Okay.... I'm lazy!

Yep, I just realized that I missed a day of posting.  And I didn't even bother to show you our decor for the 4th. Call me lazy!  :)

This is my table decoration.... Courtesy of Mom!

There were other decorations too..... Notice I said "were"?  That's because we've packed up and moved on. But more on that later.  

We spent Saturday afternoon on the lake... You guessed it -- floating!  :). It was another beautiful day with just enough cloudiness to make things comfy. 

The guys started taking down and packing the outside stuff Saturday morning, so floating was a welcome break. 

This morning everyone finished packing up and took off. The Oelkers and Zinks headed home. We headed north and east for further adventures!  :)

Another Missouri state park!

As it turns out, about the time that we were ending our holiday at Table Rock Lake, Rochelle and Roy were headed to Lebanon to visit with Polly.  So we both made a small detour and met up at Bennett Springs State Park for a couple of days.  What a beautiful park!!

This is what our campsite looked like.  There are actually 5 campgrounds around the state park.  We ended up in what I think is the nicest one.... mostly because it has full hookups and I don't have to be so conservative with water usage.  :)

We met there Sunday afternoon and spent some time setting up.  Then the guys did some grilling for our dinner.  It was warm and muggy, but still a nice evening outside.

Then on Monday morning, after a yummy guy-cooked breakfast, we headed out for some hiking.  This really is a spring.... fed from something like 100 feet below ground.  It is also a primo trout fishing site.  As a matter of fact, they have a trout hatchery here!

Above and below are a couple of shots of the hatchery.  The top one was from one of the pools where the really small trout are.  The bottom one is a shot of some of the larger trout.

As we walked through the hatchery, some of the larger trout (who would normally be swimming towards the end of the hatchery) turned around and started following us.  I looked back and saw the whole group swimming along, pacing us.  It was very eerie as I've never been stalked by trout before!  :)  Apparently they are accustomed to people feeding them but none of us had any quarters for the food machine so we couldn't accomodate them.

They release trout into the springs every evening.  We could tell when that was happening as they would sound a siren just like the ones we have for tornado sirens at home.  The first night it had me reaching for my phone to check the weather!

And of course, up and down the springs were LOTS of trout fisherman!  Max found out that you could fish for a daily fee of about $10.  Most of the ones we saw were definitely catching fish, so it sounds like a good buy!

In addition to seeing all the fishermen, we saw quite a bit of beautiful things along the hike.  Above is called, appropriately, Arches Bridge.  :)  And this was a little foot bridge that we passed on the trail.  Seemed like a good opportunity for a photo opp!

This was about half way through the hike so we weren't too "done in" by that point.  By the end of the hike, all any of us wanted was some very cool A/C!  It was mid-90s yesterday and very high humidity.  Ugh!  Most of the hike was pretty good because we were on shaded spring and forest paths.  However the trek home got pretty long, sunny, and sweaty.

We rewarded ourselves with some shopping......

Now THIS is a store!  I've gotten so accustomed to the marina stores (which are small and limited in stuff) that this was a pleasant surprise!

After lunch, we adjourned to our respective couches for a well deserved rest.  Altho' Roy was a bit of a masochist as he set out on a 8 or 9 mile bike ride.  Later that evening, as we were going to dinner, we drove up the hill that he climbed on his bike.  Sheesh!  I would end up off my bike and pushing it up that darn hill.

Dinner was as the "dining hall" at the state park.

As you can see it was a lovely setting.  The food was a bit "eh", but we managed to eat.  :)

As we were preparing for bed last nite, Max happened to look at the weather and realized that we had a helluva storm headed our way.  So we ended up taking down all of the outside stuff and stowing it --- doing that all about 11pm last nite.  What fun right before bed!

The storm hit about 1am.   We know this because we woke when we heard a loud thump against the roof of the trailer.  Ack!  Turns out it was a limb from the tree right next to the site.  Fortunately no damage was done.

Unfortunately, the noise woke Gabi who, in turn, woke Ginger..... so they ended up getting to sleep in the "big bed" last nite.  It thundered and stormed for quite a while during the night.  So we are all a bit bleary today.

One thing the storm did is bring out all the worms.  When I stepped out of the trailer this morning, I noticed 3 or 4 cardinals hopping around on the ground outside of our trailer.  Didn't really think much about it at the time.  There were quite a few twigs and limbs on the ground around the door.  Again, didn't think much about it ..... that is, until one started moving!

