October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 3

Wednesday

Rocky Top Trail -- The weather is changing and it will probably rain most of the day on Thursday so I decided to take one more hike at the state park. Rocky Top Trail is on the west side of Grand Glaise arm near the public beach. The trail is 2 miles long and goes through several diverse ecosystems -- this is probably the best trail I've taken this week. It starts by climbing up the slope to a dolomite glade with large rock outcrops and prairie grass. The glade is being maintained to keep cedar trees from moving in. It looks like an easy walk but it is almost solid rock and there are many places to trip or turn your ankle...I'm glad I had my walking stick with me. The trail crosses the glade and then enters the forest and starts a slow descent into a valley. The trees were very colorful...much more than I expected. Even on an overcast day the colors were all aglow. Before long the trail reaches a dry creek bed. The trees in this valley are mostly maples...somewhat unusual in the Ozarks. I'm used to the subdued fall colors of the oaks and hickory trees with the occasional reds of the dogwood trees but the maples were aglow in a bright yellow. The creek bed had a rock shelf that must produce a small waterfall when there is water flowing. We had so much rain last week that I expected to see some water but it was mostly dry except for a few pools and pot holes. The trail slowly climbs up out of the valley and then follows a ridge top that slopes away sharply on each side. The trail then comes out on top of a cliff overlooking Lake of the Ozarks and you get a full panorama view of that portion of the lake. Most of what you see is wooded so it must be state park land. There was a boat of fisherman across the lake and a few boats went by but it was very quiet and relaxing just sitting and watching the lake from that height. I stayed about 20 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed it. I scared up a couple deer while I was walking and saw something that might have been a weasel or a mink coming down a tree. I also saw a scorpion...people don't realize that we have scorpions in Missouri but they like rocky places like a sunny glade or a rocky bluff top. The trail turns back into the woods and follows the north-facing slope where there are a ;lot of ferns mixed in with the fall colors. Eventually the trail recrosses the valley and then follows the lake shore back to the trail head.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 2

Monday and Tuesday....

The weather has been beautiful but a little cool. I decided to go back over to Ha-Ha-Tonka on Monday and hike some of the trails. I took the Boulder Ridge Trail first and went about a mile and a half on a loop trail. It was pretty rugged and rocky and I was surprised that they had a sign saying no bicycles on the trail...they would have to be carried over most of it. The Fall colors were in full display and the cool nights pretty much killed off most of the bugs that you would expect. The rocky outcrops were dolomite and they have weathered into very strange shapes. At one point I came across a small rock with two eye-sockets eroded into it and the way the sunlight hit it it looked like a small skull.....kind of creeped me out for a minute.

I took the Spring Trail which was also about a mile and a half. It went along the shore of the spring branch up past the island and into the gorge. There was once a mill there but all that is left is the mill dam. The trail hugs the rock wall on a

boardwalk. The spring flows out from under a rock wall at the head of the gorge. The trail then climbs 200 feet on an extensive boardwalk stairway to the top of the cliff and then finally winds its way back to the starting point. The climb is pretty exhausting and I was dressed too warmly so I was soaked by the time I got back to the car. It was a good day and I was a litle worried that my knee might give me trouble but it was fine.

I got back to the condo and relaxed. I made a stromboli for supper...the first time I tried that -- and it was great. Watched the Phillies beat the Dodgers in the NLCS in the evening.

On Tuesday I made a trip back home to cut the front grass and take care of Watson. He is really lonely and couldn't get enough scratches and rubs. I feel sorry for him....I wish I could have brought him along. Jill gave him food on Sunday but his dish was empty and he was almost out of water. I got the grass cut and cleaned out Watson's litter box. The house looks good and it smell nice. The sunny weather makes it look even better. Watson and I had lunch together on the deck and he got some snacks when I left.

I got back down to the lake around 3 PM and went over to Lake of the Ozarks State Park to check out the trails they have there. I walked one that goes through an area that they are trying to reestablish the native savanah that was the prehistoric type of vegetation that was common throughout the Ozarks. Now the common vegetation is a scrub-oak jungle that is almost impenetrable but the savanah was wide open with trees spaced about twenty feet apart.The trail also goes therogh a prairie area with Big Bluestem grass that is nearly five feet tall.

I spent some time at the lake picnic area and worked on a cedar walking stick that I want to use on my hikes. I got back to the condo around 5:30 and later made some chicken and vegetables for supper. There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight and I ought to be able to see it from my balcony.

October Trip to Lake of the Ozarks part 1

I scheduled a week vacation at a condo at Lake of the Ozarks starting October 16th as sort of a reward and transition for me getting my house on the market. I finally got just about everything major done and I have it officially on the market.

