Kentucky and Missouri

It seems like forever since I’ve been able to post. So now it’s catch-up time. Boy! Do we miss easy internet access.

We toured another cave just outside Cave City, KY. Crystal Onyx Cave is a small cave, but was very beautiful inside. We spent a little less than an hour inside and really enjoyed it. Here are a couple of shots that we took while inside.

Our tour was very “intimate” with only five people and the guide. There was one section that was down a flight of stairs and the other 3 chose not to go down. So our guide took us down and then snapped our picture while we were down there, near one of the formations.


Proof that we did indeed get into the caves of western Kentucky!

Then we were back on the road again. We stopped outside of Paducah, KY, for lunch at KFC. It just seemed so appropriate! (tee hee) We drove about 250 miles to Cape Girardeau, MO. This shot is of the bridge that spans the Mississippi river between Illinois and Missouri. I thought it was pretty cool.

We arrived at Cross Creek RV Park on the north side of Lake of the Ozarks the following day. This is a really nice park, though very hilly. I think all of MO is hilly. It is beautiful, though.

We did a little sight-seeing and had several lunches out. We soon decided to spend only seven days there instead of the nine originally planned. We’d spend the extra days in St. Joe instead. Julian did some fishing and he caught several pan fish. In the end he didn’t keep them. But I DID see them and can attest to his skill on the lake here at the campground.

We gave Heidi a haircut one morning. We never look forward to doing that, but she looks great now that we can see her face again. She was way past due for her grooming.

We visited Ha Ha Tonka State Park. (I have no idea why it’s called that!) But it was a great way to spend the morning. The land was originally purchased by a rich guy from Kansas City in the early 1900s. He started building a 60-room mansion, but was killed in a car accident a year after construction started. His sons completed the house many years later, but had to sell it early on. It was run as a hotel for a period of time before a fire gutted the entire structure in the early 1940s. This is what’s left of the main house, now referred to as the castle.

One can easily see that it must have been a grand property in its day. And the views are fabulous as the house sits on the top of a bluff overlooking a part of the Lake of the Ozarks.

After seeing the castle, we drove to the natural bridge, which was formed by sink holes on either side of it. From there, we drove to the opposite side of that part of the lake. This is a shot looking back up at the castle ruins.

It was a beautiful park and a great way to spend the morning.

From Lake of the Ozarks, we drove 225 miles to St. Joseph, MO, on Wednesday. The scenery was awesome! The tree-covered hills of the lake area gave way to farm country and somewhat flatter terrain. We discovered that there are Amish in Missouri – we even saw a couple of horse-drawn carriages. This form of travel is so amazing. The USA is a gorgeous place to be!