[2011 missouri ozarks]
We left home at 7:30am and drove until 5:30 pm. We had been excitedly anticipating seeing our family friends for months! We couldn’t wait to see them again! After arriving and unloading we played with some toys, ate some pizza, and happily collapsed into bed.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
We left our friends’ home at 7:30 this morning. We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to make it all the way home, but the kids did a great job entertaining themselves today. We are at nine and a half hours in the car and almost home and we are happy to report there have been no major meltdowns. Scott timed the rest area breaks well and we even played briefly at a park after our lunchtime break at a McDonald’s play land. Speaking of the play land. We originally stopped at the McDonald’s in Litchfield. Just in case you are headed that way, their play area is harder to get to than usual. See pile below.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
The picnic table was a great place for the kids to eat their meals. The cute little Miss who shared her very fun playroom with us.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
Scott started the day out with his first 20 mile bike ride since his accident. He enjoyed getting himself lost amongst the farm fields and rolling hills. The GPS helped him find his way back.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
On the recommendation of our friends’ father we set off for James River Southwest of Springfield, about 45 minutes away from our friends’ house. Once again our friends were incredibly generous with their time and drove us out to the put in and then drove Scott to the take out to drop off the van and back to the put in. Below is the information Scott gave me on the canoeing trip details.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
We started the day with a visit to the Science Center in Springfield, MO. We spent most of our time between the water table and this room. Cody loved the digger and a pulley that was attached to a bucket to bring up large Lego bricks. The picture below on the right was a vacuum hose pushing out air which would play music and push up a spinning disk depending on what hole you put the air into.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
After the cave tour we headed to the closest camp ground. We ate one of our favorite meals of tortillas, black beans, canned chicken, and cheese. Scott added a little Tabasco Sauce which made Brooke crinkle up her nose a bit and Cody kept wiping off his tongue trying to get rid of the burning sensation. We might have to leave out the Tabasco Sauce for everyone but Scott next time, but since he was the chef and the kitchen cleaning staff we gobbled it up and contemplated our next move. Brooke wanted to camp right where we were. Scott and I were sweating profusely just sitting still. Brooke and Cody kept themselves busy playing in the water while Scott suggested something I never thought I would hear coming from his mouth, “Let’s get a hotel.” We spent 77 days traveling through Canada and Alaska last year and there were plenty of times I would have loved to get out of the cold or the rain, but we spent 75 days in a tent, one night in the van, and one night in an abandoned church. No nights were spent in a hotel. Brooke was begging to camp, but in the end the lure of sleeping without sweating and the opportunity to shower proved to be too strong to allow another night of camping.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
Back “on the road again,” I hear Willie singing in my head as I paint an outline of the adventure we will see on this year’s road trip. His internal tune comes rolling to a stop about 30 miles into the trip when we hit our first Wal-Mart. Those of you who know us realize that we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to our quest to visit every Wal-Mart in the country.
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[2011 missouri ozarks]
Horseshoe Lake sunset around eight o’clock Saturday night.
[2011 missouri ozarks]
We weren’t intending to stop at Starved Rock on this trip, but I love Starved Rock and don’t get enough chances to go out there. Starved Rock was the first place Scott and I camped together at. We camped in January, we were the only campers in the entire campground and almost all of the waterfalls were completely frozen ice sculptures. That was in January 1997. The next and last time I had the opportunity to hike around and camp in the area was with three teachers during the summer of 2003. It was nice to be able to share the experience with the whole family this time. Brooke loved the waterfall we saw. We are also excited to report that even with all those stairs she never cried or complained once, not even when she almost fell off a bridge. She was close to crying, but then I slipped with Cody in the backpack and we almost went splat, so she helped momma to remember to “walk it off.” Scott just had shoulder surgery last month so he was not a candidate for carrying the backpack today. Although, another gentleman suggested Scott should take a turn too. 
