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Thursday, 14 October: Today we drove to Torchy’s house in anticipation of spending quality time with her and also seeing other family members and friends before heading to the Ozarks for some touring. We didn’t arrive until 4:00PM since it was a long drive and we were both tired after enjoying Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta the prior weekend. Anyway, Torchy prepared a delicious dinner which was preceded by happy hour. We enjoyed catching up and relaxing together.
Friday, 15 October: After enjoying breakfast, Chef Eduardo began dinner preparations for an Italian meal with Riley & Julie. Unfortunately, in our packing scheme, we failed to bring along some ground Italian cheeses needed for Ed’s pasta dish. So, we took a break and went to Sam’s Club where we found everything we needed. Afterwards, we returned back to Torchy’s and preparations continued. At 4:00PM, Riley & Julie arrived and Riley brought along a huge antipasti tray with enough goodies to easily serve a party of 10-12 persons. It was all delicious but we hardly made a dent. Afterwards, we enjoyed a salad of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms & mozzarella cheese. Then, it was one of Ed’s signature dishes – a baked pasta with red peppers and several cheeses. Yum, yum! So, we enjoyed another great meal surpassed only by great company!
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Torchy's House is ready for Halloween |
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Spiders are everywhere! |
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Riley with the giant antipasti |
Saturday, 16 October: Today was the “annual event” at Torchy’s. This year we enjoyed the company of the “usual suspects” – Andy, Rick, Riley, Julie (and, of course, Torchy) as well as Terri, Jeff and David. We had a great gang and everyone sat outside together as it was a mild day. Ed didn’t get to spend much time outside until after he was done cooking. He made fresh gnocchi which were boiled for a few seconds and then baked in a tomato sauce and served with fresh mozzarella. Then, he made a mushroom & chicken dish accompanied by garlic bruschetta (garlic bread). Everything was outstanding and the crowd enjoyed every bite. While the gang waited for these items, they were able to enjoy goodies from Riley’s over-sized antipasti platter. After lots of dining (and imbibing), we all called it a night and agreed to meet at a local restaurant for breakfast the following morning.
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Ed and Torchy making gnocchi for the feast |
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The Boys enjoying a nice Fall day |
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Julie & Riley relaxing with the group |
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Terri & Jeff |
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The sisters |
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Jeff's got us all! |
Sunday, 17 October: Well, everyone but Terri, Jeff & David made it for breakfast. They were only able to stop by for a moment as they had to return back home to East Texas earlier than originally anticipated. However, the balance of us enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before Andy & Rick headed back to “Big D.” Late in the afternoon, Riley & Julie returned to Torchy’s to enjoy leftovers from the previous Italian feasts. Again, it was another great day.
Monday, 18 October: While almost everyone else returned to work (except Torchy & Riley (Riley was waiting to find out when he would next be on the rails)), we drove to Hot Springs, Arkansas – a new spot for Lindy and one Ed had not visited in years. The trip took a bit longer than planned as we had a flat tire. Thankfully, Ed spotted it when we were stopping for a soda and inflated it. We were able to get to the WalMart in Gainesville, Texas and had the tire repaired there. So, we finally arrived in Hot Springs at 5:00PM. We settled into our hotel, did a bit of grocery shopping and enjoyed a light dinner before calling it a night.
Tuesday, 19 October: We woke up to unbelievable rain this morning. There were numerous thunderstorms in the area and the roads were overflowing with water. About 10:00AM, there was a slight slowing down so we headed into downtown Hot Springs to visit the National Park as well as the historic bathhouses.
The early part of the 20th century was the heyday for the bathhouses in Hot Springs. Many people - and even many doctors - believed that there were curative powers to the water in Hot Springs. In some cases, when a person had a disease that was incurable (at that time), the doctor would send him/her to Hot Springs for one final therapy. And, of course, where there was money to be made, there were also a lot of scams going on. In any event, many of the houses on Bathhouse row closed in the mid-20th century as advancements in medicine made bathing in the hot springs water less believable as a remedy for illness.
We drove through the park on a loop road but it was very foggy and difficult to see. So, we returned to the historic bathhouses and, in particular, visited the Fordyce House which is now the National Park headquarters. We were able to tour the bathhouse and it was very interesting. It still has its original build-out of marble tubs, steam chambers and other rooms devoted to the “curing powers of Hot Springs waters.” Afterwards we returned to the National Park loop road and we were able to catch a few views before the rain once again returned. At this point, it was mid-afternoon so we called it a day and returned to our hotel in anticipation of some scenic driving en route to our next destination of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
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Lindy by one of the Fountains |
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Hot Springs National Park Headquarters |
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A former treatment
center the building |
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A relaxation center on the 3rd floor |
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One of the many Bathhouses |
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Fordyce House |
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A fountain in
the Men's Bath Area features an Indian child serving Hot Springs water to a Spanish Conquistador |
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The ceiling in the Men's Bath Area |
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Marble Benches |
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Steam baths (now,
these do look antiquated) |
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The Loop Road |
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The hills are ribbons of color |
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The sun shining on the drive |
Wednesday, 20 October: Our day primarily was spent on the road. We left Hot Springs and took a very scenic drive north. The road was incredibly narrow and very, very twisty. So, in our first couple of hours of driving, we made only about 73 miles. That being said, the views made it worth it. Unfortunately, however, there are no “scenic turnouts” on scenic back roads so there was no photo-taking. When we left the rolling hills, we emerged into farm country. It seems that part of the annual clearing of the land after the last crops involves setting fields on fire while tilling them under. So, the sky was filled with dust and/or haze for most of the balance of our drive through northeastern Arkansas. When we hit the border with Missouri, we thankfully got a bit of a break as we headed to Poplar Bluff, our home for the night. We enjoyed a leisurely evening and especially enjoyed the “5:30PM Kickback” at our hotel (The Drury Inn) which included hot food and cold beverages. Then, it was time for some HBO and R&R.
