Tulsa, OK

Tulsa Oklahoma, March 1997

It has been several years since Renee' and I have taken a trip on our Goldwing. Running a new business and raising teenagers can keep one off the road. We now have employees we can count on and our children are in college so we can take time for weekend excursions and the Northwest Arkansas area provides many possibilities.

The weather this past spring weekend was perfect for motorcycle ridding. Sunny, with evenings in the 30°s and the days in the high 60°s or low 70°s a light jacket was all that was needed. The ride was beautiful with spring bursting out along the Cherokee Turnpike in Oklahoma. For those who have never traveled highway 412 from Springdale onto the Cherokee Turnpike enroute to Tulsa, you are missing a nice drive in the Spring and Fall of the year. The highway is new and lightly traveled. The scenery is great and it only takes about 90 minutes to travel the 100 miles.

Our favorite place to stay is the Hawthorn locate at the I-44 and Memorial exit in Tulsa. The rooms are spacious suites with a kitchen and living quarters with a fire place. The cost is very reasonable at $69 for two people. They have special rates for those needing to stay for extended periods. We like to kick back and enjoy the quite without phones, pets, or children.

When we travel we never miss the chance to eat at the Olive Garden and the one located on Memorial Drive in Tulsa is the best, and we have eaten all over the south. Their food is great, the service is wonderful, and no one beats the price. A full meal for two with all the salad and bread sticks you can eat is under $20. (By the way, the worse Olive Garden in our opinion is locate in North Little Rock, AR. Over the past 8 years we have eaten there at least 5 times each time thinking it would change or improve from our last, but we found the service to be one step above a truck stop and the quality of the food is not up to the Olive Garden standard. The last time we were there, I took time to write Olive Garden to tell them how disappointed we were in their North Little Rock site, but I never received a reply, and we have never been back. When we travel to North Little Rock, we find other fine places to eat and we warn others..)

Our ride back on Sunday afternoon was so peacefully that it made me long to continue on south toward the gulf coast. I would love to travel the nation taking photos and writing about my adventures and no view would be better than from the seat of our Goldwing. It is Spring and time to dust yours off, if you don't own one then it is never too late.

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