Hoping to help these guys...

Hoping to help these guys...

Friday 30 September 2016

Shake. Day nineteen, Cabool to Walnut Ridge.

I could easily have muted the alarm and slept on regardless this a.m., but the 'carrot' of a day-off is an incentive alright. Plus I know that the worst that I'll have today is a bit of a crosswind, but mainly helping...so, let's get going!
Back in the pre-corporate day, she was just plain, old Wonder Woman...
It wouldn't be too long before I left Missouri and rolled into Arkansas, but did the terrain change much? Nah! MO gave me a good few body shots before tagging AR to come on in and continue, hah-hah! It was all expected, to be fair...although some of the drags were at 8%, which certainly was noticed.



Blimey, he didn't hang around forging a new career. It's ok Cliffy, the investigation is over!
Altogether, "Goodbye...": actually it looks like everyone has gone!
Alright, alright...don't harp on.
Workman had a laugh when I shouted that I couldn't go much slower without falling off!
Let's see: place with angry 6' white balloon charging around, or unpronounceable place. King Kong it is!
 It was a good day, so I pushed-on in the hope of a slightly earlier finish which makes everything so much easier, in terms of getting admin done and preparing for the next day. Oh, and getting a beer of course, hah-hah!

More of those rolling stones again.
Green and pleasant.
Perfect shoulder. Savour it, my son!
Well, you got to...every now-and-then.
First one of these spotted so far: we are getting near to The South after all!
 And that was certainly the way of things until about mile 100.5, when I felt that unwelcome but not unfamiliar feeling...oh yes, another wire from tyre debris had done for me. Again. Come on, only 15 miles from blah-blah-blah...just get on with changing it and stop moaning, ok? Ok.
Tasty descent on the other side. Excellent!
If the pastor comes in giving it all that, then I'm in!
No ambiguity round these parts.
A 454.
'No more'. Ravenden, of course.
Look at the state of the Carlos Fandangos on this, hah-hah!
Bad day? Now *that* is a movie. Actually it was going ok until puncture #7, I think?
No more malarkey on the run-in to Walnut ridge thankfully...
Tonight's hotel was easy to find.
 Although I was gobsmacked to see this about 30 yards before my wonderful hotel!
Was stopped dead by this on Main Street, Walnut Ridge. More on that story later...
 Although I had to schlep the bike and luggage up a floor, it was well worth it. This place is ridiculously nice, hah-hah!

Talk about lovely! Shame I'm only here for one night.
After admin was completed pronto, I headed out and Googled to see where the nearest bar was: 'No Results' was the answer. No matter, I'll head to the Mexican restaurant down the street and they'll do the necessary.

No they won't. No beer, no booze. Again, hah-hah! To be fair, the food was fine and I wandered out and up the street to where there was a coffee house called 'The Dark Side'. A bloke is just about to sit outside it at a table when he sees me reading a plaque about The Beatles' visit to Walnut Ridge some 52 (fifty-two) years previously, and he asks where I'm from. Like I always say, 'Muricans are a friendly, open and curious bunch!

The story of the Pre-Fab Four visiting Walnut Ridge in 1964. Wow!
I really did not see this happening today.
Love it!
 Anyway, as well as being involved with the coffee shop, it turns out that Dan is a massive music fan and pretty much responsible for trying to put Walnut Ridge on the map Beatles-wise, and they stage a festival every September with tribute bands, exhibits and the like. They attracted between 10,000 to 15,000 people to the last one. Which was last weekend: timing is everything, hah-hah!

Great stuff!
All the very best to you, Walnut Ridge...good work!
The coffee shop, with attached ice cream/smoothie bar and cafe is a beacon is this dry town. In fact it's the kind of joint that you want in every town, at the risk of sounding a bit 'Starbucks', hah-hah!
It's been going for four years now and it's the kind of place that you hope will stick around for a long while yet. No offence Starbucks, but...
The Fifth Bea- no, I don't think so! Thanks for the photo Dan.
A pal of his, Brett, explained that this was a dry county: some are, some are not. And you'll find folks driving 30 miles to stock-up on booze and drive it back here! He said that there would be a pizza restaurant opening in the town soon and that they would get around the issue by being a so-called 'members club' and thus exempt from the regulation. I bet they'll do ok!
With Dan- he's responsible for much of this Fabness. Top Man!
Anyway, this display came right out of nowhere and knocked me for six: the only reason I was staying in Walnut Ridge was because it was halfway-ish between Cabool and Memphis. That's it. Glad I was here to see it and meet some very cool people...thanks for the coffee too. Cheers Dan and family!
All this fairly made my day...right out of nowhere. Wow!

Otis is my favourite, but this version is king...the guitar, tempo, horns...perfect!


The sponsorship is so very nearly there: about £400 to go with each cause. Please see if you can spare a couple of quid or whatever to help Bloodwise and Combat Stress. Here are those links if you are able to donate:

- To donate to Bloodwise, please click 'here'!

- Please click 'on this bit' to support Combat Stress.

I know that the two charities and the people that they help appreciate all your help. Good on you!

ps if you are kind enough to donate, and select 'anonymous', I can't 'see' who you are, unlike on JustGiving. So apologies if you were thinking that the miserable tw*t hasn't even e-mailed me to say thanks, hah-hah!

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