Find Adventure! | Chaos, Cows and Chicken Pants

Spring is here! The warm weather is bringing out the daffodils. The fields are greening up from having plenty of rain. Buds are starting to pop on the trees as everything is renewed and brought back to life. Spring means lots of things around our house besides just baby calves. It means trips to the butcher with last year’s calves. It means outside clean up- lots of projects that didn’t get done because it was too cold that need to get done before it gets hot as you know what. It means inside decluttering and debating on whether to mop the floors or let them go because it’s just gonna rain again in two days. It means garden work will be starting soon. But this weekend it meant camping and adventure!

Crazy schedules don’t always allow us to take long vacations so we opt to do lots of weekend trips in the camper instead. (We were finally able to buy one the middle of last summer.) For the most part we camp with another family simply because it’s more fun for everyone that way. The kids all get along great so Lando always has someone to hang out with. Ed has someone do manly camper set up and fire building things with-or they can talk to each other from their hammocks. And I have someone to drive the guys and kids nuts with as we plan adventures together! Overall, WE JUST CAMP THE SAME!

Echo Bluff Adventures

This being the official season opener for us, we decided to go a little farther away from home than usual and try out a new campground. We headed a couple of hours west to Echo Bluff State Park near Eminence, Missouri. Let me tell ya- it was awesome! The camper/RV campground is only a couple of years old so there are NO mature trees (definitely a better destination in the early spring or fall rather than in the middle of a humid Missouri summer). There is also walk-in tent camping in the woods, a lodge, small cabins, and ginormous 3-story cabins if you’re interested in checking it out.

Friday afternoon was a nice little drive out there with the kids. The guys went on ahead with the campers and had everything set up when we got there. We had a chance to relax a bit before it was time to start dinner. We cook everything over the campfire. It just doesn’t seem right to do it any other way.

Saturday brought the perfect camping weather- the tiniest slightest chill in the morning to enjoy our cups of coffee (the one thing we don’t do on the campfire because let’s face it, it takes way too long for campfire percolators to make enough coffee for all of us and it always turns out SO strong- we’d run out of Bailey’s before the weekend was over)! We had plans to visit Round Spring which was just a few miles away. The spring itself was not very impressive and the hike was shorter than we were used to, but…. that’s where the wild horses decided to hang out for the morning! Yes, there is a herd of wild horses in the area! In fact, our campsites were proof that they frequented the park and gave me a chance to use the term “horse apples”. We almost missed them though. We were just leaving the parking lot when one of the guys spotted them. Of course I was about half way backed out of my space and just threw my car in park and left it so I wouldn’t miss them! The folks parked across from us were eyeing us a little weird as we jumped out of the car until I told them why LOL! Not everyone in our group was as excited as I was- “What’s the point of taking pictures of wild horses when we don’t take pictures of tame horses? Cuz they’re feral?” — Yeesh…some husbands just don’t understand…

From there we headed to Alley Spring which, I’ve been told, hosts the most photographed mill in America. The pictures I took don’t do it justice. A moderately uphill hike to the overlook spot and back around earned us all some ice cream from the Dairy Shack in Eminence before heading back to camp for lunch. (I actually learned today that the Dairy Shack had burned down a few years ago and they rebuilt it. I think everyone’s glad they did because it was hoppin’). The afternoon was filled with wading and crawdad catching by the kids in a VERY cold creek that runs by the campground. The hike that Heather and I went on later in the afternoon is probably my favorite so far. It was 2.5 miles total and all the way up the bluff to a lookout pavilion-filled with rock formations, lots of little waterfalls, and a gorgeous view from the top! I don’t feel like my words can express how awesome it was- you’ll just have to enjoy my pictures or go out there yourself. We got done cooking dinner just in time to eat inside before the rain came and we finished eating just in time for the rain clouds to blow out of the area.

Sunday morning was a different story- cold and windy as all get out! When I woke up and heard Ed come in from outside I asked what the temperature was like. His reply, “Stay in bed.” That should tell ya that it’s not pleasant! The early morning was spent inside while we waited for the wind to blow the clouds away so the sun could shine through enough to make breakfast. A quick cleanup and we loaded up. The guys, dogs, and campers headed home while Heather and I took the two younger boys and drove south a little ways to Welch Spring. Welch Spring has an interesting history in that it has hospital ruins on site. The spring was purchased by a doctor sometime long ago (I don’t remember the year off hand) who planned to use it for patients suffering from asthma and/or tuberculosis. He built the hospital over the cave where the spring originates in the hopes that the “pollen free air” would help cure them. HA! Imagine anywhere in Missouri having pollen free air! It was a nice little walk along the river and the force of the water produced by the spring is unbelievable so definitely worth the detour.