I didn’t take a ton of pics, but hopefully I got a a couple of good ones to share.
Our (my wife Kristy and I) day started off at about 8am on Thursday, with the bike loaded on the trailer. The more I thought about the rush hour slog across the Metromess, the less I wanted to ride, so onto the trailer goes the bike. We were towing the trailer anyway, to have it available at the hotel for recovery purposes, so what the heck, may as well use it.
I had tentative plans to meet Texxter and El_Chamiso at Queen Wilhelmina around lunchtime, but DFW traffic was so horrific (even worse than I predicted) that we ended running more than an hour later then I had planned, so the odds of catching up to them were slim.
After getting through the traffic and hoofing it up into eastern OK we start looking for a decent place to unload the bike. It was time to ride. We found an abandoned gas station in Yanush, OK, just north of Sardis Lake, with plenty of unloading space. Within a few minutes I have the bike off the trailer and I’m geared up and riding towards Talihina.
A few minutes later I’m on the Talimena Skyway looking at the most beautiful scenery in Oklahoma. The views from the scenic overlooks are just stunning. Kristy caught up to me at one of the overlooks so we snapped a quick selfie and then headed on to the Lodge.
Ah, the Queen Wilhelmina Restaurant. So much potential. So much fail.
We didn’t actually eat at the lodge, because after we were seated and our drink orders taken, we never saw another waitperson for about 20 minutes. That’s about 15 minutes longer than I prefer to wait, but I was feeling generous. We finally just got up and left. I will give the glass of water I had a solid 4 stars. It was cool and refreshing. I’ll give the view out the window a full 5 stars. With views like this you can get away with pretty bad service, but you do actually have to GIVE service.
On the way out the door I met this friendly guy named Nathaniel (Devientartist), who thankfully had hung around long enough to run into my late self, and we quickly decided to ride together to Eureka Springs.
We spent a few minutes getting our intercoms synched up (a new experience for me, and it was great being able to talk to someone during the ride!) and the headed west and north towards Hwy 23. Which totally sucked at first. From the southern terminus of 23 to I40 we were stuck behind horribly slow traffic. That 1 hour section seemed to take days, but in reality it was about an hour and a half. Fortunately after I40 the traffic cleared out and we had smooth sailing on the Pig Trail for the last 75 miles to ES.
Speaking of the Pig Trail, most of it is in pretty good shape, but there are some sections that need some work. All of the mountain passes are getting a little rough, and at one point about 5 miles north of Turner Bend there’s a whole section of the southbound lane that has collapsed and a detour has been built while repairs are made. Makes for a fairly tricky yield situation. There is also some bridge construction going on further north. ARDOT is replacing 4 bridges and have built temporary bypasses during the construction. The bypasses are well built with good pavement and full size lanes. Arkansas temporary pavement is better than any permanent pavement I've ridden in Texas.
We finally rolled into Swiss Village in at about 5:30. It took a bit to get the bikes and gear unloaded, but we finally had a minute to sit down and visit with all the other TWTers who had already arrived. Most of the group had plans to eat at the Grub and Pub Club a couple of doors down from the hotel, but Kristy and I plans to eat dinner at The Grotto in the old downtown area. Our dinner lived up to the great online reviews. The dining room is built into the side of a rocky cliff, giving it a cave-like appearance. Would definitely recommend for a romantic dinner.
Kristy with the cave wall in the background.
And of course you have to bathe after dinner, right?
After that we headed back to the hotel, and I was hoping to enjoy so tasty beverages with the guys, but everyone had already crashed for the night. Understandable since most had a very long, very warm ride that day. So off to bed, for tomorrow we ride!
That wraps up day 1. I’ll try to get day 2 written up and posted this evening, if I can keep my eyes open.
Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! 
Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!
. My wife has only two stipulations on letting me run off riding. 1 take lots of pics ,2 buy her a souvenir . I failed on both this time. I remembered the souvenir when I was in Rusk on the way home 
I showed her these pics in this thread and told her " this is what it looks like up there " maybe I can talk her into going with me sometime 