The condo is part of the Lodge of the Four Seasons complex and is big enough to sleep eight but I think that would be a little cramped if they were all adults. Jill came down on Friday and spent two nights but had to get back home for work on Monday.

Friday night we went out to Lil' Rizzos for supper and had a good time. The Lake area has changed so much since I last spent any time here. Lil' Rizzos has two locations now and neither one is where it used to be. We spent part of Saturday morning looking at an old photo album I found that had some of my dad's pictures from WWII when he was in Europe.

Saturday was a beautiful day and really the first full sunny day we have had in at least a week. We went over to Ha-Ha-Tonka State Park and looked at the castle ruins and hiked around a little. The castle dates from the early 1900s but it burned in 1942 and there is nothing left but the stone walls and the water tower. It sits on top of a rock bluff overlooking the Ha-Ha-Tonka Spring Branch that runs into the Niangua River arm of the lake. It must have been an impressive place because the ruins are still very impressive.

Ha-Ha-Tonka is actually a collapsed cave system that formed a deep canyon with steep rock walls, a natural bridge, springs and sink holes. It is one of the prime examples of karst geologic features in the US. We hiked along the trail to the natural bridge and made a short side trip to the water tower. The trail is actually a boardwalk for most of the way. The state spent thousands building wooden boardwalks throughout the park to enable people to access some of the difficult areas. Jill and I followed the trail to the natural bridge and then started climbing back up the hill. I lost my footing and stumbled on some wet rocks and banged my knee pretty bad. It was a hard walk back to the car but after I got back to the condo I got some ice on it and it was fine in a few hours.

Sunday morning we got a slow start but went over to Steak n Shake for a lunch and then Jill got on her way back home. I spent part of the afternoon at the outlet mall walking around and getting a few kitchen things I needed.

Haiku-isms: or how to pass the time on a long solo road trip

I find myself making solo road trips sometimes these days and have been trying to find ways to occupy my drive time -- listening to music or maybe an audio book works but even that gets old. So I've invented a mental past-time called Haiku-isms. I try to come up with a short description of a sight or a place or an experience in the form of Haiku. Some of it happens after the fact - on reflection. I don't drive very far each day so I have time to work these out and sometimes they are pretty crude and I have to go back and 'fix' them.....but that is part of the exercise too, I guess. Here is an example (sort of cleaned up) from a couple trips west in 2008.....not exactly Kerouac...

I head west to spring

Torn trees tell a tale of woe

A toll booth is next

I find what I seek

The seasons change in Tulsa

Plum trees in blossom

Oklahoma sucks

The wind propels - the blades turn

Electrons line dance

Soft bed and road noise

Someone locks a door nearby

Motel room at night

Abundant cow pies

Land of sun baked bovine art

Welcome to Texas

Cityscapes fade fast

Caddy Ranch reeks of fresh paint

Much remains to see

This place has nine lives

Burque wants them all at once

Albuquerque naps

Local time seems stuck

Atomic age relics glow

Route sixty-six shines

The desert shows bright

All roads lead to empty space

The river flows by

Coronado's camp

Bernalillo lives its past

My view takes it in

Clouds drift in blue skies

Shadows cross the mountain wall

as they always have

Ancient wisdom lives

Ruins mark the way they came

The padres brought change

Old Taos charms me

The blood of Christ surrounds me

A fish in my net

Santa Ana stars

They act like they own the place

That’s because they do

The trip home looms now

Time flies when you're having fun

The road goes both ways

Home before dark

We got out of Oklahoma City this morning right after a thunderstorm went through and we ended up following it to Tulsa. There was a substantial hail storm along the highway but we came along after it was over....we just saw the piles of hail laying in small drifts along the roadside.

It rained or threatened to rain the entire day. We stopped in Springfield for a late lunch and then headed north through Buffalo and Lake Ozark. We finally got home around 5:30.

We met Jill for super at Ria's and then came back and relaxed for the night. It was a rough couple of days trying to cover the distance and keep track of the weather. If the storm had arrived a day earlier we would probably still be stuck in Amarillo...most of the highways we were on are closed now due to the blizzard.

It looks like the snow will finally catch up with us. They are saying we will get heavy snow here tomorrow and then be back in the 50s on Sunday. I will get Paul on the St. Louis-bound Amtrak tomorrow morning so he should be home before anything goes too crazy.

As you can tell, we had a really good trip together and had a good time doing and seeing lots of stuff.

