Exploring Our Adopted State
Ken and I have lived in our adopted state of Missouri for more than three years now, but we are still in awe of all this incredible state has to offer. We’ve been traveling through the state this past week, exploring some of the wonderful state parks in Missouri. Here is just a sampling of what we’ve discovered so far.
We’ve been to Branson many times, but this was our first time to discover beautiful Top of the Rock. We took the golf cart trail around the grounds for views of rock formations and waterfalls, visited the world-class museum there, and ate at the Buffalo Bar with stunning views of the Chapel of the Ozarks and the infinity pool at sunset. We rode our bikes on the trail through the campground and caught a view of the Branson Belle steamboat, and walked through Branson Landing before settling in for the night at Table Rock State Park with a gorgeous view of the lake right behind us.
The next day we drove to Finley Farms in Ozark, Missouri. We’d had coffee at The Workshop once before but wanted to eat at the Ozark Mill there. It was delicious! Ken had Chicken and Dumplings and I ordered the catfish and we were both very happy with our choices. We walked around the grounds for a while before heading for our next campsite in Roaring River State Park. We really loved this park with seven hiking trails, a fishery, lots of fishermen to watch, and one of the deepest natural blue springs in the country.
The next night, we camped at Pomme de Terre State Park on the Pomme de Terre River, a tributary of the Osage River. Ken saw an amazing misty sunrise while I slept blissfully. I don’t mind missing a sunrise here and there if it means I’m sleeping well. And the sunsets we’ve seen certainly make up for the sunrises I’ve missed. 
The next morning we headed for Harry S. Truman State Park but stopped first to ride our bikes on three up-and-back trails in Warsaw, Missouri. We really enjoyed these trails along the Osage River with plenty of bridges and other sights to keep the trail interesting.
Harry S. Truman State Park has majestic bluffs over the water and our campground was quiet and pretty with fall coming on strong! