The rain forecast for last night came about 3 AM, and while the pitter patter on the roof sounded great, I dreaded getting up later, putting things away, and unhooking in the rain; guess that’s part of “camping”.  We dumped the tanks and were off towards North Little Rock by 7:40 AM.  The drive was uneventful, except for extremely deteriorated and rough interstate highway at Russellville; we believe the Arkansas highway system is in the worst shape of our lives, and it is sometimes an embarrassment to say we’re from Arkansas as other travelers comment on the state’s road conditions.

We arrived at Camping World about 11:30 AM; I arranged for warranty repairs on the hydraulic hose for the leveling jacks while Kay unloaded the refrigerator, and packed our remaining items to carry home.  We departed there about noon, and arrived home at 2:30 PM.  We really like our place in the woods, and sometimes wonder why we leave for the RVing life.  Oh well, it’s okay to enjoy both.

Today was a quiet day as several of the guys played golf, and the ladies had lunch together.  RVs have been slowly pulling in all week for the Arkansas Razorbacks’ Red-White game on Saturday, and it was fun watching them all come in, and set up the Hog paraphernalia.  We gathered at 4:30 PM for an Arkansas Travelers official meeting, and it reminded me so much of work—and why I retired when I did.

We visited Jerry and Ann for dinner.  They retired several years ago, and traveled full time, more or less, for 4 years before building their dream house in Fayetteville, on a large wooded tract about 4 blocks from Razorback Stadium.  Kay and I had just begun RVing, moved up from a pull trailer to a B+ motorhome, and kept a very basic journal when Kay reconnected with Jerry and Ann; Jerry and Kay were high school classmates.  We had been reading their travel blog and were particularly interested in their trip to Alaska.  After thorough review of their blog and thousands of questions, Kay and I made the trip to Alaska and the rest is history.  We have found Ann’s Journal to be a great reference for places on our bucket list, and they have served as role models in their travels.  Jerry and Ann have created a lovely home in Fayetteville, and each room is like a private sanctuary.  We particularly liked their covered deck, looking out over their backyard and woods as if we were in a theater.  Regrettably and because of privacy concerns, we don’t have photographs, but we may one day see their place in Architectural Digest.  They did good!

Back at Road Hog Park, we joined other Arkansas Travelers in the pavilion, visited a short while, and said our goodbyes.  This particular rally was the most informal we have attended, and we really liked the informality.

After our light breakfast this morning, we joined Jim and Ginny for a drive to and tour of the Sam Walton museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Bentonville reminded me of a small California town, with a beautiful square and lots of shops, cafes, and coffee shops surrounding it.  The Sam Walton museum provided a history of Walmart and Sam Walton; one interesting fact is that Sam Walton became an Eagle scout at the age of 13.  The most interesting exhibits were his office and his old Ford 3/4 ton bird hunting truck.

From the Sam Walton Museum, we drove to Crystal Bridges, an American art museum built by Alice Walton.  Crystal Bridges sits on 120 acres of wooded land in Bentonville.  The buildings themselves are of a bridge-type design surrounding a couple of large reflection pools fed by Crystal Spring outflows.  Conceived and designed by world-renowned architect, Moshie Safdie, the strong presence of wood in the modern structure creates a dramatic setting for displaying some of America’s most famous and historical art from colonial times to the present.  After driving through the museum grounds to the parking lot, the buildings sit down in a valley, and as you walk toward the entrance, you are greeted by a life-size chromed metal tree.  Registration was simple and fast, and there is no admission charge, courtesy of Walmart.  We had lunch at the café and the food was quite good and the prices were reasonable.  We then proceeded to the museum, beginning with art from the colonial period. The paintings of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton were among the first to be viewed. Though there were many great pieces of work, my favorite was Rosie the Riveter, and it has far deeper implications than one can imagine without seeing and studying it closely. 

The grounds were spectacular as well, with several pieces of sculpture along the many trails and viewing areas, and there was a short bike trail on the grounds as well, again with art along the way.  Although we only walked a short distance on one of the trails, we would like to have spent all day exploring the area.  A return visit is an absolute must—both to view the art, and to walk and bike the grounds.

Our group dinner was at La Hacienda in Fayetteville, and we all had a great time and good food, before adjourning back to the pavilion at Road Hog Park.

