Day trip to the mountains

[engstrom]

This past Saturday my wife and I took a trip with a couple of friends up to the Talimena Scenic Drive. If you like windy mountain roads and live in north texas then the Talimena Scenic Drive is a fun day-trip with plenty of chances for good pictures. The weather this past weekend was mostly cloudy and cold but there was an occasional bout of sun that made it through.

On the way back home we drove along OK 144 which, despite the occasionally dirty sections of the road, was every bit as fun as the scenic drive. I was driving on that section of the trip so I didn't get any pictures but for those that enjoy spirited driving OK 144 from US 259 to US 271 is a must.

1. The 3 cars at the start of the Talimena Scenic Drive.





2. Gotta love those mountain roads! (And gotta love clean windshields that you can take pictures through).





3. And the scenic overlooks would have been a little more scenic if the weather wasn't cloudy, cold and windy at the top of the mountain. But hey, let's look at the bright side, it didn't rain. :)





4. If you look closely at the nav screen you can see the Talimena Scenic Drive runs right along the tops of the Winding Stair Mountains. And the occasional break in the clouds made for some nice driving and nice pictures.





5. Unlike the song says, every day is NOT a winding road. But days that include winding roads sure are fun. This picture was taken by holding the camera (securely!) out the passenger window and getting it as low and forward as possible while still wearing my seatbelt.





6. And of course life has its ups and downs but so do mountain roads. The pictures really don't do justice to the grade of the hills and the tightness of the turn radius...uhhh, radiuses...uhhh...radii!...stupid latin.





7. The Talimena Scenic Drive travels through the Ouachita National Forest. Many of the trees in this forest are old growth.





8. Two of our traveling companions. NOTE, this was taken by holding the camera over my head, turning it to face backward, and pressing the shutter release...we are NOT driving the wrong way down the road playing a game of chicken. ;)





9. The twists seem to never end.





10. Pulled off at the scenic overlook after we saw clouds blowing across the road.





11. And the other convertible in our convoy pulled off at the same overlook.





12. The 3 cars at Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge.





At this point my wife and I switched roles as driver and passenger so I had to put the camera away and concentrate on more important tasks.

[dmarty78]

Very cool!!! I'll have to take my Mini Cooper up there and put it through the twisties.

[engstrom]

Dale, your Mini would be right at home going down those roads - more horsepower is good but better handling is gooder. ;)

[slallen]

We did a Geocaching trip through there about the time the leaves were turning. It was a great day and very enjoyable. Some of those switchbacks are pretty tight and both you and your mini will love it.

We did the trip from the Mena side so had the sun to our back all day.

Even called the rangers out on a fire at the Pioneer Cemetery, just down from the lodge. Apparently someone had thrown a cigarette out.

[dmarty78]

Originally Posted by engstrom

Dale, your Mini would be right at home going down those roads - more horsepower is good but better handling is gooder. ;)

It's supercharged. Pretty zippy. Handles like it's on rails.

[tukaniray]

^^ Most mini's do.

-Ray-

[engstrom]

^^^

Yeah, my friend let me drive his Mini Cooper S - it was a blast to drive.

[SCone]

Did you get a chance to walk to Lover's Leap?

[engstrom]

Originally Posted by SCone

Did you get a chance to walk to Lover's Leap?

I didn't even know there was a Lover's Leap near the trail...I'll have to check into that for the next trip up there.

[tropicdiver]

Nice photos. Hard to believe it is the same Oklahoma I spent way too many years living there.

[wmanning]

John, nice shots. I have made that run several times up the mountain and back down. My in-laws lived in Mena, AR up until a couple of years ago. Dang tornadoes decided to hit their town pretty hard. Clear weather on the mountain makes for some spectacular views. Great shots again.
William

[groovyone]

I like the 2011 GT. =)

[lfmerrell]

MAp scale reading on agenda. Mis-read map.

[CanonSATX]

sure didnt look like texas!

reminded me of back east.