My wife and I just arrived in Jasper, Arkansas for a week of riding.  We left Saturday morning and are trailering the bike.  We left home around 9:30 AM on Saturday morning and stopped for the night at Poplar Bluff, Missouri at 6:30 PM their time (7:30 ours).......and camped for the night.  We arrived at our campground spot in Jasper, Arkansas at 3:30 PM on Sunday....it was 95 degrees!  We set up camp and have not yet taken the bike off the trailer - it just seems a bit too hot...but we will do that as the evening cools down a bit.

The road in was #7 and it was nice and curvy......it looks like a nice place to ride a motorcycle.

I will keep you all posted - it looks like it is going to be in the 90's the next few days.  Perhaps we will take early morning rides, then visit the caves in the heat of the day!  Maybe we can go up into the mountains and get some relief!

The weird part about my GPS.....is I drove off the edge!

On the way out we tried to program Jasper into GPS....it churned on it a while and then gave a message "Cannot calculate route".  We tried a couple of times - and finally I got the idea that maybe Arkansas was not in the map memory.  We calculated the route using a map and just let the Garmin show us the map of where we were driving without a planned route.....it helped us to see what roads were coming up so we could see when we needed to turn.  The funny part was when we got to the Illinois/Missouri state line.....and as we crossed into Missouri the screen just went white!  It would show the road we were on - but no features or other roads.....just a straight line down the screen on a white background!

The good news is the Garmin on the motorcycle has a larger memory and works just fine.....the other one has a smaller memory and only has the southeast 48 states loaded.

In Missouri there was a lot of cropland and harvest was in full swing.  There was a lot of dust being kicked up by the semi trucks driving down the local dirt roads hauling grain to the silos, dust from the combines, and even more dust from the folks who had already harvested and were discing the plowed fields.  There were huge black clouds of smoke in several areas rising into the sky......seems they burn off the stubble in the fields before plowing/discing - we never saw a fire up close but we did see some black fields that had not yet been plowed.  

When it cooled down last night we road from the campground into Jasper which is just 1.5 miles away, and it is a very small town with several good looking restaurants.  We ate at the Ozark Cafe which was established in 1909, and I had a wonderful Pork Tenderloin sandwich.  We road up route 7 for about 5 miles, and it is very similar to the roads in north Georgia - not as tight of curves as the Tail of the Dragon but not as open as the Cherohala Skyway.  This campground has cabins.....I will find out a bit more about them.

We have a small motorcycle route pamphlet that lists several loop rides.  The shortest is 1.5 hours with 316 scenic curves, there are several that are around 3 hours long with 350-600 curves, and the longest is 5 hours with 840 curves.

 

My AF son is going to in a Resort in South Korea next year , so there woin't be no Driving to Texas 5 times next year .   Not that I didn't enjoy every trip , but it left no time for going other places.

So as soon as the mountains warm-up from their Winter Nap , I'm ready to "Go see the Ozarks" .

Simple math , 5 hour loop with 600 curves = 2 per minute average = FUN RIDE.  
That's with out the bonus 240 curves extra !  

Dave, I can't ride that fast. 571 miles in 3 hours is just a bit much for me!

How long did it take to get the duct tape off?

Sounds like a place to visit.
http://jasperdogwoodcabinsandrv.com/

Versy posted a link.......the cabins looked pretty nice inside.  Some have showers and bath, while the small ones don't.  They also have tent sites with electric hookups....I saw some rental foam pads in the office.

This campground is very similar to the Kickstand Lodge.......it is a bit worn down and could use a makeover - the showers are functional but the bathhouse at KSL are far cleaner and fresher looking.  The showers in the cabins are far nicer than the concrete block showers in the bath house.

There is a restaurant called the Cliff House that has a wonderful view and hotel rooms - the parking lot is right next to the road and there is no covered parking of any kind.  They also have cabins.
http://www.cliffhouseinnar.com/

Its been my experience they react to a horn blow without delay.   Their legs go off like springs as the sound hits their ears without any time laps in between .    Its like you can be in-charge of making them jump. ...
Now which way they jump ... I'm not even sure the deer are in charge of that .  

I'm glad it was only a close one.   Ya , know we're not really in charge as much as we like to think we are.   I suspect the good Lord has a few more chores for you to do , weather Satan tries to take you out or not.