It sure seems like this fall has been colder than any in recent memory. In fact we’ve had freezing temperatures off and on since mid-October–too cold for these old bones! Our plans had been to depart for the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) after Thanksgiving to avoid freezing temperatures and having to winterized the motorhome.  However, as a result of the cold weather, we’ve kept lights burning in the outside compartments where we have water lines, and a small stove (thanks to Jim and Cheryl Watts for recommending it) running inside the coach. This has caused some added work in getting everything done in order, and in combination with having the windshields replaced, repaired, repaired, and replaced again, getting road-ready has been a chore.

Nevertheless, we loaded, latched, and locked the house this morning and left the driveway at 7:40 AM. We met Bruce and Jeannie at Greenbriar, AR, at 10:45 AM. We drove to Rocky Point Park, a USACE facility, near Queen City, TX, just south of Texarkana, arriving there at 3:00 PM. Traffic from Conway, AR, to our turnoff to the campground was quite heavy, particularly semi-trucks. We particularly like this park, and there are no bad sites.

After a bite to eat, we took a sunset walk with Bruce and Jeannie, and as we arrived at a a great view of the western sky, I missed the sun setting by about 30 seconds, but nevertheless I got a pretty good shot just as it dipped below the horizon.  We returned to the camp site and had a quiet evening to finish the day.

Raking and blowing leaves off the driveway last week has proved fruitless as a bunch more fell this week!  It’s that time of year.

We started the week with a typical Sunday, and then shifted into high gear on Monday.  First thing Monday AM, I had a permanent crown installed, fearing a broken tooth while we are away the next few weeks.  Kay took care of administrative stuff like putting DirecTV on hold, and having our land line telephone service cut back to basics—we can still make and receive calls and SECURITY SYSTEM IS ARMED AND READY!  Tuesday found me at the audiologist for a hearing aid check-up—I still can’t hear!  On Wednesday, Jenny, Brian, and HARP came over for the holiday, and we had a blast.  We hiked Thursday to Almos Knob and Huffman Knob; I had been calling Huffman Knob Almos Knob, and Almos Knob the overhang, but a local straightened us out.  Jenny and I collaborated on dinner Thursday evening. She has inherited her Grandma Nellie’s cooking instinct and has surpassed her dad on tasting and adjusting.  Thank goodness for that as our cornbread dressing was the best it’s been in years, and vegetarian too.  She made a sweet potato casserole that was to die for as well, and Kay made some super sugar-free apple dumplings.  Kay is such a great grandmother, and took good care of HARP while we were busy in the kitchen.  Of course, we had fires outside for some ‘mores both nights Jenny and Brian were here. 

Regrettably, they had to leave on Friday for more Thanksgiving commitments, but Ron and Kaden came up for the weekend.

We just hung out on Friday, making and eating turkey gumbo and watching football.  I fished with Ron on Saturday. We drove to Norfork first, but it had one generator of discharge; SWPA had projected 0 generation after 6:00 AM until 5:00 PM, but instead ramped up to 1 generator shortly after 10:00 AM—same old story! We drove to Rim Shoals, and walked down the right descending bank as far as the path would take us. It was tough fishing; I caught 3 (one on BHFB pheasant tail, and two on tan sowbug). It began to get crowded, with over a dozen fishers coming in. We opted to leave, and noted the Norfork was slowing going down. We waded in at Mill Dam Eddy, and struggled while the water completed falling. After it stabilized, Ron took about 9 fish on gray scud and red/black zebra midge combination. There were several other fishers coming downstream in drift boats, canoes, and kayaks. One guide in a drift boat came right through the narrow lane we were fishing, and after my shaking my head, said that I didn’t own the water. Of course, he had over a hundred yards from which to choose a path, but chose the little lane where we were fishing. A lady guide behind him in drift boat, stopped short, got out and pulled her drift boat into another lane; I thanked her. We will see more and more unethical guides on the Norfork with the advent of minimum flow (be careful what YOU ask for cause I didn’t want it, anticipating this very problem along with some others we’ll see come along).

Sunday saw us with a normal morning of church and Sunday school, and the addition of Kay singing a solo at the traditional service.  We didn’t eat lunch in town, but drove home to continue preparations for our trip south to warmer weather.