A good night’s sleep is a great cure for frustration—a new day, with new opportunities.  Our rally itinerary provides for coffee and a light breakfast on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings of rally week.  Typically, the men began gathering about 7 AM for coffee, then the light breakfast, and the ladies join a little later, though there is no prohibition against them joining sooner.  It’s a good routine and it seems to work well. 

After breakfast, at Kay’s suggestion, several of the ladies rode to the square in Fayetteville for an informal walking tour.  They oohed and awed over the great look and plantings.  Our weekend neighbor, Bootsie, is largely responsible for this project, and spent several years facilitating its development and construction—Bootsie, you did good!

I used the “quiet” time to walk around Road Hog Park, and surprisingly discovered my brother’s college roommate and his wife parked in their slot, enjoying a short vacation and readying for the Arkansas Razorback’s football Red-White game on the following Saturday.  It is rare that I knock on someone’s RV door, but I had to confirm that it was Jerry and Betty, and it was.  After introducing myself, we talked about Ronnie and some of his college escapades, and their brief visit with him shortly before he passed away, and about church music and our respective singing adventures.  It was good to visit with them, and being in the same place at the same time is what Kay would call a God incident—I have to agree!

Dinner was potluck, and the club provided rotisserie chicken.  There was some awesome food, but I stuck closely to the diet.  One of my favorites was a slaw made by Judy from Cherokee Village, and we’ll get the recipe from her.  It sure was hard to pass up such delectable delights as pasta and shrimp salad, corn pudding, and many other great food choices, but …  And, the desserts were out of this world.  Having been on the diet since early September, my sense of smell of sweets is incredible and the chocolate cobbler and apple pie and ice cream casserole were almost too much to bear. 

Several of us decided to attend the University of Arkansas baseball game and it was a hoot.  The game was pretty blasé, but some of the fans were ridiculously loud and funny.  The in-between innings entertainment was “pretty” good as well, if you know what I mean.  Back to the game; it was decided in the bottom of the 9th, two out, bases loaded, and a full count.  A Razorback designated hitter managed a solid hit, driving in the winning run. Oh, by the way, Baum Stadium where the Razorbacks play is considered to be the best college baseball field in the nation, and it sure looked like it to us. 

The photos were taken by Kay with her I phone.

Kay and I don’t get to attend many rallies because of our independent travel and other obligations, but we were really looking forward to the Arkansas Traveler rally in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  We were anxious to reconnect with other Arkansas Traveler RVers and also to visit Jerry and Ann, who have recently built and moved into a new house in Fayetteville. 

We had planned to leave on Sunday, but delayed our departure by one day because of rain and thunderstorms; otherwise it was an uneventful Sunday.

Monday morning found us ready to go after our usual coffee, email, and breakfast.  After hooking up, our travel to Fayetteville was uneventful, except for severing the electrical connection between the motorhome and the Honda when I pulled down into a gasoline station near Harrison, causing the hitch to drag and apparently the electrical cord was caught between the hitch and the concrete. We drove towards Harrison, and stopped near the intersection of US 62 and US 65 for gasoline, dragging the tow bar on the short but steep access to the gas pump. As I walked back to fill the tank, I noticed the cord hanging down and discovered that it had been severed, and the safety cable had been caught in the pinch as well.  After filling up with gasoline, we pulled over to the side, and I attempted to repair the connection, without success.  Little did I know that this was only the beginning of what was to be a frustrating day.

We arrived at Road Hog RV Park in Fayetteville shortly after noon, picked out our site (we were the first to arrive), and began setting up.  Fortunately, the pad was level since our jacks are currently inoperable due to a hole in the hydraulic line.  The slides were deployed, and the televisions were tuned; so far, so good.  And then, while turning on the Keurig to brew a cup of coffee, we discovered that the receptacle did not work.  We checked them all and only the receptacles near the bedside nightstands worked.  I tried practically everything, without success. Finally after an hour of frustration and out of desperation, I reset the GFI switch on the receptacle on the inverter in one of the storage compartments, and the other receptacles began working—go figure. I then tried powering on the televisions, and they had no power. On a hunch, I again reset the switch on the receptacle on the inverter and everything worked.  By this time, I was red-faced with frustration. It was good that no one made a decent offer on the RV as it would now be theirs.

After getting all the kinks worked out, we watched the other RVers come in, many of whom we haven’t seen in a year or more.  It was exhilarating to renew old acquaintances and see and visit with all the Travelers.  Everyone found a site, and we all got together for heavy hors d’oeuvres, potluck style, and “caught-up” on news and happenings.  

