August 20, 2018. “Enjoy the journey and you get better every day”.   We had a full day today visiting three more springs. Falling Springs Mill was built in 1927 and stands in front of Falling Spring which  flows from the middle of the bluff.  It is a small waterfall but very picturesque. The mill was used to grind corn, saw shingles and generate electricity.  This site also has The Thomas Brown cabin which was built of square logs in 1851 and is, surprisingly,  in good shape.

Next we visited Greer Springs and Greer Crossing.  You will hear more about this our next post.  It has a 2 mile hike down into a ravine to the spring and the river.  We decided to wait for another day to do the hike.



Finally we drove to Turner’s Mill Spring.  This mill was once part of the town of Surprise, a thriving village on the Spring Branch of the Eleven Point River.  The Surprise School was preserved but the rest of the town is gone, including the Mill.  However, this mill had been powered by a gigantic steel wheel that was brought in pieces from Fremont Depot in 1915. It was powered by a spring that flowed out of a cave.  The wheel is still standing in the forest stream and a short hike takes you to the small falls and cave.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  We waded across the stream and walked up to the falls.  We also met some of the forestry people that were working there and enjoyed hearing about the history of the place.

Another beautiful day!

August 18, 2018. “Focus on the journey”. The next spring we visited was Alley Spring and Mill. This is another beautiful place with an interesting history. The spring has a daily average flow of 81 million gallons and was that same beautiful blue color.  Alley Mill was built in 1894 and  was the center of community life.  The school and general store were on the property, as well, and provided the social activities for the area.  The mill was unique because it used a turbine instead of a water wheel and steel rollers instead of grinding stones.  It was also larger than most of the mills in the Jacks Fork River system.  It has all been beautifully preserved and we really enjoyed the visit.  After visiting the mill we hiked the short trail that ran along the river and under the bluff.

After we left Alley Springs we continued on to Round Spring.  This was a little disappointing.  While it was round and had blue water, it was a little underwhelming. This  spring is actually a sinkhole that formed when the rock above the stream eroded away.  The average water flow is 26 million gallons daily, but fluctuates with the amount of rainfall.  There is also a cave here but we didn’t do that tour because we had Jax with us.

Moving on, we drove to Rocky Falls.  This is an example of a shut-in, which is an Ozark term for a river that is naturally confined in a narrow channel. Rocky Creek cascades forty feet over the rocks into a pool of cold, clear water that makes an excellent swimming hole.  The waterfall is beautiful and Jax enjoyed a nice swim.

August 16, 2018.   “It’s not the destination, but the journey that matters”.  We intend to savor every part of this new journey.  Our first stop is Big Springs, Missouri. If you have never traveled along Hiway 60, through the Missouri Ozarks, you must put it on your list. It is gorgeous. There are rolling hills, dense pine and oak forests, and crystal clear free-flowing rivers.  We stayed at Big Srings RV Camp which is right on the Current River. We watched the kayaks, canoes, tubes and rafts float past every day.

After checking with the Visitor’s Center, we discovered that the area was full of natural springs that flowed into three rivers. The water from these springs is crystal clear, and sometimes aquamarine because of the minerals from underground.  The water temperature stays between 55 and 58 degrees year round.  This area is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.  It was established in 1964 to protect these spring-fed streams that run through some of the Ozark’s most beautiful scenery.  They cannot be dammed or harnessed in any way.  We lived just a few hours from here and never even knew it existed.  We tried to visit as many of the springs as we could.

Big Spring is the largest spring in Missouri and one of the largest in the world.  It has a daily average flow of 286 million gallons (no, that is not a typo). It boils out from beneath the base of a bluff and travels 1000 ft to feed into the Current River.  The water is a beautiful aquamarine color.  The park surrounding it has hiking trails and cool shady picnic areas that are very peaceful.

August 2018.     The farm is sold and we have said our good-byes. We are officially full-time RVers.      Leaving Kansas for awhile. “ Everyday is a journey, and the journey itself is home”.

Monday, May 28, 2018     Bittersweet times right now.  When the sign went up it made it real. I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or cheer. But then we bought the new truck and that got us all excited to hit the road again.  I think I will feel a little safer with the bigger dually truck.  Now if we can just get all the stuff in the house sorted, boxed, and ready for the sale.  What a chore!!!  We are going from a big old farmhouse to a 36 ft. RV.  Nearly 50 yrs of accumulation. Whaaaaat? Our kids will be happy that we are doing this now so they don't have to do it later.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018.   On the way from Albuquerque to Amarillo we had a little truck trouble. It turned out to be nothing, but it caused us to spend a night in Tucumcari, NM. What a sad little town. It has such an intriguing name but is in reality a dying place. It does have a very good BBQ place called Watson’s BBQ.

     We finally made it to Amarillo about noon the next day, and we finally got a chance to go to Palo Duro Canyon. What a beautiful place!  We had hoped to go early in the morning so we could hike some trails there.  However, because of our unexpected stay in Tucumcari, we only had the afternoon for Palo Duro. The Canyon was much bigger than I expected. In spite of the 95 degree weather, we took a little half-mile hike down to a stream.  Jax took a little swim and then we hurried back to the truck ( the sun really beats down off of the canyon walls).  We continued driving through the Canyon, stopping every so often for pictures. There are some really nice campsites there, but the road going down to them would be a little iffy for our big-ass RV. We returned to the RV and let Jax run and play in the off-leash dog run there. He loved having all of that green grass to play in after 3 months of desert. Off to OKC for a week.

Saturday, May 5, 2018.    It was another beautiful morning so we decided to hike at Petroglyphs National Monument. We have been there twice before and we have been amazed at the amount of petroglyphs that we could see.  Both times we went there we hiked the Piedras Mercadas trail. Today we decided to try the other one that allows dogs.  It is called Rinconada Canyon Trail, a 2.5 mile loop.  Unfortunately it was a big disappointment!  There were not very many petroglyphs and they were too far away to see very well. Pops did get some pictures of the few that were close to the trail, but it was nothing like the Piedras Mercadas. Anyway, it was still a nice way to spend the morning. We hiked with another couple that had just started full-timing and had been to many of the same places we have been. It was fun visiting with them. After lunch we went back to Old Town and walked all around the Plaza. It is Cinco de Mayo today so the Plaza had live music and booths and lots of celebrating.  We did a lot of walking today, 5.5 miles, around 15,000 steps on my meter.  Whew!