Wednesday, July 31, 2019, Branson, MO Wrap

OK, I guess I might as well get this out upfront - Branson was not our kind of place. We gave it a shot but we are not really the type of people who enjoy spending big bucks on shows. That is not to say we did not enjoy our stay. The outdoor mall, Branson Landing, was interesting and we spent a little time listening to an outdoor concert while window shopping.

We especially enjoyed the College of the Ozarks, also known as "Hard Work U," where we had a very memorable dinner and explored the immaculate grounds. It's a tuition-free four-year university that allows students to work at one of more than 100 campus jobs or industries in lieu of tuition.

Keeter Center at College of the Ozarks

Probably more memorable than Branson was our trips to Springfield, MO, where we visited the very nice Springfield Botanical Gardens (although it was a very warm day for walking around outside).

The Askinosie Chocolate factory tour in Springfield, MO, was a unique experience where we learned way more about chocolate than we could have imagined. A retired lawyer with time on his hands started the business just because he found chocolate interesting.

David eats a little bit of a dark chocolate bar every night, but he prefers the 3 bars for $2.79 variety from Ikea.

By far, our favorite attraction, if I may use that word, was the Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield. It was larger than many malls we have visited and filled with history that could have easily filled more than a day of exploration.

Bass Pro Shop's national headquarters boasts nearly 500,000 square feet of shopping, museums and a restaurant.

Upstairs you will find a museum devoted to the history of Bass Pro Shops complete with a mockup of the liquor store where it all began.

That was one impressive alligator gar swimming around in his own little pool

This was one of the seven aquariums found throughout the store.

I loved the National Rifle Association Sporting Arms Museum. It had an amazing collection of arms and also an impressive collection of art. I also enjoyed the National Archery Hall of Fame Museum.

I did not realize there was such a connection between Bass Pro and NASCAR. I found the displays interesting but I'm sure real fans would have been even more impressed. 

Bass Pro Shops Motorsports Museum would thrill any NASCAR fan.

In Branson, we took in a couple of shows including "SIX." It was an a'Cappella group of six brothers that we found extremely impressive. We sat on the second row so we had an up-close and personal connection with the group and still had a difficult time understanding how all of that sound was just vocals. They had a delightful show filled with a wide variety of music almost everyone would enjoy.

We chose this show because our camp host recommended it and could get us tickets for $18 each (instead of $37). We were not disappointed.

Growing up in the 70's we were both fans of the group 3 Dog Night so we thought we would give it a shot. They really tried and we enjoyed the show but there was no way we could have believed we were actually listening to the real band.

As a bonus, I guess, to the 3 Dog Night show we were treated to Mick Jagger doing his greatest hits. Well, again there was no way to believe he was really Jagger but he clearly had studied the performer and did a good job of mimicking his movements and expressions so it was still enjoyable.

In summary, we enjoyed ourselves but it is highly unlikely we will ever find the desire for a return visit to Branson, MO.

Friday, July 19, 2019, Move to Turkey Creek RV Park in Holister, MO

Another pretty easy drive today to Hollister, MO (adjoining the south end of Branson, MO). We found a lot more hills than we were expecting on our 133.9 mile (94,530.0 total) drive. I mean to say they were serious hills. Not the continuous uphill climb you find out west but long enough to slow us down to 30 mph and 3rd gear. A few times I was caught behind even slower big rig trucks that had more trouble than us so we had the opportunity to go even slower.

We made it and managed the traffic through Branson to finally arrive at the Escapee's Turkey Creek RV Park. The park was right on the banks of Lake Taneycomo. Our site seemed a bit short and later, after getting leveled and hooked up we noticed the site map indicated our site was for a 36 foot, or shorter, RV. It was not worth the effort of moving so we stayed put.

There were quite a few open sites in the park and as we drove around town we noticed the crowd seemed to be less than we expected. Maybe it was the heat wave that kept everyone home but less traffic suited me. 

Tuesday, July 16, 2019, Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Camdenton, MO

Today's outing was a short drive to Ha Ha Tonka State Park in nearby Camdenton, MO. We drove right past the Visitor Center and through the park before finally turning around and finding it on the second pass. We had no idea how we missed it the first time. 

Ha Ha Tonka is probably most well known for the remains of a turn of the century castle within the park. The castle and carriage house, Robert McClure Snyder's dream vacation getaway, were destroyed by fire in 1942. The water tower, torched by vandals in 1976, was the best-preserved structure.

Not much of the carriage house remained but it was clear the building was huge - certainly larger than most homes of the day. The section below was less than a quarter of the building.

Robert Snyder envisioned a 60 room home with a central three and a half story atrium. He never saw the work completed. His sons scaled back the project and completed it after their father's death. Eventually, the property was leased as a hotel until it burned. I'm sure it was once spectacular!

Access to the ruins has been limited in recent years (safety concerns), so some views can only be seen in old photos.

