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Salem Mo., Ozarks Trip, Heartland M. C.
Monday, May 12th Day 1: The day started off miserably cool and cloudy. We left Plymouth at 7:15 to arrive in Winamac at 8:00. It was so cool Pastor Johns bike didn't want to start when we got to Winamac. Pastor Gary's Flag did not arrive with his bike. Got a late start and elected Bruce (Ghost Rider) as Road Captain as he knew where we were going and had spent some time in the Salem Mo. area and had relatives there.
It wasn't long before we were moving along at a nice clip and really chewing up some highway. I was really proud of the guys as the group stayed pretty tight and everyone was riding pretty skillfully. I road shotgun to Ghost rider and really had a great ride. We arrived later that evening in Salem and met Doug and Nan at The Ranch the Motel where we were staying. It turns out Doug and Nan Had taken a spill earlier in the day (as they had arrived Sunday evening).
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Turns out some lady on a moped had parked her ped in the middle of the road and was off it loligagging around when Doug crested a hill Nan following and discovered no good path. Doug put his bike down and Nan rode a ditch for a while damaging both bikes (what a gal). Thank God no-one was hurt seriously. Nan and Doug bought pizza for all (they got my vote) and we called it a night. We all had roommates. Did you know Pastor John snores, lucky me.
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May, 13th 2008 Day two: We woke up this morning pretty refreshed. The rooms at The Ranch were pretty spacious and had a kitchen also. We went to eat breakfast at the Red Hen the prices were really cheap and the food was OK. Doug and Nan headed off to the Harley dealer for repairs. We are going to ride and meet up with them later.
Ran highway 19 and some of the letter roads south of town. They were pretty awesome lots of hills and curves, some 15 mph curves.
Observed a lot of big cattle around here. They were all pretty fat. Made me hungry fore a steak.
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Caught up with Doug and Nan later after the ride. the Harley dealer fixed them up pretty good.
Went to KFC as we were hungry and couldn't find a steak house. It was one of those Taco Bell, KFC combos and the staff acted like they were new. Not much food for the high price.
Called it a night.
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Wednesday, May, 14th 2008 Day3: Doug told us about a good restaurant he found out about at the gym. The name of the restaurant was My Place. The food was really good and the staff was really nice. We even got to met the owner. We vowed that we would come back for dinner as good food is few and far between sometimes. The owner was telling us about his aged Prime Ribs and how tender they were. Got my attention.
Went back to The Ranch to Pick up Doug and Nan thought we would head to Branson via Arkansas. Proceeded to carve up some hills and curves on 19, and a few other Letter roads. Stopped at Mammoth Spring Arkansas.
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We ate at Fred's Fish house. I thought I had heard about on some TV show. The catfish was really good served with a raw onion. The Peanut butter pie was to die for. Thought I was going to burst.
Huddled up after lunch and decided Branson was a 3 to 4 hours away and we wouldn't make it back to The Ranch tonight. Decided to hit some new roads and carve it up some more. Broke my heart.
Took Road Captain for a while on 19 it was refreshing to see all the beauty and curves first it really put me at peace. We were really rolling down 19 as it was starting to get late and we were trying to get back. Went to The Ranch then saddled up less Doug and Nan to go to My Place for steak.
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Arrived at My Place and they were waiting for us they recommended the Rib Eye they had me convinced pastor Gary ordered the shrimp. They gave Gary extra shrimp and made more baked potatoes for all of us. Keep in mind we arrived late and I think the held up for us. The Rib eye melted in you mouth and was delicious. Pastor Gary commented on the shrimp also. They offered us some of their wonderful desserts but we were stuffed and called it a night.
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Thursday, May, 15th 2008 Day 4:
Today we woke up to rain. Curby made a chow run to Mickey D's to get us some breakfast sandwiches
(what a guy.) Watched the Weather Channel it should clear up by noon looking at the Radar. We looked at the map to plan some good roads to ride and some of the guys got some shut eye.
Still raining Pastor herb went for a ride looking for a rental car with no luck. We joked about calling that great restaurant My Place to see if they would pick us up. I told him I knew they would. Next thing I know Pastor Herb tells me they are coming to pick us up. Me and Curby thanked him for insulting our manhood.
Some Bikers we are. He told me we could ride if we wanted to. We checked our pride and decide some humility was good for us.
Dave from my place had sent his wife and waitress to pick us up. How cool is that.
