Lake of the Ozarks State Park - Kaiser, MO and thereabouts

The morning of May 28, I awoke to pouring down rain in St. Louis.  This was not a good omen for my pending camping trip in the Ozarks.  I moved a bit more slowly than I would have had it not been raining, but I still had hope that the weather forecast was better in Kaiser, MO – the location of Lake of the Ozarks State Park.  I headed downstairs and checked my e-mail and the weather forecast again while I ate breakfast.  Luckily, the skies were clear in Kaiser – the camping trip was still on.

I also had an e-mail from my dad regarding my car registration.  Naturally, the title didn’t come before I left Ohio, so I still needed to register my car there and get license plates.  My dad had sent me the paperwork that would allow him to register my car on my behalf, so I needed to make a quick stop at Kinko’s before heading out of town.

With the car packed and my car paperwork taken care of, I headed out, or rather, tried to head out.  The direction I had me trying to take 64 west, but it was closed.  Scott had told me about this issue already, but I had forgotten.  Coming across the barriers quickly jogged my memory, so I headed to 44 west instead.  A few extra mile and a few extra minutes and I was finally on my way.  It rained for the first couple of hours of my drive, so I was starting to wonder if I had made the right decision, but once I was finally able to see the skies clearing up a bit ahead of me I felt better.

It took me about 3 hours to get to Kaiser.  I stopped at a grocery store and bought some sausages and ice for the cooler (I had already stocked my smores supplies).  I was bound and determined to have a camp fire for cooking dinner.  I was going on pure determination that I would actually be able to start a fire.  With all of the rain that had occurred over the last couple of days, I was a bit concerned that the wood would be damp, compounding the fact that I hadn’t started a fire on my own since my Girl Scout days.

I got to the camp site around 2 and picked out my spot.  It was in the back with a view of the lake.  Most of the campers already at the park were back in this area as well, so it felt like there were a lot of people around.  After I set up my tent (well, Scott’s tent) and ate lunch, I set off in search of kindling to help start my fire later that evening.  I gathered up what I thought was a decent amount and laid it out on the bench of my picnic table with the hopes that it would dry out a bit more before I needed it.  I had purchased a couple of bundles of wood from the camp store on my way in and had been pleased to see that they were stored in a shed.  Surely, they must be dry.

I decided to spend my afternoon hiking on a trail that had a crossing near my campsite.  It was called the Lake View Bend trail.  Whatever, it was a really nice hike.  I took my time on my way out enjoying nature and taking a bunch of photographs.  I was startled by a deer that I had apparently startled.  She (at least I think it was a she) was nearly as curious about me as I was about her, so she didn’t stray all that far from me.  We stared at each other for a while, and I tried to take pictures of her.  It was a bit dark where we were at, so they didn’t come out all that well.  I eventually came across another the trail, the Fawn’s Ridge trail, so I started following it.  It was only okay, a lot of it was close enough to the main road back into the park that I could see the traffic when it came by.  It was also handicap accessible, so it was wide, flat, and had gravel neatly placed on it.  When I came across a fork in the road, I opted to leave that path and take the road less traveled.  Also, it was marked as a connector trail back to the Lake View Bend trail, so it served the dual purpose of getting me back to my campsite.

My return was much quicker than the way out and I wasn’t quite ready to start my attempts at making fire, so I decided to explore the camp grounds a bit to see what all was around.  I found a couple of shower houses and a beach with a roped off swimming area.  While the beach wasn’t anything spectacular, the swimming area was large.  The road cordoning it off from the rest of te lake was a decent distance from the shore to give me hope that the depth was sufficient for swimming and it ran for a good 150-200 yards.  I was very glad I had purchased swim gear while I was in Ohio and had brought it with me to the park.  An open water swim was definitely on the agenda for Friday.

The deer that I startled and in turn startled me.  It's eyes look kind of creepy in this photo.

