Oklahoma in October

[rocker59]

Held each year at Talimena State Park at the Western end of Talimena Scenic Drive, the Oklahoma MGNOC Campout is an event I'd never attended, so I decided to check it out this year.

 

Saturday Morning arrived with cloudy skies and temps in the 40's. My original plan was to leave around 9am and take a long, circuitous route to the event, but instead I decided to wait for the clouds to break as predicted by the weather man. Well, by 11am it was still cloudy and cool, so I decided to head on down to the campout taking the direct route. Map Link

 

A stop at the halfway point, near Pocola, for a bite to eat, and I was at the park by 230pm:

 

After visiting for a few minutes and taking a look around the park, I set up camp:

 

Something smelled good, so I headed over to the gazebo where I found Ken and Steve guarding the BBQ:

 

And, got in line with J.N. and fixed myself a big ole sammich:

 

The camp dog was keeping a close eye on things:

 

Moto Guzzi campouts are known for trailers...

 

Doug's homebuilt:

 

Carl's:

 

Paul's:

 

Kwik Kamps are also popular... This trailer was pulled by a couple on an HD Streetglide. They stopped in for the night not knowing of the Guzzi campout. This is a new trailer built in Ponca City. A little large, but really nice:

 

It was a little cool, so the fire was going early:

 

After eating I decided to walk around and look at bikes. Versions of the California are, by far, the most popular bikes at these types of Guzzi events. You'd never know the California EV was a discontinued model. I still can't believe MG discontinued the EV Touring...

 

Cal II:

 

A couple of EVs:

 

80th Anniversary California:

 

EV and Jackal:

 

HD&M in the background:

 

'99 EV:

 

'98 EV:

 

I saw three "modern" Guzzis. Luap's Stelvio (sorry, no pic) and Gordon's '07 Norge:

 

Along with my V11 LeMans Nero Corsa:

 

I was still hungry. Steve told me about the pot full of gumbo, so I fixed me a bowl and headed to the campfire. It was getting dark now. J.N. was in charge of keeping the fire stoked up:

 

After a couple hours of shooting the bull, I headed off to my tent for some shuteye....

 

More to come...

[rocker59]

Man! I slept good Saturday Night. The air was just right in my mattress and I had a secret weapon! I brought my twin-sized electric blanket that fits nicely in the sleeping bag! Nice and cozy on a cool fall night! Around 0830 I rolled out of the tent and was surprised to see so many people still in camp. Guzzi campouts seem to usually end at daybreak on Sunday. Not so this time. I wandered over to the gazebo and grabbed a cinnamon roll and caught a little warmth from the fire before heading back to my tent to pack up.

 

By about 1100 Michael D, Gordon, Gary, and I decided to ride down to Talihina to eat. That's where the fun began. Gary went first with his camper trailer, me second. Michael and Gordon followed. I could see them for a time in my mirror, then one bike, then no bikes. "Hmmm", I thought, "breakdown? Or, photos?". A couple minutes later Gordon showed up but no Michael D, so I hopped on my bike and headed back up 271 to see what happened. I found him about halfway back to the park, sitting in a church parking lot. I pulled in and stopped. He said that while shifting into 5th earlier while following me, his bike felt like it popped out of gear and wouldn't go back. We messed with it for a few minutes and it soon became obvious that something in the tranny was broken.

 

About that time Gordon came rolling in, then Gary, then Carl. The consensus was that he'd spun the center out of his clutch. Bummer! Well, nothing to do about it but go eat! Michael D hopped on back of Carl's bike and we all headed back to town to eat:

 

 

Michael D called a friend in Tulsa to come for him with a truck, so we took our time with lunch at Pam's. After a nice meal, Gordon and I stopped for fuel while Gary gave Michael a ride back to his bike to await the truck. When I got there from fueling, Gordon and Gary had decided to stay with Michael while he waited. Knowing the situation was under control and in good hands, I snapped a pic of Gordon and Michael D with the broken '98 EV, then headed out for Talimena Drive...

 

more to come...

[rocker59]

For you folks that have not ridden it, Talimena Scenic drive runs along the Winding Stair Mountains sort of like Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway run along The Blue Ridge in Virginia. It's about 54 miles long, is lightly travelled much of the year, and good fun on a motorcycle! Map Link

 

Low ceiling today!

 

Beautiful road climbing upward:

 

Soon, I was in the clouds:

 

Beautiful up here, even with the limited visibility:

 

The road follows the ridgeline:

 

Views any way you look:

 

Soon enough, I was near the Eastern terminus of the scenic drive at Queen Wilhelmina State Park. The clouds/fog was thick. It was actually quite beautiful, so I stopped for a few photos even though I could not actually see the state park lodge.

 

The mini train was actually running in this pea soup!

 

I really like this one:

 

And, this is how the road ahead looked:

 

But, not for long. Once again, the road dropped below the cloud ceiling and I was able to enjoy a few curves:

 

Fun, Fun!

 

It all ended too soon. Even in the wet and the fog, this is road is great fun!

 

Mena, the Eastern terminus of the scenic drive, was hit bad by a tornado less than a year ago. It was nice to see the town recovering, and work being done on many of the structures that were damaged! The Studebaker Dealership seems to be coming along quite nicely!

 

 

So, too, the Esso station on the corner.

[rocker59]

I splashed in a couple gallons of gas at Mena, then headed North on US-71...

 

Everytime I see this sign I think, "don't we all?"

 

At Elm Park, I turn North on AR-23 and pass through the old "town" of Chismville where I stopped for some photos. The old log cabin dates to 1847 and is a rare 2-story "dog trot" cabin built by Dr. Stephen Chism. He came to the area and married Jeanette Logan, then built this home for them. Jeanette Logan was the daughter of Col. James Logan, the county's namesake. This is the oldest standing residential structure in Logan County and is scheduled to go through a board-by-board restoration this fall.

 

Chism House:

 

I'm glad to see it fenced off and getting readied for its restoration!

 

Here are a few more structures adjoining Chism House:

 

 

 

Chismville was, apparently, a very important crossroads 150 years ago. Things change, though, and the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf put its rail line through Booneville a few miles South of Chismville. Booneville became an important division point for the railroad, which was later bought by the Rock Island Railroad.

 

Crossing the Arkanas River at Ozark.

 

Union Pacific's mainline runs along the banks of the river here at Ozark:

 

North of I-40, AR-23 becomes "The Pig Trail"

 

 

 

I arrived home about 6pm. The temp was still the 52 degrees it had been all day. Same low clouds, too... It was a little cool and a little wet, but the ride home was a good one! Here's a map of my route: Map Link A little more than 200 miles of great motorcycling!

 

Thanks for reading!

[Tom M]

Great ride report as always Mike.

[The Monkey]

Thanks for the scoop on the Talimena! Excellent shots in the fog. Always good to see an Action Guzzi amidst the relaxed. Nicely done, cheers.