In 1906, one year after construction began, Snyder was killed in one of Missouri's first automobile accidents.

His sons finally completed construction in 1922.

This is taken three years before the Bagnell Dam created the Lake of the Ozarks.

Consulting the map, I selected some easy hiking targets given the extreme heat. One such feature was identified only steps away from a parking area along Natural Bridge Road.

"Natural Bridge"

Our map showed a very short hike to our next feature as well. This was a lot more work, however, given the 75, or so, stairs. Balanced Rock was a rock and it was balanced on another rock but it paled in comparison to the balanced rock in Arches NP.

I decided to add this for a little scale. I would guess it stands about 6 feet tall.

I think the highlight of the day for Joani was spotting this little lizard. Well, that and getting back into the air-conditioned comfort of the car - it was the kind of day where you could not have been more wet if you were swimming in the lake.

Plestiodon fasciatus, Blue-tailed Skink

American five-lined skink - one of the most common lizards in the eastern U.S.

Most common!!! How have I never seen one?!

For me, this little guy was the highlight of the park!

At about 12 inches long and still a juvenile, he is bigger than wiki would lead us to expect.

Monday, July 15, 2019, Ozark Caverns, Ozark Lake State Park, Osage Beach, MO

The forecast today was for rain so we thought it would be a good day for caving. Ozark Caverns was only about a mile (as the crow flies) from our campsite at Lake of the Ozark State Park (in Brumley, MO) but since it was on the other side of the lake it was about a 30-mile drive. The drive actually went quicker than expected so we had to wait a while for the 11:00 am tour. We explored the exhibits explaining how the caves were formed and talked about traveling with some nice folks who were waiting on the same tour. There are 6,400 caves in Missouri which makes it understandable why Missouri is known as "The Cave State."

I spent some time trying to capture the hummingbirds that were flitting about the many feeders outside the visitor's center. They were so fast I pretty much snapped the shutter and then checked to see if I caught anyone in the frame. I was lucky with a few shots below.

There were only 8 people on our tour with Ranger Callie leading. Callie was very excited about caves and bats and it showed. She was well informed and made the tour quite enjoyable. Sadly their entire population of cave bats had been killed by white-nose syndrome.

The downside to the tour was that we could take absolutely nothing in the cave other than what we were wearing. Cameras, keys, wallets and anything else in our pockets had to be removed and locked up until we returned. With no camera, of course, we have no pictures inside the cave. I was also a bit dismayed to find the cave had no lighting other than what we would carry with us. We were each given a small rechargeable lantern that I cannot say provided enough light for my liking. They were certainly not what I would have chosen to explore a cave. The light was not directional and probably reached no more than 5 or 10 feet. So off we went with weak little toy lanterns by our sides, for an hour underground. I do wish we had thought ahead about a jacket or some long pants - caves can be a little cool after a while (it was a constant 56 degrees throughout the cave.) That sounds like a lot of downsides, but obviously, we survived and enjoyed our tour.

It was an active cave with a lot of water still creating stalactites, stalagmites, straws and curtains. The caves most impressive feature was "Angel Showers" which rained many gallons of water per minute into a feature they named the bathtub for obvious reasons. The picture below, hanging in the welcome center, was the only photographic memory we have of our spelunking adventure.

An unusual "shower-head and bathtub" formation called Angel Showers. Anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 gallons of water a day cascades from the cavern ceiling through thousands of straws landing in a calcite "tub" formation. Only fourteen of these formations are known to exist.

In several places the cave was so tight you had a difficult time turning your head and there was quite a bit of ducking required along the way. Ranger Callie found a couple examples of cave life on our tour including a frog that must have wandered in and lost its way out. Fortunately, nothing felt the need to crawl on me or there might have been a lot of screaming and a complete freakout!

Friday, July 12, 2019, Bagnell Dam, Lake of the Ozarks, MO

We drove to Bagnell Dam today, only about 14 miles from our campsite at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. It was completed in 1931 and created the Lake of the Ozarks. It was not on par with a few of those great dams out west but it was still pretty impressive. They were lowering the lake level after the recent rains so the downstream level was pretty high as well.

As we were looking at the rush of water, we noticed fish jumping. Not just a few and not just a few inches. There were hundreds of fish jumping and they were jumping three feet or more out of the water. Next to the dam, we spotted some huge fish. We estimated some of them were more than four feet in length. I don't know what kind of fish they were but they were clearly eating well or maybe they had been around a long time.

The Willmore Lodge was built overlooking the lake just after the dam was completed. It was now the Visitor's Center and the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. It included a small museum highlighting development in the area, and of course, construction of Bagnell Dam.

I was surprised to see the grizzly hide on the wall since there were never grizzlies in the area. I'm sure a decorator found it at an estate sale somewhere and thought it would make the perfect addition to the lodge. 

The Lake of the Ozarks, including 180 miles of channel and more than 1,100 miles of shoreline was clearly a popular attraction for boaters and vacationers in Missouri.