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!

Just a try to remote publish

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

We awoke to a very cold morning, 38 degrees, and a light frost.  It was difficult getting out of the warm bed, but with other commitments tomorrow, Sunday, we finally made ourselves get up to begin preparations to leave.  It didn’t take too long, and we were underway by 8:15 AM.  Because of the steep and curvy road, we decided not to tow the Honda CR-V for the first several miles.  Without a tow, the motorhome cruised the mountains without a problem, and I was able to pull over a couple of times and let backed up traffic pass.  At Huntsville, the Honda was connected, and the trip home was uneventful.  We arrived at 12:30 PM, unpacked what needed to be unpacked, washed clothes, etc.  Kay spent a good portion of the afternoon cleaning the motorhome and getting it ready for the next trip, while I “winterized” the irrigation system, drained water hoses, edited photographs, and finalized this blog.

The trip this week was great, and we really enjoyed rallying with the Ozark Ridge Runners (ORR).  Each club is different, but the ORR seems to focus more on traveling and touring—our cup of tea—rather than eating; the ORR potlucks and eating on our own suit us fine.  Also, the ORR has more members from near where we live.  They camp in a variety of places, including state and federal campgrounds, which we also prefer. Bottom line is that we have fun with them and they RV the way we like to RV.

Having said all that, week after next we’re co-hosting an Arkansas Travelers rally in Mountain View, replete with two complete prepared meals a day (prepared by our co-hosts and us, and by  restaurants), in an RV park with full hook-ups and a rally room…

The potluck last night marked the official opening of the Ozark Ridge Runner’s October Wine Tour and Tasting rally, but today, we actually did the tours and tasting.

We queued up for a 9:30 AM departure from the campground, driving east on US Highway 64 to Altus.  Our first stop was at Post Familie Winery, Arkansas’ largest exporter of wine.  The winery is small, and harvesting and processing of grapes had just ended a couple of weeks ago.  We broke into two groups, with one group touring and the other tasting, and then reversed the order.  We were told that August is the busiest month of their year, though they bottle year round. Some of the grapes are imported from other vineyards, though most are from their own vineyards with several different varieties of grapes and muscadines. Because of the drought, this year’s grapes were fewer, but much sweeter to the winemaker’s delight. The tour guide was quite knowledgeable about all the processes, and told us just enough, but not too much to be boring.

Following our group’s tour, we did the requisite wine tasting.  Perhaps Jim and Joan, our rally masters shown here at the tasting bar, sampled too many glasses!  I found the traditional wines, like Chardonnay and Merlot, to be a bit on the strong side, with some aftertaste.  The sweet, fruity wines—in which Post specializes—were much better, though not one I prefer drinking.

Our next stop was the Mount Bethel Winery, owned and operated by another member of the Post family.  Though much smaller, they had similar wines, and again the traditional wines were a bit on the strong side with the sweet, fruity wines having a better taste.

Kay and I opted to depart from the group and ate lunch at Wiederkehrs Weinkeller Restaurant. The Weinkeller Restaurant serves excellent Swiss and other European specialties in charming, candlelit surroundings. The original wine cellar, hand-dug by Johann Andreas Wiederkehr in 1880, was converted to house the Weinkeller in 1967. The restaurant is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and for years has been voted "Most Romantic" and "Best Ethnic" by the readers of Arkansas Times magazine. Finally, I got some good German food—bratwurst and knockwurst sausages with sauerkraut and German fried potatoes—and it was great! Kay had an excellent Rueben.

After lunch, we drove back to the top of the mountain to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (St. Mary’s Catholic Church), which is on the National Register of Historic Places.  St. Mary’s Catholic Church was built in 1902 and is known for its beautiful paintings, ornate gold leaf walls, and Roman architecture.  

Despite last night’s long sleep (10-1/2 hours for me), I took a one hour nap this afternoon.

We drove down to the picnic shelter for happy hour only to discover it had been canceled due to cold weather.  We used the extra daylight to drive to the ridge overlooking the Arkansas River and the lock, dam, and campground.

