Snapshots of the Ozarks

Well, my list of job titles got a little longer recently when I added yet another duty: Chauffeur. 

It wasn't by choice, but by necessity.  Actually it was my invincible husband's fault--he broke his vincible leg.  Apparently he's not superhuman after all.  Who knew?! 

But on the bright side, we now know what his cryptonite is: black ice...which is what he slipped on during the last winter storm of the season, and is also what left him all casted-up and unable to drive.

So instead of spending my early Spring days working around the homestead, I've been driving my husband around to appointments and meetings...because I love him.  And I applaud his desire to continue on with life's obligations, even if it now involves crutches and a cute little medical scooter from which he occasionally takes a tumble. 

(He's getting the hang of it now, though--thanks to your prayers.  And no thanks to my giggles.)

The past few days found us in the nearby Lake of the Ozarks area, with hubby Geoffrey scooting from meeting to meeting and Will and I killing bits and pieces of time in between.  We decided to use that time wisely by briefly visiting the local attractions closest to wherever we dropped hubby off, and our first stop just happened to be a place I wrote about back in the fall...

Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  With only a 1/2 hour to spend, we pulled into the parking lot and headed straight for the nearest ruin--the carriage house.  We followed the path that runs along the backside of the structure, which gave us a view that I hadn't seen before.  (That's usually the case when we're talking about backsides, now that I think about it.  Shall we move on?)

This place never fails to give me pause, and I always seem to get lost contemplating the devastation of what was basically the turn-of-the century version of a modern-day garage.  Only much larger-- the picture doesn't even show half of it!

This time, however, I got distracted when I spotted a pretty little clump of Sweet Williams growing midst the ruins.  Fittingly, I stuck my Sweet William next to them and quickly snapped a photo. 

How could I not?

On closer inspection I realized the flowers were not actually Sweet William, but Wild Verbena.  Oh well.  They're still pretty, and they just happened to be growing close by something very intriguing...

A real true-life Ozark tree stump. Okay, so maybe it's not that fascinating, but it did inspire me to do this:

Which then inspired Will to do this:

We were soaring like eagles.  Stumps have that effect on us.  And then it was time to move on.

We picked Geoffrey up, dropped him off, and dashed on over to the nearby Lake of the Ozark State Park.  There, with snacks in hand, we crossed the bridge to the picnic area.  And when we reached the other side we noticed this sign:

With the utmost respect for the powers that be who erected the sign, I couldn't resist doing this:

Feeding my silly goose by the "No goose feeding allowed" sign.  I couldn't not.

(Disclaimer:  No animals were harmed in the process.)

Once snacktime was over, we walked further down the path and low and behold, we came across this:

Another stump.  Unbelievable!  Or not.  It is the Ozarks, after all.  There are a few trees here.

So I decided to try something different with this one:

Creative, huh?  Don't answer me.  Just look at this next photo.

Because Will's the creative one.  All I said was "Hey Will, do something interesting.", and he turned around, picked up two sticks, hopped up on the stump, and posed like an Indian warrior braced for battle. 

Is that Hollywood I hear calling?

Nope, it's just my husband ringing to let me know it's time to pick him up again. 

To make a long post even longer, the next day found us continuing our adventures by visiting Bagnell Dam, where after watching an old episode of River Monsters the night before, we decided to search for that elusive Giant Catfish rumored to be residing in the murky waters of the Osage River.

Except you need a boat to do that.  So we settled for intensely scrutinizing the swirling waters from the safety of the legal side of the line.

But the only thing we spotted was a happy fisherman, who politely took a break from not catching any fish to snap our picture.

I have no idea what the expression on my face is, but Will looks like he outta be in a jcrew catalog.  Or maybe I'm just a proud mama...

Who, after jumping back in the car and picking up my other half (once again), headed to the capital city with family in tow.  One of whom said family members just happens to be a small-town mayor who needed to visit the Missouri State Capital.  On crutches.  That's him in the corner.

So while my elected official took care of business, Will and I toured the building, admiring the glorious murals and awe-inspiring architecture...

And discovering this incredibly cool Union soldier's drum on display in the Civil War exhibit. 

It was perfect for us history-loving folks, and it capped off a whirlwind tour of our local area that we probably wouldn't have otherwise undertaken if it hadn't been for that fateful final winter storm.

And yes, we were exhausted. 

I'm obviously not as young as I used to be.  Did I mention I turned 40 in the middle of all this excitement?   Well I did.  And to be quite honest, I enjoyed it immensely.  After all, I got to celebrate a milestone birthday by racing around our beautiful neck of the woods at breakneck speed--family in tow. 

It was wonderful.  And it was a great kick-off to my next forty years!  (And then some, I hope.)

But for now I believe I'll just sit right down here on these rocks and rest for a spell. 

I think I earned it.