When I returned to my campsite, I met one of the occupants of a nearby site, Jason.  We got to chatting – it turns out he his riding his motorcycle around the country – and I invited him over to share my campfire that evening.  Thankfully he returned while I was trying to get the fire started.  My recollections from Girls Scouts were not very good and I was having some issues.  I’d like to believe they were due more so to the fact that the fire wood I had purchased was wet (so much for the storage shed) as opposed to my actual fire making abilities.  I’m going to keep telling my self that.  I was able to get the kindling lit, but the logs were not catching fire very well.  The supply of kindling I had collected earlier in the day was quickly being depleted, so it was great to have Jason around to help gather more.  I think having two people on the job is the only thing that was able to keep things going.  I think it took us an hour to finally having a fire going that wasn’t going to go out on us.  Dinner was spared!  And more importantly, there would be smores!  Our fire never got to the roaring stage, Jason called it a Charlie Brown fire, but it did its job.  Being the “fire” that it was, it was pretty much out by 9:30, but the darkness gave us a great view of the stars.  It’s amazing what darkness and no electricity can do because by 10:00 I was yawning.  Jason and I said goodnight, and I headed off to bed.

I woke up around 8 on Friday morning and took my time getting out of bed.  The tent was starting to heat up, so I couldn’t go quite as slowly as I might have liked.  I ate breakfast and hopped in the car in search of the caves that were supposedly located somewhere in the park.  Yes, I drove, it’s a really big park.  I searched the area that the campsites are located in, but didn’t see a single sign for the caverns, so I headed out of that section of the park.  The ladies at the grocery store had told me that there were multiple entrances, so I though I’d give the other one they had told me about a go.  I got into that section of the park, and the only things it contained were a beach and some boating stuff.  Hmm, maybe I had missed something back in the part of the park the campsites were in, so I headed back that way.  As I was re-entering this portion of the park, I saw a map and thought that perhaps it might be useful to take a look at it.  Sure enough, I quickly located the caverns.  There are apparently 3 distinct pieces of the park, all with separate entrances, and I had been to the two that the caverns were not in.  There were a couple of ways it looked like I could get to the part with the caverns, one was via a dotted line that wasn’t too far from my current location and the other was via a solid line not any where near my current location.  I wasn’t exactly sure what the difference was between the dotted and solid lines, so I opted for the closer one.  As soon as I got there, it became clear, dotted meant dirt road.  It looked to be in reasonably good shape, so I thought I’d venture down it a ways to see if it stayed that way.  I should back up here and mention that the name of the road was Swaying Bridges Road or something like that, and sure enough a couple of miles in I came to a suspension bridge.  It had a sign saying 15 ton maximum weight.  I sat in my car and debated what my next move should be.  I wasn’t very keen on the idea of driving across the bridge even though I was fairly certain that my car was under the weight limit.  The bridge was short, so I was finally able to work up enough nerve to drive across it.  I did not like it, nor did I like the idea that I now had to drive across it again to get back to the other side.  But, now that I was on the other side, onward ho.  It wasn’t long before I turned a corner and before me lay another suspension bridge, but this one was at least four times longer than the first one.  That was it, no way.  I was able to turn my car around and decided I would take the solid line route no matter how far away it was.  After seeing that second bridge, getting back across the first one didn’t seem so bad.

It took me about another half an hour, but I finally made it to the caverns.  I grabbed my camera and headed down to the visitor center to see about going inside of them.  Denied!  The two girls working at the visitor center quickly informed me that the caves were only open on the weekends until June, but I could come back Saturday if I wanted.  Little did they know, I am heading back to St. Louis on Saturday and didn’t quite feel like tacking another hour on to the drive.  After all of that, I’m not even going to get to see them!  There was a mile long hiking trail near the caverns, so all was not lost.  It was a really nice trail.  There were several bridges to cross, I saw another deer, lots of butterflies, and lots of flowers.  I wish it would have been longer than a mile.

The entrance to the Ozark Caverns

Hiking trail near the caverns

I thought this tree was pretty neat.  Most of the branches are growing straight up toward the sun.

