Talihina, Talimena & Mena Run 21/22 Jun 08 Day 1 Part 1

On 21 Jun 08, Russ, my soon to be son-in-law Dustin & I went on a run to Eastern Oklahoma and into Arkansas where we spent Saturday night. We returned to Texas on Sunday 22 Jun 08. We put 847.6 miles on the bikes and had a good time. We owe Sissy the credit for giving us the idea to go as she & her husband Steve and Jim went the week before. So, scroll down and enjoy the run through some great country on some excellent scenic routes. REMEMBER: if you want to see the pic bigger, click on the pic..



We started out at 0630 hrs Saturday 21 Jun 08..Here are Russ (left) & Dustin (right) southbound on U.S 287 from Wichita Falls, Texas.



Here is Russ & Dustin riding into the rising sun...

I was showing about 73 mph on US 287

Finally got a drink holder for the bike..Russ gave me the red cold sleeve insert..

Now we take an Easterly heading down US 82. Again Russ & Dustin. We put Dustin in the middle because this was his first ever semi-long run and we wanted to keep close tabs on him.

Our first stop was in Muenster Texas, where Russ saluted me..Just so you all know, Russ is not an evil, wicked, mean & nasty person..I ask him to do it so I can have him doing it in every run post. However, I haven't had to ask him the last few times out..He seems to remember to do it...

Russ & Dustin resting in Muenster Texas

Dustin & Russ standing around at rest stop 1

Russ said from the get go that he was not bringing his GPS and we were gonna do the ride the old fashioned way, by map..And, like the old fashion way, we missed our turn in Sherman Texas and had to back track to Hwy 75 North. Here Russ looks at the map to see what went wrong..

Once established on Hwy 75 North, Russ's bike started making mysterious noises. Here we are on the side of the road checking it out.

Russ looks back to the point where the bike started making the noise to see if there was anything in the road that might have cause the so

Here is Russ checking his Harley for the source of the sound..

Not finding anything wrong we continued on our way & entered Oklahoma. Here is Russ at the state line sign as Dustin calls Amy to check in..

The Oklahoma state line sign

Russ at gas stop 1 in Choctaw Oklahoma

Dustin at gas stop 1 in Choctaw Oklahoma. He is checking in with Amy again.

Dustin & Russ getting ready to depart the Choctaw gas station..

Here we are fixing to cross one of many bridges in Oklahoma.Russ & Dustin in front of me

Here we are crossing another bridge in Oklahoma single file.

We stopped on a smaller bridge to look at the creek below

Here is Dustin on the smaller bridge.

Here is Russ on the smaller bridge..

Here is Russ walking toward me by the Winding Stair National Recreation Area sign. This is in the Ouachita National Forest

Me by the Winding Stair sign



The sign upon entering the Winding Stair Recreation Area

Russ by the bikes at the entrance to the Talimena National Scenic Byway

The sign to the area

Russ by the sign..This is the sign that Sissy, Steve & Jim were next to the previous weekend.

Dustin by the sign.

The Ouachita National Forest sign

Russ & Dustin at an overlook. They called the overlooks "vista's"

The bikes at one of the many Vista's on the Talimena Scenic Byway

Russ & Dustin way out front on the Byway

We made it to Arkansas. Kept an ear out for banjo sounds while in the slow moving areas, Ya never know!!

A scenic view from one of the vista's

A view to the rear. Nothing there....

The road we were following. It was curvy & steep and a lot of fun!!

This is a pic of the way we had just come in on...It was a very scenic ride & I recommend it to everyone...That will do it for this post...Scroll down for more of this run as well as other runs..be sure to click on the "older post" link at the bottom of the page as it will load the next group of runs....Until the next post, ya'll be careful, ride safe & keep the rubber on the road.......JOHN