Southeastern Missouri Surprises

     I've been to Missouri before, but never the southeastern part of the state. This lower quarter of the state is very unlike the rest of the state; definitely more scenic. I love their country roads in and around the Mark Twain National Forest.

     And I love driving by the large pastures of cows and horses, tucked away in the valleys.

     They say the best things in life are free, and that's true about campgrounds, too. I was the sole camper at McCormack Lake Recreation Area's campground, no fees and no services.

     The lake was actually a wetlands type pond with cattails and many songbirds.

     I sat on a bench and listened to a multitude of songbirds for about 45 minutes. There was not one second of silence. When the sun disappeared over the tree line, the frogs in the pond joined in the concert. It was heavenly and I didn't feel alone at all.

     The next day, I drove to the Current River, a favorite riverway for paddlers. But as I suspected, it wasn't navigable due to all the recent rains.

     So I contented myself with a hike on the Pulltite Nature Trail at the Pulltite Campground.

     Missouri has lots of caves. Although it was closed temporarily due to all the rains, I took a hike to the Round Spring Cave. The cave is almost one-half mile long inside! Maybe on my return in September, I'll stop by this cave again.

     The weather in Arkansas and Missouri by the way has been cool lately; low 40s at nights and mid-60s during the day. Wonderful hiking and traveling weather. I'm also not worrying about meats and eggs going bad without refrigeration for three days. So I've been splurging on deluxe meals made on La Lair's propane stove; corn tortillas wrapped around kale, sausage and egg omelette sprinkled with cheese powder. Very yummy and very non-gluten.

     Next week, I'll be loosely following the Ohio River to West Virginia. My traveling life is alot like this butterfly I saw on the Pulltite Nature Trail. Soon after I took its photograph today, it flitted away in a haphazard flight direction and pfiff, it was gone in an instant.