This year, we were planning to drive up the west coast of the Michigan Lower Peninsula. But a few days before our trip, the predictions were for snow. Which they got. Too much of it. We decided instead to head to southeastern Missouri in the land of the Ozarks. This was a great choice - they had much better fall color than we had in Chicago!
Our first stop was for lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis. (Thank you, Yelp!) Then we headed to Castlewood State Park. Beautiful hiking on a trail along the Meramec River, first up on the ridge then down along the shoreline.
Gorgeous fall color!
There were a fair amount of stairs, but Orion was undaunted!
We stayed the night in the small town of Sullivan so we could get an early start the next morning at Meramec State Park. We were pretty much alone on the trails. This allowed us to see two deer! One we almost walked on top of - a doe laying beneath the trees. Orion did not even smell her. We're pretty sure she doesn't know what a deer should smell like.
This park had all kinds of natural geography.
We even managed to get a photo with all of us looking at the camera! (To be honest: The first shot was of Orion's rear end.)
This was our view pretty much the entire vacation. We could not go fast enough for her!
Posing while simultaneously worrying about a sound in the woods.
After that park, we headed towards the Mark Twain National Forest. It looked beautiful in the internet photos, and was just as gorgeous in real life. However, we were slightly misled - apparently there are no trails in this forest. However, people do live there. We followed the directions we had saved since there is no internet in this area of the state, apparently, and it led us to someone's house. Um, awkward!
So we turned around and headed toward our hotel for the evening. Along the way, we clearly had to stop to see the World's Largest Rocker.
It was outside a very amusing store.
We had time left in the day, so we headed to the Meramec Spring Park. This park is privately owned and includes a river where they release trout each year. They also breed and raise the trout on-site.
The park is on the grounds of what used to be an Iron Works. Some of the buildings are still standing.
The forge.
Orion found a patch of grass she just had to roll in. It must have smelled good! She does this at home, too, but only in very specific spots.
There were deer at this park as well, but they were a little more wary.
These are the trout pools.
That night we stayed in Rolla. The most highly recommended restaurant was A Slice of Pie. The Yelp reviews said it was difficult to find - very true! But find it, we did, and we had delicious pie (half slices!) for dessert.
The next day we headed to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. More beautiful fall leaves.
Look closer!
This park is built around the remains of a castle built in 1905 by a businessman. It was destroyed by fire in 1942.
There was more intriguing geography to explore.
There is also a natural spring with a beautiful blue hue.
"Hey! Wait for me! I should be in the lead!"
"What's down there?"
"Why can't I climb over the ledge?"
Our last stop was Rock Bridge Memorial State Park near Columbia (home of the team-which-shall-not-be-named). We took a hike to see the "Devil's Ice Box", an entrance to a large natural cave system. Watch for bats!
There was a connection to another trail, so we jumped onto that. However, that trail was not well-marked. Actually, it wasn't marked (or "blazed", in hiking-speak) at all. So we got a tad lost. Orion wasn't worried, though. There was plenty of grass for her to eat.
Yes, apparently our dog is really a miniature cow.
We spent the night in Collinsville, IL, just east of St. Louis. Orion was super excited to be spoiled with her own bed!
Before heading home the next morning, we took a detour to see the World's Largest Catsup Bottle. We were slightly disappointed to learn it's a water tower and does not, in fact, hold ketchup.
