The “cold” is steadily improving, and the coughing and hacking is slowly dissipating. In fact, I walked the trash to the big garbage bins on the other side of the campground.

Bruce asked about fishing, so we loaded our wading stuff and drove to the house to change into waders and boots. We accessed at Mill Dam Eddy, and waded upstream of the island. The wind was blowing steadily into our faces, and made casting quite difficult for Bruce, a novice fly fisher. He did all the right things, but couldn’t get a trout to take the fly. I played around for about 30 minutes with a parachute sulphur dun, and managed to catch over a dozen fish, including a grand slam on the dry fly.

Kay returned from an appointment with the hairdresser, and prepared a great meal of fish and vegetables cooked in foil pouches, which we shared with Bruce and Jeannie.

We had a quiet afternoon, and I went to 4 + 1 Quartet practice.

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The "cold" is getting better, if ever so slightly. Kay drove into town this morning for a pre-Vacation Bible School meeting; she really didn’t want to teach, but couldn’t refuse since the church is short-handed of volunteers. I visited briefly with Bruce and Jeannie, made a quick visit to the house for a shave and shower, and returned to the campground just in time for Kay and I to take Bruce, Jeannie, and their neighbors for a boat ride to hunt for driftwood. Jeannie is an artist, and will use the driftwood for carving, and as props for other artwork. When we returned to the campground, we noticed that a contractor had cut several dead trees, including this one that fell a little long of its intended target, on their jeep. As they say here in the South, you can’t fix stupid, but you can photograph it!

On a serious note, can you imagine how embarrassing it must have been for the "professional" tree cutters and trimmers.
That pretty much wrapped up the day as far as exciting things go, and we cooled our heals until bedtime.

The “cold” is getting better, if ever so slightly. Kay drove into town this morning for a pre-Vacation Bible School meeting; she really didn’t want to teach, but couldn’t refuse since the church is short-handed of volunteers. I visited briefly with Bruce and Jeannie, made a quick visit to the house for a shave and shower, and returned to the campground just in time for Kay and I to take Bruce, Jeannie, and their neighbors for a boat ride to hunt for driftwood. Jeannie is an artist, and will use the driftwood for carving, and as props for other artwork. When we returned to the campground, we noticed that a contractor had cut several dead trees, including this one that fell a little long of its intended target, on their jeep. As they say here in the South, you can’t fix stupid, but you can photograph it!

On a serious note, can you imagine how embarrassing it must have been for the “professional” tree cutters and trimmers.
That pretty much wrapped up the day as far as exciting things go, and we cooled our heals until bedtime.
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I awoke this morning feeling terrible from the head cold, my worst day yet; maybe this is the turning point. Fortunately, the Crossroads Band is not leading service this morning; the Wesley Foundation from ASU Jonesboro is taking care of the whole service. Following church and Sunday School, we ate lunch at Chen’s, and returned to the campground to find Bruce and Jeannie from the AR Travelers setting up. A nearby RV was vacating a space, and an RV version of musical chairs followed, resulting in Bob and Sharon’s friends from Louisiana moving next to them, and in the process of enjoying a view of the river up close and personal, she (the friend) fell and broke her leg. Meanwhile, Bruce and Jeannie were able to occupy the site adjacent to ours. All of this made for a pretty exciting afternoon.

As evening approached, we drove Bruce and Jeannie to the house to see where we live, and to take a quick house tour.

Upon returning to the campground, I immediately took some meds and went to bed.

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We awoke Saturday morning to an essentially full campground; many campers came in late yesterday evening. It was a quiet day for us as my cold is getting worse, and the coughing and hacking is beginning to take its toll, though no fever.

The Martins, a top tier Southern gospel trio, performed a benefit concert at Mountain Home Baptist Church for the pastor’s wife who has recently been diagnosed with ALS. We attended with Bob and Sharon. Despite the church’s sound equipment problems, it was a good concert.

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Not much to report today. Strong winds ushered in a welcome cold front, making for some great camping weather. Regrettably, my cold continues to get worse. The campground is filling rapidly with weekend campers of all shapes and sizes. Seeing young families enjoying the great outdoors brings back fond memories of camping with Jenny when she was a young girl.

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Today marks the last day of May 2012; where did the month go?

Late last night and early this morning the sites on either side of us were filled. After reading email via the phone, and enjoying our first cup of coffee, I stepped outside and saw that Bob had occupied the site just east of us. He left Sharon at home to finish her coffee and crossword puzzle, and came to set up for a two-week stay. They, too, live within easy driving distance of the park. We visited for a few minutes and we left him to finish setting up so he could return home for Sharon, groceries, and additional camping paraphernalia.

Kay and I could not pass up a bright, clear morning on the the water, and drug the kayaks down for some paddling experience.

