Following are my daily summaries from the Women On Wheels® 2023 International Ride-in™ that was held in Harrison, AR, in early July. This annual get-together is considered somewhat like our WOW “family reunion.” Every year we meet to see old friends and meet new ones. There are seminars and conferences, scheduled rides, and downtime to socialize. You can do as little or as much as you want. I was so busy during the event that I didn’t post until I was home.
Sunday, 2 July 2023
Jenean planned a route (no interstates, just back roads) from Warrenton, MO, to our hotel in Harrison, AR. She and I met at Phillips 66 in Warrenton at 7am on Sunday. We planned to meet our other wind sister, Marie, in Rolla at a gas stop at 9am. Just as Jenean and I pulled up to the intersection, we saw Marie turning at the stoplight heading for our meetup place. Exactly at 9am, as planned.
Our route continued to a roadside attraction photo stop in Edgar Springs (getting pics of your bike with roadside attractions is our region’s 2023 Touring Contest), a gas stop in West Plains, lunch at Rapp’s Barren Brewing Company in Mountain Home, and 51 miles later ending at the Hampton Inn in Harrison, AR. The route (from 1st meetup to the hotel) was 288 miles at 5 hours and 40 minutes. We took longer than that when you included the gas, photo, and lunch stops. We arrived after 3pm, hot (cooling vests definitely helped), and ready for a break off two wheels.
We had dinner at Colton’s Steak House & Grill.
Sunday’s personal mileage (home to the hotel): 317.2
Monday, 3 July 2023
The Ride-in™ didn’t officially start till Tuesday, so we used this day to RIDE. The Hampton had several motorcycle riding guide booklets available to take. Jenean, Marie, and I looked over several of the rides listed. We looked at and considered Jasper Disaster, 378 scenic curves, 3 hours, 60 miles. The Ozark Moonshine Run looked like an extension of the Jasper ride, so we decided to do the Moonshine Run instead, 662 scenic curves, 2 hours 45 minutes, 113 miles. I “offered” to lead. Jenean wrote up abbreviated directions so I could tape them to my windshield. I did NOT read the write-up in the booklets; specifically, “take your time and enjoy the scenery but be careful of the many curves along this route. Some parts can be tricky and slightly dangerous.” If I had, I may have reneged on my “offer to lead.” Lol.
It was a fantastic ride, and we agreed it was technical, possibly not one to try out for beginners. We enjoyed the sweeping curves and tight twisties and felt accomplished after conquering several even tighter 10mph hairpin curves on 123S. We saw two deer on the road. Fortunately, no issues; they scampered off. We stopped at a scenic overlook (foliage was overgrown, so we didn’t see what was so “scenic”) and saw a turkey crossing the road. When I tried to take some pictures, a Polish chicken (I described it to Jenean, who enlightened this “city girl” of what kind of chicken it was), a rooster, and the turkey (I think Jenean said she was a turkey hen) came out from under a tree. Turkey was domesticated and I got pics of Jenean feeding and holding the turkey. So, besides the deer, this was the only other “wildlife” I saw on this ride. You could tell the turkey was comfortable around people. She was working the crowd, getting attention.
Dinner at Los Aztecas
Monday’s personal mileage (hotel to hotel): 120.9
Tuesday, 4 July 2023
The official start to the Ride-in™ began with meetings in the afternoon. Knowing that I had meetings, Marie and I rode to downtown Harrison to get a picture of a roadside attraction and of murals throughout. Since it was the 4th, the courthouse block was decorated with flags, and we saw children arriving for the annual children’s parade. While at the monument (roadside attraction), we met two older people (sister and brother). She lived in Harrison and her brother, from Texas, was visiting her. She told us some of the history of the 4th of July events downtown and directed us to where there were murals as we wanted to take pictures of our bikes in front of them.
As a WOW chapter director, I went to the Chapter Director/Regional Ambassador meeting at 1:30 and stayed for two more meetings. Because of this, I didn’t put many miles on my bike on Tuesday. Scheduled later that evening was the Opening Ceremonies/Fireworks Bash. They provided a shuttle to the community center and back to the hotels. Our group chose to take the shuttle because we figured traffic could be a mess (and it was).
At the Fireworks Bash, food trucks sold everything you would expect at a fair—funnel cakes, lemonade, rootbeer floats, sodas, burgers, hot dogs, nachos, etc. The Pappy’s Smashburger and fries I got were good.
Dinner at Fireworks Bash
Tuesday’s personal mileage (hotel to hotel): 7.2
Wednesday, 5 July 2023
The activities/options for this day were a First Timers Ride, a Support Members Ride, an Ice Cream social with an opportunity for axe throwing too, self-guided rides (Ride-in™ program had QR codes for ten routes), a bike show, a movie viewing of Women in the Front Seat with the filmmaker, Indy Saini, who was there to answer questions after the viewing.
Marie, Jenean, and I rode the Support Members Ride. Due to construction and unscheduled “stops,” we did not get to ride the original planned route. I still enjoyed the ride with its sweeping curves and tight turns (I even scraped pegs). We had lunch with the group at Pizza Hut. Some of the group headed to Eureka Springs. I headed back to my hotel, gathered some info, and then went to Berryville, AR, for two roadside attractions.
I returned in time for the movie showing, which was at 7pm. A few Women On Wheels® members were featured in the movie. Missy Benoit Parfumorse (one of our own, a current WOW member from Massachusetts) introduced Indy to the group. Missy was interviewed by Indy, and her story was included in the movie. The movie was GREAT and very inspirational. After the Q&A, there was merchandise available for purchase. I bought a DVD and many other items and had Indy autograph the DVD cover. There were shirts, stickers, patches, and some WITFS bottle openers/keychains free for the taking.
Dinner at Dairy Queen
Wednesday’s personal mileage (hotel to hotel): 207.9
Thursday, 6 July 2023
Thursday was another opportunity to participate in self-guided rides. We didn’t start until late morning but knew we needed to be back by 3pm (in time for staging for the Ride-in™ Group Photo, which was at 3:45), so we chose the Peel Ferry Route, 378 scenic curves, 3 hours, 113 miles. Marie led this ride. Again, Jenean wrote directions for each of us, so we had a copy to tape to our windshields. This route had rolling hills, sweeping curves, and twisties (got to scrape my pegs again!). A ferry ride from Peel, AR, crossed Bull Shoals Lake into MO. We stopped in Branson for lunch and arrived back at our hotel around 2pm, in time to freshen up before the group photo. As always, the ride was very enjoyable.
After the 4pm group photo, the schedule showed a banquet from 6pm-7pm, Entertainment (after the meal) by Shelly Watson (she was great, lots of fun), and Recognition and Awards from 7pm-9pm. The meal was catered by Jamie’s Local Flavor, and the food was very good. After the Closing Ceremony, we had time to give and get hugs and say goodbye to the old and new friends we don’t often get to see and probably won’t see again until the next Ride-in™. Then back to the hotel to pack what I could, bedtime, and 7am KSU to head home.
Dinner: WOW Banquet
Thursday’s personal mileage (hotel to hotel): 110.5
Friday, 7 July 2023
Heading home. KSU at 7am. Jenean led our group plus two more (Jo and Dave) via interstates, 65N to 44E. I got home right at noon. After taking off my boots, I fell asleep on the couch. Later, got up, unpacked, and washed dirty clothes. Now it’s back to reality and back to “work” at daycare by grandma in the morning.
Friday’s personal mileage (hotel to home): 274.5 miles
My total mileage: 1038.2
By Alice
Heartland Chapter of Women On Wheels® 