Day four..on to Clayton (June 13th)

My god, everyone but me is awake and dressed by 6:30-why? (We don't know) I slept on the fouton, Jerome on his mattress & 4 others in the two bedrooms. A pretty good sleep & up to the grill for breakie..really good burritos! Ten bucks for breakfast & the sandwich for lunch. The cook, owner has her mom helping her..yesterday it was her sis, visiting..hey, help is hard to find out here in the boonies. Back down to the cabin and load up the bikes and stuff & wait a few minutes for the "help" to arrive. Off we go & finally, a paved road in Pickens..a real place with houses, churches & a store! Onto Nashoba & a newly paved road with some really tough climbs to 1700' & then a massive 4-mile downhill, to 900' & 41 mph to our lunch spot, just outside of Honobia, (Home of Bigfoot!) A nice picnic at Christ's Church Campground--backyard of the rev , actually) Back on the road toward Clayton, with the Albion Loop thrown in at no extra charge. Some water breaks with the sag & we roll into Clayton Lake with Jerome having another flat, so we wait for Larry and the sag to take us to The Clayton Country Inn to shower. Did I say we have to pay $5 for this shower?!!!!?? They should have paid us to use the dead fish infested, very primitive showers..and this is an RV park! Gross me out...What is wrong with these people? Anyway, Mitch, Texye & Parker have a ride waiting for them & off they go for MWC. We manage to get everyone & everything in the MDX & trailer & off we go. Where's supper? Jerome makes the decision for Pete's place in Krebs. Great choice! The Italian Dinner & chicken are FAB! (and a cold Choc!) Man are we full, but a nice way to end the trip. back on the road toward the shoppe in Shawnee & we arrive about 9:30, unload and head home. A quick stop at Sonic for a Rt 44 Cherry Limeade & home by 10:20. 60 miles today & probly 4000' of climb-at least.
(Was it a good trip? Sorta, but too many portages & dirt roads & scenic overnites. This probly wasn't necessary but next time, I'll ask-if there is a next time. And Texye asks me, "When's your next ride?" Tomorrow..and yes, the auto did clean up ok.)

Day three..more gravel(June 12th)

OK, the firehouse was fine, but I was up a few times as the pills were "working" on me, but couldn't hear the numerous trains. My cot worked ok, but Jerome said I snored a lot. We're up at 6:30 & get ready to load up the trailer..at least ,today we actually start on paved roads! Over to the "Choo Choo Cafe" for a very good breakfast buffet & only 5.95! On the raod by 8:00 & headed for Antlers for lunch, but first, Barb just "has" to do "Jumbo Road". This gravel/dirt road..what else?..goes thru the back woods to Jumbo , Ok, where the last gas station, P.O. & general store, closed in 1975. (The pump showed gas to be 49.9.) This "Portage" was 71/2 miles & Bill did the driving this time. Me & Jerome stayed at the store to guard the bikes & wait on the rest of the riders. Barb & Parker head on toward lunch. After some pretty bad blacktop & a tough climb or two, we arrive in Antlers at a great pizza place! Homemade pizza & clazones-the Works! Now we decide to take Eric & Kathleen over to Hugo, as they are going to ride the "Oklahoma Freewheel", starting tomorrow. I drive the sag & Parker rides shotgun & we drop of the riders in Hugo, where there are already 100's of tents & activities going on. No circus in operation, but a few trains chugging by the old Harvey House. Hugo used to be a winter spot for a few small circuses & even has a "Circus animal" cemetary. We get ice & water for the riders as we will meet them in lovely Rattan, Ok and then head to Cloudy, Ok for our overnite. At least it's paved, for awhile, but just past the Cloudy store, it turned to..guess what? yep, gravel! Bill gets in at this point & we proceed to "Hannah's Bent Tree Cabins". Some places where we have to decide which way to go, but we get there ( thru the grace of god) & rumble down to the cabin..pretty damn' rough I might add. (My auto is taking a beatin'!) The cabin is right on Little River and a nice..one bath again. We unload the trailer & I go back to get the rest of the riders . Jerome has had two flats with a blowout thrown in for good measure. Larry proceeds on and makes it all the way! The showers are underway & we all get cleaned up and walk up to the cafe on site-The Bent Tree Grill. We even dip our feet in the cool waters of the river before walking up, sippin' a cool one. The cafe is great! Catfish dinners, baked potatoes & we also order sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch. Barb is lookin' at the route & asks the owners if they will help us portage over the gravel and avoid two trips, sure, why not? But it'll cost ya $40. I suppose it's a good deal as it's 10 miles to pavement in Pickens, Ok. 43 miles today & 2500' of climb. Back to the cabin & in bed by 10:15.

