Spring has fully arrived in Hot Springs Village as the trees have all leaved out, golf fairways are greening, dogwoods are blooming, turkeys are gobbling, more butterflies are arriving. In this last regard, we have seen several Falcate Orange Tips, several Easter Tiger Swallowtails, one Giant Swallowtail, and perhaps a Zebra Swallowtail (couldn’t get an identifying look).  But, except for the lone male Ruby-throated Hummingbird we saw last week, no others have been seen.

Our week was full, but uneventful.  We walked about 10 miles of trails as part of the HSV April trail marathon event, worked out at the fitness center several times, and made trips to Hot Springs and Little Rock, the latter for Kay to pick up a Big Green Egg from Sam’s Club, about $300 cheaper than the nearest retail outlet!  In addition to the Big Green Egg purchase—part of our SKI Club activities (SKI Club:  Spend Kids’ Inheritance)—we were hit by a deer in the Expedition on Saturday, without any significant damage to either the SUV or the deer.  Fortunately, we were not in the Honda as it may have done considerable damage, and the deer hit us, not the other way around.  The deer hit the driver’s door as we were traveling about 40 mph.

We also attended the HSV Two-Steppers dance on Friday night; we met some very nice folks, but the dance was just okay as a play list of canned music was used, and it wasn’t really our kind of CW music.  Also, we hosted son Ron for a few nights as he sold his house and is homeless for a few days.  Kay, Karyn, and Acker—three generations—visited Garvin Gardens on Thursday enjoying a beautiful display of flowers.

The HSV house is progressing ever so slowly, but actually nearing completion—not uncommon—as we are literally watching paint dry.  Last minute items are underway and minor fixes, repairs, additions, and changes are being made.  The cleaning folks were there Friday and Saturday morning, doing a great job, and the house looks different.  Kay thinks it looks larger, but I think it looks smaller.

This week saw March come to an end and April begin, along with a fast-starting spring.  Winter struck here the last 3 weeks in February, completion of the Hot Springs Village House has consequently been delayed.  Of course, the domino affects have rearranged all our plans as well.  Much to our dismay, we’re getting booted out of the rental house before our house is finished, and Kay struggled to find another place to live for a few days—we ultimately resorted to our standby, a one room efficiency apartment that won’t even hold our clothes from the motorhome—as this is the heart of golf season with lots of corporate rentals of houses.  And all the stuff we’ve been accumulating at the rental house to go in the new house has to be moved again, now to an almost overflowing storage room, before it is moved once more to the new house. Combined with Kay’s son selling his house this week, buying a new house in a couple of weeks, and getting married on May 2, seems like everything is happening at the same time.  Out of desperation, Kay called Brandon Tedder, owner of Renaissance Homes, Inc. on Monday morning requesting a closing date no later than April 28 to accommodate delivery of furniture from two different companies and moving two storage facilities’ worth of personal goods, all before Kay’s son’s wedding on May 2.  Brandon completely understood and offered a completion date and closing for April 24.  It was a tremendous relief for us, and one could see the months of built-up stress disappear from each of us.  And as a bonus, with the end of spring break, we saw significant action at the house by the subcontractors.

As if to signal that all was well with the world, a  dogwood tree near the new house burst out in bloom on Wednesday, April 1, no foolin’.  To continue with signs of spring, we saw our first Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a male, on the morning of April 2, and leaves are appearing on many of the trees in the area, it is a sign that spring is definitely here. 

We are focusing most of our energy these days on getting ready to move in to the new Hot Springs Village house; so golf has taken a backseat.  It’s just as well since springtime work is ongoing on most of the courses, and there are still wet spots on many of the fairways.  Greens were aerated and sanded on the course adjacent to the rental house, and the other courses will soon follow.  We bought televisions at Sam’s Club in Hot Springs on Wednesday evening and drove to Little Rock on Thursday to take care of business and continue purchasing things for the new house.  We also dropped by Maumelle to visit Karyn, Acker, Ridge, and Matt.  Friday, I drove to Hot Springs to have new brakes installed on the ’04 Expedition, pick up a mattress at the UPS store shipped from Costco, make returns from shopping the day before, and visit Sam’s Club.

