Day Six – Lake of the Ozarks MO to Oark AR
Miles: 414
Elapsed Time: 11:34

Breakfast was at a familiar spot; Bob Evans. It was as good as always, and very safe. There is nothing better than having a nice breakfast and having a nice ride on decent roads. That was the case as we started on day six. Nice roads all the way to Dog’s Bluff Park on the Big Piney River just west of Houston. We stopped there and watched kayakers put in while we stretched our legs. Not long after we were on our way. Our next stop was at Hodgson Mill on MO 181. This was an old mill that was kept up by some local historical society. We walked around and went into the building and bumped into a few other visitors also touring the building. It was well worth the stop.

Continuing on our next stop was on US 65 just south of Marshall AR. The roads has gotten good at this point and we were finally hitting it pretty hard. US 65 over to Western Grove was nice road with big sweepers and some up and downs. We turned left on AR 123 and started due south into some really good riding areas in Arkansas, This is why we were here. AR 123 meets with AR 74 and eventually into AR 7 but it is all good road from Western Grove down to Pleasant Valley. We stopped near the Sam’s Throne area, but it was all good with tight twists and lots of rolling hills. Back up AR 21 took us closer to our destination as we were trying to pile as much riding into our day as possible. We knew we were going to have ride on some dirt and despite the prep work we had done we still needed to play a call and confirm we were on the right track. Even with all of that it was difficult finding our way. The gravel road was a little difficult and we should have been on dual spot bikes. Finally we found the Byrd’s Adventure Campground where we were staying. The girl working the office explained the place was over the road. I didn’t really pick up on what she was saying but Steve said follow me. It turned put there was a mobile home across the street and up on a little hill. Fortunately we got some ham from the store and plenty of Tour de Fall from New Belgium. It was an interesting place. I guess it wasn’t all that bad but it seemed like roughing it a little. We wanted to be in this area for riding and now we were paying the price. In the end it was ok.