My first thought was "SNAKE"!  Gad, I hate snakes!  But then I realized it was a huge worm.  I wear a size 8 shoe, so that should give you an idea of how long that thing was.  NOW I understand why all the cardinals were hanging around.  That baby could have been breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Sadly, we each packed up and headed out today.  Rochelle and Roy had about a 30 minute drive.  I wish ours was that short!  We are on 54 right now, headed west.  In about 5 hours or so we will be home and ready to unload.  

Hopefully our next adventure is right around the corner!

Party cove!

We cruised over to what they call "party cove" today. Apparently there is often hundreds of boats there. Today..... Not so many. 

We also saw the Missouri version of cliff diving......

We never did figure how those guys got up there. It may not look like it is very high up in the pic.... But believe me, it is!

And then they had the junior version of cliff diving. 

Okay maybe ledge jumping is more accurate. :)  There is actually a rope swing at this level. So the big guys would pull the rope over so the little guys could swing out into the water!  :)

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day to y'all!

Just another day in paradise

It was just another day in paradise, But first a message from the dogs. 

Chuckle. Robbie sent that to me and I just had to share. And of course, it is true!  

We started the day with an awesome, guy-cooked breakfast..... Breakfast burritos this time. Yummy!

And then we girls went to town for some shopping. I use the word "town" loosely cause there isn't much in the town of Shell Knob.  Although us being girls and all, we did manage to find a couple of places. :)  We stopped at a converted church that had some wonderful antiques. They had the added bonus of a farmers market so we found a few things.

Then we went to a place called Treasures that had booths from different folks. In one booth, I saw these.  

They caught my eye, because they are exactly like the glasses that Grandmother Morris used to make coke floats.... Or as my sister reminded me, "floats with coke". :)

And then we went grocery shopping. What WERE we thinking?!?!?  Imagine your grocery store the day before Thanksgiving. Really, it was that crowded!  But I have to say that the folks there were cheerful and nice, so overall a pleasant shopping excursion.                                

Then we went out for a while on the boats for more floating.  This is Nancy, Bailey, and Robbie on their new boat.  Sharp looking boat!

My new experience for the day was washing my hair..... in the lake!  The water that comes to the trailers and shower houses here is VERY hard water.  And no matter how I try, it just doesn't seem as though my hair feels clean.  When I mentioned it to the rest of the crew, they talked about how soft the water in the lake is and how great it feels to wash your hair in it.  After some skepticism on my part, I decided to give it a try.  Nancy and Judy both actually carry shampoo on their boats!  So right now, I have clean, shiny, soft, manageable hair!  :)

After floating for a while, we decided to call it a day.  It was quite a bit cooler today, so I think we all got tired of shivering.  

So we girls did a bit more shopping.  Who knew that you could find cool things in a marina!?  I managed to find ball caps for Max and I, a tee shirt, and even a cool pair of sun glasses.  Sweet!

As always, we capped the evening with an excellent dinner.  Tonite was Mexican nite.  On the table before you there is beef, chicken, and pork for tacos.... along with beans and rice.  Oh, and homemade salsa and guacamole.  

Bet you wish you were having dinner with us!  Grin.

Change of scenery

We decided for a change of pace yesterday. Instead of water fun, we opted for shopping. :)  Eureka Springs is only about an hour from our campground so ilwe planned a small diversion. 

And while it was a bit hot and very hilly.... We managed to bag a few treasures. 

Here is Bailey watching from an elevated crosswalk as we debated which store to go in next. 

The guys were patient with us for about an hour and then they found a bar to while away the time. 

On our strolls we noticed this lovely Victorian B&B "hanging" from the side of a hill. 

We ended the day with a very late lunch to celebrate Judy's birthday. Nothing like some yummy Mexican food!  :)

Another day of floating.

Well yes, we did get out in the water yesterday!  But once again, I was so tired yesterday evening that posting had to wait!  

This is a view from the boat..... Max, then Judy, then Ron, then Nancy, Bailey, and Robbie. And no, there wasn't any skiing or wake boarding yesterday-- just floating and consuming adult beverages. :)

We girls had our turn at cooking dinner last night. I fixed a pork roast in the crock pot, Nancy fixed the veges, and Judy fixed salad. It was yummy!  Oh, and Judy fixed an awesome carrot cake for dessert. See, we girls actually DO cook when we camp. (But we like it better when the guys do!)  :)