RALLYROUNDUP
Rain, rain and more rain! VROC Eureka Springs Reunion Words and photos: Dave Stambaugh, group photo: Jamey Tolefson
The year 2009 proved to be a year of wet motorcycle rallies for me personally. I took five multi-day trips and got rained on going to and from each one. As a result, my planning for number six—the VROC reunion in Eureka Springs, Arkansas—included packing my rain gear, which I ended up using. But it wasn’t until I was within 50 miles of Eureka Springs that the rain started to fall, and it came down hard. It was the most brutal rain I’ve ever ridden in. I arrived on Wednesday in a downpour that continued the rest of the night and half of the following day. The steady drizzle on Thursday kept many rally-goers holed up at Iron Horse Stables (the Kaw pasture). It was a good opportunity for everyone to catch-up with friends. By evening it dried out enough for people to head into town for dinner and do the tourist thing. Friday brought overcast skies, but thankfully no rain. Riders began heading in different directions in various groups anxious to get a ride in. The destination for my group was the Burger Barn in Ozone, Arkansas. From the Iron Horse, we took Route 62 into Berryville, then went south on Route 21 until we reached Ozone. The Burger Barn is easy to miss because it looks
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like a big brown storage shed with yellow trim hidden in a clump of trees (dirt parking lot and all). But the food is good, cheap and fast – which meets all three of my criteria for road food. I’ve done this ride several times, and each time we’ve taken a different route. My favorite way to get back to Eureka Springs is to head north on Highway 21 (about 14 miles) then west on Highway 16. Once you reach the intersection of Highways 16 and 23, go north all the way back to Eureka Springs. The run to Burger Barn provided nice twisty roads in both directions totaling 170-miles roundtrip. (Use caution if there’s been heavy rain in the preceding days as there are several areas where mud washes out onto the roadway). We had our banquet on Friday night at the Best Western Inn. Dianna Hughey called out raffle numbers as the group studied their tickets. Many items were donated by individuals and local businesses, but special thanks goes to Kawasaki for providing the majority of the raffle items and door prizes. Be sure to attend next year’s reunion scheduled September 15-19, 2010. For more information, visit vroc-reunion.com.