SEARCHING FOR FAIR SKIES...

Well, here I sit on Sunday night, in a hotel room in Branson, Missouri. I should have posted last night when I got to Buffalo's Kid's place in Troy, IL, but I just couldn't do it. I had the riding day from hell Saturday, one of those days that every biker dreads.

THIS IS WHAT THE SKY LOOKED LIKE ALL DAY SATURDAY! 

AT THE GAS STATION WAITING FOR THE KID

After having spent the night outside of Columbus, OH, I checked the weather and there was a "possibility" of showers. Well, that was enough to encourage me into putting on the rain pants. And, boy, was I glad I did. I was on the road from about 8:00am to nearly 5pm and I rode almost the entire day in the rain. Some times it was light, and some times it was torrential. At times it was coming down so heavy I turned on my flashers to make sure the cages behind me could see me! The weather actually seemed to toy with me by the end of the day. About an hour away from the Kid's place, I got off at an interstate rest area, went potty and came back out and sat under a gazebo on a picnic table to call the Kid. The weather, it seemed, was finally letting up on me. It had quit raining and the sun was actually peeking through the clouds. As I opened my phone to call her, the sky opened up and let loose with the most fury I had seen all day. Well,

THE DRIVEWAY AT THE GAS STATION!

actually, I think it rained that hard on me a couple of times before that, but I was going 60mph so I am not sure if it was actually that hard or if it just SEEMED that hard! So when it finally let up, I hopped on the bike for the last leg of the day's ride, but realized I needed to fuel up before I would get to my intended exit. I stopped in Greenville, IL for gas and as I was filling my tank, I watched a wall of water from the sky work it's way in from the north, until it was raining sideways under the gas station awning! I waited that one out inside the store, then headed on again. And to finish up the day's torture, as I was getting off at the Kid's exit, it not only rained again, and hard,
but cut loose with a downpour of hail!! I made it to the first gas station awning I could find and called the Kid to come meet me so I could follow her back to her place once it let up again.

BUFFALO'S GRAND DAUGHTER NELLY & GREAT GRAND

 

DAUGHTER, BELLA

So when we got back to the Kid's place and her husband, Brian, had a big bottle of my best friend, Jack Daniel's sitting there waiting for me, I really wasn't thinking much about putting my  thoughts out there... I was mostly thinking about pulling out everything that was wet to start drying. Because, although my bag has a built in rain cover, it makes the bag really slippery and I was concerned it would shift too much on the bike, even more so when it rained! So I didn't use it... Hmmm, maybe next time I will try it out.

By the time we did the five minute drive back to the Kid's house and cracked the Jack open, the skies had cleared and, after a delicious BBQ dinner of chicken and steak ala Brian, we all ended up in the pool and jaccuzzi. Brian kept the Jack flowing until I found myself in bed the next morning wondering what I did to embarrass myself the night before, because I couldn't quite remember going to bed!

So Sunday morning was a little fuzzy feeling for this old broad as she packed up the scoot to head out. The Kid had dried my stuff for me and their family was heading out to their camper and boat at the lake and I was heading west. I ran Interstate 70 across state line, again in rain gear as an insurance policy as the skies still looked threatening. I jumped off the interstate at Missouri state route 19 in the city of Cuba, where I gassed up at a station crawling with Eagle Rider tour guides and what appeared to be a tour group, unloading bikes off of trailers. (Silly me, in my helmet with a sticker on the back that says: "Silly yuppy, trailers are for boats") A guy filling his truck on the other side of the pump, with a trailer and farm tractor in tow, chatted with me for awhile. When I told him I was headed to Arkansas and he realized I wasn't with the big tour group and was riding to Arkansas from Ohio solo, he said "I gotta' tell you, you're a brave woman." And as I headed south on 19, I rolled that around in my mind a bit. If I was a man on a bike or a woman in a car, he wouldn't have made that statement. Of course, if I was either of those, we probably would not have been talking at all. I believe he meant it as a compliment, at least I think so, but not sure why riding a motorcycle alone to Arkansas makes me brave. I think, rather, it makes me free. But that's just me.

I stopped in Steelville for lunch at Missouri Hick BBQ (really! check it out:  http://www.missourihick.com/ ) and wolfed down a BLT as I was concerned that the big rider
group was gonna' be rolling through any time and I would get stuck behind them! But having been on my share of two lane black top, I know that one should take the opportunity to eat and get gas when available as you never know what you will or won't find ahead and I just don't have the stash room for snacks on this trip. The restaurant was really interesting, with tin buckets made into light fixtures, hung with pieces of rope. And pig place mats. But what was really cool was route 19. It was marked as scenic in the road atlas, which is why I checked it out. But it was better than I hoped for and I found myself tearing up a couple of times on the road, thinking about how much I wished my Buffalo was there to share the experience, knowing that if he had been, at the end of the road, he would have said I had done it again, found another very cool road to discover together. Only I had to feel it in my heart this time. And when I started tearing up, I also remembered Buffalo's buddy, Joe Oil. His last email before I hit the road, Joe said "I am sure your mind will be going a hundred miles an hour...just remember, keep your eyes on the road." And so I shook it off, leaned into the curves and let the road lead me south.

Route 19 ran into US 60 which I ran into Springfield then south to Branson, where I was just too beat this evening to go do the tourist thing. For those of you unfamiliar with Branson, it is a huge mid-west tourist destination, with music shows, water and theme parks, shopping, etc...  www.branson.com  Instead, my friends, I chose to grab a bite at Chili's Restaurant and return to catch you all up with my adventures. Oh yeah, as for rain today, I go spit on just before getting off the highway in Branson but I had the rain gear on all day because the sky threatened all day with a menacing color and cloud cover. Hopefully tomorrow will be dryer. I hit Arkansas tomorrow -- wish me luck.

~ Peace
        Bobbi