2013 Ozarks
Jasper, Arkansas and The Ozark Grand Canyon
Saturday
Arriving in Jasper
The trip from Tampa to Jasper Arkansas is right at 1,100 miles each way. On the way out we decided to stop for the night and sleep, then get up the next day and drive in to Arkansas. Truth be told we got to our hotel around 5pm, ate dinner, and were asleep by 6:30pm. By 2:30am I was up and ready to drive some more. We ended up arriving in Jasper Arkansas sometime early Saturday afternoon.
Leo, Carrie and Spree all telling me how excited they are to be awake at 2:30am
We arrived at our cottage with enough time to unload the bikes before Bill came rolling up.
The first night we were in a pretty nice little room. It was a bit small, but generally OK. The views from the cabins are just amazing. Not "good" or even "great", they are AMAZING.
My only gripe with these places seems to be the same: the bed. I weigh 180, Carrie weighs in around 130. The bed was big enough but the frame it was on was totally insufficient. Again we were faced with a night of "if you move it's going to bounce me right off the mattress." If you are going to make a room that could hold a couple then you need to put a couple on the bed to try it out for comfort. Take a nap on it. You also need to break the thing in by having sex on the bed. If you can't have sex on the bed without breaking something, odds are I'm going to tear the bed, the frame, and the wall behind it down. When Carrie and I get together it's like "Clash of the Titans" . . . when the Kraken is released all hell breaks loose. We managed to NOT totally destroy the bed and frame, but I'm not kidding when I say we had to put the mattress back on top of the box spring and put the frame back against the wall before we left.
After the first night we moved to a much bigger room with a MUCH better bed and still the amazing views. I can't say enough nice things about the rooms, our hosts, the views. My only point is if you are with your significant other and you plan on spending "quality time" together then get one of the rooms at the top of the hill not one of the cottages below.
Downtown Jasper Arkansas is Super Cool - obviously a local spot for motorcyclists of all flavors. We ate at The Ozark more than a few times during this trip as you'll see.
After dinner we stopped at the local grocery store and heard about the truck pull going on at the local fairgrounds. It was too good to miss so we went.
About this picture: About 2 hours in we were bored and tired and had seen enough. When we went to leave we saw that someone had parked at an angle behind us and we couldn't get the truck through. Being the kind of "can do" people we are, I picked the truck up and Bill pushed it on the wet grass about 6 feet so we would have enough room to back out and drive off. I wonder if the guy came out and realized his car had been moved?
One last point: We stuck out like sore thumbs EVERYWHERE we went. I first noticed it on the drive from Tampa through Atlanta, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. Carrie and I'd stop to get gasoline or a meal and people would stare. It's not that we're that awesome, we're just the only people in those states not morbidly obese. I'm not kidding, the people are HUGE. At the truck pull there was a guy wearing a sleeveless shirt who had the biggest hairy breasts I've ever seen - and I get Discovery Channel. All three of us were too clean, too fit, and our clothes way too new to fit in with the locals.
