Independence to St Louis - whoops, I mean the Ozarks - and Mark Twain National Forest (MO)

After a night of many trains, we left Independence for St Louis on I-70. The rather flat countryside soon became more tree-covered and we began seeing signs promoting the Ozarks, which we knew nothing about except that it was familiar, suggested camping and lakes and trees and land promotion. We could have blown right by it, but holding to our creed to take the path less traveled, we took the actually rather heavily traveled path south to the Ozarks.

Going south from I-70 on Hwy 63, we soon came to Jefferson City, Missouri’s state capitol. The capitol building is rather elegant, a shade darker version of the capitol in Sacramento or Washington. We tried to gather local information from the tourist bureau, but they chose to be closed today (Monday) while moving. We were referred to the State tourist bureau, but it too was closed for some reason, so we drove on toward Rolla, which the Auto Club map indicated offered camping.

The country along Hwy 63 was often dense apparently with hardwood trees interrupted by small villages and occasional vista overlooks. The road thinned to one lane each way, and I pulled out several times to allow faster vehicles to pass.

Rolla turned out to be larger than expected, home of UM Rolla, and also a geodesic map center. About 11 miles south we came to the Lane Spring Recreation Area in the Mark Twain National Forest, and found our campsite for the night: $7.50 Golden Eagle for a nice pull-through amongst the trees, with electricity.

After a half-glass of wine we trekked Blossom Rock trail, about two miles through overgrowth, rising from creek bed to bluffs and back again. Occasional views of the Little Pinney creek, but mostly a lot of growth. We did startle one animal of about beaver proportions, but it was in our sight too briefly for more positive identification; the campground host later said it was probably a ground hog. On return to our campsite we settled in to more wine and an avocado dip and a fine dinner of pasta made with chicken left from the Brookfield Hotel, followed by a game of cribbage (Cam won).