We were back on #7 heading for Hot springs village, our next host had asked us to call when we were about a half hour away and he would meet us at the gate. Unfortunately because of the valleys and poor reception we couldn't get a signal until we hit Jessieville the GPS said we were still quite a ways from their home so we thought we would be OK. When I reached Jim he said we were about 5 miles from the gate. I was confused, was the GPS wrong? We stopped at the gate to receive a pass and wait for Jim, the guard lady was very serious about her job, I don't think we would be going any further. When Jim arrived we started following him to their house. We kept watching the GPS and were amazed at the miles yet to travel, where was he taking us? Later we found out we were inside America's largest gated community, with nine golf courses and 500 miles of paved roads. A neighbor of Jim and Lynae's that does the newcomer briefing said it had the land mass of San Francisco 26,000 acres with less than 14,000 residents.
Just a few days ago we had been on the purple heart trail and now we were at one, Jim was a former Marine and tennis pro. We seemed to fit right in, great people. At supper that night Jim had mentioned that his gold wing had an issue, some dirty rat ( literally) had chewed thru some of the wiring and one of the results was no gas gauge. The local Honda dealer said it would cost $2,700 to replace the wire harness and he charged them $250 for that piece of information. I could see Ruthie's mind working, when we were re-manufacturing our home her favorite expression was "Vernon can do that" at least this time she said it with a question, Vern, you could fix that couldn't you? I said probably but I would have to look at it first. We had originally planned on staying the one evening and heading out. However this provided an opportunity to do what we had planned, exchange repair work or horse training for room and board. The next morning we offered to work on the bike and if repaired our stay would be at no cost, if I couldn't fix it we would pay them $20.00 per day. They wanted to make sure this was not affecting our trip plans? ( well you already know the answer, we have no plans.)
I tore the bike apart on the 6th to diagnose the problem, grey with stipe and rings was severed as well as one of the green ones, I counted over 8 green wires in this bundle of 80 plus wires. The problem was they disappeared behind the frame.Dec 7th Jim took us golfing, I know we haven't golfed in over 5 years, Ruthie used Lynae's clubs and I used Jim's friends "Big Jim" kind of nervous here, our Jim was 6'3" I didn't want to scratch Big Jim's clubs and they kept talking about a bigger Jim.
I think around this time Jim must have been reconsidering the deal. Let's see $2,700 or Vern staying who knows how long. I think it was then they he said maybe we should set a time limit and then just fix the fuel gauge and not worry about the other wire. Or maybe it was when he heard me on the phone with the freight company getting quotes on moving our belongings to Hot Springs Village. Either way on the 8th I had both wires repaired and was putting it back together.
They took us on a tour of Hot Springs, there was a sign that said Bill Clinton was born there, however we cannot confirm or deny that.
One of the signs I seen as we walked the streets was a Strip Karaoke place, still wonder about that.
The history of the springs was very interesting, they say that the water that is coming out today entered the earth 4000 years ago and comes out at 143 degrees, you can see Ruthie's surprise. The others are residents that are getting their drinking water. We went to a film about the history of it and bless Jim's heart, I know he had seen it before and his head kept bouncing off his shoulder. What great hosts they are.
We had a great time and hated to leave. I learned at least three things here Arlington is where Robert E Lees home was, Blue bell is the best ice cream ( according to Jim, he hides his stash.) and it is OK to move the golf ball out of the rough when you are playing for fun ( and the clubs belong to BIG JIM)
We will remember this stay always.
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