Whew, what a busy week, and we’re supposed to be retired.
With ominous weather forecast for Sunday, we left Mountain View a day early to avoid driving in wind and rain, arriving home about lunch.  We unpacked, rested a bit, and drove back to Mountain View for the last performance of the Bluegrass Festival.  We heard two groups we really liked—Chasing Blue, and Sierra and Highway 111—and a another that was okay.  Both Chasing Blue (from Boston, MA) shown on the left, and Sierra/Highway 111 shown on the right are young, graduates of Berklee in Boston, MA, and quite talented on various instruments.  (Photos were taken from their respective websites.)  I particularly liked Sierra (shown in the photo) and her Highway 111 band, and for this gig she had two substitute band members—Justin Moses and Corey Walker—who were awesome in their own right.  Justin Moses was one of the best non-classical instrumentalists I’ve ever seen (he’s a regular member of Ricky Skagg’s band), and an outstanding vocalist as well.  Despite both these guys being substitutes, you’d never know it because of the seamlessness of their instrument playing and their vocal harmony.  Wow!  If you’re a bluegrass fan, you owe it to yourself to give a listen to these folks.  Daybreak was my favorite song of the festival, performed by Sierra, though there were several that I really liked.  Another group we really liked was Special Consensus, who performed on Friday.  The 2013 Mountain View Spring Bluegrass Festival is March 7-9, and will feature Monroe Crossing, Hickory Hill, The Gibson Brothers, Steele Drivers, Cedar Hill, Doyle Lawson & Quick Silver, LaTresa & The Signal, and Bucksnort HIll.
Back at home on Sunday, we barely got home from church, Sunday school, and grocery shopping before it began raining, and after all was said and done, we received 1 3/8 inches, and it provided some great down time for us after a busy week.
Mountain Home Glass called on Monday with news that the motorhome windshield had been delivered, and asked if we could bring it in immediately; we could and did.  They have been very accommodating in attempting to fix the leak after installing the first windshield; let’s hope this new one doesn’t leak!
Tuesday saw Kay drive to central Arkansas for a book club meeting, a trip to her hair stylist, and a visit with daughter and grandson since we’ll be gone for several weeks.  This means I can do what I want when I want while she’s away!
I had blood drawn for a PSA reading, an every 6-month necessity since the RRP for prostate cancer in December 2010.  My back has been hurting like crazy, and an acquaintance who had the same kind of surgery 10 years ago has been terminally diagnosed causing me to be on pins and needles.  I got the results back on Thursday and my PSA was undetectable—great news.
While Kay has been away, I’ve been watching countless offerings on You Tube relative to using a Canon T2i  digital single lens reflex camera and video seminars on using Lightroom, a photo filing and editing software package by Adobe.  It’s amazing what is available on You Tube, particularly with respect to instructional video, and I’m a visual learner.  However, after watching countless hours of instruction, I feel like my head is about to explode.  Also, while Kay has been away, I’ve been watching movies, mostly Westerns, via Amazon Prime on the iPad.  Awesome.  We pay $79 per year, get “free” 2-day shipping on orders from Amazon, and streaming of lots of free movies and TV shows.
Kay arrived back home on Friday, and I was so glad to see her—lucky in love.  We really enjoy our time together, and our brief times apart. With Kay’s help (and Wayne’s in getting the generator running; the generator powers the blower), I finished raking and blowing leaves off our porches, parking areas, and 500-foot driveway.  Late in the day, Mountain Home Glass called and said the motorhome was ready, so we hastily drove into town, picked it up, and returned home.  Now, with just a few more chores out of the way, we can start packing for our winter home.
With a new found energy, I put mandated “new” licenses on the Honda CR-V, cleaned the gutters of fallen leaves, and washed the motorhome.  The motorhome was dirty from top to bottom, and required some effort to wash and dry.  Late in the day, I applied Aquapel windshield glass treatment.  My good friend, John S. put me on this stuff several years ago, and though it is expensive (about $3 per applicator from Amazon, and one applicator will do an automobile windshield; 2 for a large motorhome windshield), it is a great product.  A single application of this patented hydrophobic glass treatment repels water for up to 6 months. Aquapel Glass Treatment bonds to the glass to dramatically improve drivers’ visibility. It makes the glass easier to clean, and I believe it helps reflect rocks. I used this on our other motorhome prior to the Alaska trip in 2009, and it was invaluable. 
It’s so good to have all these little jobs done.  That about wraps up this week.  Now, we can get serious about the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

With rally hosting duties behind us, we were able to enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee in bed, before greeting the world.

