After loading the kayaks yesterday afternoon, we drove to Red’s Landing on the White River below Norfork, Arkansas, to meet Ed and Ellen for a float to Chesmond Access, just upstream of Calico Rock, Arkansas.  After unloading the kayaks, Ed, Ellen, and I drove to Calico Rock to leave two cars with kayak carriers, and the three of us rode back to Red’s Landing to meet back up with Kay.  We readied the kayaks with food, water, sun screen, PFDs, and other paraphernalia for the float.

The weather was awesome, with mild temperatures, cloudless skies, and little wind.  In addition, water conditions were just about perfect with enough depth and velocity to prevent dragging and allow a reasonable speed downstream.

We stopped at the confluence of Moccasin Creek for a break, eating a fruit snack and rehydrating. As we neared Chesmond Access, we saw the small creek, Mill Creek, on the right descending side of the channel that I had seen in a boat ride with Bill a few weeks earlier.  What grabbed my attention was a small rock bluff on the left descending side of the creek, barely visible from the White River, though not rocky areas were observed on the banks of the big river in the vicinity of the creek.  We paddled the kayaks into the canopied creek some 50 yards, exited them, and began wading upstream, examining the bluff, wildflowers, and ferns along the way. 

This side trip was awesome! The first two photos are of wildflowers along the creek bottom.  The next is of me, Ellen, and Ed, followed by a photo Ed examining the maidenhead ferns on the dripping bluff rock.  Finally, Kay is photographed on her way back to the kayaks.  After spending about 30 minutes here, we continued our paddle downstream to Chesmond Access.

Except for just upstream of Red’s Landing, we did not see another person until arriving at Chesmond Access.  This was a great trip with great friends, and everything was just about perfect.

This entry into our travel blog is long overdue.

We opted to stay home this summer, i.e. not travel, in order to enhance family relationships with our kids and grandkids, and be on hand to welcome the birth of our newest grandchild.

It has been a fun summer, spending time with Kaden and Ron, and with Ridge, Karyn, and Matt, and being present with Jenny and Brian for Harper Ann Riley Painter’s entrance into this world on July 30.

Over the course of the summer, I began suffering from a bout of severe depression for the first time since 1999. Neither Kay or I could put a finger on what caused this—I began second guessing every important decision I had made since graduating from high school, and beating myself up for the not so good ones and not celebrating the great ones.  As a cure we opted to camp at Quarry Park, just up the road and river from where we live. It was a “spur of the moment” decision, but we were camped close enough to home to run back and forth for clothes, groceries, mail, newspapers, and other things to make the experience a fun one.

Our first afternoon was busy. Shortly after arriving, I called DishTV in an attempt to activate our “pay as you go” satellite service. After spending a couple of hours adjusting the dish, it took another call to get the service turned on. Also, it took a while for the refrigerator/freezer to cool down enough to make ice, but we brought ice from home. We were so ready for a break that we slept almost 10 hours our first night in the campground; it seems that the motorhome is darker than our bedroom at home, and consequently we always tend to sleep longer.

As the week progressed, temperatures plunged dramatically from the triple digits to the mid-to high 80s, with lows in the low 50s. What great camping weather!

For the first week we took a sabbatical from virtually everything—no Crossroads band practice and no 4+1 Quartet practice.  However, we did not take a sabbatical from grandkids; every time our phones would ping indicating a text message, we would quickly grab them to see new pictures of Harper Ann and Ridge. We just can’t get enough of these grandkids. Regretfully, Kaden is too old and too shy to send pictures.

We used the trip to “exercise” the motorhome, and perform some routine maintenance such as apply protectant to all the seals, particularly around the windows and slides. While doing this, we noted that the crack on the front windshield on the motorhome had lengthened significantly, probably because of the significant change in temperature from our really hot summer to air-conditioning. In order for the insurance company to cover the damage, the crack had to be at least 6 inches long, and it was just over that. A call to the insurance company and to Mountain Home Glass allowed us to schedule having the windshield replaced. Fortunately we only have to pay a moderate deductible. (We received this crack driving through Edinburg, Texas, on February 1, to our winter “home” in Mission, Texas.)

This camping trip, and cool weather, provided a great opportunity to resume an exercise regime. We walked around the campground twice each day—about 3 miles—usually first thing in the morning. And when we needed to run an errand, or got bored, we would ride our bicycles.

As the first week drew to a close on Friday, August 10, we were privileged to host Ridge and his mother for the weekend at our house.

We returned to the campground after church on Sunday, August 12, and continued rest and relaxation.

On Wednesday, August 15, we kayaked with Ellen and Ed from the confluence of the Norfork and White Rivers to Red’s Landing, a river distance of about 7 miles. We met Ellen and Ed at the confluence at about 12:30 PM, unloaded our kayaks, and shuttled two vehicles downstream. It took approximately 45 minutes for the shuttle round-trip. Water levels were unusually low but we did not have to get out and drag the kayaks over any riffles. With lots of sunshine, it was quite warm.  The scenery was great and there was little boat traffic, making for a pleasant float. I was amazed at the river bottom, smoothed by eons of water flowing over the bedrock. Along the way we saw lots of shorebirds, a bald eagle, some deer, but no turkeys. The float took us slightly less than 3 hours. And, amazingly, it resolved the depression problem!

