far end of the pastures and well past the end of the central road.

:tab "I've got to use the restroom!", Sarah informs me over the communicator.

:tab Great... Well, there's nothing to do but head back. So we all head back toward the main house. When we get there, Rachel has decided she is done riding. Sarah and Daniel still want to ride some more, so the three of us head back out again. Daniel takes point in the direction I tell him while Sarah and I follow. We venture into some of the other pastures we've not seen yet, cross the backs of some of the ponds, and generally have a great time.

The woods start at the edge of the pastures, cliffs are usually not far from there. Here, we've climbed down a bit from the edge.
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Daniel is ready to pack up and move to Arkansas...
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Sarah likes it too, but worries more about leaving friends behind
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Kind of cool... rocks stand no chance against roots...
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Getting ready to roll
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:tab We take the long way around the edges of all the pastures near the woods. This means a lot of climbing and descending. Daniel heads for the dam on a pond and makes a splash when he transitions across the start of the dam where water has over flowed around the sides. Sarah sees that and decides she would rather take the "Easy" way around behind the dam! I try to warn her off. The grass is high and there is likely more water and rougher ground there than where Daniel crossed. Sure enough, she gets into it and I hear her making all kinds of noises over the communicator, but she stays with it, gets on the gas, and powers on through to the other side. Laughing, she realizes now that sometimes what looks easy can be deceiving!

:tab While sitting at the bottom of a pretty long and steep hill, I point to the distant top and tell Daniel to take off. We'll meet him there. He's gone in an instant, never letting off the throttle as he grows smaller in the distance. Sarah and I start our way up and scarcely a few moments later she tells me over the communicator that Daniel is down! I look up in time to see that he made it to the top of the hill and he's lifting his bike. When we arrive I ask what happened and find out that he grabbed a bit too much front brake when he reached the top and locked the front wheel on the green grass! :lol2: Lesson learned! He's fine and we keep going.

:tab We eventually work our way back to the main area again and find that a group of riders is forming to head down to one of the nearby water falls. We decide to tag along with them, Sarah and I hanging near the back, but Daniel right up near the front. The group heads to the nearby hill top on the main road then down the long hill. Sarah has been up and down this numerous times by now so she has no problems at all. The group peels off through a side gate at the bottom and across a pasture. A small run of stream crosses our path and flows into a stock pond. Everyone rips through it with a little splash and Sarah starts to go off to one side. I quickly remind her over the communicator about her experience with the dam earlier and she gets back online, crossing through it without any issues.

:tab The group reaches the edge of some woods and there is a bigger stream flowing across the trail. There are a few rocks in it and it is maybe 5-6 feet across, but only a few inches deep. Sarah holds her line and rolls through without any problems. Then she stops. I pull up and go around her. I see the issue. The whole group has just plunged over the side of the hill and down a steep incline on a rocky two track trail. I look for a moment and ponder trying to talk her down it, but at this point I don't think she'll go for it. Daniel is GONE! I don't think it ever even occurred to him to hesitate.

:tab Sarah and I decide that we'll turn around and just go exploring on our own. Doug comes back up the hill before we leave and confirms that it is pretty rough even though it does not last long. So we let him know we are splitting off so no one worries about us. I get Sarah turned around and then she sets up to go back across the creek.

:tab Before I even realize what is happening, she is heading the wrong direction and I hear hear voice rising in a slight panic. She's veering off to the side. She hits a large rock and the bike and her go flying off the side of the trail into a downed tree and a bunch of grass and leaves. She's up almost instantly and assures me she is fine. The bike is laying on its side. I get it picked up and pointed the right direction. As I look down to put it in neutral I see that the gear shifter is bent back on itself. However, it still works and she can still operate it. So she remounts and we head out. Apparently, she just focused on the rock and target fixated, riding right into it. We briefly talk about that whole "you go where you look thing" and have a good laugh as we head off across the pasture.

[DOH! Have to work... will get back soon!]
 
