The Candy Ass Adventure - August 5 & 6, 2019

August 5, 2019

Last night we walked over to Walmart and grabbed some ready made salads and a few snacks and returned to the room to have dinner.  Perfect!  While we were gone a few more bike peeps had shown up who were also riding the Trans America Trail (TAT).  One rented Honda CRF 250 and a couple of Suzuki DR650's, all from New Zealand here for an adventure.  We had some pleasant chat time in the parking lot.

Also a couple of guys showed up on Harleys.  Didn't get a chance to talk with them.

This morning we managed to leave by 9 am and continued our journey west.  What good luck for us today.  The weather was gorgeous and we had the extreme pleasure of riding US 62 through Eureka Springs, AR and the Ozarks!  Surprise!!!!  Who knew US 62 was such a spectacular motorcycle road?  We didn't but we soon discovered it was AWESOME!!!!!

Lucky for us it was a Monday and about zero traffic.  Great twisty road with ups and downs and turns just like a roller coaster!  Oh, oh, oh!!!!  Gotta go back and do more of that.  The town was darling too with lots and lots of cute lodging and eateries.  Yes, gotta do this again!!  Check it out! Eureka Springs, AR.

Following our fabulous morning zoom on US 62 we ended up in Rogers, AR and stumbled upon Lucy's Diner.  Oh, my heck!  Did we get lucky again!  Simply fabulous food and lots of it.  So well prepared and delicious.  I didn't mean to eat a big lunch but I did, hahahahaha.  Guess I'll have to have a light dinner.  Check out Lucy's Diner.  Lucy's Diner

So far today has been perfect.  Totally wonderful roads, great weather and then a super, duper lunch.  What next?  Well, as a matter of fact we stumbled on yet another fantastic road and scenery when we came upon the Elk River in Noel, Missouri!  Another must go back and spend a few days riding and floating the river.  Simply breathtaking!  Elk River, Noel, MO

Bad me, again a day of no pictures.  We were so busy riding and enjoying that even when we stopped I forgot to take pics!  Promise I'll get better.  I did manage to take this photo but with the crappy phone camera, well, you just can't see the vista I was trying to capture.  Suffice it to say, it was lovely.

We made a quick stop along the road to shake out the booties and cool down.  Just another example of our scenic photo taking skills ;-)

We had a great day again with very little traffic.  It did get hot and by the time we stopped for the night in Independence, KS we were ready to call it a day and cool off although we only rode about 300 miles.  We stayed at the Palace Inn and honestly, don't go there, lol.  Fortunately, dinner was right next door and Eric got take out Mexican for us.  It was pretty darn good especially coupled with our cocktails.

Early to bed.  Today was kind of long and hot and wore me out although I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and scenic highways.  Tomorrow takes us further west as we head to Grand Junction, CO.

August 6, 2019

 Aha!  We were out the door and on the road by 8:15 am today, lol.  Our goal was Dodge City, KS and the roads taking us there were fast.  Like 60 - 70 mph!  Still avoiding the Interstates we headed west on KS 169/166 and quickly worked our way to US 400 which we stayed on most the way to Dodge City.

Our first stop was at yet another scenic stop along the highway at a Diesel/Propane filling station in Arkansas City, KS, lol.  Oh well, it was a welcome relief in the shade.

Our lunch stop was in Kingman, KS and oh boy we scored again!  Cafe Cleo's was a cute, little coffee shop/bistro that served great Panini lunches.  We just got lucky.  We had stopped to cool down in the shade and I wanted to grab a photo for the Iron Butt Photo Tag game that I play on Facebook.  The current tag was a cobblestone or brick road and hey, I parked, looked down and thought, PERECT!  Got the tag ;-)  And, looked across the street and spied the cafe.  Life is good!  There turned out to be a couple other good spots too, but we loved the lack of crowds at Cleo's and the service was friendly and fast.

 Here is an interior shot of Cafe Cleo's.  Tiny and ummmm..... quirky?  But great food ;-)

 After lunch, we just continued to motor on US 400 at a brisk pace.  Quite different from our first few days where we rarely went over 50 mph.  Of course, the higher speeds along with a bit of wind really killed our gas mileage!  Oh well.

Since I had grabbed the Iron Butt Photo Tag I had to post another new tag and we stumbled upon this!  Roadside folk art along US 400 just out of Mullenville, KS.  This was super cool.  Unfortunately the artist, M.T. Liggett has passed away but his art continues to awe folks!  Check out this link to learn more about the artist and his roadside art.  MT Liggett Roadside Art

By now the temperatures were climbing near 100.  That kind of hot where you feel the sweat beading up on your back and trickling down your spine to puddle in the crack of your ass hot.  I had been diligent about drinking water, a lot of water but I was still too hot and was so grateful to ride into Dodge City around 3 pm.  Yes, it was a bit early to stop but we had hit our goal of 300 miles for the day and it was freaking HOT!  We pulled into the Best Western Plus and checked in a ground floor room.  Bonus, I had a $20 coupon to apply to the room so it wasn't so pricey!  And, we have a suite!  Nice.

We have stayed here in the past and it's a nice place.  Definitely recommend it!  We both had cool showers, (washing off all that accumulated ass sweat) changed into comfy shorts and relaxed.  Now, cocktail time and thinking about dinner options.

Tomorrow our goal is Pueblo, CO about another 300 miles.  We are keeping true to our intent of not more than 300 miles per day.  Today was faster because of the faster roads.  I suspect tomorrow will be fast too because we'll be on US 50.  All good.  Maybe I'll sleep in tomorrow, hahahaha.  Or not.  Best to get up a bit early and beat some of the heat and HOT it has been!

So there ya go!  We're slowly making our way west across the country.  We haven't hit the Interstate once so far on this trip and I hope we continue to avoid Interstates.  Although I haven't taken a ton of photos, we have seen so much of America.  The real America, the rural, country, down home life of everyday.  So good and so much fun.  I'm lovin' it!

Stay tuned and see what happens tomorrow!

Cheers,
Cletha