We arrived in Amsterdam at about 12:45 PM Wednesday, August 12, collected luggage, and met the Viking reps for transport to the hotel Raddison Blu.  After checking in, we were in contact with Chuck and Sue Mercer from Alberta, Canada, who had arrived a couple hours earlier, made plans for later in the day, and immediately went to bed for a long nap.  Waking a bit refreshed, we met Chuck and Sue and walked a short distance from the hotel for dinner at a sidewalk cafe, followed by a brief exploration of areas near the hotel.  Though we both went to sleep after arriving back at the hotel, we awoke after a couple of hours, still on Arkansas time, 7 hours earlier than Amsterdam time.  We read, checked email, and otherwise killed time for another couple of hours before falling asleep again.

We awoke shortly about 9:15 AM Thursday, August 13, and rushed make the 10 AM deadline for breakfast  The hotel buffet was adequate, but certainly not great, and we were unaware of the pastry, bread, and jam table in an adjoining room until near the end of the meal.  From breakfast, we met Chuck and Sue at the Viking desk, picked up ear monitors to be able to hear the guide, Maarten, and left the hotel with other Viking passengers on the 10:30 AM walking tour of the Amsterdam city center. Maarten keep us busy some 2 hours discussing the history, canals, architecture, culture, etc.   We were surprised to learn that Amsterdam has about 800,000 people and 1.2 million bicycles—there is little room for cars on the “streets” and virtually no parking.  Both the bicycles and automobiles have the right of way, and with the density of traffic, we had to keep a watchful eye to avoid being hit!  There were several types of gables on the buildings and most had hoists incorporated into the structure.  Some leaned to the side because of foundation problems, and some leaned toward the street and canal to ease lifting furniture, etc. via the hoist.

This black building dates to the 1200s.

The canals were dirty and trashy by our standards.  We were blown away by the number of bicycles and riders, and not a single rider had a helmet.  They seem to have their own set of rules.  Seemingly, about 95 percent of the people on the crowded streets and sidewalk cafes were younger than 40, and if there was an obese person in the city, we did not see them!  Amsterdam is a “liberal” city and many of the coffee shops sold marijuana as well as hashish.  We were also surprised at the high number of cigarette smokers, and it was near impossible to avoid secondhand smoke.

After the walking tour, we traveled via tram to Rijk’s Museum, the national museum of the Netherlands, to mainly view the Night Watchman by Rembrandt. 

The 90-minute highlight tour featured art dating from 1200-2000.  Approximately 2.5 million people visit the museum each year.  From there, we waked to the Van Gogh museum but was deterred from touring its art by the long, long lines of people waiting to enter.  We returned to the hotel for a brief rest before joining Chuck and Sue for German beer, dinner, and a walk to the Red Light District where prostitution is legal.  Dating back to Medieval times, this area of Amsterdam consists mainly red-lit stalls with prostitutes advertising their “wares”, coffee shops selling marijuana, sex shops, and peep shows; few of the red-lit “stalls” had prostitutes, perhaps because it was early in the evening.  Further reading about this area indicated that most of the prostitutes were from eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, and significant human rights violations via organized crime has been exposed.  The architecture of the area was quite interesting as many of the existing structures date to the 1400s.  We returned to the hotel, hoping for a good night’s sleep.

Kay and I finally were able to sleep several hours, despite it being in a couple of segments; our body is still adjusting to the 7 hours difference in time zones.  We awoke on Friday, August 14, with no plans despite it being our last day in Amsterdam.  We checked our luggage, and after breakfast walked the area adjacent to the hotel.  Both bicycle and auto traffic was much heavier than the previous two days, maybe because it was the start of a weekend.  We returned to the Red Light District, mainly to look at the architecture (sure), and I got busted—I surreptitiously took a photo of one of the prostitutes and she came rushing out of her stall and politely asked me to delete the photo as it was against the rules for photos to be taken. I was so flustered that it was difficult to find how to delete a single image, but with her assistance the photo was deleted.  Hopefully, you cannot identify the one shown in the window in the last photo. Visiting the Red Light District sure made an impression, but not a good one.

