We had expected Karyn, Matt, Ridge, and Aker for the Labor Day weekend (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday), but Ridge came home from school on Friday with a bit of a cold. Not knowing whether how contagious it was, Karyn opted not to visit to prevent our possible exposure. Fortunately, it was only a cold, but as a result we had a very quiet weekend. Those are the times in which we live.

Kay had a very busy day scheduled for Tuesday with committee meetings and self-care appointments. Beautified by a cut and color, manicure, and pedicure, she was essentially ready to travel. PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) and Lady Duffers committee meetings completed her busy day.

Lucky for me, Dan called and extended an invitation to travel to Mount Magazine in hopes of repeating Thursday’s success photographing butterflies. After the two hour drive, we parked in the same spot as last week and hiked the same trail. There were fewer butterflies, but still more than we had seen elsewhere. It was a good day.

To make it even better, a few dragonflies were posing.

And how about this bug.

As a procrastinator, I waited until the last minute to pack for our upcoming 18-day trip. Consequently, Wednesday was used for washing and drying clothes, folding them for packing, and stuffing them into a suitcase. Kay packs a lot of clothes when we travel, and always looks great. I, on the other hand, pack fewer clothes, but more than make up for it with “toys” such as cameras, lenses, accessories, and computer, iPad, and iPhone and various cables, chargers, and memory drives and cards. In addition we both have to pack meds, and I carry a CPAP.  While the clothes can be packed, and “checked,” many of the other items are too necessary and/or valuable and must be “carried on.” Consequently, it takes me forever to organize my “stuff.” We both finished packing, except for last minute items, and sat down to chill. And then we remembered that boarding passes were needed and luggage checked. Of course, the printer was offline, etc. Finally, all pre-trip preparations had been done. We ate leftovers for dinner and watched British television to wrap up the evening.

It’s still hot and humid, but that didn’t stop Kay from joining her Friday girls group at Cortez Golf Course. Considering she hasn’t played much in the last few weeks, she did pretty well—a lady’s score is like her age, not revealed.

Dan Olson and I traveled to Mount Magazine State Park in search of the elusive butterflies this season. Most places in the area have had a significant decrease in both species and numbers. We saws a few flittering along the road approaching the state park. As we pulled into the parking place at the  Brown Springs picnic area, a Giant Swallowtail could be seen nectaring on a nearby bloom. We set up our cameras, checked the settings, and eased over to make photographs. The Giant Swallowtail was very patient, and posed for a number of shots by each of us. We continued to see various species as we walked the cliff side trail. It had been the best four hours of butterfly photography that either of us had had this year. 

Even a few dragonflies made themselves available for photographs.

Several wild flowers also presented themselves for portraits.

We drove from Mount Magazine State Park to Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, where we stopped at one of our favorite butterfly areas. There, we found good numbers of several species.

From there it was off to home and extensive post processing of photos.

Hummingbirds apparently arrived in hoards yesterday about midday, as they were madly crowding the two feeders on the deck. The number of these birds far exceeds that of any other time since living in Hot Springs Village. I had been wanting to capture them “in flight” and spent a couple of hours experimenting with camera settings, etc. Here are the results.

Twenty-one years ago today, Kay and I said “I do”, and it’s been an amazing time together. We’ve experienced children divorcing, marrying, grandkids born, and parents dying. A few family challenges have arisen and for the most part, conquered. Four churches have called us members, and we sang together in three of these. We have traveled extensively, both within the US and internationally. And, Kay has been there as I survived several major medical issues. We celebrated by eating at Texas Roadhouse inn Benton, Arkansas; they have the coldest Michelob Ultra on tap, and great food. We’ve been blessed, and are hoping for another twenty-one years!

Our younger granddaughter and youngest grandchild, Sutton, celebrated her first birthday on Wednesday. We haven’t seen her in a while because of COVID, colds, naps, etc. But, based on FaceTime conversations, she is growing and learning to speak! Happy birthday, sweetheart.

A few butterflies were nectaring on the Lantana, and kept still enough for a few photographs.

Also, the two or three hummingbirds that have been feeding on the sugar water are still present. This one posed.

Wednesday evening we joined Jackie, Jim, Pam, and Don for dinner at the Bella Luna restaurant in Hot Springs, to celebrate all of our birthdays in the surrounding days and months. The food and service were both outstanding.

Another month has rapidly escaped our lives, and with it, hopefully, the hot and humid weather. And, this Friday, August 27, I celebrated yet another birthday; I’m now 72. Kay played golf and we celebrated with ‘take-out” catfish dinners from Mulligan’s, half a carrot cupcake each, and vanilla ice cream. Both Saturday and Sunday were quiet, with few activities. We needed the downtime. Golf was on the itinerary for Monday (terrible score) while Kay attended to club board duties. The windows and soffits were cleaned after a long absence; it’s been difficult to schedule. A few butterflies did make their way onto blooms in the garden. They have been far and few this year—disappointing and concerning. Tuesday was all about running errands. We lead an exciting life when we’re at home.