I headed back to the camping section of the park with the plan to eat lunch in a picnic area and hike another trail.  My route back detoured through Andy’s Frozen Custard for a caramel sundae – yummy!  With my appetite sufficiently spoiled, I stopped at a trailhead without a picnic area and headed out.  I was met by a sign about a hundred yards in warning of a tick problem and advising me to wear insect repellent, so back to the car I went.  I grabbed a granola bar as a just in case my appetite came back snack as well.  I also locked my car, which I had forgotten to do the first time I set off.  Thank you sign.  I got a little farther down the trail this time and there was a fork.  I opted for the route that went directly into the woods, instead of the wider, more open, trail I was currently on.  I wasn’t on this trail for long though because it was incredibly muddy.  I turned around with the hopes of better luck on the original trail.  It was muddy too, so I headed for the trail across the street from where I parked.  It was a swamp.  Perhaps hiking was not in the cards for me.  I drove a little farther into the park and stopped at a picnic area to have lunch.  I played on the swings for a while.  I can’t remember the time I played on swings, but they are quite fun and exhilarating.  I’m so glad I stopped to do that for a bit.  I then went in search of hiking trail off of the picnic area, but there wasn’t one, so I ended up back at the campsite.  By this time it was 3 in the afternoon and it was very warm, about 80, so a swim sounded perfect.  But before I did that, I wanted to get things prepared for the evening’s campfire.  This time I took a bag with me to load up with kindling and dry leaves – I wasn’t messing around this time.  I also set my logs for the evening out in the sun with the hopes that they would dry out.

Andy's Frozen Custard - how could I not stop?

I changed into my swimsuit inside of my tent.  Not a good idea for so many reasons.  It was sweltering in there, so I could barely get my suit on over my sticky, sweaty body, plus there isn’t a whole lot of space in there to maneuver.  I’m glad no one could see me because I can assure you it was not a pretty site.  Once I was in my suit and lathered with sunscreen, I headed off to the beach with my goggles, swim cap, and showering supplies for afterwards.  The swim felt great but was a bit pitiful compared to what I am used to swimming.  I haven’t swam at all since the end of February and I felt every bit of that 3 month hiatus.  My arms were aching for the first out and back (I was swimming along the swimming area rope), so I stretched for a bit before attempting a second go at it.  The second out and back felt better, but I could already tell I was getting tired.  I decided I would do another, but by the end of that one my arms felt like Jell-O and I was done for the day.  I used to be able to swim for an hour or more without even thinking about it, but now 20 minutes poops me out.  I need regular access to a pool again soon.

My campsite

The view of the lake from my campsite

The beach

Fire making on Friday night went much smoother than the night before.  Thank goodness because Jason was not around when I was trying to start it, so I was on my own.  I think laying the logs out in the sun helped a lot, plus I had an over abundance of kindling to work with.  I again had sausages for dinner and smores for dessert.  I love campfire food.  Jason returned and joined me for smores, and we sat up chatting until 11:00 when we said our goodbyes and headed to bed.  I’m really glad I met him.  I enjoyed the solitude of hiking and camping by myself, but it was really nice to have someone to communicate with a bit.

I woke around 8:00 Saturday morning and tore down my camp.  I reached Scott’s place back in St Louis around noon.  He should get back from Philly sometime between 7 and 8 tonight.  I think we are going to take his Mustang out to the wineries tomorrow.  It should be fun.

St. Louis - Part I

On Saturday, May 23 I left my sister's in Columbus and headed for my friend Scott's in St. Louis, MO.  It took about 7 hours but didn't feel that long.  My Prius drove fantastically, and I averaged around 49 mpg (made it on less than a tank of gas and my tank is only 11.9 gallons - this car rocks!).  I stopped for lunch in, well, I can't remember.  I even made a point to remember where it was, and now I can't even remember if it was in Indiana or Illinois.  Wait, I paid with a credit card, I bet the receipt says where it was - Greenfield, IN.  I feel better now.  Anyways, I got a really good pulled pork BBQ sandwich for less then $8, so if you ever find yourself in Geenfield, IN, I highly recommend it.  It definitely beat any of the chain restaurant options at that exit (and there were a lot of them).