Upon returning home from kayaking, we spent Wednesday evening cleaning house, and Kay cooked and made other preparations for the upcoming visit of several of her old schoolteacher girlfriends.  She continued this on Thursday, August 16, and I enjoyed quiet time in the motorhome. After spending the night in the motorhome, Kay returned to the house on Friday, August 17, to await the arrival of her friends, while I remained at the motorhome. We are each fortunate to be able to enjoy "me" time without offending one another. On Saturday evening, I took the ladies for short ride in the pontoon boat on Norfork Lake. Sunday morning Kay and I left early for church, and were joined by Pam and JaneAnn for the Crossroads service. We said goodbye to the ladies after lunch on Sunday, and both of us returned to the motorhome.
We enjoyed a quiet Sunday evening—our last for this trip—but on Monday began making preparations to end the camping trip; our windshield had been scheduled to be installed on Tuesday, August 21. We packed all of our clothes, food, bicycles, and other paraphernalia, emptied the freezer and refrigerator, and returned to the house, leaving the motorhome at the campground. On Tuesday morning, we drove back to the campground, unhooked water and electricity, and left the campground, driving the motorhome to Mountain Home to have the windshield replaced. This ended our only trip of the summer—not too exciting, but we enjoyed nevertheless.

Meeting Ed and Ellen at 12:30 PM, we unloaded the kayaks at the confluence of the Norfork and White Rivers, and shuttled two vehicles to Red’s Landing, our intended takeout. After the approximate 45-minute round trip, Ed, Kay, and I returned to the confluence to rejoin Ellen.  The White River was low, having experienced little generation from either Bull Shoals or Norfork Dams.

Because of the unusually low water, the first riffle caused us—at least some of us—to drag, and this was something we would experience several times in the 7-mile trip, but we did not have to get out and drag the kayaks over any of the low water areas.

With lots of sunshine, it was quite warm—actually hot—even on the cool river, and with low flows, traveling downstream required some serious paddling, though Ed managed to always find the fast current and stay in the lead.  He reads the river well, but then he’s a civil engineer!

Despite this hot “work”, the trip was good. Kay is becoming a good paddler, but definitely prefers the intrinsic aspects of kayaking over the pure raw paddling experience.

The scenery was great and there was little boat traffic, making for an overall pleasant float. I was amazed at the river bottom, smoothed by eons of water flowing over the bedrock.

Along the way we saw lots of shorebirds, a bald eagle, and some deer, but no turkeys. The float took us slightly less than 3 hours. 

We don’t get to spend much time with our grandson, Kaden, an active 16-year old, what with studying for drivers license, band camp, band practice, etc. so it was a real pleasure when he came for a short visit. 

Shortly after he arrived, his eyes lit up when we talked about kayaking, so we loaded the kayaks, Kay drove us to Quarry Park below Norfork Dam, we had a really quick lesson, and off we went. 

Water flow was about 4,000 cubic feet per second, providing enough water to avoid dragging over shoals, but not too much to be unsafe.  Kaden took to kayaking like he had done it his entire life.  And of course, he headed for the biggest standing waves in the river.

On Friday, he and KK (Kay’s nickname to our grandkids) kayaked down the Norfork, with about the same amount of water being discharged from the dam.  They were so quick that I was late in picking them up at the confluence.

And then, on Friday, Kaden talked his dad into kayaking the Norfork and they made it in record time, and Kaden was a little wet from busting through every standing wave he could paddle through. They paddled so quickly that we missed a photo opportunity at Ackerman-Handicap Access.

This summer has become a “family” summer for us; let me explain.  Jenny, my daughter, and her husband Brian are expecting their first baby in early August.  We decided early in the year to be here for this auspicious occasion.  This meant no travel for the last couple of weeks of July and the first two of August.  And then, we had the opportunity to babysit our newer grandson, Ridge, in late June while his mommy and daddy spent a week in Cancun.  And, Kay’s sister was able to visit in mid-July, followed by a visit from Ridge and his mommy.  We will get to host our older grandson, Kayden, in this week coming up, with his dad joining late in the week.  Hopefully, Harper Ann will arrive in this world pretty close to schedule, and Ridge and his mommy will be returning on August 10.  So, you see, we have been richly blessed this summer to share June, July, and August with family for the first time in a long time.

It was during Karyn’s visit this weekend that she and I kayaked the Norfork River.  Conditions were good since there was enough flow for one generator, translating into too much water for wade fishing, and just enough for kayaking without having to get out and pull over riffles.  It was her first time to kayak, and my first time to kayak the entire Norfork River.  We began at the launching area at Quarry Park just downstream of Norfork Dam, practiced a few strokes, turning the kayak this way and that, then spinning it around, and paddling in reverse.

The paddle downstream was uneventful until we reach the top of the Long Hole, when we heard this loud, shrill scream and looked up from where it came and spotted both an adult and an immature bald eagle.

As we continued our float downstream boat traffic and fishing pressure increased.  There were boats and fishers everywhere, and most seemed to have Missouri registration.  It became almost congested from Ace-in-the-Hole until we reached the confluence with the White River.  We “artfully” weaved our way through all this boat traffic to minimize our interference with their fishing.

At Ol’ Charlie’s we observed short-term renters at the Aamodt’s, and the renters said they were renting the place for $220 per night (both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeals has agreed with the city that this is zoned residential and that operating this business violates the city’s ordinance). Sadly, the short-term renters were also catching and keeping fish, and this is in the middle of the Catch-and-Release area, and had been walking up and down the neighborhood road flagging at traffic.

It took us an hour and fifteen minutes to leisurely paddle the Norfork River, and we had a great time.

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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