In late summer of 2014, we began conversing with Nan and George Laux about traveling together to do Viking’s Grand EuropeanTour, as they already had it on their radar for 2015, and we had added it to our second bucket list a couple years ago.  We tentatively agreed to plan for October/Noveber 2015, but the more Kay and I thought about it, the more we wanted to escape Arkansas in either July or August because of the oppressive heat and humidity, and remain in Arkansas in the fall, as it is generally one of our favorite times with moderate temperatures and great fall colors.  Also, the chance of rain in Europe is less then than in October/November.  Consequently, we jumped the gun, and shortly after selling the Norfork house and traveling to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas for the winter, we looked over various dates and selected August 2015 as our preferred choice, and immediately booked the trip.  Al and Sharon Crawford, and then Chuck and Sue Mercer opted to join us on the trip; regrettably, Al and Sharon had to cancel earlier this summer.  The Grand European Tour begins in Amsterdam and “sails” to Budapest, Hungary.  We added an extension of three days and two nights in Amsterdam, and later added a similar extension to Prague.

Pam Williams transported us to the airport in Little Rock to catch a early evening plane to Atlanta.  From there, we flew directly to Amsterdam, arriving on Wednesday, August 12.  Checking luggage at Little Rock, and going through TSA security was a breeze—we kept our shoes on, and computer, iPhones, and iPads remained in our carryon bags—a significant change since I last flew!  he flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was not pleasant as the plane’s cabin temperature was too warm, the kids behind us talked and caroused all night with lots of seat bumps, the seats were just plain uncomfortable, and neither of us slept more than a few minutes despite taking a couple of Tylenol PMs.

We typically escape the heat of Arkansas in July and August by traveling north or west; not this year as we wanted to spend as much time in the new house as possible.  Of course last year, we were in the process of selling the house and had a relatively mild summer; again, not this year.  The last few weeks have seen most days with temperatures near, at, or above 100°.  And with the heat, we are seeing more butterflies, though not a vast variety of species.  One of the dying trees in front is a magnet for them, and they cling to the bark by the tens, if not the hundreds. Additionally, we have lots of dragon flies, and spotted this male(?) luna moth just outside the front door—it’s just a bit smaller than my hand.

Though we don’t have a “routine” yet, we do work out at the Coronado Fitness Center three times a week, and Kay exercises with other women at Mountainside United Methodist Church (UMC) and Christ of the Hills UMC two or three days a week.  I play golf on Friday mornings with a group, and try to play a couple of afternoons a week, usually solo.  And, we try to play bridge once a week with Jim and Jackie Morris (Jackie is a longtime friend of Kay’s from “bookclub”.  Otherwise, we stay in to escape the heat and humidity.  We have been watching a lot of British and Australian television lately, courtesy of PBS and NETFLIX.   We watch Father Brown, The Dr. Blake Mysteries, Death in Paradise, and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.  And, we continue to watch Major Crimes on TNT.  During the day, we listen to Pandora radio via the wireless SONOS sound system in the new house, and thanks to Bobby Altom for putting us onto Jeff Kashiwa.

We closed out Harper’s 3rd birthday celebration on Saturday accompanying her parents and her to the Memphis Zoo, and a Mexican lunch.  She was able to stretch the birthday celebration out a couple of weeks!  We look forward to seeing her again in early September.

Speaking of which, we’re taking a brief hiatus from the blog, and will post again in early September, before Labor Day.  Until then…

We were honored by a visit from Nan and George, arriving early Saturday afternoon; Nan is Kay’s sister.  After eating a pre-ordered pizza, George and I headed to the golf course for what was to be golfing mecca for 3 afternoons while Nan and Kay caught up on family news.  A Boston butt was smoked Saturday on the Big Green Egg, and for the first time, the fire started easy and the charcoal burned well.  Sunday was family day with the arrival of Karyn and family, and Ron and Cheryl.  It was fun watching them all reminisce about old family times.  After a meal of pulled pork, baked beans, slaw, and potato salad, the kids left, George and I headed to the golf course, and all was quiet on the home front.   Nan, accompanied by Kay, visited an old college suite mate on Monday while George and I again played golf.  Regrettably, Nan and George left on Tuesday morning after a wonderful visit.
Tuesday was a full day, though. I visited my sister who is doing physical therapy in Searcy after knee replacement surgery, followed by a quick trip to Maumelle to drop off shoes and other items left by Ridge and family on Sunday, and then attended visitation services for Glendis Malott, a cousin, who had passed away.  These services always provide mixed emotions as one feels grief for the family, but sees kinfolks not seen since the last visitation/funeral.  The rest of the week was uneventful, except for a visit from Susie Sweeten, a writer for the Village Voice.  The Village Voice is doing a piece on us as newcomers to Hot Springs Village; we don’t have a clue about the selection.  Here’s an unedited photo of Susie and Kay.

It has been a sad last week of July for us as we believe two of our large oak trees are dying from the stress of construction/landscaping.  We are hoping that they are just stressed, and will give them until early next summer, but it doesn’t look good.  On a happier note, our family celebrated two birthdays the last week—Harper is now 3 years old, and Matt celebrated his birthday the last day of the month.  And, the butterflies have suddenly appeared with lots of Red-spotted Purples, Red Admirals, Little Yellows, and others.

