Oct 30, Autumn made a grand entrance in Arkansas, dressed in glorious reds, oranges, golds and bronzes,using the whole box of crayolas. We were in Mena visiting Cynthia’s Miller cousins, Danny and David. Her mom and aunts lived here the year of 1932, after their mother died in Texas. The Miller cousins told us the story that her Miller ancestors brought their church bell from Dade County, Georgia to Mena in 1859. They gave the bell to a newly founded Miller Chapel church built On land great grandpa Miller donated for church and the Board Camp cemetery. Eventually, the church closed; it was torn down and the bell seemingly lost. Fifty years later the bell was discovered at an auction. Dorothy Ellison Miller found out the Miller bell was to be auctioned and bought the bell. It is now back in the family. We left Mena for the descent to Texas after a seven month absence. At exactly 12:20 PM we were welcomed home to Texas by a big sign. The landscape changed immediately from colorful forests to ranch lands. The GPS got us lost for awhile, but it did seem to know where we were, and where we are now is Nacogdoches, Texas. Our local genealogy cousin invited us to a fish fry college scholarship fund raiser started by her late husband. Yes. We ate fried catfish.
Oct. 29, Red! Orange! Gold! Bronze! We awoke to wonder! Somebody used the whole box of crayolas everywhere we look. After a great two hour hike with Duncan we finished packing for a a colorful ride to Mena, Arkansas for dinner with Cynthia’s two Miller cousins. We are ensconced in the carriage house of the Carriage House Inn, a marvelous antebellum home.
Oct. 28, What? How did that happen! October is zooming off the page! That’s what happens when you are having fun. And we are indeed. From our bedroom, we saw a marvelous sunrise spread red orange over the Arkansas River Basin, with ethereal patches of fog floating over the valley. Its amazing how clean the trails are after we have been cleaning up dead branches and clipping overhanging vines in only five days. The entire 400 acres of Camp Mitchell was all ours todayuntil a photographer showed up late afternoon. Ron fixed a few screens on the bedroom porch. Glory, glory to this gorgeous sunset tonight.
Oct. 27, What a glorious, golden sunshiny day! Cynthia is on day 7 of a 30 day exercise challenge in addition to our stretches. This morning’s routine is increased to 70 squats by adding five a day. Two great hikes today, plus a splendid sunset walk made a perfect day. The outdoor stone chapel is perched on a rock outcropping, catching the sunrise and sunset.
Oct. 26, Despite the cool, cloudy weather we managed two great hikes plus a trip into Morristown for grilled salmon and sweet potato dinner at Colton’s Steakhouse. Just as we returned a stunning sunset cast a scarlet glow on the the trees and buildings. We raced into the house for a camera and caught the last glimmer of the glow.
Oct. 25 Thursday, Camp Mitchell, Arkansas. Here we are perched on top of Petit Jean Mountain, stuck indoors because of mist. It rained a lot last night and it has been misting all day. Add to that, dense, thick fog which means we don’t have views of the breathtaking Arkansas River Valley. We are at work on our computers without WiFi!
Oct. 24, Camp Mitchell, Arkansas. The view of the Arkansas River Valley is breathtaking. The morning hike to Stout’s Point, overlooking the Arkansas River and the grave of Petit Jean. We saw a deer, big fat buzzards, road runners, and a walking stick insect. We rode into Morrilton for lunch and groceries. Cynthia baked salmon with tangerine sauce and baked sweet potatoes for dinner with Duncan.
Oct. 23, Tuesday: Another pleasant ride from Blytheville, Arkansas on Highway 127 SW through fascinating flatlands with a lot of water in some sort of irrigation project. We arrived at Camp Mitchell Episcopal Retreat Center on Petit Jran Mountain in Arkansas about 5 PM. How fun to see Cousin Duncan Ely who is Mr. Camp Mitchell. We are his guests until Monday morning.
Oct. 22, Monday: Our plan was to leave Carlyle about ten AM heading for Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas, but we didn’t get on the road until 11:30. The ride was pleasant but cool, on Illinois 127 south to I_57 to I-55 to Blytheville, Arkansas. Cynthia had on heated gear. Fascinating to actually see a bright red maple tree, very little fall color has happened because of the heat lasting until a week ago. Mosof the corn is harvested, with bean harvesting big time sending clouds of dust high in the air. A big surprise was white stuff along the edges of the Highway in Missouri. What’s that white stuff? Snow?? Oh my stars! Cotton! Vast fields of cotton ready for harvest line both sides of the highway. Our bellies are full, thanks to a stop at Ruby Tuesday’s. Enroute.
Oct. 21, Sunday, Keosauqua, Iowa - returning to Carlyle Lake late afternoon. A hard freeze last night and we are awakening to a temperature of 28 degrees. It is possible the shared bathroom on the second floor of the Victorian Hotel Manning hasn’t been washed for a few centuries. The sound proofing isn’t good, either. A herd of elephants danced on the floor above. How did all of those elephants get up threevfloors? Ron awoke at 4 AM, sister Carol was already awake, unable to sleep, she suggested getting on the road for Illinois. At eight AM, pulling into Denny’s Restaurant in Litchfield, a phone call to a stunned Cynthia produced, “Holy Moses!” What a fun time visiting cousins for the first time in 20-30 years. The cousins litte kids grew up!
