The Second Day of Our Trip along the Ozark National Scenic Riverways

 The natural sights we sought out on our second day in the beautiful rolling hills of the Ozarks continued to take us again over winding roads, some of which again were gravel.  By the way, Salem Missouri Tourism Committee has written a brochure detailing directions to most of the sights which I have been writing about in this post and the previous one.  It would be helpful to have that in hand, given our experiences with searching out these areas- one particular place, which I will mention next, even had its sign fallen off!    

                                                      
Pictured above is Rocky Falls, the day we were there it had quite an awesome flow of water due to the recent rains.  The interpretive sign here notes that the abundance of rock here, called rhyolite porphyry, was " formed as molten rock deep within the earth and flowed onto the surface about 1.5 billion years ago".  A better picture of the black rock formations is seen in the picture below.  I did some climbing over the rocks until a fine mist of the falls fell on my face.  That was refreshing as it was a rather warm day!

                                                      
Our nest stop of the day was Blue Springs.  Native Americans once called the place the "spring of the summer sky".  It is Missouri's deepest as well as most beautiful at 310 feet deep, and is usually a vivid deep blue color due to dissolved minerals present in it.  We could not see that deep blue the day we were there because of recent rainfall.   Actually,  I must say I saw some  of that pretty blue more in the pictures I took of the spring!

                                                      
One other note here before I end this posting.  My readers are well aware for my penchant for identifying birds and flowers.  Hiking around in the Ozarks i saw a very pretty white flower with 8 petals and yellow stamens in the middle.  It is called bloodroot, according to my Missouri Wildflower book.  It was used by Native Americans as an insect repellent, dye, ceremonial pigment, and for a variety of medicines.  Extracts of the plant are used in toothpaste.  Other spring flowers which we found were the Dutchman britches and Virginia bluebells.  It was so good to see those first signs of spring!

                                                       

Our anniversary trip to the Ozarks

Hard to believe that we have had forty-five years of wedded bliss.  Well, it has not always gone smoothly, but through all of the ups and downs we have found that our love for each other has only grown stronger.  The pandemic certainly limited our choices as to how we might spend our anniversary.  John wanted to return to Echo Bluff State Park.  We visited the park in 2018, however we could not spend a night in its lodge because we had not made reservations.  This time we planned ahead and were able to spend two nights in the lodge.

Staying at the lodge gave us two days to roam the curvy and hilly two lane roads along the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.  On our first day we explored springs and streams of the Current River.  Our first stop was Devils Well, an open sinkhole that formed when the ceilings of an underground cavern collapsed.  If  you plan to visit this area be aware that it is not easy to find.  The mile or so road off the main one is gravel and pothole ridden, with rivulets of water running across it.  In the past few days there had been heavy rains, I was concerned that we would encounter deep water across the road.  There were no other cars in sight as we bumped our way down this questionable road, and I felt some relief once we arrived at the parking lot of Devils Den and found several cars there.  We were not the only insane people to search out this spot!  

We took a long wooden stairway down into the sinkhole.  There was a natural overhang of soil and rock, under which John is bending in the picture above.  And in the picture below he is behind a waterfall  peering into a lake measuring 400 feet long and 100 feet wide.  He said he could only see about five feet into the lake instead of the actual 100 feet because of the recent heavy rains.

                                            

The sinkhole was discovered in 1954 by the Wallace brothers.  It is the largest underground lake in Missouri.  

                                         

Pictured above is Welch Spring, also found along the Current River and the fifth largest spring in Missouri.  The building in the background is what is left of a sanatorium built in 1913 by  Doctor Diehl for patients suffering from various respiratory diseases. The building was erected over the entrance of a  a cave, the thought being that the moist air would be beneficial for the patients. A resort was added to the hospital.  The good doctor died in1940 and the family chose not to continue the hospital or resort. It was a good idea, but the road down to them was rough and the area remote from civilization. 

                                        

"Round as a silver dollar" is the next sinkhole we explored, consequently the springs here are called Round Springs.  It is notable for the variety of birds who visit the area, however there was not much activity the day we were there.

                                         
It is interesting that in the Ozark area we were visiting there are four separate herds of wild horses, one of which we were lucky to see.  We met up with a couple who said that they live in the area and track the herds rather frequently.  In the herd pictured above the horse in the foreground is the stallion.  The rest of the the group were either females or young ones, who are brown colored until they get older.

St.Louis Aquarium

Nothing much has been going on with us the past few months, as you can tell from the absence of my postings.  Now both John and I have been vaccinated, and we certainly will be out and about more now.  Last week our grandson Nathan had his spring break, and we had to find something to do with him to make that week somewhat special, so we chose a visit to our new aquarium in St. Louis.  Granted, it is a bit costly, but we found out that the money we put out was worth it.  Nathan enjoyed every moment of his visit there, and after we exited the aquarium he begged to go back in!

The aquarium had some information and exhibits regarding climate change and what we can do to make a difference in a world that is experiencing weather extremes and coastal flooding.  Upon entering the aquarium, we were surrounded by many hanging plastic bottles.  Very pretty, but it is a sad reminder of how many of them have been pitched out only to end up in land fills or or other places.  Only 8% gets recycled, and a new plastic bottle cannot be made from the old one without adding more chemicals to it.  The plastic debris which ends up in our environment ensnares animals and fish.  And, according to the exhibit, "plastic is found in the the seafood we eat and water we drink".   By 2050 "scientists expect there will be more plastic by weight than fish in our oceans if we do not reduce our use of plastic".

 The aquarium has some unusual fish which I have not seen before, such as the archerfish.  Nathan,our grandson, is holding a stick with fish food at the end of it.  When the fish sees that hanging above him, he spits out a stream of water which causes the food to fall down for him to snatch up and it.  We did see that stream of spit come up and knock off the food.  Nature is very fascinating; it seems to me that many species of plants and animals have a particular uniqueness which is common to only them. 

Pictured above is Lord Stanley, a blue lobster.  Only one in approximately 2 million lobsters are blue instead of the usual red color.  

The aquarium has tide pools where it is possible to touch star fish, and other creatures found in those shallow pools.  There were also the other usual exhibits of sea horses ( I am always fascinated by those creatures and the various members of that species).   There are also interesting displays of a variety of jelly fish, pictured above.  Nathan enjoys touching sting rays, which he was able to do at the aquarium.  For young children this aquarium has a lot to offer, and I must say we adults enjoyed it too!