Though the RV park was full early this morning, many of the rally attendees left today, pulling out at various times, and leaving 5 coaches to stay over an extra day or two to attend the Fall Bluegrass Festival or participate in other activities around the area.

Kay and I drove to the Folk Center, met up with Bruce and Jeannie, and visited several of the craft shops.  I found the "stories" of the various crafts people to be more interesting than their craftsmanship.  Many ended up in the Mountain View area because of the music, and work at the Crafts Village to support their music.

We took a short break to have lunch at Jo Jo’s, and they still serve good, but not great, catfish. We returned to the Ozark Folk Center to attend the matinee session of the Bluegrass Festival.  While all the groups were good, the "headliner" groups were great, and their rhythm, timing, blends, and smoothness were heads and shoulders above the others; today, we particularly liked Special Consensus, and really, really liked Sierra Hull and 111.

After the matinee performance, we returned to the RV park where I worked feverishly to update this blog. As evening came and the day began to cool, a fire was built outside, and Kay joined others around the circle for some lively conversation.

Shortly before 7 PM, we drove back to the Folk Center to catch performances by Special Consensus and Sierra Hull and 111. Sierra was better than ever, and is the next Allison Krauss.

Breakfast was pretty simple this morning—assorted huge muffins, leftover biscuits, gravy, and breakfast pizza, fruit cups, and juice; folks were not bashful about eating the leftovers.  This constituted our last major effort in hosting the rally.

Bruce and Jeannie took care of facilitating lunch at Jo Jo’s on the White River, allowing us to drive to Memphis to attend memorial services for the son of a very dear friend of ours.  The memorial services were highlighted by the reading of a prayer Ross recently wrote—he had an amazing way of putting his feelings into words.  Ross passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.  He was a highly intelligent, very talented, compassionate, and philanthropic man; Ed and Linda must have been very proud of him.  He will be greatly missed by all, and especially those who knew him, and those he would have served had he had the opportunity.

Following the service, we returned to Mountain View and attended the gospel night of the fall bluegrass festival.  There were some good young bands, and the headliner, Marty Raybon, was great.

Edward “Ross” Richmond III of St. Charles, Missouri, died on Saturday, November 3, 2012, at the age of 47. Loving husband of Jacquelynn Richmond, cherished son of Edward R. Richmond, Jr. and Linda M. Richmond; admired step-father of Kristen (Dustin) Freeman, Jessica Ohlms, and Courtney Ohlms; adored brother of Lisa (Steven Burke) Richmond and Mary (Will) Motley; loving uncle of Emerson Richmond- Burke, Wynsome Richmond- Burke, Lola Motley, and Simon Motley. He was a former missionary for World Church. He was a member of the Institutional Review Board at Mercy Hospital, and volunteer for Ronald McDonald House. He loved traveling, entertaining guests, spending time with his wife, and gourmet food. Ross was a classically trained opera singer, and loved listening to classical and jazz music.

We awoke early this morning, and after a quick shower walked over to the rally room to turn on the coffee pot and begin preparation for yet another meal.  Running a kitchen for 29 people is not my idea of fun time RVing!  Nevertheless, I began the process of making sawmill gravy, milk gravy with ground pork sausage, and biscuits, complete with butter and jelly. These were served with juice and other accoutrements. The biscuits and gravy were popular, as were buttered biscuits with jelly.

Following cleanup Kay and I facilitated another roundtable discussion, with the subject this time regarding useful tools, gadgets, techniques, and other items that make RVing easier. Again, there was great discussion with lots of helpful hints and gadgetry presented.

With a few hours of free time before setting up for and preparing the evening meal, Bruce, Jeannie, Kay, and I drove to Blanchard Springs where we viewed Blanchard Springs coming out of the side of the mountain, Mirror Lake, the camping areas, the swimming hole, and the natural amphitheater. We found several camping sites that would accommodate a 35+ foot motorhome with the slides extended.  It had been some time since we had seen the amphitheater, and didn’t remember it’s magnitude.  It is so large that Bruce is hardly visible in the photograph, and is, in fact, overwhelmed by both the opening and the bluff.  Though the leaves have peaked, there was enough color left on the trees for beautiful views.

