Tuesday morning, it was time to continue our week-long trip through Missouri. Johnson's Shut-ins is a state park south of St. Louis, so named because one of its main features is a rocky gorge in the East Fork of the Black River where huge boulders force the river into torrents and pools. GPS gave us several routes from Mark Twain Lake to Johnson's. The fastest skirted the east side of St. Louis, but since our caravan consisted of five RV units and we wanted to stay together as much as possible, we opted for a two lane route.
We made a stop about halfway in a Walmart parking lot, which offered space for all of us to maneuver and park. Lunch and other necessities out of the way, we continued on, deeper into the rugged hills of southern Missouri. Part of our route was the through a section of the Mark Twain National Forest where the scenery was gorgeous and the rumble strips performed admirably to keep Agatha on the straight and narrow.
Ken and Harriet led the train and as we neared our destination, Harriet's GPS offered the "O" road as the most direct route. We soon discovered that the "O" was as in "OMG." The road became narrower and then gravel, punctuated by concrete dips to allow the water to run over the road and signs warning of high water areas and flash flooding. But, pioneers that we are, we made it.
We made a stop about halfway in a Walmart parking lot, which offered space for all of us to maneuver and park. Lunch and other necessities out of the way, we continued on, deeper into the rugged hills of southern Missouri. Part of our route was the through a section of the Mark Twain National Forest where the scenery was gorgeous and the rumble strips performed admirably to keep Agatha on the straight and narrow.
Ken and Harriet led the train and as we neared our destination, Harriet's GPS offered the "O" road as the most direct route. We soon discovered that the "O" was as in "OMG." The road became narrower and then gravel, punctuated by concrete dips to allow the water to run over the road and signs warning of high water areas and flash flooding. But, pioneers that we are, we made it.
The campground is fairly new because it was moved up the mountainside and rebuilt after a breach in the Taum Sauk reservoir sent 1.3 billion gallons of water cascading through the gorge, destroying much of the park facilities, in late 2005. No one was manning the checkin when we arrived so we were unable to get a campground map. We finally located our sites, but unlike Mark Twain Lake where we were lined up in a row, this time we are scattered through two loops. The sites are level but very wooded, so after set up it took some time to locate the others.
Yesterday morning, Letha served a lumberjack breakfast and we organized a trip to the Shut-ins. A beautiful hike along a paved path and boardwalk led to spectacular views. Up a long flight of stairs, platforms gave us even more vistas and a look at the turquoise pool at the bottom of the shut-ins. After a stop at the Visitors' Center and a couple of short excursions, I welcomed a short nap back at my camper.
We have absolutely no phone reception here so this morning I will go to the campground store where there is WiFi, post this blog, and check messages. Later we will take in Elephant Rocks State Park a few miles away and a couple of other scenic hikes. No rest for the retired!
We have absolutely no phone reception here so this morning I will go to the campground store where there is WiFi, post this blog, and check messages. Later we will take in Elephant Rocks State Park a few miles away and a couple of other scenic hikes. No rest for the retired!
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