Why We Like to Motorcycle in Arkansas

Scenic Highways aren't the only reason to ride a Motorcycle, but they are one of the best. Arkansas Route 7 is one of the best we've seen. It has a beautiful mix of hills, curves, overlooks, and quaint towns and shops to keep it interesting. The pavement is great; clean, pothole free, well marked, and just fun to navigate. There are enough foot peg dragging corners to pump a little adrenaline into your system and enough pastoral scenes to calm you down again. Nice mix. If you've never ridden a motorcycle on a road like this, I hope you can add it to your bucket list and enjoy before checking out.

After this beautiful ride, we reached Branson, Missouri by mid afternoon, found a shop selling show tickets, and got what we were looking for, a nice motel room for two nights and tickets for two top shows. The price, $150. We booked the shows, SIX, (awarded Best show 2009), and Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.

SIX was one of the most amazing acts we have ever seen. They are six of a family of ten brothers, no sisters, who were trained to sing and compelled to practice by their father, whom we met after the show. They sound like a conventional act; Sinatra, The Coasters, The Beach boys, etc., but they have no band! While one or more of the brothers sings a song to absolute perfection, the others imitate the sounds of the appropriate instruments. The effect is a most pleasing but there is a confusing cognitive disconnect where you try to figure out how you can be hearing the instruments that aren't there! They are outstanding showmen and when the act is over and people file out of the theater, they, and several family members, stay to shake hands, talk and thank us for coming to their show. Jak, the bass singer has the most incredible low range I've ever heard, bottoming out at an impossible sounding 50 Hertz! Their genius extends to the marketing of the group and their CDs, and T-Shirts which are sold at intermission by their own wives and some of their own 19 children. Outside the theater, they park Scion XB cars, each uniquely painted with the number of the driver, 1 to 6, and the web address http://www.sixrealbrothers.com/ . Visit to hear 30 second samples of their very impressive art.

The second show, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede was also amazing. Imagine an indoor rodeo/circus where you dine at a table in your bleacher style seats. Sounds weird, but it works. They serve you delicious biscuits, soup, roasted pork, a whole Cornish hen, corn on the cob, potato, and an apple turnover, accompanied by unlimited Pepsi, tea, or coffee; burrp. While eating this they sing a song explaining that you eat cowboy style with your fingers, "cause there ain't no silverware". It's messy, but fun, very tasty and plentiful. As you dine, a litany of impossible horse tricks bewilder you. Riders enter the dirt floor in the the center of the building at full gallop doing things that you'd think simply could not be done. How about standing in the saddle, at full speed, no reigns? Or maybe standing with one foot on the saddle of each of two galloping horses, like horse water skiing. They did dozens of unbelievable skill things and broke the tension with some very good comedy skits, a little magic, and some high precision maneuvers. In all, a worthwhile experience.

We drove a couple of laps around the downtown part of the city and give it our seal of approval if anyone is looking to us for a recommendation.

We earned our discounted passage to hotel and shows by listening to a two hour sales pitch for a "vacation ownership opportunity", (read time share). Our salesman, Dave, an ex rugby player, was a nice guy and warranted our earnest sympathy, as these "opportunities" just don't work for us. Still, we enjoyed the conversation and maybe we will see him at Fantasy Fest.

Tomorrow, we expect to enjoy some more mountain roads as we cruise westward. The Honda's odometer will break the 50k mark before noon giving cause to celebrate with icy sodas and if we see a car wash, a cleansing of two months of accumulated grit. We could use a laundry too.