We had lunch at the cafe in Fifty Six, Arkansas, and returned to the campground after this brief respite to begin preparations for the evening meal.

Our dinner tonight consisted of jambalaya and white beans prepared by the campground owner, and salad, garlic bread, and other accoutrements, followed by desserts filling a complete table. The jambalaya was bland, and lacked enough meat, but it was okay; the beans were good.

Games of cards followed, but neither of us played, choosing instead to visit wit other RVers.

It was another early bedtime for us tonight.

We were up early this morning to prepare the first of three breakfasts for the rally attendees. Kay made several varieties of breakfast pizza—one with pork sausage, one with ham, and another with no meat—and it was served with fruit cups, juice, and other assorted accompaniments.

After cleaning up from the breakfast meal, Kay and I facilitated a roundtable discussion titled "Places and Spaces". Attendees took turns talking about places that they had visited and particularly liked, and even some that they didn’t like, and spaces, i.e. RV parks, where they had parked their motorhomes.  There was a good discussion, and several places in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and in the Pacific Northwest were highlighted. Kay has prepared a summary of this discussion for inclusion in the Arkansas Travelers newsletter, Hog Wash.

Following the roundtable discussion, we were back in the kitchen to prepare chili for the evening meal.  Bruce made turkey chili, and Kay and I made beef chili.  After getting the chili in the crock pots, Kay went with several other ladies to town for a shopping trip, and I drove to the dentist in Calico Rock for preparatory work for a crown.

The numbness from the dental visit wore off just in time for happy hour, and we got to visit briefly with friends before time to make final preparations for the evening meal. With chili, cheese, onions, crackers and/or Fritos, and coleslaw, everyone enjoyed a great evening main course; of course the meal would not have been complete without desserts, and we had a table full of scrumptious sweets, including cakes, pies, cookies, and other delectable treats. It’s no wonder we’re a country full of obese and diabetic seniors!

Again, a robust game "31" followed, but we were too tired from preparing meals and cleaning up to participate.

We both retired early for the evening and were in bed at 8:30 PM.

The Egg McMuffins from McDonald’s were quite tasty; we live in a town so small that the nearest McDonald’s is about 15 miles away.  Consequently, when we are in larger towns or cities we splurge occasionally and have breakfast from McDonald’s.

We connected with Bruce and Jeannie, and completed our shopping for rally meals at the local Harps, and at Walmart.  Harps must be relatively new, because it was small and grossly understocked—not at all what we’re used to in Mountain Home. Nevertheless, we got most of the items we wanted there, and stopped at Walmart to complete our shopping. After lunch the RVs began rolling in, setting up, and establishing their short-term residence.  While we had seen several of the couples at the rally in April in Fayetteville, Arkansas, we had not seen quite a few since July 2011, and it was good renewing old acquaintances.

A guest couple, visiting from Massachusetts, wanted to attend the bluegrass festival while in Mountain View but did not have tickets. Accompanied by Bruce, I drove him to the Ozark Folk Center to purchase tickets, and we made a circuitous route up Arkansas Highway 5 north to Arkansas Highway 14 west and then Arkansas Highway 87 south back to Mountain View; the fall colors were spectacular as we drove through the hills and mountains of the Ozarks.

Though the rally does not begin officially until tomorrow morning, our happy hour and potluck of heavy hors d’oeuvres kicked off the week’s events. A robustly contested game of "31" followed.

After a typical Sunday morning of church and Sunday school, followed by lunch in town, i.e. Mountain Home, Arkansas, with church friends, we finalized packing the RV for an Arkansas Travelers rally in Mountain View, Arkansas.  Kay and I are only able to attend one, perhaps two, RV rallies each year because of our own travel schedule. However, the Travelers strongly urge each member to host a rally every two or three years.  Consequently, we chose Mountain View, Arkansas, as the site of the rally and this particular week in November for the date because it is sandwiched between the Bean Festival and the fall bluegrass festival.

I drove the motorhome south on Arkansas Highway 5, and Kay followed with the Expedition. Upon arriving the park was near empty, and as hosts, our site was adjacent to the rally room. Setting up went smoothly, and we visited with a couple of other Arkansas Travelers who had already arrived.

