2019 Arkansas motorcycle trip
Day 10
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June 1
 The trailers were packed before 8am this morning. I think everyone is ready to get on the road for the final leg of the trip.
 Sikeston, MO. 8:10, mileage 101,345 - A quick fuel stop before hitting the road.
 We are once again highballing down four lane US60 which is now technically I-57. The four lane won't last for long for us.
 Near Charleston US60 continues straight while I-57 veers northeastward. We are now backtracking from our travels a week ago.
 As we cross the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers it is obvious the water has risen from a week ago.
 Paducah, KY. 9:23, mileage 101,405 - Fuel and a stretch before our next leg to Sturgis and the antique store. Coincidentally, this is where Donna & I stopped two years ago and ate our Lambert's cinnamon roll. This year's cinnamon roll will make it home.
This cute little guy was enjoying the wind and saying 'hi'.
 Crossing the Cumberland River near Smithland. It seemed to take a long time to clear Paducah and it is nice to be back in the country. I like crossing the old-style bridges. We'll cross several today.
 I really like this second story porch on the main street in Marion. I bet there are some antique stores around here.
Five more miles until our next stop.
 Our next stop...the Sturgis Antique & Craft Mall. This is a nice antique store and we browsed for an hour or more. Donna found a few more items as well as more stuff for the baby shower. John found a nice cowboy hat that he stored in our trailer.
It was nice to see a kid doing something other than staring at a phone.
 We rode down the street to the Old Barn Door restaurant. Hamburgers and french fries hit the spot. The owner was a nice guy who chatted with us for awhile.
 Riding through Waverly we heard sirens and a couple fire trucks appeared from a side street. Not too far down the road they shut off their lights and sirens and turned around. 'Signal 9' is what we call that.
 Henderson, KY. 14:41, mileage 101,513 - Here we will part ways with US60 as we near Indiana.
Crossing the Ohio River for the second time today.
Back in Indiana. We are heading home the same way we came. Boring I-69.
The Indiana version of White River.
 Loogootee, IN. 17:19, mileage 101,598 - Our last gas stop of the trip. Mike was positioned in front so he led us home.
 For many years I've driven passed this barn on US50. I finally have a picture of it...with Mike leading. To the right, out of the picture, are several hundred acres of farmland which are boundried by railroad tracks and the White River. I wonder how many generations have used the barn and farmed the land while the river flowed and trains rolled by.
 Time for a story. Let's go back in time about 45 years. This hillside west of Shoals was just a bare rock wall. My dad, my brother Monty, and I had went to Loogootee to pick up a load of crushed bricks for home decoration at our new house. Dad's old stepside truck was loaded down. As we were passing through here we heard a BOOM then a twang! Dad pulled over here at the rock wall. The right rear tire had blown out...big time. There we were...sitting alongside the road...blown out tire...traffic passing by. To us kids it was an adventure, but I'm sure Dad was aggravated. Monty and I walked down the road and found the hubcap. It was mangled from being blown off the truck wheel and hitting the rock wall. Monty and I burst out laughing. Dad didn't see the humor. Dad starting jacking up the truck to change the tire. The stepside truck had externally-mounted tail lights like a Jeep CJ. He had the jack under the bumper and as he was jacking up the overloaded truck the bumper suddenly bent up and shattered the tail light. Monty and I were dying laughing. Dad kept saying "It's not funny, boys" which made us laugh harder. Eventually Dad got the truck jacked up. Next issue...the spare tire was mounted at the front of the bed and was buried under the crushed brick. We walked to the nearby highway garage and found a shovel. Dad had to move a lot of crushed brick to get to the spare. Eventually we got back on the road and made it home with my brother and I giggling the whole way. We still laugh about it to this day. A story from the Wright family archives.
 At Hubler Chevrolet John and I pulled over to offload his cowboy hat. The Kurdzioleks kept going. Bye guys! You can see Debby holding the hat box. At the White River bridge John & Debby continued straight and Donna & I took the SR37 exit north. The trip is over.
 When we got home Buford was in the window where we had left him. The look on his face when he saw us was heart-warming. Donna is getting the kisses she has missed.
 We offloaded the bike and I put it in the garage. It was a reliable steed. Donna went to her daughter's to start setting up for the baby shower tomorrow.
 The grass was tall but not horrible. I climbed on the mower and got back to real life.
276 miles. Click here for thoughts from the trip.
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