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We had an awesome weekend. Sorry some of you missed it. Unbelievable food,friendship and beauty. Whether was nice too. Cool or cold at night and in the 80' s during the day. We Clayton trail and a little of K-trail on Friday. McKinley rock was our destination for a half day ride. My wife and I headed up to our 100 acres that afternoon but the rest of the guys did a nice road ride over to Honobia and the Indian nations.
Saturday we were up, said our good bye's to my family and off to Pickens we went. After leaving 271 we saw about 15 Turkey in 2 groups and a nice doe. About 25 miles in we had a site hole plug come out on a DRZ. After combining all 6 of our supplies the hole was plugged 3 finger tips from a latex glove,a piece of fuel line, a small bolt,a hose clamp and finally safety wire. After getting that back going we headed leisurely towards Pickens. I had been told they were currently out of fuel. I stopped at the store and sure enough no fuel so we road over to Battiest for fuel but returned to Pickens for lunch. What a treat. Fresh brisket sandwiches and homade pie. I so bummed we didn't get a picture. Grandma had made Pecan,Apple,Chocolate,Coconut cream and Apricot. Wow !! We grabbed our sandwiches,pie and headed for the front porch. There was silence for a while. LOL Brisket with pickles after a half morning ride. Doesn't get much better till you get to the coconut cream pie. Homade ooo la la thats till your fork breaks on the 2nd bite and hits the right side of the plate cart wheeling your pie a foot up and onto the porch. Now thats a bummer. I cleaned up my mess and headed to the door. One of the guys said you going back. I didn't know what to say but yes of course I'm going back are you kidding ....LOL I grabbed another piece but they wouldn't let me pay for it. I tried and tried. Man was that good pie.
From there our plan or my plan was a north route back over Silver Suck. I hadn't been there in a couple years so i tried to confirm which road hit SS. Well after 2 turn arounds i hit the road I wanted. We wondered up down and all around heading north. It is just gorgeous. We took a couple breaks to stretch the legs then headed toward the river. We again took a wrong turn but came up on a huge buck. The wrong turn was worth every minute. Little did we know very soon most of so would coming back this way in order to rescue the other DRZ. So u turn and back on course. We climb a little and start to parallel the Little river. We end up at what used to be Hunters bridge. We stop and 2 Texas couples with 3 dogs are there hanging out. The bridge has been blown up so the fish can migrate I am told. As I turn around accessing the area I see oil down the back half of Al's DRZ. Al we got a problem ! As soon as he see's it he says I bet it's the counter shaft sprocket seal. Sure enough. He checks the oil quantity and there's some. Starts it up to check the leak and it runs out. OK not good plan B ? We talk about towing it then decide some of us will stay, some will head back for a rescue vehicle. We then back track to the back track where saw the buck and see him again lol. What a pleasure seeing them take off through the woods !! Anyway I am winging it as we have the entire trip and head NW to pavement. Not 10 miles from Al and Ken we hit pavement. We pull in and I tell Grace and Lenda we need to go on a rescue mission. Pete asks if we need help and we say no but thanks. Thad and James are going to head home, so say we say our good bye's Pete was too but he thought he might still be there when we got back. So off we go. We tell Grace, Al motorcycle is broken. To her 2 year old response Zoom Zoom owie ? We must have heard that 22 times going to get Al and Ken. We pull up and Al and Ken are hanging out in the shade enjoying the view. We load Al up and Ken chooses to ride back. When we get back Pete said his plans changed so he spent another night at camp. We had fun telling lies around the camp LIGHT. LOL
Sunday morning everyone took off so we hooked up with a friend from Tulsa and his buddy.( Scott H and Jamie) Lenda, Grace and I led those guys up to the fire watch tower on Flag Pole hill. Part way up Scott blew out his front tube. It blew out for over a foot in length. I have never seen one blow out so bad. After a quick fix we continued to the tower. It is amazing how far you can see from these towers. It is now decommissioned so you can go up in it. Rose when she worked it used to let go in it too. I told Scott of some more trails that head out past Mushroom rock. Him and Jamie head that way and we headed back to camp. What an awesome weekend. My family and I really had great weekend. It was great to meet up with Al again and to meet James,Thad,Pete and Ken. Great bunch of guys !!!!
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Clayton trail to McKinley rock. Left to right Al,James and Thad
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Backof the Battiest store
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Rescue mission
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Al and Ken at camp left to right
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Camp light again left to right Pete,Al,Ken,Lenda and James, oh Patrick and Taz
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Grace on the ride home after her weekend....LOL
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Mike Green