Bruce and Jeannie, our cohosts, had arrived earlier, and we visited with them, catching up on old and new news. As the afternoon turned into evening, we all decided to go to the Jimmy Driftwood Barn to listen to traditional folk music being performed by locals, many who have performed there for years; it was a hoot. A young Arkansas state fiddle championship competitor played several songs with many of the groups, and was quite good, though very bashful when it came to talking.  While the music was okay, but not great, the characters were quite interesting. One particular lady, Miss Lily, apparently came to the area as a flower child in the 1960s, was arrested for some deed against society, and at the court hearing met her future husband, one of the founders of the as yet unbuilt Jimmy Driftwood Barn; he was setting up for music at the courthouse. For those of you unfamiliar with Mountain View, music at the courthouse has been occurring since 1963, and I remember coming as a old teen and young adult in the mid to late ‘1960s to listen, but I don’t remember Miss Lily.

It’s going to be a good week.

Wow, what a busy and eventful week for us.  After arriving back at our “stick” house from the ORR rally in Ozark, Arkansas, Kay and I began a busy week with church and Sunday school, lunch with friends, and performing with 4+1 Quartet in a benefit concert, all on Sunday.

Early Monday morning, we departed the house again, this time driving to Memphis to visit Jenny (before she goes back to work) and little Harper Ann.  We arrived at Jenny’s about 10:30 AM, and HARP awoke just as we walked in (barking dogs).  She is definitely a mama’s girl, and didn’t take her eyes off of Jenny the entire time we were there.  While she had an appointment, Jenny left us to care for HARP.  Kay performed her magic and HARP ate well (formula) and slept the whole time, in Kay’s arms.  When Jenny returned, we drove to Costco, and almost as soon as HARP was placed in the basket, she went to sleep again and slept through our entire shopping experience.  Many folks stopped by the cart at the store commenting on how pretty she was.  She is a beautiful baby, even though I’m a bit prejudiced.  We reluctantly said our goodbyes and left Costco about 4:15 PM, arriving home at 8:15 PM.

Tuesday was a painful day—I awoke with an infected left eye lid, and Kay and I each got three injections:  flu (Kay got the super flu vaccine which is 4 times stronger than normal), pneumonia, and shingles.  Combined with other activities in town, and though we drove separately, we didn’t get home until well after lunch.  As evening approached, side effects from the shots began and we both felt under the weather.  After awaking Wednesday, we were both sore and neither of us felt well.  As the day wore on though, we each got somewhat back to  normal.  Thursday saw us hanging around the house, completing our recovery from the marathon injections.  To avoid being totally worthless, I did install a cable between the battery in the Honda CR-V and the BrakeBuddy, hoping this will allow the BrakeBuddy to operate correctly.

With beautiful weather, we drove to the Leatherwood Wilderness on Friday, to hike a couple of short trails.  Parking the car at the intersection of Spring Creek Road and Rand Road, we walked a couple of hundred yards to the “overhang”, walked around inside, but didn’t explore it’s cracks and crevices.  We took several pictures, mainly to give a perspective of size.

Across Spring Creek Road, we found the trail to Almos Knob, and began an strenuous uphill hike to the top.  Though we thought the trail was steep, riders on mules had made the ascent, chopping up the trail and loosening rocks and soil.  At the top, the terrain was relatively flat, and we hiked the short distance around, stopping for a fruit and cheese snack on one of the bluffs overlooking the Wilderness.

The rock plateau has some interesting formations, including one large rock with two depressions filled with water, as seen in the “cover” shot at the top.  These reminded me of those described in Westerns—where cowboys and Indians would find watering holes in the dry desert mountains as they were escaping, chasing one another, etc.  Another was a land bridge, and regrettably, the photo does not do it justice. Below it was what appeared to be a cave, but this will take some exploring to verify.  We drove back home, having spent only 4 hours away, but tired from all the exercise.

I used the afternoon to install racks on the back of each bicycle to carry laundry, groceries, trash, etc. while we’re wintering in Texas.

With our hosting the Arkansas Travelers rally in Mountain View next week, we spent the Saturday morning pre-cooking hamburger for the chili, and sausage for two breakfast meals.

I wrapped up a 7-year stint singing bass with 4+1 Quartet in the evening, it was truly my last performance—it was a good run, but I can’t hear well anymore, and we travel extensively, more so now with two additional grandchildren—so it was time!