Day 11 - A Disappointing Turn

SOUTHWEST ADVENTURE - Day 11
Starting Point: Amarillo, TX
Destination: Hot Springs, AR
Day 11 mileage: 595.1
Cumulative mileage (GPS): 5639.8
Cumulative mileage (Odometer): 5749.3

At this point in our ride, we were without doubt headed for final destinations. Three of the New Orleans riders were headed home. Randall - long-time friend who, along with his wife Elizabeth, are like a second set of parents to our girls - had our sights set on Nashville, where we would celebrate a post-honeymoon party with daughter Jaimee and new son-in-law Travis. We had two days to get there, but we had to get to Nashville on time.

We had one more highlight planned on the way to Nashville: to ride the Talimena Scenic Byway in Oklahoma into Arkansas. This was another intended destination in 2012. That year - as was the case this year - we had to alter our plan to run from tornadoes, and we missed the Talimena. We were excited to get to finally experience this highly-recommended route.

The first order of business was to decide whether Trent, Matt, and Steve were going to continue on to Hot Springs with us or take a more direct route home. We finally decided to ride on as a group one more day and to experience the Talimena together. Needless to say, I was excited about this decision, as we really have a great time together. So off we went, headed east on I-40 toward Oklahoma City and beyond, knowing we had a lot of boring miles to cover before the scenic ride would begin.

Stopping for gas in Waterford, Oklahoma, we realized we were running parallel to Route 66. We had experienced some great sights on Route 66 in 2014 and couldn't resist deviating from the route to see what we might find. The break from the monotony of the interstate was much-needed, and we were rewarded with a couple of pretty cool stops. Check out the images along Route 66 below (but keep reading after the pics!) :

 

 

 

Leaving Lucille's and Route 66 behind, we jumped back onto the interstate and continued east on 40 to Henryetta, Oklahoma, where we turned south to get the Talimena Scenic Byway. This turn started a series of unfortunate experiences. The road south turned out to be a toll road - the Indian Nation Turnpike. We didn't mind paying a toll, but we quickly figured out there were no gas stations around, and we needed fuel. We explained out dilemma to the toll-taker, who directed us down a road to nowhere, it seemed. We found a gas station, decided to look elsewhere, only to find the second option was closed or out f business or something. So we headed back to the first gas stop, where some of us bought just enough gas to get us on down the road to where our GPS indicated we might find a better option. So on we went - to find more gas, to make our way through the town of Talihena and then into Talimena State Park. Finally, after a long day of riding, we made the turn onto Highway 1 to begin our ride on the scenic byway, only to see this:

It seems the weather system that had caused all of the rain and flooding we dodged early in the trip had wreaked havoc on this part of the country as well. Our plan to ride the Talimena Scenic Byway was foiled again, this time due to heavy rains and flooding. This was a disappointing turn indeed.

"What do we do now?" was the question of the moment. There was no place to stay where we were, and we remained committed to reaching our destination of Hot Springs, Arkansas. With this being the case, we made a decision to turn around and continue north on Highway 271 and set the GPS to route us to Hot Springs.  We ended up on a road that was not quite two lanes wide, which had no center line, and which I was sure was going to turn to dirt at any point. Surprisingly, we ended up enjoying a pleasant ride to Hot Springs. I saw six turtles, two snakes, and two deer (one dead and one expired). Anyway, our adventure-filled day finally ended at Baymont Inn and Suites, where we enjoyed a pleasant view of Lake Hamilton and a pretty decent dinner at Jose's Mexican Grill and Cantina before calling it a night.

So what did I learn from this "disappointing turn"?

(1) The saying is true: "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." It's not the norm for us on our trips - but it's actually kind of fun when you don't know where you are going, or what is around the next turn.

(2) I should probably learn to check road conditions each day before we ride.

(3) It's a privilege to ride with the friends I get to travel with. Nobody got ticked off. Nobody complained. We all just embraced the adventure together.

(4) Life throws us curve balls - disappointing turns - all the time. We'll enjoy the journey a lot more if we expect the unexpected and focus on solutions rather than problems.

(5) Standing around talking about things might seem like a good strategy. I prefer to start walking... putting one foot in front of the other... or, in this case, twisting the throttle and moving on.  We've all heard it said, after all, that we're never lost. We're just finding new roads...

So when faced with disappointing turns - ride on, enjoy the scenery, and most of all, enjoy those who are on the journey with you.

Yep - ride on!

Odometer and GPS mileage at the end of Day 11