Monday through Thursday, July 13-16, was devoted to medical appointments.  I had an initial visit with our new primary care physician, Dr. Xu, on Monday, and was well pleased.  On a whim, Kay called the neurosurgeon’s office to see if they had a cancellation; they did, and I saw Dr. Igor De Castro Monday afternoon.  His diagnosis was a compressed nerved between l4 and l5, and indicated that it wasn’t too advanced.  He recommended steroid shots as the initial treatment, and did the injection that afternoon.  The next day I felt much better, and could stand and walk (and I continue to improve little by little).  Kay had her initial visit with Dr. Xu on Wednesday, and was well pleased, too.  However, she was diagnosed with degenerative spinal arthritis, and recommended physical therapy.  We’re the walking wounded.  And, on Thursday, I had an initial visit with a new cardiologist, which was also the one year visit since stents were implanted, and received a clean bill of cardiac health.  He concurred in removing Plavix from the daily regimen of meds and the addition of 81 mg of aspirin, which allows one to take anti-inflammatories, etc. otherwise forbidden with Plavix.

Here’s a photo taken July 15 from our sunroom; a storm in the east had just passed late in the afternoon.

We are so glad to return to normal after twenty months of traveling, listing and selling a house and contents, moving, building a new house, moving, buying new furniture and contents, and spending money like crazy.  We finally have our first regular month, expense wise, since October 2013!  And it sure is nice to have a real monthly budget, knowing what is coming in and what is going out.

Hot Springs Village is hopping around July 4, with numerous activities.  We attended the HSV symphony band concert on July 1, and Kay attended the Balboa boat parade on July 2. We had hamburgers and brats at the Passes on July 4 followed by watching fireworks from their pontoon on Lake Balboa.  I am able to play golf with the aid of Tylenol, as long as I ride; it’s standing and walking that are so painful.   As of this writing, an MRI was done on July 1, and showed spinal disease.  The walk-in clinic referred me to a neurosurgeon in Hot Springs, Dr. Igor De Castro.  We have again faced problems getting an appointment as our phone calls were not returned, etc.  Finally, Kay took the bull by the horns and I’m scheduled for September 14.  

Chris Tenney, whom we met in the Rio Grande Valley, and is a world-class lepidopterist, stopped by for a few days after the holiday in search of butterflies.  He is on a year-long quest to identify and photograph as many species of butterflies in the US as possible, aka Big Butterfly Year.  Regrettably, bad butterfly weather (cloudy and windy) beset us.  Tired of sitting around, we went in search of butterflies anyway, hoping for the best.  Our original destination was Mt. Magazine State Park in Arkansas to find the rare Diana Fritillary.  Because of forecast rain and wind, we drove the Winona Scenic Drive, identified some 25 species of butterflies, and found the Diana (female) near the end of the trip about 5 miles east of Arkansas Highway 7. I must say it brought tears to my eyes as I’ve been chasing this butterfly for almost 2 years. With already 405 species and the Diana Fritillary (a male) already, the female Diana was close to the holy grail for him and other lepidopterists as few people observe it.   As poor planning would have it, my big camera battery was DEAD, so the only photographs I took were with the iPhone.

RANT:  On the following day, the highly touted Mt. Magazine proved to be a real disappointment, and in fact an embarrassment, as few butterflies were spotted, no Dianas were seen, the gardens were in poor shape, and though the staff was not unfriendly, they did not go out of their way to assist us or make us feel welcome (so this is what our 0.75 percent add-on state sales tax is being used for). 

Kay traveled back to north Arkansas on Thursday for permanent fitting of her crown (no, not a tiara as we already have enough princesses in the family), making for a long day of driving. 

And, we were honored with a visit from Gary and Betty Wallis; Betty is a longtime friend of Kay’s, and her counseling mentor, from teaching days at Northwood Junior High School in Pulaski County.  We really enjoyed their visit, as we share a lot of interests and commonalities.  Sunday was anticlimactic.

The almost constant rain has essentially ceased, and summer Arkansas temperatures have risen into the 90s.  Because of the super wet conditions this spring, we didn’t get to take advantage of the typically great spring temperatures, and many outdoor offerings Hot Springs Village had to offer eluded us.  We are hoping for a great cool, dry fall.  As this paragraph is being written, Tuesday, June 23, temperatures are expected to reach 97° shortly after noon.

