HTBT: Waves and Caves

David and me at the Finley River in Ozark, MO

storm and geese rolling in

cattails against Table Rock Lake

grabbing some Paulownia leaves for Sherryl's project

Fall is in the air in the Ozarks! Still a little warm -- 80's/90's -- but the nights are getting cooler. Love the mountains!

turtle on Lakeshore Trail

prob a water snake

Rocky listening to his Daddy (Jerri and George's new mh)

9-24-13: After getting flu shots this morning, Rocky and I enjoyed a great walk on Lakeshore Trail. He was oblivious to the turtle and snake we saw on the trail. The snake hurried off the trail before I could get a good pic. But I got him slithering through the rocks. Didn't see any tarantulas on our walk, but we're seeing a lot of them on the roads now. So cool. Jerri and George arrived at Table Rock State Park today in their new rig! So beautiful. And I'm so excited to have my bestie here for a couple of weeks.

Brad and Terri taking a dam tour

Brad, Terri, me, David in front of the San Francisco Trolley

Brad and Terri survived the dam tour

Terri's new ride

This morning we enjoyed a dam tour with our Branson peeps, Brad and Terri. They own the great little consignment store -- Clothing Exchange -- in Branson Meadows. Brad is also a hypnotist. One of these days, Brad!

Chinese Acrobats after the show

This afternoon Jerri & George went with us to see the Chinese Acrobats. Great show and really makes me hurt!

Jerri and me fixin' to hike the Lost Valley Trail in Buffalo River Nat'l Park

heading on up the trail

this trail has magnificent trees: beech, oak, locusts, hickory, sweetgum ball, pawpaw

nature's picture frame

magnificent rock formations, too

I love a hot date in the woods

on some of the many boulders on this trail

hi - doo

my cute feller

made it to Natural Bridge

could've explored this one little spot all morning

George beat us to this spot -- see him?

Jerri and George

David and me

David's caption: Better View ..... of the natural bridge

a little climbing involved

David and I went on to Eden Falls

a kazillion rock steps

beautiful bluffs

the Falls area was gorgeous -- a little trickle

Pileated Woodpeckers were sounding protective of this area

9-26-13: Jerri and George introduced us to Lost Valley Trail near Boxley Valley in the Buffalo River Nat'l Park. What a wonderful trail! Huge trees and boulders were awesome throughout the trail. It's a must-do again!

David and me at the "AR Grand Canyon"

Jerri and George at the Cliff House Cafe

Afterwards we looped around south to hit hwy 7, then headed north a bit to the Cliff House Cafe (Grand Canyon of Arkansas) for a late lunch and Compny's Comin' Pie -- the state pie of AR.

George and Jerri at Pruitt's Landing

the highway 7 bridge at Pruitt's Landing

Stopped at Pruitt's Landing to soak in the beauty of the Buffalo River

the first year I met these ladies : Sarah, Dee, and Ann

near Slumgullion Pass in CO w/ sweet Ann

9-27-13: Our sweet RV friend, Ann Crossman, died this morning. Ann was one of the first ladies I played cards with in the hill country. She and Dee taught me how to play Hand and Foot, and Pennies from Heaven (Panties). You will be missed by many, my friend.

Blues Brothers --- and Sista

Elwood, Jerri, George, and Jake

watch those hands, George

I think this is the real Elvis

Smack!

The four of us went to Legend's this afternoon. Always a fun show! Today they had tributes to the young Elvis, old Elvis, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, and Blues Brothers.

David spotted this couple enjoying Scott's bench on Lakeshore Trail

Lady Liberty in the daytime

Rocky thinks the Razorback games this year are sleepers

David warns Leah to never give me a mic

David has no idea why I'm taking this pic at work-- do you see why?

Just a few misc pix above around the Dewey and the campsite.

Gala and her hippie at Ozark, MO city park

a sign on Finley River

Buttonbush

careful, Allan1

the lovebirds

Bass Pro owns this old mill and area around it on the Finley

hard to tell in the pic, but the mill bldg is tin

bridge over the Finley River

cool tree along the river

interesting part of the trail under the road

9-29-13: After STUFFING ourselves at Lambert's for lunch, Gala, Allan, David, and I went for a walk around Ozark, Mo's city park that runs along Finley River. Perfect weather! Then we headed off to Smallin Civil War Cave.

our tour guide, Kevin, getting ready to lead us through Smallin Cave

brief stop in Fielden Cave

still excavating this one

headin in

little hole in the wall

David checking out the huge opening to this civil war cave

a lotta ferns growing at the mouth of the cave

and some moss

inside looking out

silhouettes of Allan and Gala

plaque from previous owners

easy access

Indian Staircase

writings on the wall

we're being watched

pickerel frog and bullfrog

The Tooth

this ancient critter left a long trail across the ceiling of the cave

marker, or thong, tree

David catching the view on the way out

Gala's artwork on Allan's shed

steel powerline poles near Allan's place -- over 100 yrs old we think

single lane bridge near Allan's -- hoping our dually will make it through

single lane bridge near the cave

Wonderful tour of the Smallin Civil War Cave. It's a super easy walk, and only about an hour total. We saw Bristly Cave Crayfish -- white, pickerel frogs, bullfrog (which won't last long in a cave), a bat, historic Indian marking and drawings on the rock as well as Civil War and pioneer writings, and heard about the fox that sometimes frequent the inside of the cave. Very interesting stuff. Enjoyed a beautiful drive through some of the Mark Twain Nat'l Forest afterwards. Beautiful day with beautiful friends!

Below are some of David's fog pix around the dam and the Dewey. Guess they would be David's dam fog pix.