After exchanging text messages and phone calls, and not wanting to miss saying goodbye to them, Jim and Cheryl invited us to their motorhome for a light dinner and great conversation.  We have really enjoyed getting to know them, and relish our time together.  We’ll see them again in Texas in early 2013.

Again, we closed the day with recorded television absent commercials—the best kind.

The moderately warm fall mornings combined with a great campground setting on the bank of the Arkansas River has enticed us to walk every morning just about sunrise. The circuitous campground loop is about 2.5 miles long, and as we walk, Kay wishes each of the other campers a "Good morning"; she’s obviously the social butterfly of the family.

Kay has been experimenting of late with the combination microwave/convection oven in the motorhome to resolve the problem of food being undercooked in the middle. This morning’s recipe was breakfast pizza, and it was cooked just about right, but still a little soft in the center; it tasted great!

Our plan for the rest of the day included a drive through the countryside near Paris, Arkansas, searching for a family cemetery, and a visit to Fort Smith’s National Historical Site.

Kay’s paternal grandparents are buried near Paris, but she didn’t know the name or location of the cemetery. Voila, the internet. We put their names in combination with Paris, Arkansas, in the search block, and there was an entry at the bottom of the page for Kay’s grandmother. Clicking on this, it provided her vital statistics, including where she was buried, and even had a picture of the headstone. We put the approximate coordinates into the GPS and followed directions. Because they were approximate coordinates, we ended up in the middle of nowhere, but as we were to find out, still relatively close to the cemetery. We refined the coordinates, and again followed directions, and saw the cemetery. As we looked for a parking place, we spotted a headstone with a prominent "HORNE" engraved on the surface. We began exploring the cemetery, and discovered two rows of Horne’s. Near an old cedar tree, we spotted her grandparents’ headstone, and other relatives of whom she knew little, including her dad’s infant brother and sister. 

For Kay finding the cemetery where her relatives were buried complete a part of her circle of life.

As we left Paris, Arkansas, a light mist began, with some wind–the leading edge of a major cold front. The intermittent mist turned into a light rain and the outside temperature began dropping, but we continued the northwesterly drive towards Fort Smith. At Fort Smith, we stopped at the National Historical Site, Hanging Judge Parker’s courthouse, and took a tour, watched a video, and "visited" the gallows.

The rain and wind had increases, and the temperature had fallen almost 20 degrees since our campground departure 4 hours earlier.

Driving eastward back to the park, temperatures increased ahead of the front, rising almost 10 degrees. We chilled, literally, until time for the 5:00 PM social hour. For the potluck which followed, Kay made an outstanding dish of chicken enchiladas. Both the conversation and dinner were good, but the cooling temperatures and rain really put a damper of the evening.

Today was a good day, and we were able to discover some personal history as well as national history.

Plans today included an 8:30 AM departure to Mulberry Mountain and scenic areas along the Mulberry River—all in the mountainous area of Ozark National Forest, with Jim and Cheryl from Springfield, and Jim and Joan from Fayetteville, all members of the Ozark Ridge Runners.

Our drive took us up (north) Arkansas Highway 23, aka the Pig Trail, to the Mulberry Mountain Ranch. The Mulberry Mountain Ranch hosts a couple of music festivals each year which are mini versions of Woodstock. Thousands of people attend these festivals; look them up on the internet; the huge crowds will blow your mind. The Ranch has RV hook-ups, a small store, etc.

From Mulberry Mountain Ranch, we backtracked south to Arkansas Highway 215, the Cass-Oark Road, and drove in an easterly direction, stopping at an overlook for the Mulberry River. 

The riffles and large, deep pools, with an occasional rise causing concentric circles on the otherwise mirrored surface engendered visions of tail walking smallmouth bass. This is definitely a place we have to visit again, preferably with our kayaks or float tubes and fly rods.

Further along Arkansas Highway 215, we stopped at the US Forest Service’s Redding Campground on the banks of the Mulberry where there is modern CCC-built access to a large swimming hole. 