Saturday, Ridge came to hunt eggs at the Hot Springs Village sponsored egg hunt, and was accompanied by mom, dad, and little sister; he had a blast and picked up two-thirds of a bucket of plastic eggs.  He came prepared to stay with KK and DD, but regrettably we had commitments on Sunday morning.

And finally on Easter Sunday, we joined our fourth church together, Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church, here in Hot Springs Village.  After a lunch of leftovers, we hiked 3.1 miles on one of the many great trails in the Village.

Al and Sharon, our friends and neighbors in the Rio Grande Valley, stopped by Sunday afternoon on their way back to Ontario, Canada.  We so much enjoyed their visit.  Al and I played golf on soggy courses both Monday and Tuesday, and we all played bridge every night.  What a life style!  We said goodbyes on Wednesday morning as they departed for near Hamilton, Ontario, via Cincinnati, OH.

Kay drove into Little Rock and Maumelle Wednesday afternoon to take care of business related to the Hot Springs Village House.  Thursday and Friday were relatively quiet. 

We drove to Memphis on Saturday in snow flurries to see Harper and visit with Jenny and Brian.  She was so much fun.  Her KK took her an Easter basket and she enjoyed the eggs and candy!  We had “high” tea, read about Princesses, sang, and danced the Texas Two Step.

Sunday, the Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church had their Easter cantata, complete with orchestra.  It was awesome. 

We successfully made the shift from RVing, and are now focusing on completing construction of and furnishing and decorating the Hot Springs Village house.  We had a bit of a setback on the schedule as our move-in date has now delayed to the end of April.  The domino effect is that we have to move out of the rental house on April 20, our former move-in date, and could not find a reasonable alternative.  We were able to reserve the efficiency one room casita we have stayed in several times previously.  However, we’ll have to move a lot of the stuff from the rental house to storage, and then to the new house—not a good week. On the bright side, progress was made on the HSV house (see Our HSV House blog).  And, we’re acquiring things for the house each time we go to Little Rock or Hot Springs.  This week we bought some bedding for one of the guest bedrooms and some yard art.

We did play golf this week, in between the almost daily showers; I took a lesson Monday, we hit balls several times at the driving range, and I played a round at Coronado.  

On Saturday, we visited briefly with Karyn, Matt, Ridge, and Aker, and were there when the kids were dressed for their Easter photo.  Kay so enjoys all four of our grandkids—and they adore her!  My oh my, the kids are really growing.

This was a busy week for us.  Rain resulted in the cancellation of golf Monday, and made outdoor activities near impossible.  We continued to pack for the trip home, though we’re just about finished; motorhomes are so self-contained that not a lot of packing is required—just enough to keep things from breaking.  Kay arranged an RV resort ladies’ luncheon Tuesday, and many old and new friends attended.  This marked our last “official” act in the Valley.  At the palapa happy hour Tuesday afternoon, we said our goodbyes for the season, and year, as we don’t plan to return until January 2016.

We departed Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort in Mission, TX, on Wednesday morning under overcast skies and against a 10-15 mph headwind.  Both stayed with us the entire day, but no rain.  We drove to Aggieland RV Park in Bryan, TX, for overnighting (thanks, John, for the recommendation).  Chuck, the owner, played football at Baylor at the same time I attended the University of Arkansas, playing against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville while I was there—small world!  He is a retired cardiologist, and works full time operating the RV park.  He said that out of the 7 docs in the practice, 6 retired and of those 6 cardiologists, two own and operate RV parks and one builds custom doors.  Go figure!  We drove the remaining 400+ miles home Thursday in light rain, arriving at Hot Springs Village about 4:30 PM.  