Oct. 20, Driving to Keosauqua, Iowa with Sistah Carol to Marvin's 50th wedding anniversary celebration, returning Sunday. Carol arrived promptly at nine-thirty AM to have breakfast with us at the Wheelhouse Restaurant. She gifted Ron a new wool neck scarf of the Clan Little Tartan plaid. Thank you, Carol. Thanks to YDNA testing, our Beatty line is genetically Little, with such a unique DNA marker it pinpoints the Borders Reivers (click here), the infamous Beatty and Little low land clans on the Scottish border of England; King James gave the Reivers (horse thieves) the boot by 1600. Instead of surnames, they used clan names. Hence, a Beatty woman kept her clan name when she had a child sired by a Little (click here) clansman. Cynthia loves this pun. Have recycling, will travel. Yes. a whole month’s recycling is packed to deliver to Litchfield recycling today.
Oct. 19, The move to pack our belongings is indeed slow. Sudokus are more fun. So is DNA! But we did walk the River Trail. The new restroom along the trail is completed and the horrid old outdoor restroom has been hauled away. It is now filled in with dirt and grass is planted. The Great Blue Herons are fun to watch when they are in flight. Fuzzy Caterpillars are crawling about the sidewalks. The dam is silent; there is no water gushing over any of the four divisions. Perhaps the Corps of Engineers are getting the lake ready for a mega fishing tournament that begins tomorrow??
Oct. 18, Another heat wave hits Carlyle Lake! The temperature reached a pleasant 60 degrees by noon-thirty. We racked up close to 10,000 steps during the morning walk. We first toured the Nature Trail, where we spotted four turtles perched so perchily on a log. Then we hiked the River Trail, followed by lunch out of the refrigerator in our room. Don S. thought he was improved enough for company and a Rummy game or two, but partway through the second game he returned to bed. Now it is time for the second walk of this lovely day. 16,500 steps. Life is indeed good!
Oct. 17, Its a heat wave at Carlyle Lake! 62 Degrees warm. Ron spent the day with sistah Carol on her farm using lopping shears. The ATV ran out of gas, but the mower had gas to go get gas to fill the ATV tank. Carol roasted chicken, potatoes and baked an almost fat free pumpkin pie. From scratch.
Oct. 16, Another day just like the other day, except we walked 7 miles enjoying the antics of Great Blue Herons in flight. Ron is hardly working. Cynthia is very hard at work, being an industrious preacher lady, she has completed 6 essays of the #52 Ancestors 52 Weeks with a huge shoutout to Jane B. in Kensett, Iowa, editor-in-chief!
Oct. 15, Happy Birthday to nephew attorney Benjamin, who reported, “It’s been all downhill since I turned six.” Our friend Don is still in bed suffering from a cold or flu. We did our usual routine with eating alot, exercise and more eating. Pritikin is such a terrific program that allows us to eat non stop. The housekeepers cleaned. Cynthia did her favorite exercise: laundry, despite the howl Ron's clothes were just washed last year.
Oct 14, Ann reports Don is sick in bed with congestion after overdoing the gardening. Hence, no trip to Trenton in 44 degree temperature. Instead, we walked the river trail, rode to Wally World to replenish our food supply, and we worked on our computers. Before dinner at the Wheelhouse, we walked the Nature Trail once again and explored the Corps of Engineers outdoor storage. The birds were so fun to watch. The pelicans sat on one side of the jetty while the sea gulls were across the jetty on the landside. A huge great blue heron was wading in the water foraging for food.
Oct. 13, Sea gulls, great blue herons, and pelicans were out and about while we hiked the River Trail. It was most amusing to see a large community of pelicans gathering, circling, dipping black tipped wings in flight as we approached the hotel. We wondered if a signal was going out to cluster for the flight south for approaching winter. The temp is colder this morning, but we managed the 2 mile ride to Walmart to replenish our mainstay vegetables and fruit. Don's newly planted grass is growing higher! Cynthia reports a new TV station, "The Chosen" byVidcom. is going to have a TV series about the Life of Christ. She watched a premiere, The Shepherd.
Oct. 12, Happy 18th Birthday Granddaughter Zoe. Well, we tried to prevent winter’s arrival as long as we could, but it sneaked up on us, arriving with another rainy day. But we did get in a four mile walk on the Kaskawaka River Trail accompanied by spritzes of rain. The Restaurant next door is open weekends so they baked sweet potatoes for us. It is exceptionally heartbreaking to read about the devastation at Mexico Beach, FL. One wing of the El Governor Hotel is gone and so is the pool. The town is demolished, it looks like a war zone.
Oct. 11, Finally, summer heat has ceased; the high temperature was 58 degrees. Why do people post gedcoms on GEDmatch.com that do not show direct lineage? Junk genealogy. After the morning walk we got hooked up into more genealogy and time whizzed by so fast it was 3 PM. Despite the chill, Ron rode to Trenton and helped Ann bring in green tomatoes.