We still have moisture in the crawl space of the new house, but Renaissance is working hard to find the problem and fix it.  The entire front French drain and gutter drains were replaced.  We still have water pouring off the rear of the house when it rains at the corner of the sun room and lakeside guest bedroom.  The gutter and gutter guard have been altered, but thus far, to no avail as of this writing.

Father’s Day weekend was special, with a visit from daughter Jenny and her family.  We had a great time, and though they missed the Norfork house, they immensely enjoyed the Hot Springs Village house and especially the lake.  Harper is such a doll, and can lure you into doing whatever she wants with just a glance of her pretty eyes and face.  She is a precocious child, and is super active.  Her hand and eye coordination is phenomenal, and when combined with her lack of fear, can be a challenge to us older adults!  Jenny was an only child, so it is very interesting and amazing to witness the differences in our grandkids, and especially the young ones.  They are all special in their own way, and we just love them to death.  And I received very heartwarming notes, cards, and calls from extra son, Ron, and daughter, Karyn; I often wonder how a person can be so blessed, especially to have such great bonus kids—praise God.

Thank goodness life has settled down a bit, though we seem to stay busy with family and friends, and are involved in some of the many activities available at Hot Springs Village.  Again thankfully, we are slowly transitioning into a routine.

We really enjoyed John and Sandy’s visit.  John and I opened the month with a “mountain” drive over the Quachita Mountains.  The Winona Scenic Drive had many sections over 1,700 feet, which is high for Arkansas, and several great vistas.  Hoping to see a Diana’s Fritillary butterfly, we captured a photo (via cell phone so quality is poor) of this beauty instead.  I’ve asked for help with identity.
Our additional big events for this blog entry included lunch with Kaden (Kay’s 19-year old grandson), dinner and bridge with Jim and Jackie, Kay’s high school class (50-year) reunion, and attending Ridge’s (Kay’s 3 1/2-year old grandson) T-ball game.
Also, we selected new doctors in Hot Springs, and made appointments.  This was a big deal, and sounds easier than it actually was.  Many doctors in this area are not accepting new patients, and of those that do, several do not accept Medicare patients.  And of those few that do, the earliest available appointments are in October at the soonest.  We’re hopeful that the doctors selected are good—at least they have good ratings—and we were able to get appointments to for them to see us within a few weeks; time will tell.
As for our routine, Kay works out at Christ of the Hills UMC on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and at the Coronado Fitness Center on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, time permitting.  I work out at the Coronado Fitness Center three times a week as well, and rarely miss.  And, I have signed up to play the Tuesday golf scramble with the men at Christ of the Hills.  In fact, I managed 3 rounds this last week, including a hot, muggy round with Kay at Ponce de Leon Golf Course—95° and high humidity, too.

We are working hard to get to know folks in Hot Springs Village, particularly neighbors, and catching up on old friendships.  The Village is somewhat unique in that each resident has several things in common with every other resident, whether it be faith, religion, pastimes, sports, and culture, and though there are some significant differences in affluence, most everyone in the Village has had a successful career, and moved here for many of the same reasons.

For all intents and purposes, we have finished moving!  All the boxes have been emptied, and “stuff” that doesn’t fit or belong in the house is stored in the attic (said I’d never do that again) and crawlspace.  A significant water issue remains in the crawlspace, perhaps because of the recent heavy rains, or perhaps otherwise, but it is severely limiting what can be stored there.  Kay ordered several framed prints to complete the basic decor, and those have been hung.  Wow, did she ever do a good job in selecting them as they are very nice pieces of art.  And, she picked out a rug for the breakfast area and a long runner for the hallway, and they too are quite attractive.  Bassett Furniture is in the process of replacing the breakfast table and one chair, and adding an occasional table in lieu of one we delivered but did not order.  They have been very cooperative and exceeding expectations in their business dealings with us, particularly since “our” decorator left the store for another job just after delivering our furniture.  All that said,, we have essentially transitioned from building and moving to housekeeping and maintenance.  We immensely enjoy watching the sunrise from our bedroom, watching a pair of Green Herons, a pair of Mississippi Kites, and several female hummingbirds from the sunroom and the deck, and having a good soak in the hot tub every evening.

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, Karyn, Matt, Ridge, and Acker visited for the first time.  As they were pulling onto the driveway, Ridge said it was his new house with DD and KK!  Kids say the darnedest things.  He had a blast playing in the gravel with his cars, and enjoyed getting a “power surge” from the crystals embedded in the decorative landscape rocks.  The Big Green Egg was used for the first time to smoke ribs, and while everyone was complimentary, they were a bit dry.  We cooked hamburgers on the Egg on Memorial Day for a few guests, and the hamburgers were also a bit dry.  I’m having trouble getting the Egg up to temperature.

