Washburn,Mo

Stopping at Warner Kwik Shop in Washburn, MO after we managed to get on Hwy 90 in southern Missouri. Hwy 90 is great. We did a bunch of gravel to get there after starting out on Big Sugar Creek Road in Pineville, MO. Probably rode twice the miles we should have, but it was fun.
I water logged Pig just east of Pineville, MO, but she made it across the ford crossing before she died, so no swimming was required. Big Sugar Creek Road follows Big Sugar Creek.

The water at the ford (called "Deep Ford Access" on Google Maps) was deeper and colder then it appeared. I thought it was just a few inches deep, maybe a foot at most. I first crossed it and then crossed back because the road on the other side was really rocky (not good) and because Randy wouldn't cross. OK, I admit I was momentarily lost even with the GPS when I first crossed it.

On the return trip back across, I went to a little too fast because the water came over the top of the windshield for a second and that is probably what water logged Pig. Randy caught the entire incident with his helmet cam. Later learned I should really have pulled the plugs before I started Pig back up, because the water could have damaged her engine. After trying every minute, after 3 minutes she started. Water in her must not have been that bad because she still runs fine.

The next ford on BSC Road was a lot lower then last year when we got there. While we were discussing whether to cross that one, we watched an oncoming pickup truck cross from the other side. The water on that ford runs fast and came up above the top of the wheels on the 4x4 pickup. The road in this particular ford was also very narrow. The guy in the pickup joked at us as he went by, telling us to "hit the gas and giver hell". We decided we weren't ready to try that, so we took dirt road we took last time which followed a ridge line around. Maybe next year, hehe.

-- Photo and original comment sent from cell phone, updated description added April 28th.