Missouri

Branson is a really fun place. The whole town is full of bluegrass performers. We have gone to several different live performances and enjoyed them thoroughly. It is funny that Vancouver doesn’t promote this place as a destination to visit. The town is geared up for tourism. It is a real family entertainment town. I would suggest anyone come and see it for yourself. The prices are really good. Only about $25 each to see some great country artists. Can’t get anything like it anywhere else. We stayed in a campground near a crik (creek) and when travelling went over hills and hollers (hollows). I just love the way they speak. Y’all have a good time you hear. Strange sight is all the armadillos. They are everywhere. They are a pest to the locals though. Apparently they eat bugs but dig under their houses and can destroy a place in no time. So the locals are not fond of them.

We are at Meramac State Park tonight. It is located west of St. Louis. It is really pretty here but quite wet as we had a thunderstorm last night and more rain predicted for tonight. It is a relief though to have the cooler weather and we don’t mind it at all. Hope to be able to go to the underground caverns tomorrow. I guess it depends on the weather. We stopped at a truck stop for lunch and met some nice truckers. One was from Chilliwack. They gave us some tips as to roads to take on our travels. Apparently the south is quite flooded but the main roads are fine. We are watching the weather patterns and following exactly where the flooding is happening. So we have figured out as far as Nashville and then don’t know yet which route we will be taking.

Went to the caverns and they are amazing. The caverns took thousands of years to grow and are huge. The entire cave complex stretches upward past the height of a 7 story building and extraordinary formations can be seen throughout. I don’t know how many miles wide it is but the rooms are very large. Interesting facts are that Jesse James and his gang hid out in the caves along with their horses after a robbery and escaped through a ¾ mile underground stream that runs throughout. Also during the civil war saltpeter was made from the bat droppings in the caves. They used this as gun powder for their muskets. It is easy to imagine all this happening when you visit the caves.

We then carried on to St.Louis. It is very wet and rainy here but an interesting city to visit. See the famous arch below. Off to Nashville tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing it.