Roaring River S.P MO

The weather was just perfect in the morning and as we are not the type of people to sit put even if it is on a pictures Beaver Lake we took off to visit Roaring  River S.P in Missouri just 25 miles away.

As many MO S.P this one too has a beautiful C.G ,cabins for rent,fish hatchery, Spring and a modern inn.

We visited the Spring and saw the video that was taken in 1979 when divers explored the deep pool made by the cave.

 

This Spring gushes more than 20 million gallons of water daily and the pool is 215 feet deep.

The is also a fisherman heaven ,easy to park ,pull a chair and go fishing in a very green peaceful surroundings.

 

On the way we meet this colourful shy lizard that dashed under the wooden boards  immediately after his picture was taken.

 

Close to 14PM as we were on our way to a botanic garden near Eureka Springs but a sudden change of the weather and strong winds made us change our minds and we made it in time to the C.G to pull in the awning before it fly's to unknown destination as happened to another unlucky camper in the C.G.

That’s how the Lake  looked after we got in the 5W  and dried ourselves.

  

It was all over in 2 hours and we are back to “normal”…

Eureka Springs & Beaver Lake C.O. C.G AR

The C.O.E C.G are usually located near to a dam and a lake ,they also have electrical and sometimes also water hook ups ,so we chose to camp on C.O.E C.G on Beaver Lake just 10 miles from Eureka Springs AR.

Our site was on the “Island” and I think that the pictures tell it all,what a great beautiful C.G ,clear water,great views and only 10$ for seniors.

Our site was few feet from the water and had only electrical connection,but the site was unlevelled and I had to use 3 boards on one side of the trailer to get it right.

There is a lot of activities on the lake mainly water-skiing and other fast boats running from one side to the other.

The evenings are just peaceful with great sunsets ,so after the evening swim we took a stroll through the C.G catching some beautiful sunset shots.

     

The bugs were not to bad to have a dinner outdoors watching the boats go by ..

                   

The next day was dedicated to Eureka Springs and the close area, the town is very beautiful but very difficult to get around with a car, parking is very difficult to find  near the major attractions  , the other options are to use meters (if you find a parking space) or leave the car at a central location and use the tourist trolley (for both you must pay).

Walking around this hilly town is not a preferred option in a hot humid day, but looking at the map we just got at the tourist center we found that there are many “springs” and after finding a parking spot went Spring hunting by foot BUT they were very hard to find and local people were no help…we finally saw a guy watering a small garden and he told us that when we see some other like this garden it is a SPRING, and not knowing we were standing exactly next to one…there was a table too…but no water although it is a “Spring” –and so were all the others …so we finally understood that Spring is not the “thing” in Eureka Springs…

 

Our next stop was to Pivot & Natural Bridge Park,a nice private short hike to see the “miracles”

  

It took us an hour and we were out of there to visit the Thorncrown Chapel nestled in a woodland setting , it rises 48 feet into the Ozark sky . This magnificent wooden structure contains 425 windows and over 6000 square feet of glass.

   

This visit to the  peaceful and inspirational place ended our adventures for the day –great finale.

Branson MO

From the peace and quite on Forklake AR to the busy tourist trap in Branson,but sometimes you want to dive into a tourist trap it is like getting lost in the right direction…

We settled down for 3 nights in a  very nice P.A C.G just 10 Miles from downtown,it has a pool,clean bathrooms,full hook ups and the last but not the least WIFI.

In the next morning we took a short drive to the tourist information located next to the dam on Table Rock Lake,collected information and saw an impressive video how the dam was built.

 

The C.G help us pick Rankin Brothers  show out of a long list of shows that are showing now in the town.

As we had time on our hands till the show starts we decided to visit the Historic Down Town and Branding Landing on  Lake Taneycomo,great place to walk just keep the C.C deep in the pocket…

 

American Idol had their contest in town but we could see only the bus

On the way to the theater we saw a place that sells reduced show tickets,the guy explained that he will give us tickets to another 2 shows if we attend a 90 minutes sales presentation for a time share,the calculation said :“148 US$(4 tickets) for 90 minutes” –we are on…

So on the next morning a very nice sales agent made an effort to sell us a time share with no success and we left with tickets to 2 shows and a voucher for 3 days in one of their resorts-not bad.

3 Red Neck Tenors was our first  2 PM  show, the gentleman had a great voice and we had fun.

Till 7:30PM we did some shopping and went to our 3RD show in 2 days…this time it was Billy Dean and the Horses that gave us 2 full great hours of old country with some funny entertaining parts in between.

        

Now that we got our laundry done and got our share of “culture” while playing tourists we are ready again to go back to “real” camping…and that also means we might not have internet in the next 3-4 days and the posts will be posted later when we hit “civilization” again.

Blanchard Springs AR

On our last day camping at Forklake C.O.E we took a day trip to Blanchard Springs ,a hidden jewel just North of Mountain View AR and the Azark Folk Center.

On the way we crossed a long bridge on the Forklake driving South towards Calico Rock AR.

Calico Rock AR is nestled on the White River and was once a blooming town  but after a huge fire in 1923 became close to a ghost town ,trying very hard to bounce back, but I must say there is a pleasant atmosphere in the Historic small town of Calico Rock.

There is a very nice museum and a visitor center ,but very few people are seen around,we could easily stand in the middle of the Main str. and take this shot.

 

We were approached by a real estate agent that tried to sell us a Motel and/or house sleeping 15 people ,but it did not work for us,so if someone is interested I still have his business card. ..

We did find a nice place for a quick picnic along the river and we were happy to bring some food with us as there is no place in town that one could get something to eat, so here is a thought –open a restaurant….

We continued South on a scenic HWY towards Blanchard Springs, it must have been a real secret as there were no signs along the deserted HWY , we almost turned around but saw a promising sign on the HWY exactly 2 miles from the Spring.

The first part of the Springs is seen from the road with no warning what so ever ,no sign or a parking area indicated that this is a place we should stop to see the old mill and the waterfall,what gave us the clue were 2 cars parking along the road.

We took a short unmarked 1/2 mile trail that leaded under the bridge and to the bottom of the waterfall passing this old mill , we were alone on the trail when others stayed on the platform above the falls and missed the best part.

On the way I was asked by Shula to take a picture  of these flowers , seeing them now I am happy I did.

   

Walking further along the creek we reached the source of the spring and I must say that it sure was a very beautiful corner in the whole park that also accommodates a big cave which we did not visit .

 

Although we are only 5 days in Arkansas but I already started to like it very much….

I am sure Sandie will be happy to finally see Waterfall and I can promise more will follow.

That’s it for today

Bull Shoal White River S.P AR

Just 20 Miles from Forklike where we are camping lies another big water body Bull Shoal White River S.P and this was our destination on the following day including some small towns to complete a 60 miles round trip.

      

Here to the C.O.E has a nice C.G ,some along the river bank and some higher on the grass, fishing is the main thing here and people walk with fishing gear are seen all over the place.

After a short picnic we continued towards the river Dam and the Tourist Center that had in the garden many bird feeders.

 

On the way back we stopped in a small town that goes by the name of Cotter but it has a nice spring and an old bridge over the river.

 

Taking the back roads rather than HWY’s always give us to discover the local jewels.

Nothing better to end the day with a nice romantic dinner with wine and a sunset.