What a difference from yesterday's slate gray and drizzle to today's clear (but chilly) weather! 91 miles today which was very hilly at times - much steeper hills in Missouri than we've had all trip. Willow Springs was named for a spring surrounded by willows (yes, calm yourselves, it's true)... unfortunately neither the spring nor the willows are locatable. It's in the Ozarks, which is an eroded ancient mountain range that was an island during the Paleozoic and covers much of southern MO and into northern Arkansas. Ozarks is from 'aux arcs' apparently which is French and likely a contraction referring to the region around the Arkansas river and the fort at the junction with the Mississippi. The formations are made of Karst limestone for the most part, which accounts for the numerous springs and caves. Missouri has the most caves of any state with over 6000 documented. It also has some weird drivers including one that stopped on the shoulder of the divided highway and ran up to me to see 'what we were doing!?' and whether we were racing or not... very strange... Anyway, tomorrow is a short day which will be a nice breather after 315 miles in the last 3 days :)
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| More longhorns here than in OK or TX! |
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| Lunch in the city park |
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| Norwood, MO - seems to be at least as many churches as homes |
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| Ghost island... sounds much spookier than it looks... |
There are quite a few hills in Missouri! The Tour of Missouri was a favorite with the pros, until it lost support by the Governor, because of them.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your posts John! Great pictures and stories!
thanks ed! the ozarks are a good warm up for next week in the Appalachians :)
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