We had planned to overnight at Hot Springs Village’s RV park, but the rental house (our residence where until the HSV house is finished) was vacant.  We couldn’t pass up good clean water, wide open spaces, and a large shower.  We drove straight to Walmart on the west side of the Village, unhooked the Honda, and Kay left to pick up keys to the rental unit.  We parked the motorhome at the RV park, hooked up to 50 A shore power, set the stabilizing jacks, and opened the slides before driving to the new house to see progress since our last visit (Kay’s was three weeks ago, mine was 6 weeks ago)—we’ll have a separate post in Our HSV House blog in a few days.

We spent most of Friday, again in the rain, unpacking the motorhome—with three full car loads of stuff.  We are removing most stuff from the RV, and will do a reset to eliminate things we don’t use, or use so infrequently that it’s not worth the trouble carrying it, e.g. alternative down comforter.  Also, while in the Valley, we purchased some accessories for the new house and brought those with us. The wet and dirty roads left lots of grime on the Honda, the bicycles, and the motorhome so Friday evening during a lull in the rain, I washed the Honda.  Saturday morning, again in the rain, I washed the bicycles, the tow bar, and the bicycle rack, and Kay and I cleaned the inside and washed the exterior of motorhome.  Tired, we finished just after lunch, having essentially finished all the chores.  Sitting on the covered porch of the rental house, overlooking the 6th green of Coronado Golf Course, enticed us to play golf.  With chores finished, it’s time for GOLF—when the rain quits!

As we enter March, our time in the RGV is winding down—and, we’re anxious to go home, i.e. Hot Springs Village.  It’s our first time since beginning to RV in 2007 that we’ll return to a different city and house.  The weather here in the Valley has still been substandard, with cool, windy, and sometimes wet days most of the time; we just can’t get a break, but won’t complain too loudly as folks north of us are having a worse weather winter.  

Kay continues to exercise on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week, and weather permitting, I play golf on Monday and Wednesday.  Kay also continues Swedish weaving with time permits, and is becoming quite the artist.  We met Jim and Cheryl Watts at The Ranch House for delicious hamburgers and great conversation.  Our visits are too seldom and too brief.

I continue to tie flies for bream (bluegills) fly fishing this coming spring and early summer, having tied some 6 dozen the last three weeks, including popping bugs, bream killers, and foam spiders; that should help stock the fly box!

And we both began packing about the middle of the week for our return to Arkansas, and we are essentially ready to depart when the appointed time arrives Wednesday morning.  

We attended our next to last dance in the Valley Thursday afternoon, and while it was fun, the smoke was too much for our allergies, and I’m still suffering with stuffiness, headache, and itching!

Lastly, with respect to the HSV house, Brandon Tedder, owner of Renaissance Homes, Inc. and our builder, gave us a 45-day out finish date of around April 20 to coincide with the last day of the house rental in HSV.  

Sunday, Chris Tenney and I drove to Resaca de la Palma State Park to capture photos of some unique butterflies.  Chris is on a quest for a “Big Butterfly Year” in 2015—to identify and photograph as many species of butterflies in the US in 365 days; you may read his on-going efforts in this regard in his blog, http://www.butterflybigyear.net/  His wife passed away 2 years ago in January, and last year he was still in deep mourning.  His specific target on this Sunday was the Gemmed Satyr, and he was able to identify and photograph it before noon.  Additionally, he identified and photographed a White-scrubbed Hairstreak, a life butterfly for him, i.e. the first time he has ever observed one, and allowing him to add two to his “big year”.

As for me, I have been chasing the elusive Mexican Bluewing Butterfly for three seasons, a species I have seen twice, but never photographed.  I was able to see several of these butterflies on Sunday, and capture a decent photograph.  I also saw many Blue Metalmarks, a species I had never seen, and was able to get several photographs of the butterfly, a lifer for me.  We saw over 25 species on an overcast windy day—not too bad!