Oct 10, a day of adventure! The forecast was for thunderstorms so we planned to get in our walk in spurts during rain breaks. Surprisingly, we were able to walk the dam in mid-morning 45 minutes. After a couple of hours of computer work on Bankston DNA, we decided to take a second walk because the sun came out, and that's when the adventure began. We were fortunate to hike the entire Kaskawaki River Trail, just coming around the last curve when we spotted ominous black clouds approaching from the west. And the rain drops started. We walked up the hill very fast when the serious rain drops began pelting us while we got into our rain jackets. We boogied so fast staying under the trees and made it to the shelter with our pants and shoes soaked to the skin. The heavy downpour didn't last more than twenty minutes. We scarfed down some hot oatmeal and dried our clothes. Ron rode to Trenton to play rummy with Don and Ann.
Oct 9, The red-orange sunrise blazed across the morning horizon emitting such a glorious feeling of gratitude: Thanks for this day! We are doing a great job of keeping winter at bay! Wherever we go it is hot; today wasn't an exception, except we didn't sweat as much as yesterday. After buying some mouse poison at the Tractor Supply, we had a pleasant ride to Edwardsville. Harvest is fully underway with few cornfields remaining to be harvested, and most of the beans yet to combine. Our first stop was the Moto Guzzi Store for a test ride on this Italian beauty. It performs comparable to our BMW, and it is lighter. Next stop was the postoffice to return Cynthia's Hoka shoes (they replace under a year for any problems) and we mailed her absentee ballot. What a surprise to see Maxine (Credit Union) behind us in line. We quickly made arrangements to meet her in Collinsville for lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. The next stop was the bank to replace some coin sets in the safety deposit box and have Cynthia sign the card to access the box if necessary. After filling out all of the forms which took forever, the teller let us know that the entire document had to be resigned by others authorized to have access because of adding a new person on the list. The last stop was the storage unit. Cynthia asked where the space was after the motorcycle was given away? How is really there room for a mouse inside this storage unit? If one does get inside, the new mouse poison will take care of that problem. Lunch with Maxine was so fun. It cooled off by the time we got back encouraging us to go for another walk. Good night!
Oct 8, Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day: I still appreciate Columbus. Bankston DNA is foremost on the agenda before playing cards with Don and Ann.
Oct 7, Sun: Zooming our way through October, too, with morning stretches, 4 mile walks, we enjoyed a great lunch with Don and Ann at the Wheelhouse Restaurant. Ron rode into Trenton to play rummy, and beat them roundly once again. We are likely to stay at the Carlyle Mariners Resort until 15 October. The Wheelhouse had baked potatoes and tilapia for dinner tonight. It was too late for sunset views on the evening walk. The mosquitos like Cynthia.
Oct 6, Sat. We did another 4 mile morning walk in August-like heat. Cynthia spent the afternoon on the computer, doing laundry, and wishing it wasn’t so hot. In the meantime, Ron enjoyed the afternoon playing cards with the Stalcops, beating everyone! Don’s gardening is done. He can’t do much by himself any more; he is quite pleased to have the assistance of two extra hands and a strong back. Don is really celebrating seed that is now planted before it turns cool, allowing it to germinate while the temperatures are yet warm. The ride home from the Stalcops was spectacular riding into the center of vivid double rainbows. The rainbows continued to increase in intensity approaching the hotel. We dined at the Wheelhouse Restaurant, now open weekends. A perfect ending to a great day.
Oct 5, Fri. Was a long day! We walked in horrid heat before riding into Trenton to visit a blind minister who uses a talking computer to write his sermons. Unfortunately for us, he wasn’t home. Lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s in Collinsville at two PM filled us up.
Oct 4, A morning walk to beat the rain with cool 70 degree weather. Ron rode to Trenton to enjoy the afternoon with the Stalcops hitting golf balls. Cynthia was hard at work on 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. God answers prayer.
Oct, 3: We spent the AM walking the dam and river trail until Ron took the yellow blaze trail on the motorcycle. Cynthia spent the afternoon trying to pull together a Christmas Dinner for our huge family with so many other conflicting schedules.
Oct, 2th! Ron is enjoying his time with Don and Ann in Trenton. Cynthia was abandoned in Carlyle, but that's ok, there was hiking to do, a lake that held a huge community of seagulls this morning, a black squirrel, and lots of bicycles on the trail. Cynthia didn’t want to sit inside.
October - 1th, Carlyle Lake, Illinois: Turn the page to a kaleidoscope of color; autumn soon dressed in her finest apparel. We are hunkered down at a quiet, pleasant resort with hiking trails, a woods near by, and a room with a view of a lovely lake, in yet another hot week. Ron spent the day with Don and Ann S. Gardening. Cynthia hiked 5 miles after publishing the first of 52 Ancestors a Week Challenge. https://www.treesfrompeopleseeds.com
 |
| Walking the Dam |
 |
| Goshen Trail |
 |
| Carlyle Lake Dam |
 |
| Suspension Bridge Stuff |
