ONWARD - AUGUST 19

We took the hike from the campground to the cave to find an opening blocked with not only chain link fencing but a concrete block wall.  Apparently, the cave has been excavated and contained remnants dating back 10,000 years.  There is nary a display to indicate exactly what they found and the whole site was pretty disappointing.  In other times there may be park staff that offers some insight but none was to be had for this visit!

The hike around that pretty lake was calling my name and Rob forced his tired feet to follow mine for the task before packing up the next day.  I don’t know what to say for myself but I have a “thing” about hiking!  Finding flowers, fungus, mushrooms and all things wonderfully natural at the same time as doing something good for myself – what could be better?!nyway, we got the hike out of the way and were on the road with a goal of another state park – Graham Cave – in Missouri this time.  We tried a new approach and headed for a smaller highway route thinking of avoiding the monotony of freeway driving and also Saint Louis traffic.  It didn’t take long for Rob to tire of all things “small town” and we rerouted back to the hustle and bustle.

Contradicting completely the original thought, we ended up needing diesel – right in the thick of Saint Louis traffic!  We picked a location promising a good price only to find they didn’t keep their promise.  Oh well, live and learn.  And we also learned about pulling into the truck bays vs the passenger vehicle pumps.  Without going into detail…we won’t be doing that again! 

Fuel accomplished, the next stop was the dreaded WalMart visit for a few supplies.  We were done with civilization completely by the end of that visit and could not be happier than to find our way to our campground for the night. Another Covid experience, the campground was nearly deserted.  With one other site taken and only one showing a reservation, we had the pick of less than well-kept sites.  We nonetheless got ourselves settled and wasted no time stretching our legs after a longer than expected day of driving. 

We took the hike from the campground to the cave to find an opening blocked with not only chain link fencing but a concrete block wall.  Apparently, the cave has been excavated and contained remnants dating back 10,000 years.  There is nary a display to indicate exactly what they found and the whole site was pretty disappointing.  In other times there may be park staff that offers some insight but none was to be had for this visit!

Not to be deterred, we enjoyed the park and the campground nonetheless and made ourselves another great meal and fire before some cards and a blissful, quiet and dark night’s sleep.