Bella Vista, Ar to Southhaven, MS (approx 380 mile day)
First, let me revisit yesterday. The California Contingent (Frank, Marty and Mike) arrived in Bentonville late Monday night. This left all day on Tuesday for the 1800 mile maintenance to be done. I worked half a day, then ended up getting stuck for 2 hours at the DMV addressing last minute chores so I can get out of dodge.
The oil was changed, balancing beads were added to my tires, last checks complete and I spent the afternoon packing, while the crew watched the movie of the 2010 Cannonball.
Those important things done, we headed off to dinner. I had to show off the Bentonville Square and the Walmart Museum ending up at the Flying Fish for dinner. Please remind me to validate "what is spicy" and "who has dietary restrictions" in the future. All taste buds are not created equal. Still, a great time with people who are really excited to run this event.
Now on to today.
We had a rocky start. Doesn't it always go this way? But in the giant scheme of things, only a 30 minute delay. I met up with the guys at the hotel and we stopped for a quick group shot:
Next was quick jaunt to Eureka Springs by way of Beaver, AR (Frank was impressed) and one of the oldest one lane suspension bridges in Arkansas (the Little Golden Gate):
I'll add a link to the bridge crossing once I get all the footage.
After doing the double loop of Eureka Springs (passing favorites like the Crescent Hotel and the Pied Piper/Cathouse), we continued through Harrison, Mountain Home, Jonesboro and on into Memphis.
That northern route through Arkansas is great. Big sweeping turns, cool temperatures for this time of year, and great guys chatting away on the com systems. Of course, we had a small technical issue with one of the devices, so we spent some time at the Cyclegear in Memphis.
Here is the final route:
G'night folks.
Tomorrow, Leeds and the Barber.
Remember, if you want a real time track of where we are, hit the link to Franks SPOT on the right side of the page.