After church and Sunday School, we stopped at Walmart for groceries, then drove to O’Reilly’s for automatic transmission fluid (ATF).  The warning buzzer and lights indicating “jacks down” on the motorhome were going to drive me crazy enroute to Heber Springs and back for recall work on the motorhome.  After panicking the last couple of days, I ready that the warning could result from a partially empty reservoir of hydraulic fluid used to deploy the jacks, and ATF was the fluid of choice.  After we got home, we took the access panel off from inside the front storage compartment and had easy access to the tank.  I poured half a quart, and Kay started the motorhome, but still got the warning.  This was followed by a full quart, and another half quart, but it worked—and the alarm became silent!  This will make the drive a little less complicated.

We awoke early Monday; I drove to the Ford dealership in Heber Springs.  All their sales and service people stared as I drove the motorhome onto their lot.  The service manager took the keys, I signed the release, and began the expected 3-hour wait, including a walk to McDonald’s to access their Wi-Fi.  When I returned after about an hour, the service tech said he had me ready, and I was enroute back home.  While the Ford dealership had never done the particular type of work needed, they were great to work with.

FIVE LAKES.  We packed clothes and fly fishing tackle Monday evening for our trip to Five Lakes Outing Club near Hughes, AR.  Ed and Linda have been so gracious as to invite the “traditional” group of fishers who make the trip to Quetico in Canada each year. We were the first to arrive, and enjoyed sitting on the screened-in porch of the stately old house on Horseshoe Lake.  John and Sandy followed shortly, and John and I headed off to Brushy Lake to try the bluegill.  Wind was blowing from the wrong direction making it difficult, if not impossible, to position the boat for casting, but John did an incredible job, and gave up fishing most of the afternoon in order to put me in the right place to catch bluegill.  I started off using a foam floating bug, but quickly switched to a bream killer; all told I may have caught slightly over 25 fish.  John’s karma was working as he managed to catch fish as we “anchored” to a tree.  Ed and Dave came later, but we did not see them.  We understand that Dave needed to “boil” his line before fishing again (a private joke).  We enjoyed a great dinner of fried crappie with all the trimmings, followed by lively conversation till bedtime.

Wednesday morning came early as we were up before daylight.  After coffee, we headed back out to Brushy Lake where John and Dave gave the bluegill and bass a whirl, staying close by the put-in where bluegill typically hang out.  Every time we looked in their direction, it seemed like one or both would have a fish on.  Meanwhile, Ed and I focused on bass.  Brushy Lake is a little unique in that vegetation grows heavily around all but the south edges, leaving only the middle of the lake for bass fishing.  We were casting poppers, but most strikes were subtle.  Ed is an awesome bass fisher, and managed a bunch of hook-ups despite a bunch of near misses.  He had an awful sitting position on the front of the boat, but that didn’t stop him.  We wrapped up the morning fishing for bluegill where I lucked out and caught a few of the monster bream.  The afternoon saw me returning to bluegill fishing, again with a fly rod and bream killer, and for the day I ended up with another couple of dozen of the giant bluegills.  Dinner for the evening was grilled chicken and it was very good.

A cold front had worked its way to the area Wednesday night, and with wind and cold temperatures, we opted not to fish Thursday morning.  We all departed for home shortly after breakfast.  Many thanks to Ed and Linda for hosting, and John, Sandy, Dave, and Joann for lively conversation—these are good people.

Our neighbors, Bill and Bootsie, arrived in town early Friday afternoon, and we had a great visit on the patio despite the pollen, gnats, and warm temperatures.  Now that Bootsie is working we don’t get to enjoy their company very often.

RIDGE.  Ridge and his parents arrived late Friday afternoon for a weekend visit, and we enjoyed their company Friday evening and Saturday.  Ridge is without a doubt the most pleasant baby I’ve ever been around.  He is constantly smiling, and rarely cries or whines. 

The following report on our trip to Five Lakes is from Donald’s Fishin’ Journal.