Trying to Out-Run the Weather

The weather in Albuquerque is cool but OK. The weather along our route back home is scary with blizzard watches and lots of snow expected. We left town and headed east climbing up out of the valley and through the mountains....it is surprising how far you go in a steady climb as you head east. The mountains were shrouded in fog and threatened rain but it never came. We were in sun most of the morning and had lunch in Tucumcari. We hit another band of threatening weather near Amarillo - but, again, we didn't get any rain. We noticed that there were no visitors at Cadillac Ranch on the day before an expected blizzard. We decided that Cadillac Ranch marks the center of nowhere -- the place from where all other no-wheres are measured. In Oklahoma the sky was overcast almost all the way.

We stayed near Bricktown and went there for supper. We were tired so we just ate at an IHOP and relaxed. Bricktown is the night-life center for Oklahoma City -- grown up around the ballpark. They have a little river walk section and a few blocks of bars and restaurants. It would have been nicer in warmer weather.

Watching the Mizzou - Memphis game.

That's about it for today....just driving. No pictures. Talk to you more tomorrow.

Indian Country & Wine Country

We spent the morning at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. This is a large museum and education complex that provides a detailed focus on the 19 New Mexico Indian Pueblos. They have a strong emphasis on kids educational programs and bus the kids in from the different pueblos to participate in field trips for cultural exposure. There was a bus load of little kids from the Zuni Pueblo...probably 3rd graders...going through the kid-level educational areas. They were getting lectures and seeing some videos.



The museum traces the history of the pueblo people from the very early basket-maker period up to the present day. We were impressed with what they had on display and you get a clear message that they were peaceful farmers minding their own business until the Spanish showed up. They do not particularly like the changes that took place and seem proud of the fact that they staged a revolt and chased the Spanish out for 12 years.....after putting up with them for about 85 years.


The museum includes exhibits on each of the 19 pueblos. I'm surprised that they didn't all speak the same language.....there are three main language groups and they are not understandable from one pueblo to another if the language is different. Some pueblos have populations of over 2.000 while others have fewer than 200. I'm going to be living close to the Santa Ana and Zia pueblos so I was able to find out a little more information about them.

We had lunch at the cafe in the cultural center. The food was good and you can get authentic pueblo food or regular 'Anglo' or New Mexico food. I had a salad with some mutton stew that was good. Paul had a Caesar salad with about a half of a chicken on it.

Later in the afternoon we went to the St. Clair Winery and tasted the wines and had a light supper. the wine was pretty good. St. Clair is the largest winery in New Mexico and they make a large number of wines. The prices were pretty good in comparison to the Casa Rondena Winery we visited earlier in the week but it wasn't as fancy. They actually grow the grapes and do most of the work in Deming NM, a couple hours south of Albuquerque. Paul was interested in the fact that they offer a Syrah and a Shiraz...which is generally the same wine. The difference in taste seems to be from the type of barrel they use. The Merlot was good as was the Pinot Grigio. They also make a couple of champagne-type wines and fruit wines.

We got back to the motel and started thinking about heading home tomorrow. My builder dropped off the revised house plans so I have those to look at and think about.

Sit up straight, don't fidget!

Since we were pretty much done with the house business we decided to take a day trip up to Santa Fe. It only takes an hour to get there on the interstate. On the way up we saw the Rail Runner commuter train running in the highway median. That looks like it will be a good way to go once I get moved.

Once you in Santa Fe it is a little confusing. The place was laid out in 1610 and they didn't believe in the grid system and probably never thought it would be as big as it is. After a few wrong turns we finally made it down to the plaza and found a place to park near the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. The church is covered with plastic because they are doing some sort of renovation work. It is not like the other Spanish-style churches....this is in a Gothic Victorian style because when it was built they were trying to step away from the Spanish-ness of everything....so now it usually sticks out like a sore thumb but only more so being covered in plastic wrap.



We went into the Palace of the Governors and looked around. It is the building with the Indians selling their crafts under the portal. The palace has existed from the earliest times but has been reconfigured and renovated a bazillion times. It has been restored to the Spanish colonial look now but it even went through a period when they were trying to be less Spanish. One interesting thing they have is a couple of old paintings - mural size - drawn on animal hides. These depict Spanish colonial military expeditions and battles with the Indians...one in what became western Nebraska. The paintings ended up in Switzerland in 1728 and the state brought them back a few years ago.