 We returned to northern Arkansas on Tuesday after Memorial Day for a blood workup for me, and my first Medicare appointment.  Of all things, I forgot my wallet, which had driver’s license and Medicare card.  Fortunately, Kay’s quick thinking baled me out and the cardiologist’s office faxed a copy to the doctor’s office.  While in northern Arkansas, Kay took care of some real estate business, and we both enjoyed a visit with Wayne and Loretta.  Many thanks to John and Sandy Simank for the use of their house.  Wednesday morning we chased down a prescription for Nitro that was forgotten Tuesday, and had a semi-annual visit to the hygienist and dentist in Calico Rock.  Though only living in Hot Springs Village a short while, we were glad to return to our house and home here.

On Thursday, we hopefully finished our recent buying spree with a 2015 Toyota Avalon.  We hope to do some car road trips over the next few years and wanted a more comfortable ride than either of our old autos provided.

We ended the month with a bang, as Karyn and the kids visited over the weekend.  We so much enjoyed having them here, and for the first time in a long time it truly seemed like family in our house.  Ridge and I visited the European national car show at the Ponce de Leon Center in the Village in the morning to see the valve cover races, and some of the restored European cars being shown. The first car we saw was owned and showed by an old acquaintance, Don Wiseman, formerly of Memphis; he was kind enough to let Ridge sit behind the wheel for a photo.

We returned to the house where we spent lots of hours picking up sticks and rocks so he could throw them into the lake.  And Acker was a real joy as well, as she is beginning to develop her own little personality.  We can’t wait for Harper, Jenny, and Brian to visit in the next few weeks, and hopefully we can get all the little ones together for a few hours.  On Sunday afternoon, we attended our second Estrella Lake party, and welcomed John and Sandy Simank for an overnight visit.

We have been unpacking boxes at a hectic pace.  Kay is much more organized and systematic, taking her time and finding places for things while I am unpacking and consolidating in rooms.  And it should be the other way around as I am a firm believer in “moving things only once.”  As packing paper, bubble wrap, and empty boxes mount, we accumulate a load and then take the paper and boxes to the recycling center.  In the period covered by this entry, we made 5 trips!
On May 4-6, we traveled to Five Lakes Outing Club near Hughes, Arkansas, as guests of Ed and Linda Richmond for what has become an annual reunion of participants of the Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, smallmouth fishing trip.  In addition to Kay and me, John and Sandy Simank and Dave and Joann Teffetellar were guests.  We had a super good time, enjoying friends, fishing, and fabulous food.  Of all the years we’ve attended this gathering, this one may have been my favorite.
Being close to Memphis, we arranged to visit with Jenny, Brian, and Harper, never wanting to miss an opportunity to spend time with our grandkids.  After an early dinner, we met at Shelby Farms and enjoyed watching Harper play at one of the very nice playgrounds.  Despite being a little under the weather, she was quite gregarious, and going “ninety miles an hour.”



Back at home, we continued unpacking for a couple of days, and then spent Saturday and Sunday morning in Maumelle, babysitting Ridge and Acker while their parents enjoyed a night out.  Ridge and I played lots of games, and spent some time doing chalk art on the driveway (he directed, I did the drawing).  He really likes trains, and we created a long train with lots of cars.  Acker is beginning to develop her little personality, and we enticed several grins from her.  Plans were to go to the Clinton Presidential Library for Mother’s Day lunch for Kay, but she developed a severe stomach disorder, and we left fairly early Sunday morning to return home.


Finally, back home again, well, and recuperated, we essentially completed unpacking.  Several things are “missing” and we obviously either misplaced them or didn’t bring them with us.  But, things are coming together, and it’s beginning to look more like a home than an house.  As for the house, the irrigation system was installed this past week, and the propane has been turned on.  Hopefully, next week will see completion as the generator will be activated and the the dock and walkway constructed.  One of the most frustrating things we did the last few days was hang a large mirror in the great room.  Though we measured twice, the wall anchors were slightly off, and removing them left significant holes in the wall.  The patching, sanding, smoothing, and painting took 4 days, but the error was undetectable, and using different hangers, the mirror got hung.  We have been spending money like crazy furnishing and decorating the house, but still “need” a few more rugs, wall hangings, and pieces of furniture.  Today, Saturday, we drove to Hot Springs to purchase a few small items and new tires for the Honda.  Among the items purchases were bird feeder hangers made to fit our wrought iron deck railing.  We installed those, Kay made hummingbird nectar water, and we hung hummingbird feeders, and were rewarded within a few minutes with our first hummingbird.  Life is good.