The Smokin' Hog - Greenfiled, IN.  Naturally, I chose this place based solely on the name.  Luckily, the food was good too.

I came across this in Effingham, IL.  The thing is touted to be the largest cross in the world and stands at an ostentatious 198 ft. tall.

I rolled into Scott's neighborhood around 6PM, quickly unloaded a few things, and the two of us were back out the door and headed to Forest Park.  We picked up some things for a picnic and then headed for Shakespeare in the Park.  They were putting on The Merry Wives of Windsor.  Neither of us were familiar with this play prior to this evening, but I think we would have caught on faster if weren't for the fact that the four women in the play may have well have been two sets of twins.  There were two red heads (a married woman and a maid) and two brunettes (a married woman and her single daughter).  The two brunettes gave us the most trouble because they never appeared on stage together during the first act and we thought they were the same person, thus confusing us on the whole married/single thing.  They were finally on stage together at the beginning of the second act and we finally had our aha moment and everything became clear.

On Sunday we went for a run in Forest Park and then headed to a Cardinals game.  It was a lot of fun.  It's always fun when the fans are into the game and Cardinals fans are definitely into the game.

Scott and I.  That guy behind us was part of a large group of loud, drunk men.  At first, they were kind of funny, but after a couple of hours and several more beers (on their part) they weren't so funny anymore.  That may have coincided with the Kansas City Royals taking the lead (and keeping it), so perhaps it was more the game turning in the wrong direcction. A t the end of the day though, it was still a good time.  I'm really glad we went.

After we got back from the game, we joined Scott's neighbors for a cook out.  He lives in a great neighborhood.  Most of the home have their driveways in the back of the houses, so the builders created an alley way for access to them.  It makes for a nice connector between the homes on two different streets.  Most of his neighbors are in their 30s, anf they frequently have neighborhood get togethers.  One of his neighbors even brews his own beer, and it is pretty darn good.  I hope I can find a neighborhood like this one day.

Monday we kept busy by going shopping and meeting up with a couple of his friends for drinks (Brett and his wife Leilah).  At the end of our shopping trip, Scott used the large parking lot of the mall as a place to start teaching me how to drive stick.  It started off really well but as soon as started thinking about what I was doing, it went down hill quickly.  It finally reached the point where I was just thinking way too much about it and was stalling the car every time I tried to go forward.  Prior to that, I did manage to get it into second gear - I've had one precious lesson close to 10 years ago from my friend Laura and I didn't even make it out of first gear - so believe it or not, I'm getting better :-)  I figure I've got the concept down, and I now have a better idea of how the car should feel with respect to when to hit the gas, release the clutch, etc. that my hope is that I will get it with another couple of lessons.  Although if the next one is another 10 years from now...

Scott headed to Philadelphia for work today, so I am hanging out at his place for now.  I'm hoping to go camping in Lake of the Ozarks later this week, but right now there is a lot of rain in the forecast.  It is supposed to clear up on Thursday, so cross your fingers for me.  

But, I'm not sitting around doing nothing, Leilah and I were able to meet up today and go for a run in Forest Park.  The park contains many of the museums and other attractions in St. Louis, including the zoo (and they are free!).  Witht he zoo being free and all, we took our running course into it.  It was really fun to run through all of the animal exhibits.  There were a few no shows, but we were running through there around 1PM, so it was getting a bit ot and steamy at that point.  I don't blame them for hiding out in the shade or their indoor inclosures.  We even detoured through the penguin house for a dose of intense AC.  We had lunch at the Boat House after our run.  I hope I get to hang out with Leilah and Brett again before I leave town.  Scott gets back on Saturday, so Leilah and I were discussing getting him to take us all out to the wineries in his Mustang convertible on Sunday.  Now we just need to get Scott's buy-in.  

