Fourth state under gun

We will make a little trip to Missouri, which would be our fourth state under our three day trip. With some luck, we will try to cross the Lousiana border. That would be the fifth state under our trip.

Eureka Springs night is over

We had a beaufiful dinner at Bavaria Restaurant and the food was good, but not as good as in our regular place in Fredriksburg, Texas. We took a cab from the hotel, and extended limo and felt like million dollars.

The rooms in the hotel are nice and convinient and will stay here another time as well.

1886 Cresent Hotel & Spa

We got rooms from the historical 1886 Cresent Hotel and Spa and this hotel is part of the American Hotel Heritage. The hotel is on the top of a hill and very different to any of the ones I have ever seen. We got all of our three Goldwings and one Yamaha parked outside the main entrance.

Finally in Eureka Springs after 10 hours

We finally arrived to Eureka Springs, we drove 441 miles (around 700 kilometers). This place is a popular resort for people and this can be seen in the amount of Inns and hotels. Now we need to find a German restaurant so we can have our traditional dinner with beer.

Fourth stop - Pocola Oklahoma

Our fourth stop and 315 miles we are are having a pit stop at a local Sonic with coffee and icecream of course. Still at least 150 miles to go.

Third stop - Talimena scenic Drive

Our third stop after 243 miles is the first stop at Talimena scenic drive scenery stop 1800 feet above the sea level.

Second stop Sardis on Oklahome side

We have now driven 200 miles and having a rest at a beautiful lake at Sardis. Sun is shining and we still have at least 200 miles left of todays drive.

First stop Denison 100 miles behind

The first stop was our breakfast in ihop and I took my favorite Chicken Fajita omelette. The weather is beautiful, 37 Fahrenheit initially but the sun changed the weather to 57 which is nice. Denison is just before the Oklahoma border (by Red River). We will drive through Oklahoma east side to Arkansas

Wake-up 5.10 AM with 37 Fahrenheit

The morning was cruel. Wake-up and out to the cold. However, my new motorcycle pants and jacket are awesome... Warm and do not let cold wind through. I am the first one at the Starbucks.... Nowbody else is here yet.... Bunch of boys.....

Three days of motorcycle trip in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas

I am recovered from my European trip and ready for a three day trip with three other friends and our aim is to drive to the Arkansas mountains. The weather here in Dallas has been pretty cold the last days and it is getting close to 32 Fahrenheit during the nights. Therefore we have been watching the weather forecasts on a daily basis.

Our crew consists of thee Honda Goldwing users and one Yamaha driver and each bike is well protected of cold wind. Mine even has heated grips which are needed when I get up 5.10 AM to be at Flowermount Starbucks where we have agreed to meet. I expect us to accumulate at least 1200 miles during the three days.

Stay tuned for more...

Helsinki - Zurich - Dallas (back home)

As always, the wake-up in the morning was cruel.... 4.30 AM. The flight from Helsinki to Zurich is operated by Finnair with seats so small that you can hardly breath. The change to American Airlines flight 37 was very close, in fact most of the passangers had already boarded when I reached the gate. As before, Zurich airport is propably one of the best airports in Europe.... Friendly service and well organized. The flight to Dallas was uneventful.... However, I was surprised how tense the flight attendants were.... Specifically one lady that showed with her face that she really hates her job.... That was unfortunate.... Maybe she had a bad day as we all have every now and then.

Wroclaw - Copenhagen - Helsinki

I am on my way back to Helsinki so I can catch my flight to Dallas very early in the morning. The layover in Copenhagen is only 2 hours, so I get to Helsinki around 7 in the evening.

Wroclaw, Poland is beautiful

I was very surprised how very German Wroclaw looked like and found out later that it had been a German town before the second world war. The center of Wroclaw has lots of shops, restaurants, and very much like any European city. I definetely need to see this again during summer season!

Wroclaw - Copenhagen - Helsinki

I am on my way back to Helsinki so I can catch my flight to Dallas very early in the morning. The layover in Copenhagen is only 2 hours, so I get to Helsinki around 7 in the evening.

Sofitel Wroclaw was awesome

I have to say that Sofitel Wroclaw is one of the best hotels I have stayed in a while. Very new, good service and extremely well located. I stayed two nights in this hotel and no regrets. The only thing to complain is that Orbitz messed up the payment to the hotel and they asked me to repay it... Not my style and my wife fixed it by calling Orbitz.... so everything is OK

Blue 1 via Copenhagen to Wroclaw, Poland

The weather in Helsinki has been very cold when you compare it to the regular season. We haver had snow storm, very cold nights.... down to 18 minus Celsius and this is cold!

This afternoon I am on my way to Wroclaw Poland for one day and what makes this interesting is that I have never been in Poland before. There was no direct flight from Helsinki, so I am flying via Copenhagen using Blue 1. This is the only way to get there. The codeshare flight is flown by Cimber air, which I have never heard of.

On my way to Helsinki Finland - I heard it is raining over there

This time of the year one might not want to visit Finland.... It is rainy, iit is getting darker and overall it is murky and people are getting ready for a long winter. The weather is around 0 celsius during mornings (32 Fahrenheit) so one has to be prepared to wear warm clothes. I am sure I will get my share of autumn during my trip.

Nashville - nice experience

On the airport again. Now in the Nashville International airport. Some advice. The airport is not built for business travelers. I had to hunt down an electric wall plug to be able to work.... this place needs renovation badly. The Gaylord Opryland was beautiful and I hope to visit the place in the future as well.

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center is unreal

I thought I had seen it all.... but this place really is huge, beautiful and you need to have a map to be able to navigate the place.... I talked with one of the guys here and this place have rooms for 2800 people, which is unreal. The Gaylord Texan is not even close to the size of this one. I have visited now all three Gaylords.... I heard they are building one in Washington and I believe one in San Diego.....

Nashville - the heart of country music

An unexpected trip to Nashville.... Got to love it as I have never visited Nashville.... In fact I have never even been in the state itself. I will be staying at the original gaylord hotel Opryland Gaylord... There are only three of these as far as I know.... One here in Dallas (Grapevine), one in Orlando, Florida and this one that I will be visiting. My visit is only for one night as I have to fly to Finland on Thursday.