Sunday, September 29, 2013

First Ride After Europe!

When you have been out of the saddle for as long as we have, it is quite the challenge and test of endurance to get moving again.  I missed Ms Vickey when we were in Europe seeing all of the scooters there.  But I was just too tired to do anything about it once we got back.  Today was a good day to give it a go....


Ain't she cute.....:-).


We headed for a town called Cooperton (founded 1899) which we had managed to drive right past the last time we looked for it....


It was going to be about 40 minutes before we got to the turn off to the little town.


When we finally got there, just about everything had been abandoned long ago.  this used to be the gymnasium.


It is now considered a "ghost town" even though there are still (or were) 16 people still living there according to the 2010 census.  There really wasn't much left to it at all.  This is an old residence.  One of the nicer ones.


And if you can believe it....that was pretty much main street......
wow....


Ms Vicky was getting weirded out........hahaha


another derelict  home.....

 
This is a shot of main street cross section with another street which I forgot what the name of the street was.



We are almost ready to blow this joint seeing as their ain't much to see.  Also, the roads were getting more "gravely" the further we went.  I had since enough to remember that Ms Vicky is NOT a dual sport.....:-)


another derelict building.....I think it used to be a store.


this is the highway that I needed to get back on to continue our trip to the Wichita Mountains...


I know it sounds strange, but every time I see rock formations like these I think I dinosaur poo....haha.  I know!  Weird! ha


The riders were out in full force today.  I saw lots of group rides and the occasional lone rider like this guy....:-).  At least they were all friendly.....:-)


Finally!


I remember doing a lot of my Non-Commissioned Officer's Training course in these hills.......
Sheesh.....longgggggg time ago now.


The wild flowers always lend their own style of beauty to the mountains.......I wish I knew what these were.



We made a quick stop at the visitor's center to have something to drink and refresh ourselves before taking the long road through the mountains and onto the highway home.  Good thing as now, I was getting "monkey butt" from having spent too much time out of the saddle!  Yikes!


We made it back home, parked Ms Vickey and Maj and I promptly looked for an analgesic.  Don't forget to  use this before riding in hot weather again......
 

And so ended another fabulous day galivanting with Ms Vicky through the mountains.  Not too hot and not too cold....kinda like the pourage in the story of Goldilocks and the three bears.  Nearly 100 miles...short and sweet, but also uncomfortable.  I have come to the conclusion after having put several thousand kilometers on this scooter that it is NOT built for comfort.  If I continue to ride when I return to Canada, I will be looking for something more comfortable, not too big and just as reliable......
  


Thanks for coming along today!