It was much easier the second time around, and I’m pleasantly surprised at how Kay has adapted.

We paddled upstream, then downstream to the riffle below the Resort Hole (which, by the way, has shifted to the far right side of the channel), then back to our take-out and camp site.

By then, the day proved too nice to not fish, so I donned waders, vest, and boots, and drove to an access near the house. There were six fishers below Mill Dam Eddy, which sort of surprised me as access is very limited, i.e. restricted, in this area. Above the island sulphurs were coming off occasionally, and the fish would take them on the surface as long as the sun was shining. With mostly cloudy skies, the hatch of sulphurs was sporadic at best, but I did catch a 17-inch rainbow on a parachute sulphur dun.

Once the sun disappeared behind the clouds, the fish quit taking sulphurs on the surface, so I switched to a brown Wayne’s fly and zebra midge combination and caught several fish, ending the day with a couple of dozen fish. Returning to the campground, I stopped by the house for a shower and clean clothes.

The cold is getting worse with more coughing, a few aches, and a sore throat and headache. Consequently, it was an early night.

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Kay and I fasted last night in preparation for our “regularly scheduled” blood work. I get uptight before these tests, anxious to hear the results of my PSA to know if cancer has returned. I can usually put “cancer” out of mind, but these tests always brings it to the surface. We drove into town and had blood drawn, then rushed to McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich and caffeinated beverage; it’s no fun doing without morning coffee. We drove back to Harp’s for groceries, mostly fruit, before returning to the campground.

Back at the campground, we had a pretty simple day with a bike ride or two around the park, and a brief walk.

The campground is pretty empty following Memorial Day weekend–just the way we like it.

My cold is slowly, but steadily getting worse, and energy levels continue to decrease. We read, watched television, and did a bunch of nothing before retiring for the night.

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After a good night’s sleep–we always sleep better in the motor home–coffee, and an English muffin, cottage cheese, and fruit, we drug the kayaks to the river. Kay boarded hers first, and was paddling upstream before I was able to get into mine. I quickly realized that power stroking created a lot of instability, as I rolled first to one side, then to the other. Meanwhile, Kay was gliding smoothly upstream, outlined by the early morning sun streaming through the river fog. We paddled around for a short while, and returned to the bank, having had enough for our first time. Back at the campground, we switched from kayaks to bikes, and rode around the campground a couple of times.

Kay and I drove separately back to the house to do some chores and feed the birds. Wayne was busy with an auto repair project, but had time for a quick cup of hot chocolate, and we enjoyed a brief visit. Despite my suffering from severe allergy problems (or a cold), the river looked too inviting to ignore. I suited up, gathered vest and fly rod, and headed off to the river. Sulphurs were already coming off, and after a few fish, I switched from the Wayne’s fly/zebra midge combination to a parachute sulphur dun. The fish wer e hitting the fly almost every cast, and then with a fish on I noticed the water steadily rising. While reeling in the fish, I gingerly waded to the bank for a quick hike downstream. The river has come up without warning more this year than all the previous years I’ve fished the Norfork combined. I made it safely out, drove back to the house for a shower and clean clothes, a quick early dinner, and a long nap–feeling the worse for wear with either a cold or severe allergies.

Kay returned to the motorhome, and I drove into town for quartet practice. Back at the campground, we enjoyed a quiet, albeit short, evening before turning in for bed.

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Memorial Day weekend, and the accompanying crowds are just about all gone. Via woman’s intuition or just maybe a whim, Kay announced at 11 AM that she was driving a couple of miles up the road to Quarry Park to check on the availability of sites at this great US Army Corps of Engineers campground; I came along for the ride. She hit a home run as one of the 3 most choice sites was vacant. The Corps won’t let you “reserve” a site by putting lawn chairs, ice chests, etc. around them, so we rushed back home, she dropped me off to ready the motor home and drive it back to the campground,while she returned immediately to “occupy” the site. I quickly removed rodent control “measures”, retracted the slides, and retracted the leveling jacks, arriving back at the campground in just shy of 30 minutes. After setting up, i.e. leveling, hooking up electricity and water, and deploying the slides, we returned to the house for kayaks, bicycles, groceries, clothes, and other paraphernalia needed for an extended stay, and lastly, a call was made to DishTV to activate our account for the RV.

Back at the campground, we unloaded our gypsy caravan and stowed things as best we could. The DishTV Tailgater satellite dish was connected, but we kept getting an error message. Another call to DishTV corrected the problem–the satellite dish and receiver must be on in order to activate the account. Afterward, we rode our bikes around the campground, and settled in for the remainder of the day and night.

P.S. Since flying back from San Francisco a few days ago, I have been sneezing, coughing, and losing energy little by little; seems like a cold is coming on.

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