rocker59
Cruisin' Guzzisti
I'd never been to a Louisiana campout, but always heard it was a great time. This year was the year to check it out since it was going to be in Northern Louisiana and an easy Saturday/Sunday roadtrip for me from NW Arkansas...
Thursday and Friday Nights saw me working in the garage to do the final fitting of the hitch that's been sitting in my garage gathering dust over the past few years. Although it was made for a V11 Sport/LeMans by Uni-Go, it took a little work to get it installed. I also took time to rewire the trailer and to wire the bike for pulling... Several trips to the hardware store, the bolt store, and to AutoZone and It was finally together on Friday Night.
One of the downers is that there is an interference between the H+B racks and the Uni-Go hitch. For the time being, I removed the H+B racks to be able to run the hitch and trailer. I'm hoping to modify the trailer hitch in order to run bags with it, but for now it'll just be the trailer...
Lucky for me, there are many great route choices between here and Louisiana, so US-71 and I-30 were definitely "out". "Pig Trail", Mount Magazine, AR-27. great route! Here's the map link: FVL to HOMER Map Link. It clocked right at 330 miles and it was all good!
We departed Fayetteville and headed South on "The Pig Trail". After running AR-309 throught Paris and over Mount Magazine, we made our first gas stop at a little place called Havana...
It took a little getting used to, but the Nero Corsa really performed well with Marcia on the pillion and the trailer following behind...
The next leg of the trip would be mostly AR-27. It's a great motorcycle road with sections of mountain twisties and sections of open rolling sweepers. It's a very lightly travelled road through The Ouachitas that's well worth checking out if you're in the area.
This is a particularly fun section of AR-27: Map Link
Caddo River at Glenwood:
Rolling Hills...
A few curves...
Scenery...
The lunch stop was going to be a good one. Someplace I'd never been. Williams Tavern at Old Washington State Park. Sort of Arkansas' version of Colonial Williamsburg, it's a great destination if you're into history and architecture...
We arrived around 1130...
...and enjoyed a great homecooked meal! After lunch we decided to spend a little time checking out the town.
Marcia in front of Williams Tavern:
c.1832 Williams Tavern:
Reconstruction of the 1830s Morrison Tavern...
Washington was a pretty important little town as far back as the 1820s and 1830s. It was on the Southwest Trail, an important trade route between St. Louis and what was then Mexico on the other side of the Red River. During the 1830s, many famous Texans and Tennesseeans passed through here during the days of the Texas Revolution, then in 1863 this town was made the capital of Arkansas after Little Rock fell to Union Forces.
The 1857 Crouch House is a nice example of Southern Greek Revival architecture.
The Sanders Home and farmstead was built in 1845.
The 1889 Carpenter Gothic Prebyterian Church.
The 1874 Hempstead County Courthouse.
Oldest operating Post Office in Arkansas has been in Washington for 175 years...
I could go on and on because I'm a bit of an architecture freak,
but it's worth the stop. Trust me...
Thursday and Friday Nights saw me working in the garage to do the final fitting of the hitch that's been sitting in my garage gathering dust over the past few years. Although it was made for a V11 Sport/LeMans by Uni-Go, it took a little work to get it installed. I also took time to rewire the trailer and to wire the bike for pulling... Several trips to the hardware store, the bolt store, and to AutoZone and It was finally together on Friday Night.
One of the downers is that there is an interference between the H+B racks and the Uni-Go hitch. For the time being, I removed the H+B racks to be able to run the hitch and trailer. I'm hoping to modify the trailer hitch in order to run bags with it, but for now it'll just be the trailer...
Lucky for me, there are many great route choices between here and Louisiana, so US-71 and I-30 were definitely "out". "Pig Trail", Mount Magazine, AR-27. great route! Here's the map link: FVL to HOMER Map Link. It clocked right at 330 miles and it was all good!
We departed Fayetteville and headed South on "The Pig Trail". After running AR-309 throught Paris and over Mount Magazine, we made our first gas stop at a little place called Havana...
It took a little getting used to, but the Nero Corsa really performed well with Marcia on the pillion and the trailer following behind...
The next leg of the trip would be mostly AR-27. It's a great motorcycle road with sections of mountain twisties and sections of open rolling sweepers. It's a very lightly travelled road through The Ouachitas that's well worth checking out if you're in the area.
This is a particularly fun section of AR-27: Map Link
Caddo River at Glenwood:
Rolling Hills...
A few curves...
Scenery...
The lunch stop was going to be a good one. Someplace I'd never been. Williams Tavern at Old Washington State Park. Sort of Arkansas' version of Colonial Williamsburg, it's a great destination if you're into history and architecture...
We arrived around 1130...
...and enjoyed a great homecooked meal! After lunch we decided to spend a little time checking out the town.
Marcia in front of Williams Tavern:
c.1832 Williams Tavern:
Reconstruction of the 1830s Morrison Tavern...
Washington was a pretty important little town as far back as the 1820s and 1830s. It was on the Southwest Trail, an important trade route between St. Louis and what was then Mexico on the other side of the Red River. During the 1830s, many famous Texans and Tennesseeans passed through here during the days of the Texas Revolution, then in 1863 this town was made the capital of Arkansas after Little Rock fell to Union Forces.
The 1857 Crouch House is a nice example of Southern Greek Revival architecture.
The Sanders Home and farmstead was built in 1845.
The 1889 Carpenter Gothic Prebyterian Church.
The 1874 Hempstead County Courthouse.
Oldest operating Post Office in Arkansas has been in Washington for 175 years...
I could go on and on because I'm a bit of an architecture freak,
but it's worth the stop. Trust me...