DATE:  Tuesday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 11, 2012

TIME:  Tuesday PM, Wednesday AM, and Wednesday PM

WEATHER: Low 80s, partly cloudy, very windy

WATER CONDITIONS: Clear

LOCATIONS FISHED: Brushy Lake, Five Lakes Outing Club, Hughes, Arkansas

FLIES USED: #10 Bream Killer for bluegill, large foam “Frog” popper for bass

ROD USED: G. Loomis 9’ 3-weight custom IMX, Winston 9’ 8-weight BIIX

HATCHES: NA

OTHER: See above journal entry with photos

Kay remained in Maumelle over Sunday, and after church I bought another 40 bags of $1.27 mulch—too good a bargain to pass up.  After unloading the mulch adjacent to the lower bed where it will be spread, I drove to Quarry Marina, ran a power cord from an outlet to the back of the pontoon boat, and plugged in a battery charger.  We have had several days of warm weather suitable for boating.

Kay returned home on Monday, and we made quick work of spreading the mulch purchase on Sunday.  Warmer than usual weather is creating an lot of opportunities.  After our morning work we returned to the marina to unplug the battery charger and decided to take the boat for a ride.  We boated all the way to Cranfield Park and return, a 2-hour round trip.  The boat started great, and for the most part ran well, but began cutting out when full throttle was engaged—looks like a tune-up will be in our future.  The azaleas have burst into full bloom, and look like several small fires when coming up the driveway.  Combined with other blooms, they sure makes for a pretty site.

On Tuesday, April 3, we saw our first hummingbird of the year feeding at the dining area window feeder.  Later that day we saw our first summer goldfinch, though some winter or transient ones came to the feeder when we first arrived home from Texas.  Later in the week the rose bush bloomed for the first time this year.  Pollen is still falling, and we see a fresh dusting every morning from the day before, necessitating using the blower on all of our porches, pads, and the patio.

Next week, we head to Five Lakes at the invitation of our friend, Ed.  Five Lakes is an old traditional hunting and fishing club in eastern Arkansas.  We’ll fish for bluegill and bass, and enjoy the company of Ed and Linda, John and Sandra, and Dave and Joann.

The week was not without a few glitches.  We were scheduled to take the motorhome to Heber Springs on Monday for some warranty work on the chassis.  Starting it up after a few weeks’ rest to ready it for the trip down, the leveling jacks did not retract correctly, and a buzzer warning sounded.  Upon further inspection, I noticed a hole in the hydraulic line.  The rest of this morning (Saturday) was spent making arrangements for warranty work to repair this, likely in North Little Rock, as Camping World there is the only Arkansas Winnebago dealer, and they will take more than a week to repair it.  Seems like our most efficient way to get these two jobs done is to drive to Heber Springs on Monday, then to North Little Rock on Monday afternoon, then to Five Lakes on Tuesday, and back home Thursday night.  Guess the long repair time knocks us out of the RV rally at Fayetteville which we had so looked forward to.   It’s always something…

Our friend, John, and I have talked every year about floating the Buffalo River, and particularly the “Ponca to Kyle’s Landing” segment. John and Sandy came to their bluff house from Memphis on Wednesday, and John and I made plans to paddle the Buffalo pending amenable river stages. A quick check of the internet showed river stages at an optimum level, and we both began collecting and organizing our paddling gear—no small feat.
The timing worked out great for me as Kay left Friday to babysit new grandson, Ridge, through Sunday. She enjoys spending time with him immensely, and I bet she’s an awesome grandmother! She says he has a great disposition, is very alert, and enjoys all the sights and sounds around him. She posts pictures on Facebook on a regular basis.
I picked John up just after 7 AM on Friday morning, we arrived at Ponca about 9:30 AM, and we made arrangements for a shuttle to Kyle’s Landing. We dumped John’s whitewater canoe at the low water bridge at Steele Creek, and were on the river by 10 AM. I began in the stern with John in the bow, but our paddling techniques are different, and we switched after our first few riffles resulting in a much better combination. We really enjoyed the blooming dogwood trees, and the few remaining redbud trees still in blossom. The long, high bluffs along the river were awesome, and the occasional waterfall was spectacular.

Surprisingly, we observed few other canoes and kayaks on the river, even though optimum river levels and great temperatures prevailed. Despite stopping frequently, we made great time, and looked forward to Hemmed-In Hollow, and the 200-foot waterfall.
As we neared where we thought the trailhead was supposed to be, we noticed the remains of a cabin on the left descending bluff, realizing we had gone a half mile too far.

We paddled upstream, attempting to go through the rapids, but were unable to maneuver the canoes over the shallow shoal, and opted to give up on seeing Hemmed-In Hollow.