One more try...

:tab I take Sarah around various pastures and we eventually end up on one of the little roads that I had ridden yesterday with Daniel. It leads to that gate where we stopped and turned around because the road going down the hill beyond the gate was crazy steep. I figure I'll take Sarah over there and let her see it just because the cliffs are cool. There are a few little creek crossings before we get there but Sarah does just fine with them.

:tab When we arrive at the gate, we park the bikes. I'm not going to attempt getting her down the hill because I am not sure we'd get back up the hill. Instead we will walk around and explore a bit. There is supposed to be another cave near the bottom.

Near the top
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About the spot where I turned around when here with Daniel yesterday
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Rocky... but doesn't look that steep from this perspective
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Cool flower found along the way to the bottom
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A determined tree, growing on solid rock!!
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Almost a clean track down the right side
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:tab As Sarah and I work our way down, we both slip a few times in the loose gravel and have to catch our balance. We really have to pay attention to each foot step. She remarks that she's glad we did not attempt to ride down it. However, as we work our way down, we are talking about how to look for the good line, when to worry about dodging a rock versus just rolling over it, about letting the bike roll so it will remain stable versus trying crawl down the hill super slow, etc,...

The cave at the bottom.
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:tab You can see that just beyond it the road smooths out and levels out. Had I known that yesterday, I might have gone all the way down, but I could not see the level spot around the side of the cliff and had no idea how far the hill went. I have no doubt Daniel would have attempted it, and probably have made it, had I let him try.

Looking back up from the cave. This gives a better idea of how steep and rough it is. Sarah is at about the half way point.
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Back at the top. One of the little creek crossings is in the tree line behind her.
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Your's truly (there is a helmet on the other side of the bike ;-) )
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:tab While Sarah and I are walking around and taking pictures, we hear the other group hooting and hollering over at the waterfall which is down below and a few hundred yards away from us. We hear some bikes getting after it, presumably doing the hill climbs to get back up on top of the hills. We ride around a bit more and then decide to head back to the trailer. It's getting on into the afternoon and we still need to break camp and load up the trailer for the trip home. The plan is to head for Clarksville and stay in a hotel for the night so we can get up early and make the long drive home. If we spent the night here and waited to load everything in the morning, we'd be getting away later and getting home really late. It is about a ten hour drive for us.

:tab When we get back to the trailer, the other group arrives within a few minutes. It seems a lot of the hollering was the group trying to tell Daniel to down shift as he was trying to make the hill climb. He stalled and they helped him try again, but they figured out he was in 3rd gear! I've explained how the gears work, but he's still not quite internalizing it and applying it on the ground. Once in first gear, he informs me he made the climb with no problems at all! Beth has been busy while we have been goofing off and has a good bit of our stuff already packed and ready to roll. Basically, we just need to get the bikes and gear loaded and we'll be good to go.

Daniel loves this bike!
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Daniel at one of the water falls while riding with the other group (taken by Brad, THANKS!)
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:tab Everyone is hanging out over at the house so we head over to visit for a bit before we have to leave. Donny really has the place set up nice for just hanging out.

This is in the yard in front of the house. I have dubbed it "Fire Henge"
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Looking back toward the house, our truck/trailer is in the background
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:tab It starts getting time to leave so we shake hands with folks and load up into the truck. Clarksville is maybe an hour or so from here at the speeds I'll be running in the truck. It is a beautiful evening so it should be a really nice drive to get there. We pull out and make our way back up the county road to the highway. The sun is getting low on the horizon, coming through the trees and really highlighting the Dogwood trees that are just EVERYWHERE! There is just one incredible view after another as we snake through the mountains down to Clarksville.