Cross Country Journey - First Stop, Ohio

I am in the process of moving from New York City to San Francisco (well, I guess technically the East Bay, but until I find a place who really knows exactly where I'll end up).  Since I've got some time off in between jobs, I thought it would be nice to make my journey into a cross country road trip; however, being carless in NYC kind of cramped the driving the whole way bit.  I figure I'm going to be close enough though.  I departed NYC on May 11 (thanks Maureen and Ron for letting me crash at your places after my lease ended!) and flew to my parent's place just outside of Youngstown, OH.  I only cheated the first 400 miles of the trip, so like I said, close enough.  

My folks' place in Austintown, OH.  We moved here in 1988 from another house in the same town.

My first order of business was to purchase a vehicle in order to make the whole driving thing an actual possibility.  I was pretty set on getting a Prius prior to arriving in OH, so we hit a Toyota dealership in Boardman first thing.  My first test drive of the Prius was nice, although I could tell I hadn't driven in a while.  I'm still getting used to driving again.  My dad was a bit against me buying car made outside of the US, so the Chevy Malibu hybrid was constantly being mentioned and I also wanted to test drive the honda Insight hybrid for a comparison as well.  We headed for the Honda dealership next where I test drove the Insight.  It didn't drive nearly as smoothly and I felt like I was sitting really low in the vehicle, so I was quite as excited about it.  It wa a lot cheaper than the Prius, but since Toyota was offering 0% financing, by the time you factores in the interest with the payments ont he Insight it was going to cost more for a lot less vehicle.  The Insight was officially out.  We went to another Toyota dealership in Warren after that to see if I could get a better deal on a Prius and to test drive it again just to be sure.  The second test drive confirmed my feelings at that point and Dave at the Warren dealership was going to give me a much better deal than I was being offered at the Boardman dealership, so I was sold at that point.  My dad wasn't so much - the whole not made in the USA thing, so we were off to find a Chevy dealership to test out the Malibu.  It was amusing to watch Dave and my dad chide each other about the Prius vs. the Malibu hybrid.

The one thing that the Malibu had going for it was the discount I could get on it since my dad retired from General Motors, but in my opinion, that was about it.  It was more expensive (MSRP) than the Prius and didn't get nearly the milage of the Prius.  Plus, it is a mid-size vehicle, and I really prefer compact cars.  We hit the Chevy dealership only to find out that that particular dealership didn't even carry the Malibu hybrid because they didn't have a certified hybrid mechanic on staff.  My dad finally took it as a sign and my decision was made.  I called up Dave the next day so they could do a search for the color I wanted.  I picked it the next Friday and after a two year hiatus became a car owner again.  Now that I've got my car, I will be able to complete my cross country road trip (I guess I don't really have a choice at this point either come to think of it).

Me with my new car, a silver 2009 Toyota Prius.  So far I'm averaging 48-49 miles per gallon - it's hard to beat that.

I've spent most of my time in Ohio relaxing and enjoying my time off.  It is so nice to have a break from working.  I've also been able to get back into running.  I've been gettingout every other day, and it feels good to be getting back into shape.  Plus, it has occured to me that the YC marathon is now less than 6 months away, so I need to start thinking about training for that.  It is nice to have the motivation of a race on my calendar to get me back into things as well.

Aside from running and chilling out, I've been able to see my sister, visit a friend from college and my grandmother, and do a little hiking with my dad in Mill Creek Park.  The hike was a great trip down memory lane.  We went to a couple of locations in the park, the first of which was the rocks behind Bear's Den Cabin.  My dad used to take my sister and I there as kids and we would clmb on them and play hide and seek.  There is little bit more graffitti now but all in all it doesn't look that much different.

"The rocks" - great hiding places abound.

Home base was the tree on the left.

A cool fungus growing on the tree.

We also went by Lanterman's Mill.  At one time it was a fully function flour mill powered by Mill Creek (I'm guessing it wasn't called Mill Creek until after the mills were there).  It has now been restored and does work, although at this point everything they are milling there is just for show.

A covered bridge near the mill.

My parents and I headed to my sister's in Columbus the Friday before Labor Day.  We had a good time playing Rock Band on the Wii.  My sister's boyfriend Lee is awesome on the guitar, my sister sang, and I rocked out on the drums.  It was so much fun.