Ozarks

 On the way in to Branson, we stopped at a town called Hollister. It is very English.

We walked down Branson Landing which is a lot of stores & restaurants. We ate at Cantina Laredo. We had a beautiful view outside to the Taneycomo River.

We were excited to ride the Steampunk Balloon. Unfortunately it was cold & windy & probably not the season.

I have wanted to ride a hot air balloon & it was on my bucket list. However, as time passed by I am fearful of free floating. I think I need to be "tethered"

We took the River Walk back along the

river

On the way back we watched the Fire & Ice show

We were pretty cold & tired. We still had to go to Walmart. I know Branson is known for all its entertainers but we really didn't want to spend even the matinee prices.

My cellphone charging cord got stuck in the trailer door, so guess where we started the day? Another trip to a Walmart to get things we couldn't yesterday.

We left Missouri which is beautiful & green! We entered Arkansas which is also beautiful & green. We were on some back woods roads. We thoroughly enjoyed the deep green of the hills & the farms.

We arrived in Eureka Springs. This is the only town in the US where the whole downtown is a historical site. There were many Victorian mansions. The next hour or two we spent on back roads, twisting & turning. We couldn't seem to get back to downtown so we decided to skip the museum.

This place is crazy! Streets running at all angles. Alexa sent us down a road that was a single lane & dirt. After a mile Steve had enough & decided to do one of his many u-turns of the trip with the trailer. There was a hill on one side & a big ditch on the other. He did really good but was rather frustrated.

We stopped at the Rowdy Beaver for lunch because it was one we could actually get to!

We went to the Thorn Crown Chapel which was so beautiful & peaceful right out there in the middle of nature.

The next stop was Christ of the Ozarks.

They also hold a famous Passion Play.  Notice a theme anyone? It seems like in these small towns there is a church on every corner! Every religion you can think of!!

We already had lost a couple of hours but were moving along to Hot Springs National Park. More winding, narrow roads for 4 more hours. 

We were on the road to the campground & the police stopped us. There was an accident at the campground. So we drove to the end of town & came in the other way where we were stopped & waited about 30 minutes.

We finally got in the campground only to find it was full. It appears that after Feb. 1st it was OK to make reservations. I planned this through January & it stated it was a first come first serve park.

It was getting dark & 8 pm as we drove to an RV park miles & miles from the town. The office was closed with a recording. We had the choice of driving back to Walmart & sleeping in the parking lot or picking an empty space. I got on the website & it let me reserve a campsite for tonight. Not cheap!! But we were done!!

I didn't think the night could get worse, but after I did my blog, somehow I made it disappear. I am redoing it at almost midnight so please forgive any mistakes.

Tomorrow is another day. We will go back & see the bath houses & springs. We are heading for Louisiana tomorrow.