:tab When we get into town we decide to stop for dinner. I spot a familiar place on Hwy 103 and US 64, El Molcajete Mexican Restaurant. I ate here back in 2010 when attending the EPIC event. I remember it being really good. It does not disappoint! Even the kids really like it. I make the mistake of ordering two burritos, thinking they will be small because they are less than $3.00 each, and they turn out to be HUGE!! They are awesome, but I can barely even manage to finish one of them. Stuffed and tired, we head to the hotel. Everyone gets a hot shower and then it is off to bed. Daniel drifts off pretty quick and before I hop in bed I seem him twitching away and his right hand curled up like he's gripping a throttle. No doubt he's dreaming about dodging rocks, climbing hills, ripping through mud, and blasting across open pastures!! :lol2: It feels good to slip into a soft bed and drift away into unconsciousness... :sleep:

:tab We get the kids up early, herd them into the truck, and pull out of the parking lot right at 7:00am. Yeah, I know. Some of you are thinking, "7:00 am isn't early!?" Keep in mind I usually get up at 10:30am everyday and get to work at 11:30am. So for me, getting up at 6:00am is EARLY!! :-P The drive home is nice and uneventful. The kids are tired and quiet, watching movies on their little portable DVD players they use for watching their home school DVD lessons. They all have head phones so it works great. Even Beth watches a few movies so I am left alone with my thoughts for most of the drive.

:tab We get home around 5:00pm and start unloading. My folks drop by to visit for a bit. Daniel and I wash the bikes. Then we all head out for dinner with my folks and the kids tell them all about our week and their adventures. It was a great week and there were some fun adventures, even the fiasco with getting the trailer up the hill from the rental cabin. It's all part of the fun. Daniel wants to know WHEN we are going back!? :lol2:

:tab The new trailer worked great. We had no issues with pulling it with my RAM 1500 with the 5.7L HEMI. No, I could not get the trailer up the hill, but then neither could the 4WD truck. That is not the kind of road I generally take trailers down, so I am not real worried about that. The E-track worked perfect for securing the bikes and other luggage/gear. Over the course of the 1600 miles driven, we averaged about 10.5 mpg, including the stuff in the mountains and the interstate. I'm happy with that given that on the open roads I was generally running 70-75mph with the cruise set. I don't think I like using the air mattress in the trailer. I'm going to get some foam instead. I also need a small portable fan that I can run at night just to keep it from getting stuffy. Our portable outhouse worked great. It did not blow away in the stiff winds, although there were times where I had to keep it upright while using it! I also need to teach the kids that they don't HAVE to use a ton of kitty litter when they go in the bucket :doh: I could barely lift it to dump it in a dumpster at the hotel! Other than the TTR50 not starting with the electric start, we had no bike issues, so that was nice after all the time and I spent getting them ready for this trip. Donny's property did not disappoint. It really is an incredible place and we WILL be going back.

:tab It was really fun to do a big trip with the whole family and for the kids to be able to ride so much. I look forward to Rachel being able to ride with me on the GS. Beth doesn't have much interest in riding dirt bikes with us, but she did get to run around with Lynn in the Kawasaki Mule. The trailer just isn't big enough to hold all the bikes and an ATV for Beth. Maybe someday, we'll get her on a dirt bike as well...

:tab Thanks for reading!
 
Awesome finish to a great trip!

Oh, and I think that truck bed looks like a good place for an ATV for Beth. :mrgreen:
 
Awesome finish to a great trip!

Oh, and I think that truck bed looks like a good place for an ATV for Beth. :mrgreen:

Oh it was PACKED!! No room for an ATV unless it sits up on top like Nadeem's side car rig does on his truck.
 
I am jealous, Scott. You are a great Dad. I had a long absence of two wheeling with a motor during my kids life at home. I did have a 1960 Bug-Eye Sprite Austin-Healey. It was a great memory maker. I also had other classic cars, but that one was the best for 27 years. I had a Kawasaki, but it was not really a two person set up. More of a cafe racer. Keep the memories being made.
 
EXTREMELY awesome write up Scott. I can't wait to do things like this with my kids! Great dad you are!
 
Scott,

What/Where is the park with all the waterfalls hiking in post 13?
 
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