The “cold” is steadily improving, and the coughing and hacking is slowly dissipating. In fact, I walked the trash to the big garbage bins on the other side of the campground.

Bruce asked about fishing, so we loaded our wading stuff and drove to the house to change into waders and boots. We accessed at Mill Dam Eddy, and waded upstream of the island. The wind was blowing steadily into our faces, and made casting quite difficult for Bruce, a novice fly fisher. He did all the right things, but couldn’t get a trout to take the fly. I played around for about 30 minutes with a parachute sulphur dun, and managed to catch over a dozen fish, including a grand slam on the dry fly.

Kay returned from an appointment with the hairdresser, and prepared a great meal of fish and vegetables cooked in foil pouches, which we shared with Bruce and Jeannie.

We had a quiet afternoon, and I went to 4 + 1 Quartet practice.

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The "cold" is getting better, if ever so slightly. Kay drove into town this morning for a pre-Vacation Bible School meeting; she really didn’t want to teach, but couldn’t refuse since the church is short-handed of volunteers. I visited briefly with Bruce and Jeannie, made a quick visit to the house for a shave and shower, and returned to the campground just in time for Kay and I to take Bruce, Jeannie, and their neighbors for a boat ride to hunt for driftwood. Jeannie is an artist, and will use the driftwood for carving, and as props for other artwork. When we returned to the campground, we noticed that a contractor had cut several dead trees, including this one that fell a little long of its intended target, on their jeep. As they say here in the South, you can’t fix stupid, but you can photograph it!

On a serious note, can you imagine how embarrassing it must have been for the "professional" tree cutters and trimmers.
That pretty much wrapped up the day as far as exciting things go, and we cooled our heals until bedtime.

The “cold” is getting better, if ever so slightly. Kay drove into town this morning for a pre-Vacation Bible School meeting; she really didn’t want to teach, but couldn’t refuse since the church is short-handed of volunteers. I visited briefly with Bruce and Jeannie, made a quick visit to the house for a shave and shower, and returned to the campground just in time for Kay and I to take Bruce, Jeannie, and their neighbors for a boat ride to hunt for driftwood. Jeannie is an artist, and will use the driftwood for carving, and as props for other artwork. When we returned to the campground, we noticed that a contractor had cut several dead trees, including this one that fell a little long of its intended target, on their jeep. As they say here in the South, you can’t fix stupid, but you can photograph it!

On a serious note, can you imagine how embarrassing it must have been for the “professional” tree cutters and trimmers.
That pretty much wrapped up the day as far as exciting things go, and we cooled our heals until bedtime.
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I awoke this morning feeling terrible from the head cold, my worst day yet; maybe this is the turning point. Fortunately, the Crossroads Band is not leading service this morning; the Wesley Foundation from ASU Jonesboro is taking care of the whole service. Following church and Sunday School, we ate lunch at Chen’s, and returned to the campground to find Bruce and Jeannie from the AR Travelers setting up. A nearby RV was vacating a space, and an RV version of musical chairs followed, resulting in Bob and Sharon’s friends from Louisiana moving next to them, and in the process of enjoying a view of the river up close and personal, she (the friend) fell and broke her leg. Meanwhile, Bruce and Jeannie were able to occupy the site adjacent to ours. All of this made for a pretty exciting afternoon.

As evening approached, we drove Bruce and Jeannie to the house to see where we live, and to take a quick house tour.

Upon returning to the campground, I immediately took some meds and went to bed.

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We awoke Saturday morning to an essentially full campground; many campers came in late yesterday evening. It was a quiet day for us as my cold is getting worse, and the coughing and hacking is beginning to take its toll, though no fever.

The Martins, a top tier Southern gospel trio, performed a benefit concert at Mountain Home Baptist Church for the pastor’s wife who has recently been diagnosed with ALS. We attended with Bob and Sharon. Despite the church’s sound equipment problems, it was a good concert.

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Not much to report today. Strong winds ushered in a welcome cold front, making for some great camping weather. Regrettably, my cold continues to get worse. The campground is filling rapidly with weekend campers of all shapes and sizes. Seeing young families enjoying the great outdoors brings back fond memories of camping with Jenny when she was a young girl.

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Today marks the last day of May 2012; where did the month go?

Late last night and early this morning the sites on either side of us were filled. After reading email via the phone, and enjoying our first cup of coffee, I stepped outside and saw that Bob had occupied the site just east of us. He left Sharon at home to finish her coffee and crossword puzzle, and came to set up for a two-week stay. They, too, live within easy driving distance of the park. We visited for a few minutes and we left him to finish setting up so he could return home for Sharon, groceries, and additional camping paraphernalia.

Kay and I could not pass up a bright, clear morning on the the water, and drug the kayaks down for some paddling experience.

It was much easier the second time around, and I’m pleasantly surprised at how Kay has adapted.

We paddled upstream, then downstream to the riffle below the Resort Hole (which, by the way, has shifted to the far right side of the channel), then back to our take-out and camp site.

By then, the day proved too nice to not fish, so I donned waders, vest, and boots, and drove to an access near the house. There were six fishers below Mill Dam Eddy, which sort of surprised me as access is very limited, i.e. restricted, in this area. Above the island sulphurs were coming off occasionally, and the fish would take them on the surface as long as the sun was shining. With mostly cloudy skies, the hatch of sulphurs was sporadic at best, but I did catch a 17-inch rainbow on a parachute sulphur dun.

Once the sun disappeared behind the clouds, the fish quit taking sulphurs on the surface, so I switched to a brown Wayne’s fly and zebra midge combination and caught several fish, ending the day with a couple of dozen fish. Returning to the campground, I stopped by the house for a shower and clean clothes.

The cold is getting worse with more coughing, a few aches, and a sore throat and headache. Consequently, it was an early night.

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