We debated and reversed our decision and once again paddled upstream, disembarking to walk the canoe through the shoal, and continued to paddle upstream to the next rapids where we decided to walk the river bank and gravel bar to find the trailhead. Fortunately, it was only about 50 yards upstream, and easily accessible.
We hiked into Hemmed-In Hollow, a moderate hike of about a half mile, stopping frequently for to take pictures of wildflowers, shown at the bottom of this blog entry. We saw several small waterfalls along the way. At the end of the canyon, we were awarded with the tallest waterfall between the Smoky Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The photo shows John in the lower right center.  We lingered at the falls for several minutes and made our way back down the trail to the canoe, again stopping to take photos along the way. We were both glad we opted to return upstream to see the falls.  The rest of the trip was anticlimactic, though we did enjoy paddling through a couple of Class III rapids. We took out at Kyle’s Landing, loaded the canoe, and made our way back home. The Buffalo River is truly one of God’s many gifts to us, and we’re fortunate to be close enough to enjoy it. Wow, what a way to end the week.
Back at home, a message from Kay indicated that Home Depot had cypress mulch on sale for the unprecedented price of $1.27 per bag. Her phone call was a slight nudge for me to hightail it to town and buy mulch. Guess we know what’s in store for tomorrow.

Kaden wrapped up his weekend with us on Sunday, and we drove him back to Little Rock after church.  Because of our timing, no Sunday School for us. We have a great class, but I’ve missed all but one session on the study of Romans—looks like it will be an independent study of Barclay to catch up.  Anyway, while in central Arkansas to return Kaden, I did some shopping!  I have crossed over to the dark side—buying an I Phone 4S a few days ago, and then, on Sunday afternoon, bought a new I Pad, giving the Kindle Fire to Kay.  The learning curve keeps getting steeper and steeper.
UNCLE JACK.  Monday, we were honored by a visit of new old RVing friend, Jack.  We met Jack at RedRock RV Park in Island Park, ID, this past summer where we were neighbors, and visited again in January in Rockport, TX this past January.  Jack, a full-timer, is making his way north, then east for the summer, and is spending a few days in Shirley, AR.  He is best known for his acerbic sense of humor, and weaving baskets from pine needles.
He is quite good at basket weaving, and no two look the same—and you thought basket weaving was a PE course for athletes.  His are a piece of art, and are to be collected!  The process—from picking out the needles, boiling them in glycerin, drying, and the actual weaving—is quite laborious and time consuming.  We had a great visit, enjoyed some of Kay’s chicken enchiladas, and swapped stories; we hope to see him again next winter somewhere in Texas.  Jack forgot to bring a special pine-needle basket he made for Kay, and made the trip back up to our house from Shirley on Tuesday; it’s shown here with one of Kay’s bracelets.  What a great guy; at least we got to enjoy another cup of coffee with him before next year.

WEATHER, FLORA, AND FAUNA.  Our weather, as in much of the country, has been unseasonably warm, with highs in the high 80s.  We have butterflies already, as seen from last week’s blog entry, but the birds are apparently busy building nests, etc., and are pretty scarce, though we still have a few around, mostly cardinals and titmice, with a family of pileated woodpeckers coming by for suet several times a day.  The dogwood trees are still blooming, though most are losing their flowers, many of the other species of trees are all almost leafed out, and the azaleas are about to burst into full bloom.  We have lots to do before summer,and will begin taking advantage of the cool mornings to weed, move plants, put out mulch, and plant annuals.
After John and I paddled the Buffalo River on Friday (separate blog entry), I slept sporadically Friday night, waking up with soreness from so much physical activity.  Up at daylight, I cleaned out the Explorer, Kay’s call Friday night—the hint to buy cypress mulch at Home Depot for $1.27 per bag—did not go unnoticed.  Her phone call was a slight nudge for me to hightail it to town and buy mulch. Guess we know what’s in store for next week.

Rain began Tuesday evening, and finally quit last night (Friday), though Thursday was mostly precipitation free.  The huge stationary front dropped about 6 inches on us, and even more in western Arkansas.  Consequently, our lakes have risen steadily—Norfork Lake rose over 10 feet in 3 days, and the White River is full with inflow from Bull Shoals Lake, Crooked Creek, and the Buffalo River, and has backed into the Norfork River, putting a damper on wade fishing. 

Today has been mostly sunny, and provided an opportunity to take photos of butterflies around our place.  Here are some pictures (there were two other species, but they flitted and fluttered so fast as to prevent a camera shot).