Sunrise on Lake of the Ozarks.  I stood right behind our  rig.

Paul read about two swinging bridges you could drive on so we had to go find them.

Paul has been a great tour guide on this trip.  He found Lake of the Ozarks and said we would be camping at a state park - it was great - because it's fall, very few people were there.  It was still and quiet.  Lovely.  Wish we had more time to explore this lake, but now we're on somewhat of a schedule to get back by .  we  Boat picture below shows what we saw - no small ski boats, just cruisers!

narrow lake, largest in Arkansas, 129 miles long

 First a rich man's mansion, then a hotel, now called  "The Castle"

Great day at the farm.

more on St. Louis....

our favorite thing we did was a behind the scenes tour at Grant's Farm.  What did we get a tour of?  The Clydesdales.  They are beautiful creatures and are treated with very special care.

 I do not have the skill nor software to alter the picture in any way.  He's huge and leaning toward Paul - I think he liked the brushing!!

There are five Clydesdale ranches - east, west, and midwest hitches as they are called.  Then there is a ranch where they are bred and here at Grant's farm they are trained  how to pull the famous Anneheiser-Busch wagon and how to get into the giant trailers that carry them around the country.  It was a fascinating glimpse into a life style I knew nothing about.

Saint Louis, Missouri

Great city to visit - lots to see...and eat!

Of course we visited the Arch!  What a monument to one man's dream and the possibilities of engineering.

There's a ride mistakenly called a "tram" in the arch - I did not know that.  Since it was called a "tram" it sounded fun.  Ahhhh, so innocent.  It was a pod of death - you are squeezed in a pod with 4 other people, elbow to elbow, knee to knee, racheting your way up 680 feet in the air.  Those of us with claustrophobic tendencies don't like pods without windows!!  We visualize...wide open vistas, and breathe slowly to survive the 4 minutes of torture!  But then, there is a reward:

Looking down at the park from the top

walking the curve at the top of the arch

Hot Springs was very interesting,  The former playground of the rich, famous, and infamous because of the "curative powers" of the water - both drinking in it and bathing in it.  Bathing was a multiple- stepped process that took several hours.  Today only 2 bath houses remain open, the others succumbed to knowledge - knowledge that penicillin cured more than their waters.  However, for a long time doctors did

 send people to "take the waters" and there was evidence it helped what ailed ya.  The water did filter up from the center of the earth and literally came out of hot springs on the surface.  Several springs still exist and there are public "fountains" where people can come fill containers of water.

one of those hot springs

 view out the back window - beautiful Lake Hamilton - so many houses with boat docks, so much envy!!  :)

 Same view, different day

men's room

November 14

Adding extra posts because the internet in this humble park is the best we have had so far and I have many things to share.  Thanks to those who leave comments because then I know SOMEONE is reading my blog.  It's kinda fun to know you look at my words and pics.  The blogs are for me too so I remember where I was and what I did.  When you see so much it's hard to remember everything - I now travel with a calendar so we remember where we have been.  That came in handy just today when Paul was talking with our credit card company - they had put a hold on our account until we went over some charges with them.  It's so funny, we've been traveling for weeks and all of a sudden  they notice.  I don't get it.

Places that we've seen and loved:

Harrison, Arkansas - Buffalo River National Park - beautiful - many elk - enjoyed a great zip line.

Whittaker Point  Most Photgraphed place in Arkansas

heard an elk bugle - gave me the shivers - so cool

featured on food network
shared table with motorcycle ridin couple

poor chloe - after 3 mi hike drank water laying down

best color in town at the cemetary!