Planes, Trains, Cars, Motorcycles, Horses and a Duck!

In the last 10 days we have been on more kinds of transport than at any time I can remember. My friend Bob, let me drive his amazing Maserati, then came the jets to Houston, more cars and trucks, the motorcycle, the horses, a duck in Hot Springs, and today a train!

We got to Eureka Springs, Arkansas just in time for the train ride into the mountains. For $22 each we rode in a 1923 dining car and ate Noodles Stroganoff. The trip was very enjoyable and the food delicious.

The town of Eureka Springs is one of the most quaint, scenic, and artsy places we've seen. The roads are so perfect for motorcycling there are specialty motels that cater just to bikers. Tonight we are settled into such specialty lodging. For about $50 we get to sit in front of our rooms and swap stories with a dozen other bikers, most of them on the way to the Wing Ding too. A/C, a washer and dryer, nice beds and a shower... my life is complete! A reason for our camaraderie is explained by the sign nailed to a nearby tree.

I forgot to include a photo of our encounter with a veritable flock of hummingbirds. In my whole city boy life I've seen maybe six. On Rt 7 we saw dozens and photographed them from two feet away! It's this kind of thing that make our travels so enjoyable. Hummingbirds are a very small thing but I found them fascinating and marveled for a long time at their aerobatic skills. What masters! In John Denver's song, Rocky Mountain High, he sings, "He knows he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly". They were great lyrics. Today I feel richer for having seen hummingbirds.

Tomorrow we head to Rodgers for the Daisy BB Gun Museum and Silom Springs to visit the former home town of my police department partner, Jim Smythe. Then by late afternoon we will arrive at the Wind Ding in Tulsa.