Day 2--Big Plans; St. Louis to the Ozarks

I want to share the overall plans for this trip, because they are quite extraordinary, and took a fair amount of orchestrating to make happen.  Here's the scoop:  During Week 1, John and I are traveling together from Michigan to San Diego.  In Week 2, we'll spend a few days in San Clemente with Aunt Kee (who lives there), my mom, and Chris and Barbara, who will be doing a BBH show in that town.  About mid-week, Mom and C&B and John and I will drive down to San Diego, where my brother,Chad, lives.  The next day, my sister, Susie, will fly to SD to join the fun.  The day after that, my other sister, Kitte, and her husband, Jim, and their daughter, Mary, will arrive.  That day is Chad's birthday.  The day after that, Chad and Kevin are hosting a BBH show at their home.  Amazingly, all 5 of us siblings, plus most of our significant others, plus Mom, will all be together!  In Week 3, five of us will ride together from San Diego to Seattle--stopping to visit San Francisco and the Redwoods of northern California.  Joe will fly out to join John and me for Week 4, during which we'll drive from Seattle to Vancouver, and through the Canadian Rockies.  During Week 5, John and I will be alone together, spending several days in Custer State Park in South Dakota, near Mount Rushmore.  So, that's the big picture of the fun in store for us.  I'll share the details as the days go on.

The drive today was long, but very pretty, with many twists and turns through the hills and forests and fields of beautiful Missouri and western Arkansas.  Our destination was the lodge in Mount Magazine State Park, in the Ozark Mountains.  We were here two years ago, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit again. The lodge sits on the edge of the highest mountain in the state, overlooking a lovely valley.  The weather this evening is hazy, so the view isn't as gorgeous as I know it really is.  Hopefully, tomorrow morning will be clearer.  I took this picture of a framed photo of the lodge that's hanging in the hallway here.

One more thing:  Our drive took us through Springfield, Missouri.  John remembered that the largest Bass Pro Shop on the planet is in Springfield, so we took some time to wander through it.  It's a beautiful store, much like the Cabela's in Michigan.