When we arrived at My Place there was a lot of joking around about our manhood and being real bikers. I ordered a big burger and asked if they could drop it a few times and get some dirt on it and that I wanted it rare still kicking with some moo left in it. Then Sturgis John took all the pressure off us when he ordered a chicken salad on a croissant with fresh fruit on the side. We joked about him being real biker material. They cook and waitresses picked up on this and teased him also. The waitress brought his meal and a pitcher off artificial flowers. She said the flowers were an award for being only the fifth guy to order the chicken salad and they had ordered it on whole wheat. The cook and staff were all around us and we told them we call Sturgis John, Poky. The cook suggested we call him Miss Poky so the waitress wrote Miss Poky on the pitcher.
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I enjoyed my big burger it was delicious and Pastor Herb had some kind of melt the staff called #$% he said it was great also. We joked about having to walk back now but the dropped us back off at The Ranch. The weather was starting to clear and we had to wait about another hour for a finger of a storm to clear on radar.
Saddled up and headed south on Hwy. 19 What an awesome road gorges curves and hills nothing unpredictable. Tore up some more Letter roads. Stopped at an old mill and spring and checked it out Ghost Rider said his Aunt had lived just a little down from the mill right on the stream back before the Parks took possession of all the land there.
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Tore up some more letter roads hit some hwy. then headed up hwy. 19 again north to Salem and My Place. When you find a good restaurant stay with it and we really owed these guys.
Arrived a little late for dinner but they were waiting for us. The cook at My Place told us about the famous roast beef and gravy the make on Sundays for the buffet and how the just happened to have some for us on Thursday night. We had the roast beef of course and the Southern green beans. It was all they said it was the meat was so tender you didn't need teeth it just melted in your mouth and the gravy was awesome. I enjoyed the southern green beans with bacon and seasonings (yummy). I was totally stuffed but I forced myself to have the home made pineapple upside down cake. It was a fine finish to great day.
Now off to the Ranch and bed.
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May, 16th 2008 Day 5:
Up and Adam, what a beautiful day. I picked up some batteries memory cards and duct tape for my camera. Mounted the camera behind my windshield with that all American favorite duct tape.
We had breakfast at our favorite place My Place. I ordered what they call a train wreck eggs, hashbrowns, sausage gravy and all on top of toast. Sturgis John gave me his hash browns (Danke). Reminds me of school kids in some movie. With our tanks full of food and gasoline off we go to hit the road. Now in full video we are going to hit all the best roads we know.
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This day is pure joy. The sun is out the air is cool. The videos are coming out awesome. You can't describe the awesome scenery and roads on these kind of trips, but now we have video Thank God. We ran every road really enjoying the hills and curves because we almost know them like we live here. We run hwy. 19 south and the letter roads j, k, kk, etc. We cross over to Mammoth Springs, Arkansas. We ate at Fred's Fish House again no pie this time saving room for ribs tonight. After lunch we stop at Mammoth Springs to take some pictures and for Curby to take a nap
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We get back to the bikes. Turns out Pastor Herb ran in to the guy with the video and pictures and saw the spring on video and saved him the walk to the springs. Is this guy sharp or what?
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OK, Now it's time to start heading back to Salem by 19 of course. A little wind will dry the sweat and cool me from the hike. Rolling down 19 now, camera batteries were bad I changed them on the fly. Those didn't last any longer either. As I stopped to change batteries the guys rolled on ahead. OOPS! Now I will have to catch up to them GEE! I don't know if I can race up and down these hills and hang these curves at high speed with this video rolling. I might scrape the floor boards in the process............ Somehow I did it and caught up with the guys, along with some gnarly video to go with it. The thought did occur to me, "What if I wipe out, that would look pretty stupid on video." But, like I said it was a thought and it was fleeting. We hit more of hwy. 19 on the way to Salem, 60 mph speed limit, wider, looser curves as the sun was going down. We arrived for "all you can eat ribs" they saved some for us as we were late again. Ribs and steak fries for me. Sturgis John kills his first rack before we finish our salads. The meat fell off the bones, we had to use forks to eat the tender meat. The barbecue sauce was good, John leads me to 3 racks polished off and now I am stuffed. We exchanged e-mails, got a group picture and prayed over the restaurant before we left. Dave wishes us a safe trip home in the morning. Back at The Ranch we packed and went to bed for the early morning was ahead of us.
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May, 17th 2008 Day 6:
Sturgis John Killed me last night with his ungodly snoring. Those ribs really did him in. He was out before his head hit the pillow. I could hear him with both pillows over my ears. Needless to say I started the morning a little grumpy. After 3 cups of coffee I started to come out of it. We are ready to roll after an awesome week of Riding, Beautiful weather, awesome scenery, Friends and good food. It was the best trip ever. God is good!
I would like to thank the people at the restaurant My Place Center & Pershing Salem Mo. for taking such awesome care of us. They really do have the best place to eat in Salem Mo. God Bless Them! Be sure to stop by there if your in the area. Tell them Big Al sent you!
May God Keep you And None Of Your Bones Be Broken! Big Al