Coincident with Kay returning from 10 days in Arkansas, this week has been a “coming out” week for me, as the funk I’ve been in since last March 2014 seems to finally be dissipating.  With the new house progressing, and no commitments for the future, it seems like we’ve finally retired, though neither has worked full time for over 10 years.  It seems as if I’ve been going ninety to nothing the entire 10 years, and speeding up even more when Ronnie died, I was diagnosed with cancer, and had the mild heart attack this past summer.  It feels good, actually great, to be cool, calm, and collected again, finally!  I resumed fly tying, the first time tying in the RV since 2009, and the first time tying for fun in several years, I have really enjoyed it.  It sure seems like the older one gets, the more one returns to the things truly enjoyed and loved.  So, I returned to my first love in fly tying—popping bugs and bream flies—readying for a great spring and early summer of fly fishing for bream and bass, a first love in fly fishing.

Overall, the week was quiet, with cold, wet weather predominating—no golf, no dancin’, and bridge only once—resulting in a quiet, indoor week.

A constant topic in the blog this winter has been the cool, wet weather here in the Rio Grande Valley.  And this onerous weather pattern continues, with only a few days of normal 70s and sunshine among the many days of windy, overcast, cool days, with occasional rain—this tropical desert area of south Texas is supposed to be dry, sunny, and warm!  Consequently, we have altered our normal winter activities, having to forego many of the things we enjoy doing outdoors.  While golf has been my main entertainment, we have had few warm sunny days on which to play.  Cycling has been almost non-existent, though we do find a day here and there where the weather is conducive, i.e. not too much wind (less than 15 mph), and not too cold (above 60°).  There have been few birds and almost no butterflies since early November.

Early November provided consistently great winter Texan weather, but the end of the month, December, and January were largely cold, wet, and overcast, at least by Rio Grande Valley standards.  However, this week saw weather in the mid-60s to low 80s with lots of sun.  With encouragement from neighbor Chuck, we did 3 bike rides this week, increasing the distance on each successive ride so that our latest ride on Thursday was 13.0 miles with a slow average speed of 8.8 miles per hour.  And, on the last ride we saw 3 Roadrunners, and the last two posed for photographs on the trail.

Al, Sharon, Kay, and I attended a mariachi concert at Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle – National Shrine where the Rio Grande City middle and high school mariachi bands, the La Joya high school mariachi band, and the Basilica’s mariachi band all performed.  The level of talent, even for the middle school, is amazing—some of the best male and female vocalists and trumpet players we’ve heard.

On Sunday, February 15, Kay returned to Arkansas to assist with childcare for Ridge and Acker, and to see progress on the new house.  She made it safely, despite a plane problem in Houston.  Unfortunately, freezing rain, possible snow, and cold temperatures are arriving there tonight.

Early Sunday morning, about 4 AM, we left the relatively warm RGV driving north to central Arkansas, arriving at Hot Springs Village at 4:30 PM where it was windy and cold.  The real purpose of our trip was to witness the birth of a granddaughter and take care of newly dubbed little brother, Ridge, for a few days.  At the Village, we quickly “inspected” both the inside and outside of the new house where we were met by Pam Williams, and Martha and Bobby Altom.

During the course of the next 8 days we viewed the house 3 times (see separate Our HSV House blog), and it would be an understatement to say that we are excited.  We spent Sunday and Monday nights with Ron, and enjoyed our visit immensely. Tuesday evening, we celebrated Ron’s birthday, and stayed at Karyn’s until our departure back to the Valley; I played planes, trains, and hero action figures with Ridge for 5 days and nights, and saw more Dusty and Thomas the Train videos than imaginable!  Regrettably, Jenny, Brian, and Harper were sick, suffering a stomach virus, and our scheduled visit with them on Wednesday and Wednesday evening had to be cancelled.  Friday, just after 12 noon, Acker Elizabeth Adams entered this world at 8 pounds 14.6 ounces, and 19 inches;  mother, father, and baby did great, and were released from the hospital late Sunday afternoon (this photo was from Thursday, February 5).  Kay and I were up real early Monday morning, February 2, and left for the RGV at about 3 AM, arriving at 4 PM, just in time for happy hour!