The restaurant T-shirt of the day: We had lunch at the Plaza Cafe in Santa Fe. This is a long established restaurant that probably catered to the first tourist that showed up in town and has been at it ever since. The welcoming sign at the door says "Get In Here!" Once you are in you begin to wonder if there is a fire marshall in Santa Fe because the place is so crowded that it would be hard to get everyone out in one piece if they had to in a hurry. Paul thinks that the fire marshall owns the place and that's how they get away with it. Some of the waiters have T-shirts with a postcard type picture of the place on the back. The front says: "Sit up straight; Don't talk back; Chew your food; Elbows off the table; Don't fidget; Be nice; Say thank you". They must have known our mother but when Paul asked, the guy said she had never been in there. The food was good. I had huevos rancheros and Paul had a burrito and both were good. The green chile was milder than the red. They offer Greek food but Paul was a little wary of trying it.


We paraded around the plaza and then headed back to the car and tried to get out of town. Our plan was to find highway 14 and follow the "Turquoise Trail" back to Albuquerque. Getting out of Santa Fe is almost as hard as getting in.


The Turquoise Trail runs south from Santa Fe but goes on the east side of the mountains through some little towns. Paul had a good time driving because it is a two-lane blacktop mountain and desert road with not a whole lot of traffic. We stopped in Madrid, an old ghost town that found new life as the Woodstock generation began to move in and open up coffee shops and craft and art galleries. We wandered through a couple shops and got some coffee at Java Junction. The whole place is laid back but it seems to be growing and losing some of its ghost town charm. People still live in boxcar houses but it looks like it is having some growing pains.


We got back into Albuquerque by late afternoon and relaxed a little at the motel. We decided to try going to a brewpub for supper so we ended up going to Kelly's brewpub back on Central Ave. We don't actually always gravitate toward Central Avenue, it is just fairly convenient and it doesn't close early. Albuquerque seems to go to bed at about 9 PM.


Kelly's is in an old car dealership building....they have lots of room for indoor seating and they have a large outdoor area. We ordered two of their beers and were carded. We haven't been carded in a long time but here it seems to be happening more often. Either we look so young or some of the young people here look pretty old and wrinkled. Kelly's offers 19 of their beers on tap, which is pretty ambitious. They also have a 'brew on premises' operation where people can come in and brew their own beer but the smallest amount is 15 gallons which costs about $105. The food was good -- we had 1/2 pound hamburgers. They managed to sneak some sweet potato fries into the french fries. Sweet potato fries are a little too sweet for my taste.

After Kelley's we went back to the motel and relaxed.


We leave you tonight with the image of Marshall Gene from Madrid reminding you to slow down.

Would you gentlemen, by any chance, be brothers?

That seemed to be the question of the day....Would you gentlemen, by any chance, be brothers? I wonder how they can tell? Both yesterday and today we were running into people who looked at us a little funny and then popped the question...are you brothers?

We started the day conferring with my builder and house designer. Betty, my builder, has a long history of building quality houses and Max, the designer, has done a good job with my plans. We spent an hour together and covered all of the changes I had and Max will provide some new plans in a day or so.

We came back home and had lunch at our place and then headed back to the Al Unser Racing Museum to try our hand at the simulators. We did a NASCAR race simulator that required you to put on some virtual reality goggles but we didn't care for that too much. The other simulator had you doing five laps at the Indy Speedway. There was a total of ten cars in the race. Paul blew his engine and got back in the race but was pretty far behind. I had to do a second start because I spun out into the infield...but I finished 7th after I started again. They should make you go to a therapy session before you leave because you go out in traffic and and still are wired-up and start racing down the street until you realize that you are not in a race.

We went down to explore Old Town Plaza and some of the shops. We made a lap around the plaza and stopped in at a few shops but didn't buy anything except some coffee at a local coffee shop. The most interesting shop had "Day of the Dead" artwork and figurines and religious "bultos" and "retablos" for various saints. They celebrate the Day of the Dead here as well as Our Lady of Guadalupe Day.

Next we headed out on Central Avenue and stopped for a beer at Il Vicino, a local microbrewery. They had a stout that tasted like grapefruit juice...yuk....but a blended amber ale that was good. We sat and talked for about an hour. The bartender was remarkable in that he had a forehead that was twice the length of his face. (Kelly would call this a 6-head, maybe even a 7-head -- but definitely not a 4-head.)

We ran back home and did some laundry. Now we can go on for a few more days.

We wanted to get some good Italian pasta for supper so we found Luigi's. I had gnocchi with pesto sauce and Paul had spaghetti with sausages. This came with minestrone soup and fresh bread and a carafe of montepulciano wine. I think we made friends there. Luigi came out and asked how things were and said that his momma made the pesto and the gnocchi and the sauce and they brought out some of momma's lemon cookies to share when we were done.

We had a full day so we headed back to the motel.