It’s amazing how life can return to “normal” so quickly after a trip. We hit the ground running Tuesday morning, doing laundry, yard work, grocery shopping, car washing and vacuuming, and updating iPhones, iPads, and the computers; the latter seemed like it took forever. The heat and humidity was NOT a welcome relief, and it seems like summer extends longer each year, now through September. We both quickly signed up for golf with our respective groups. Regrettably, the Hot Springs Village pickleball courts are being resurfaced after only three years—the relatively new, expensive surface had begun to separate from the concrete pad!

Kay helped facilitate the Lady Duffers scramble Wednesday morning, and hung out at the pool in the afternoon. I worked on photos from our recent trip, and organizing and re-editing them was a bug chore.

On Thursday, I joined seven other hot and sweaty photographers from the HSV Camera Club at the Union Pacific railroad crossing of the Saline River in Benton, Arkansas. Our purpose for being there was to photograph the “Big Boy” locomotive. “Big Boy 4014” was delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad in December 1941. It is 132 feet long and weighs 1.2 million pounds. In order to negotiate curves, it is articulated (hinged) because of its length. It has 14 wheels! Here are some photos.

I almost forgot to mention that we are traveling again in a few days, this time by air, auto, and ship. The trip will be in two segments, the first being a land tour of parts of western Washington and Oregon—another “life list” item. More to come in future posts.

After a bit of a late start this Sunday morning, we traveled through Virginia to middle Tennessee to visit our sister-in-law, Betty, my late brother’s wife. It had been some time since we last saw her, and it was so great getting to catch up on our respective lives, our childrens’ lives, and reminisce about the past. We all so miss Ronnie, who died way too early.

Monday morning we continued driving west to the greater Memphis area to visit daughter Jenny and kids. Regrettably, Harper was in school and Sutton was napping; Linc got our undivided attention. He is all boy, and decided that his “DD” was a pretty good fellow. It was the first time we really got to enjoy him and his antics. Jenny was doing great, and looking great (don’t know how she does it as a single mom with three under the age of 10, and two of those under the age of 3.

From west Tennessee, we crossed the now repaired I-40 “Big M” bridge, and arrived home about 4 o’clock PM. Now, after a couple day’s rest and a little golf, we have to prepare for our next adventure! More to come in the next update.

Kay and I enjoyed some downtime Friday morning, before asking George and Nan to assist us with running shopping errands: REI, Costco, etc. And then, George provided a visual overview of his daily cycling route. It is in a business park, but since COVID, the streets are practically empty. There are enough hills to make the ride challenging. Back at their house, I grabbed the camera and long lens to photograph butterflies nectaring on their wonderful pollinator gardens. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, black-form female, posed graciously for her portrait.

Still tired from all the activities of the last three weeks, including the drive from Seal Harbor, I spent the rest of the day doing a lot of nothing, including taking a short nap. George went for a bicycle ride, and Nan and Kay were busy all afternoon preparing food for a brunch tomorrow (Saturday) morning, and catching up like sisters do who haven’t seen each other in a while.

Saturday morning I woke up with a swollen and feverish right elbow. Apparently, there are fleas outside in the gardens, one took a bite, and I had an allergic reaction. The result was a sluggish day in which I did not feel particularly bad, but certainly did not feel good.

There was a cancellation for the brunch, so the four of us ate the delicious food prepared yesterday: quiche, breakfast casserole, muffins, bacon, lots of fruit, etc. Kay and Nan continued catching up well into the afternoon and George cycled again. We all went out to dinner at a small upscale restaurant. The food was particularly good and it is the first time I had duck in several years—yum, yum!

Before bed, Kay and I talked about our travel plans, and though we were originally scheduled to stay through Sunday—and George and Nan had a full day planned for us—we opted to leave one day early (Sunday morning) as we were both ready to return home.

After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, it was back on the New Jersey Turnpike, past Philadelphia, and across the Delaware Bridge. Delaware was my 50th state!

And then, it was through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, bypassing Baltimore and Washington, DC.

We reached Kay’s sister’s house about 3 PM near Richmond, Virginia, not having seen Nan and George for almost 2 years, and that was in Paris, France, in early November 2019 before COVID.

Their gardens are really awesome, and we enjoyed walking around admiring the blooms and bugs. And then, the rest of the day and evening was spent catching up.

Having seen and done everything on our list, we opted to leave Acadia National Park and Maine a day early. Our next destination was near Richmond, Virginia, to visit Kay’s sister and brother-in-law. Too long to drive in one day, our objective was to make it past the city of New York before overnighting.

The car was repacked—throwing everything in one pile is considered repacking, isn’t it—water bottles and coffee re-filled, and we were on our way. Seal Harbor, our residence for the last three nights, is on the southern tip of Mount Desert Island, and getting back onto major highways requires an hour’s driving northwest, almost to Bangor, before heading east and then south.

We traveled from Maine through New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts before reaching New York, New York, at 5 PM during RUSH HOUR. The GPS directed us right through the middle of downtown New York on Central Park Avenue, through the Bronx, across the George Washington Bridge, and into New Jersey.

While traffic was horrible, it was the cars and semis crowding into the exit lanes at the last minute, near the head of the line, that delayed almost everyone else (in elementary school, we called it “breaking into line”, and it was considered cheating).

The New Jersey Turnpike toll road was great, though heavily trafficked, and seemingly there were a dozen toll stations along the way. We exited the turnpike just before dark and overnighted in Cranbury, New Jersey.