Girlfriend & I ended up taking a totally random trip this past weekend. Ended up with no kids so just decided to grab a change of clothes and a backpack & take off with no specific plans or set destination. Been awhile since I've been out to Talihina, OK so we planned that as our first stop. Plan was to roll into town and grab a hotel and ride up in the state park in the morning but our unplanning bit us in the ***...they were both full lol. So at that point we had to push on to the next town which was Podo, OK. Plenty of hotels there so we were in luck & checked in for the night.

Next morning we got up and rode into Ft. Jackson. From there hit up the Ozark mountains in AK and ended up in Eureka Springs. Weather was perfect and riding up in the Ozark's was amazing. Plenty of scenery and switchbacks, you just have to take it easy in some spots. Never been up to Eureka Springs before but it was really cool. Plenty of restaurants, bars, hotels, & they even have a HD dealership up there. Bikes just all over the place. We had kept our hotel in Podo otherwise we would have just stayed up there. Ate, drank, & hung out with a bunch of friendly bikers and then we turned around and headed back to Podo.

Next day we woke up and made it back to Talijina. Rode through the Wilhelmina state park which is about a 2 & 1/2 hour ride through the mountains. Again...lots of beautiful scenery and they have a lodge at the top...unfortunately no beer so FYI on that. After we rode down we stopped in Talijina, ate lunch, & then rode back to Dallas. All in all we rode 878 miles in 3 days so not a bad little trip on the fly. Weather was perfect the whole time just a little on the hot side...almost 100 all 3 days but really not that bad while you're moving. Here's a few pics we took.

[ATTACH]Attachment 443311[/ATTACH]

 

I was in the same situation a few weekends ago and went off by myself from Houston and spend S/S going all over Oklahoma. Should have just stopped in that part of Oklahoma. I rode right past Antlers on the Indian Tollroad.
Most of the state is really very nice.
And you had me fooled as AK is the traditional abbreviation for Alaska!
Now that would have been a ride!

Thanks for the photos.

 

Thanks for sharing with the pictures.Glad you had a great time.

 

Haha...my bad, yes Arkansas not Alaska. Thanks ya'll.

 

Come back up in two weeks (Sept. 23 - 26), and there will be thousands of bike in Eureka Springs.

Bikes, Blues & BBQ
http://www.bikesbluesandbbq.org/

 

Few of the people up there were telling us about that...said it's one of the larger rallies in the country. Would love to head up there again but not sure if I'm going to have the time or not.

 

Wife and I were just there last weekend. Way cooler than you had it I think. Bummer that 23 is closed just where it gets good. 74 and 16 aren't bad rides though. There's a few other spots that are neat. I'll post two pics that I think you'll enjoy that were from right next to your last one...

 

We did a Queens trip there last summer and had a blast. Great riding country, we rode the Pig Trail and stayed in Eureka Springs. I'd love to go again.

 

Was thru Eureka Springs back in July, was some great riding thru AR. In all trip was 1,200 miles. Wish could ride there more often.

 

I'm only a couple of hours from Eureka Springs so we hit it often. Good roads and lots of good people