Day two..a HOT & Hilly day

June 11th: Well, sleep was fair with no bugs or trains or varmits. We're up at 6:45 & get everything loaded up & ready to head out after breakie. Judy cooks up a good breakfast & has the coffee ready at 7:30..scrambled eggs, toast & oat meal. We all pay up, load up & Joe helps us portage the 2 1/2 miles to pavement. unload the bikes & off we go toward Lamar-lots of trucks on our route & tough climbs. Over to Horntown & south on US 75 to Calvin. The wind is really bad, gusting 20-25 in our face. It's one of those days where you can't keep up with the hydration. East on Ok 1 to Stuart & it's still 34 miles to lunch in Colgate (I shoulda got a corndog!). It's hotter & the wind is still bad and more hills, and now what? Road construction for 4 1/2 miles..gravel/dirt, flats & someget "sagged" to pavement, where Coal County begins. The group that is left pretty much break up & I even have to get water from a farmhouse. I'm starting to cramp & decide to call it quits for the day. Turns out, I'm the last one to get in, other than Bill who makes it the whole way. We're tired, hungry & plenty thirsty when we arrive at the "Branding Iron Cafe" where they have a good buffet set up for us. My cramps are still bad , so jerome offers a potassium pill & it does the trick! Thanks Jerome! I get in the car & drive the sag toward Stringtown-home of Reba-VFD, our overnite. Nice facilities, but again only one shower, but a/c and quiet. We unload the trailer & I go back for the others, as I figure they won't want to ride the final 5 miles on the four-lane. The showers have started & it all works out. Everyone cleans up and we head over to the "Choo Choo Cafe" for dinner. A nice log cabin restaurant with Fab onion rings! This was a big Railroad town & the Union Pacific still rolls thru here. There was even a Bonnie & Clyde shootout in town. A good time at dinner, but the gravel road dominated the conversation-did I mention that Jane's bike "flew off" the trailer on the gravel section? Atruck driver saw it & we called ahead to the sag-no damage to the bike. I can't even begin to cover the trip so far-a typical "Barb" adventure, always looking for the secluded, no traffic, back country road. A little overboard so far, but I'm sure it'll get worse. back to the firehouse & the air-conditioned room where 7 of us slept. The others tented and were bothered by trains all night. 58 miles today & around 4000' of climb. Hope my cramps are better after a snooze

"Barb Trip" starts

Well, here we go on another adventure..a "prewheel" ride to southeastern Oklahoma. A group of nine riders assemble at the bike shop in Shawnee for a 9:00 departure. Two more will meet us later in the day.(Riders are Larry, Barb, bill, Jane, Jerome, Mitch, Texye, Parker & me.) One SNAFU, as I have to run to Atwood's for a trailer ball that will work. Load up the support trailer & off we go! I drive the SAG vehicle-my auto- first, as I want to make sure it pulls ok, plus, I need a Sonic toaster! I catch up with the bikers on south rock creek rd & there's Bob Slavin! I pull in for a chat and to make sure riders are ok. I drive on to Seminole where Barb will take over the driving for a while. We take the old road, at any cost I might add & south to Bowlegs. Then a tough easterly ride to Wewoka, with a few trucks. I take the short route to H'ville so I can visit with my mom for a bit & the rest of the crew heads south to the 5-mile corner and then the old highway to H'ville. We all meet up at the Pallmer Inn for a really great lunch! Back on the road toward Yeager..Hi Vic!..and a tail wind for awhile..YEA! Across US 75 toward our overnite at the "Rocky Top Ranch"..but we have to load up the bikes and go over 41/2 miles of gravel road to the "Ranch". At this point some of the riders decide to walk to the ranch, thinking it's only 21/2 miles..ouch! Our hosts come lookin' for us & bring the rest of the bikes & riders to the spot, and wearing "fake teeth" I might add..like he needed them...The Robison's..Joe & Judy make us feel at home, but he does have a sidearm..for "protection". The "lodge" is pretty primitive, as it's a sleeping place for hunters..wild boar hunters! Only one bath & shower for all 11 of us, but we make it work (Eric & Kathleen show up about 7:00). Five of us sleep inside (with a/c) and the rest pitch tents. Our hosts cook up catfish, bass, FF, cornbread & an apple/peach cobbler. Then a good fire & to bed for hopefully, some decent sleep.50 miles today & 3000' of climb. Anyone for a 720 LB wild boar? Lots of hunting pics on the walls. good nite.