This is a primitive campground, i.e. no hook-ups, and the sites are large enough for motor homes; we would opt to "park" at Aux Arc Park at which we are currently parked, or tent camp and commute. Though primitive, the campground has flush toilets and a shower house.

The rural mountain highway between Cass and Oark tracks alongside the Mulberry, with numerous scenic overlooks. As we made our way eastward, we stopped at Byrd’s, an outdoor resort catering to off-road vehicles. Our rally host, Jim, is a pilot and has built 3 airplanes. He was very interested in their short and long air strips for a possible future fly-in.

Our original destination this morning was the historic Oark General Store, where they serve home-cooking style food. It is the oldest store in Arkansas that has been in continuous operation. Their breakfast was good, and the biscuits were the biggest we’ve ever seen.
From the Oark General Store, we drove some 3 miles further east to the Swing’n Bridge across the Mulberry River.  As a civil engineer I opted not to cross, but all the others did. The area was strikingly beautiful, particularly with the many colors wrought by fall and leaves quietly drifting down to land softly onto the surface of this deceptively deep reflecting pool. 

A quick stop at the large grocery store in Ozark brought us back to reality.

Back at the park, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon working on photos, posting to this blog, and catching up on emails, etc.

Most of the rally goers arrived during the course of the day, and we met at 5:00 PM for a "meet and greet" happy hour. Kay and I have only been to one other Ozark Ridge Runner’s rally, in Lafayette, LA, in April 2011, but have been to a couple of dinners with this group. Still, there were several new couples whom we met, and it was great to renew old acquaintances.

We spent the rest of the evening watching last night’s episodes of NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.

We awoke early enough to experience a beautiful sunrise over the Arkansas River and Ozark Lock and Dam.

And despite our above average temperatures, fall is in the air, at least in terms of the colorful leaves.  Kay and I walked the length of the park this morning, some 6,911 steps in all, and with low light conditions, the colors were awesome.  This year, our forests don’t seem to have the brilliant, vibrant colors typical of fall in the Ozarks, but individual trees are spectacular.

After the great early morning walk, we used some of the leftover steak from our Mesican dinner last night, in combination with hash browns, peppers, onions, and egg "product", for a protein-rich breakfast. 

We (actually Kay, as I forgot my wallet and drivers license) drove to Fort Smith to ship the BrakeBuddy back to the factory for inspection, etc., and then stopped at Harbor Freight for disposable gloves, and further up the road for a quick car wash. Finally, with all these chores done, we returned to the campground and visited with good friends Jim and Cheryl who had just pulled in and parked—we have met the nicest folks RVing!

After our long visit, We returned to the motorhome for some rest and relaxation.

Jim, Cheryl, Jim, and Joan stopped by about 5:00 PM, and we visited, sitting on the bank of the Arkansas River.  They invited us to dinner at Altus, Arkansas. Altus is a neat little hamlet set among several vineyards in western Arkansas. We ate at a restaurant called Kelts, and it was unique, to say the least. A pony-tailed, bearded gentleman, fresh out of the ’60s, met us at the door and proved to be a one-man show, i.e. he was was a combination host, chef, server, bus boy, and cashier. The Caesar salad was not too good (too vinegary), but the other food was okay, and would have been better had it been hot.

Upon returning to the campground, we watched a couple of recorded television shows, and called it a night.

Well, we’re off again–to Aux Arc (pronounced Ozark) Park, a US Army Corps of Engineers campground on the Arkansas River at Ozark, Arkansas. We arrived a few days early for an Ozark Ridge Runners "Wine Tour" rally which begins Thursday.

