We were up early, packed up and left the hotel in the dark heading into Ar. We stopped for gas, breakfast, and sunrise before heading out. Finally, it was light enough to proceed safely and we started working our way out of West Helena. Mostly on paved roads for awhile and then gravel. The gravel roads were superb and you could go as fast as you wanted only having to look out for the occasional pothole or small kid in the road.
The route was the same as the one I rode in 2010 and I was getting nervous about the stretch through some bottom land that floods regularly. In 2010 it took us a couple of hours to go just a few miles. Today, that stretch was dry but there was evidence of past mud.
But, like anything the mud was inevitable. We hit one puddle and which splashed mud up and over the windshield. The rock sliders were covered in thick mud. The wheel wells and mud flaps were full. 🤗🤗🤗. Good times.
Eventually, we started gaining altitude and the mud was a thing of the past. We reached a spot near i40 where the road was closed. We confirm this with a nearby worker. We found a workaround and ended up in a rest area on the interstate. We drove West on I40 for about 6 miles to the next exit, went north a bit and resumed the trail.
The weather was overcast with rain threatening but we seemed to be able to stay away from it. We kept gaining altitude and the scenery was improving. We stopped at a gas station for fried pies. They were OK. We were misrouted several times today. Our GPS is not acting right so, we are having to verify everything with the roll charts and the map. It really slows us down. It slows us down so much that the two Canadians caught up with us here in Clinton. They stayed at the Best Western and we are at the Super 8. We drove down, picked them up and had dinner together. They are very nice guys and we had an enjoyable time sharing a meal together. They are from Quebec so are French speaking but speak very good English.
No sooner had we carried eveinto the room, the skies opened up and we got a free natures car wash. Not perfect but did fine.
So, we are all ready for another early start tomorrow and hope to make it to the OK state line.
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