Ruby and I took a trip to Hot Springs, AR yesterday to attend the ArkTESOL conference; TESOL is 'Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages'. I was invited to speak to teachers on how to help students learn to speak and express what they actually know -- because when you ask a kid who speaks Spanish (or any other language) at home a question in English - they never seem as smart as they actually are because they struggle with the language barrier. I had all the language teachers do a science activity on friction - with no written instructions or visual aids. Those teachers had to be the ones struggling to speak my language for a change. Gave them a new perspective on the problem!
The trip to Hot Springs was anything but hot! 185 miles, 3.5 hours driving, I had to leave about 4:45 am to get there by 8:15 when registration ended. The weather at the ranch was clear and chilly (50 degrees) when I left, but driving down the hill into town, I drove into the fog - the entire trip was fog, mist, and light drizzle. The trip back was cloudy, but little warmer, perhaps 60 degrees tops.
Here's the good stuff:
1. You wanna drive the Pig Trail all by yourself! dangerdarrell , I'm talking to YOU, pal! 
Try hitting the trail about 5 am in the pitch dark! I had no competition or blockers all the way down to the I-40. Sadly, I couldn't go too fast because I was paranoid about deer. Cause as we all know, "Oh, deer!" can become "Oh, $h*t!" in a heartbeat! MY last 'deer encounter' cost my insurance company $13K and me almost a grand!
2. The Highway 7 Byway between Russell and Hot Springs is absolutely beautiful! 50+ miles of winding, twisty roads through wooded country, fall colors were showing too although they aren't very good this year. I know it is a bit out of the way, but a drive to Hot Springs, a night out, stay the night and drive back the next day would be a heck of a weekend!
3. Rick Roth , Bigdog , Edward Neal - my H3 headlights without the boots did fine. Not rain exactly, but everything was WET for 7 hours of driving and no problems with lighting at all. These new LED lights (including my NiLight light bar under the chin) worked great, no flickering or other issues. Hi beams gave me great long range visibility (5-800 meters or better) and when I was on low beam, not a single driver flashed me. I think these things are the best. The under the chin NiLight bar with mixed spots and floods (6 of each) really did a good job lighting up the sides of the road better than the halogens. I used to find that taking dark corners with the halogens was a literal shot in the dark because of the 'forward-only' beam pattern. These new lights did a much better job.
The Not so good Stuff:
1. I did not test out the heating function in the ventilated seat pad... just plain didn't take it along. Temps were cool and weather was fine when I launched - but turned cloudy, misty, damp and cold before too long. Wasn't interested in more ventilation at 50 degrees, but really could have used the warmer! I'm sure I'll get a chance for a proper test in the next month or so.
2. Still impressed with the new Cooper Zeon RS3-S tire on the back, great handling on city, country, and on the highway at 80+ mph, also getting good mileage out of it. No real change in handling over damp roads (didn't drive in the rain, really). I used to notice that my OEM Kenda got real squirrely if roads were even a little damp - not so the Cooper.
3. Hot Springs is a weird little town... driving in from the north I saw 8-10 old hotels or apartment complexes crumbling into decay with "Site for Sale" or "For Lease - Attractive Terms!" signs on 'em. BathHouse road is also a bit... odd. Old hotels / spas from the turn of the last century just looked a bit creepy to me. But turn the corner onto Convention Boulevard and hey, presto! a new area with nice hotels and a heck of a convention center and sports arena - with free parking no less! I got a visitor guide to the city when I checked in, gonna look that over with the Captain later. She's not a cold weather riding kinda gal, so maybe a weekend next spring?
Oh, sorry, no photos of me in a spiffy purple shirt and tie standing next to Ruby -- maybe next time! 
Doc