Thursday, 21 October: This was our first day of exploring Southern Missouri. We left Poplar Bluff and headed West (yes, we had gone as far East as we were going on this trip). We again were on scenic, winding roads with great landscapes. At the town of Eminence, we decided to make a detour to see the Alley Mill, a grist mill from the 1800’s.
We arrived in the park and it was absolutely beautiful. After a short walk, we came to the Mill. It is set on a natural spring which produces over 81 million gallons of water a day. Simply amazing! The building itself remains totally intact. Unfortunately, it was closed for the season so we were not able to go inside to see the water-powered turbine which was used to grind grain into a very fine powder. However, we did enjoy great views of the Mill and its natural spring. Also, the water was so clear and clean that the stream leaving the area had amazing green growth in the water which gave it beautiful colors. Wow, it was the perfect time to visit this amazing old-time Mill.
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The Mill building with
its water diversion used for grinding grain |
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The beautiful spring water |
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A closer look at all
the foliage that grows within the spring |
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A view of the Mill across a pond |
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A small waterfall |
Afterwards, we continued on our journey to the north and west eventually arriving in the town of Rolla, our home for the next two nights. We settled into our room (again at a Drury Inn) and enjoyed another great happy hour compliments of the hotel.
Friday, 22 October: After enjoying a leisurely breakfast, we began some additional explorations here in Missouri. We left Rolla and drove a few miles to Saint James. From there, we went to Maramec Spring Park. We spent the day exploring this scenic area. Originally, the entire park area was part of the Maramec Iron Works. The Works was in operation from 1826 to 1878.
Interestingly, the Works came about for two primary reasons. First, there was an iron ore pit originally known to the local Native Americans which was very close to the Works. Second, thanks to the Maramec Spring, there was an inexhaustible supply of water power. The Maramec Spring is the fifth largest spring in Missouri with an average daily flow of 100 million gallons of water. Amazing!
These days the Works and its surrounding property are part of a private foundation which was established to maintain the area’s natural surroundings as well as its historic significance. In addition, a fish hatchery has been introduced and it releases both brown trout and rainbow trout into the nearby waterways.
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How about seeing these
two big brown trout beginning the Fall spawn| as our entry to the Maramec Spring Park |
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This was the Power
House that supplied electricity to the Meramec Iron Works |
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This was the forge
area where iron ore was transformed into metal objects |
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A closer view of the forage area |
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This smelter was used for casting |
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Here's a view through the side of the smelter |
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This is the ore pit
which served as the basis for Meramec Iron Works |
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An old stone dam which is almost gone |
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Water exiting an area
where it was diverted to the iron works |
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Some great Fall colors
as well as amazing foliage in the spring water |
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An incredibly beautiful setting! |
We spent the day enjoying the natural beauty of the area as well as exploring some of the historic remains still on the property. While doing so we realized that our “leaf peeping” is coming to an end. That is, the leaves are now quickly falling to the ground before there is any additional color change. Oh well, we enjoyed every bit of it and will continue to enjoy any foliage changes that remain.
Saturday, 23 October: Our destination today was Branson, Missouri. However, we decided to do a bit of touring near the Lake of the Ozarks. We had a beautiful road en route on winding, hilly country roads. At one point, we even had a female doe approach the road. Thankfully, she turned back into the woods as we approached. Evidently, there is a very large deer population in this area as there were quite a few deer that had been struck and killed by cars. Oh well, we can only imagine how messed up some of those cars were after their encounters.
We were somewhat disappointed in Lake of the Ozarks. Almost all the shoreline (at least near roads) had been consumed by high-rise condominiums. Based on the signage, many of those condo’s are now up for sale thanks to the recession. A second home on the lake sounded like a great idea several years ago.
At Lake of the Ozarks we headed south to Branson. We decided to follow a local city map to reach our hotel so that we could also found the route to this evening’s entertainment, Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. While it was a good idea in theory, the traffic in Branson was maniacal. The main strip is only a two-lane road with a center lane for turning. It took forever to cross town in crawling traffic before we reached our hotel. It did give us lots of time to look for an alternate route back to The Dixie Stampede so we could avoid the hoards as we returned back for the evening show.
We left the hotel at 4:00PM and were able to arrive at the Dixie Stampede in about only 10 minutes (versus the 30-45 minutes we spent in the car early in the day) by using roads less traveled. Before watching the show and enjoying dinner, we wandered through the horse stables since many horses are used in the production. Then, we watched a great comic/juggler (“Lucas”) before going into the main arena for the main show. Basically, it’s a great show based on lots of singing, dancing and horsemanship. There’s a lot of audience participation and the show appeals to individuals of all ages. While enjoying the show, everyone is served a great dinner. All in all it was very entertaining and we really enjoyed ourselves.
After the show ended, we returned to our hotel (again via back streets) and only had minor delays at one light. So, we got back much earlier than anticipated. We then enjoyed watching the big football game in Missouri (Oklahoma vs. Missouri) which Missouri ultimately won. Hey, it’s always fun rooting for the home team!
To continue to our Arkansas fishing, click on Fishing with Forrest