5/20/10 Another trip on the Long Road.

Herd 365 (f)
I herded mine up and down the road today...




This morning I had another "Long Road" trip to make. The weather has been lots of rain for the last few days but this morning was sunny.

When I went out the sky was clearing and the sun was coming out. Looked like a good morning to start a ride.

I bounced down to the highway and headed east on 45. The road was damp in places but over all was in good shape. I ran up to about seventy and settled in behind some small car traffic and watched the scenery slip by. As I came up on the Huntsville turn off I noticed the traffic was stacked up and moving rather slowly for that hour of the morning. I figured either a wreck or a cop up ahead as people were starting to flash their lights. About 2 1/2 miles up there was a Highway Cop setting beside the road. We all behaved as we went by and he seemed kind of appreciative. It was early.

After passing the cop I was able to get back up to speed and the traffic starting thinning out. I was having a blast just tooling along.

I turned onto Hwy 21 and started the twenty five miles or so of curves. As I came close to the sprawling metropolis of Kingston, Arkansas I noticed blue lights flashing in the distance. As I got closer I saw that there were Fire and Rescue vehicles there as well. I slowed way down and saw that the Sheriff himself and a couple of his deputies as well as several fire people, Rubberneckers and the odd nose picker were all looking at a low water crossing. After all the rains the small creek was way out of it's banks. I figure some one got washed off the crossing. I also noticed that the trees were all torn up on both sides of the road. It looked like a tornado had gone through.

Pulling the hill out of Kingston I actually kept it at the speed limit as there is a first time for everything. The wind started picking up as I went over the mountains. I fought some serious crosswinds in the valleys. Sliding down into the Boxley valley I saw young Elk every where. They were standing in fields along the road as well as standing in the road in a couple of places. I counted twenty as I rolled through. They weren't there on my way back when I had the time to take a few pics.

After pulled the mountain out of Boxley I began to hit sporadic rain. I managed to get pulled over and get my rain gear on before the down pour started. The rain wasn't too bad by itself. But the fog set in with visibility at times something along the lines of absolutely zero. Then the cross winds started back up. I was at a point that usually too me about 15 minutes to make the last eleven miles to my place. This morning it was closer to forty five.

I pulled into my place and parked in a tractor shed. Time to dry off before going on in to see the doc's.

Yep! This morning was a good ride. With all the weather I still made pretty good time.

The doctors gave me some good news for a change and the weather had broken. It was edging up close to eighty degrees as I left the cancer center.

My ride back was a good one the temps were just perfect. The wind was still there but not continuous. I made good time back to the house.
Today was just shy of 210 miles according to my LSI. I had a good time. Now really, could you ask for more?
catch ya on the road