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PigTrail
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Somehow I convinced my wife to go on a 3-day dual-sport loop for our 10th anniversary. The subject of how I accomplished that is the source for another thread. 
We departed Longview on Thursday evening and made our way to Queen Wilhelmina Lodge near Mena, AR. I've been to Arkansas several times, but never with my wife, Heather. On previous trips I've stayed at Mack's Pines, no-name hotels, and a few campgrounds. Having my better half meant we needed to kick the lodging up another another notch. I need to stop here and say she camps like a champ, but it's an anniversary trip right!?
We arrived at the Lodge on Thursday before sunset. What a view! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. The restaurant is good, rooms reasonably priced and the view is great. Plus there is a free place to park the truck for a few days. Score!
Friday saw us starting North toward Ft. Smith.
After a few paved twisties we immediately found the dirt.
My ride for the trip is an XR650R.
Mi esposa rides a CRF250L. It doesn't have much getty-up, but she's still getting used to a full-size bike after spending many years bossing around a modded TTR 125. We lowered the CRF with a Kouba link, seat concepts seat, and dropped the forks ~.75". You can also see the modified kick-stand...just cut and reweld.
Part of our route navigated around an old strip-mine (I think). The road was "stripe mine rd", so that seems like a good bet. Don't be fooled by the no access signs. Garmin says the road goes through and we came across some people running their dogs too.
Above the strip mine the road deteriorated into more of a trail. Heather says the difference between a "road" and a "trail" is that on a road you don't have to pick a line. Good point. A few rocky spots with baby-head sized boulders kept things interesting. I was even looking back to make sure she was okay and stalled it on a ledge. Here she comes and brrraps right by me. Nice. Getting passed by your wife on a bike with 1/3 the size engine makes a guy know his place!!
We climbed higher and higher and into the clouds.
Coming down the other side...
A few more miles and we broke through and headed to Ft. Smith. We gassed up and got lunch at Braum's. For the life of me I can't understand why we don't have a Braum's in Longview. They'd make a killing here. After a good burger and a shake we headed out of town and made our way on to more interesting routes.
We departed Longview on Thursday evening and made our way to Queen Wilhelmina Lodge near Mena, AR. I've been to Arkansas several times, but never with my wife, Heather. On previous trips I've stayed at Mack's Pines, no-name hotels, and a few campgrounds. Having my better half meant we needed to kick the lodging up another another notch. I need to stop here and say she camps like a champ, but it's an anniversary trip right!?
We arrived at the Lodge on Thursday before sunset. What a view! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. The restaurant is good, rooms reasonably priced and the view is great. Plus there is a free place to park the truck for a few days. Score!
Friday saw us starting North toward Ft. Smith.
After a few paved twisties we immediately found the dirt.
My ride for the trip is an XR650R.
Mi esposa rides a CRF250L. It doesn't have much getty-up, but she's still getting used to a full-size bike after spending many years bossing around a modded TTR 125. We lowered the CRF with a Kouba link, seat concepts seat, and dropped the forks ~.75". You can also see the modified kick-stand...just cut and reweld.
Part of our route navigated around an old strip-mine (I think). The road was "stripe mine rd", so that seems like a good bet. Don't be fooled by the no access signs. Garmin says the road goes through and we came across some people running their dogs too.
Above the strip mine the road deteriorated into more of a trail. Heather says the difference between a "road" and a "trail" is that on a road you don't have to pick a line. Good point. A few rocky spots with baby-head sized boulders kept things interesting. I was even looking back to make sure she was okay and stalled it on a ledge. Here she comes and brrraps right by me. Nice. Getting passed by your wife on a bike with 1/3 the size engine makes a guy know his place!!
We climbed higher and higher and into the clouds.
Coming down the other side...
A few more miles and we broke through and headed to Ft. Smith. We gassed up and got lunch at Braum's. For the life of me I can't understand why we don't have a Braum's in Longview. They'd make a killing here. After a good burger and a shake we headed out of town and made our way on to more interesting routes.
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