When we travel via motorhome, the first couple of hours are the most difficult–getting into a driving rhythm, and the roads are crooked and hilly. Of course, that’s one of the reasons we live where we do. Today was no exception, but we got more comfortable as the miles faded away. Notable highways on our route included AR Hwy 201 near the house, US Hwy 62/412, and AR Hwy 23 aka the "Pig Trail". The Pig Trail is the most crooked and steep road I’ve ever been on in Arkansas and maybe anywhere, complete with hairpin curves and switchbacks. The fall colors were great, particularly given the extraordinary drought we’ve been through since May. Our car’s auxiliary brake did malfunction once again, but we pulled over as much as we could and took it out. I called the company and the technician said Honda cars have a reputation for low amperage coming through the 12V outlet, and BrakeBuddy required 15 amps. He offered to inspect the brake and will send a 12V converter that ties directly into the battery, all complimentary.

We arrived at Aux Arc about 1:00 PM, set up, and had a light lunch. We walked the length of the campground, about 0.7 miles, and back, and called DishTV to find out why we weren’t getting distant network service; what a debacle. Two calls totaling 40 minutes, and three Middle Easterners later, we (I handed the phone to Kay after 30 minutes) finally got the problem resolved. By the way, as you can see in the last photo, it takes Kay a bit of time to relax.

We drove around Ozark looking for a place to eat and finally settles on a Mexican (Messican as they say in the Rio Grande Valley) restaurant that was quite good.

After returning to the motor home, we settled in for the evening, with Kay watching the last Debate while I played solitaire and read (I don’t want to be confused by the facts as my mind is already made up).

First and foremost, happy 17th birthday, Kaden.

With Kay gone, inspired by the just read AWOL on the Appalachian Trail by David Miller, and all the chores caught up (at least the ones I wanted to do), I drove to the Leatherwood Wilderness for a short hike.  My objective was to view the vibrant fall colors, get a little exercise, and find the saltpeter caves Ed and Ellen told us about.

Though I have driven it many times, US Forest Service Road 1118 seemed more rough than usual.  Normally, the area is devoid of people, but today I saw at least a dozen people riding horses, several automobiles, and one ATV.  When I came to the junction where I should have parked, several riders were there on horseback, concealing the trail.  I turned and drove right, but shortly came to a private horse camp.  I turned around, drove back to the intersection, and continued left this time, I came to the Spring Creek Trailhead on the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT).  This section of the OHT had been closed for a lengthy time following the January 2009 Ice Storm which left entire tops of trees hanging and suspended above the trail.  Rather than begin this trail, the map showed a loop trail across the road, and I hoped it would take me to the top of Almus Knob.  I followed it for a half mile (the gnats were horrible), but it’s direction was inconsistent with the map, and without proper hiking supplies, I opted to return, looking carefully for another trail, but to no avail.

I returned to the car, and drove to Spring Creek and towards Big Flat, but did not see another trailhead.  Driving back the way I came, I stopped at the intersection mentioned earlier, and found a significant trail towards Almus Knob.  After only a short hike, I came to the entrance of one of the saltpeter caves.  There is a large room with a hole in the “roof”, and beyond is a small opening to the cave itself, shown on the bottom right of the photograph, behind the pointed rock.  Following this entrance, one can crawl and explore the depths of the cave if desired, but without a flashlight and not having told anyone where I was, I did not go beyond the entrance.  However, this is on my list for a future date, hopefully with Kay, Ed, and Ellen since the latter two know where there is another cave and the location of the trail to the top of Almus Knob.  Pretty awesome, huh?

Kay will be out of town most of this week, to celebrate Kaden’s 17th birthday, see grown kids and baby grandson, and visit with “old” girlfriends.  Consequently, so that I could have a way home, we took the motorhome back to Mountain Home Glass again this morning for windshield repair/replacement.  They have been great to deal with, but unfortunately, we have leaks from their previous replacement/repair.  As has been previously written, getting the motorhome ready to travel, if only for 14 miles, is not a quick process; the cable had to be unhooked, the power cord unhooked, the tire covers taken off and stowed, mothballs removed from the engine compartment and on top of the tires, LED lights unplugged and stored (these latter two items for rodent control), and the jacks retracted.  And then, the motorhome has to be wiggled around the driveway in order to drive down the hill to the street.

Now, we’ll have to pack and get ready for an RV rally, IF the motorhome is fixed!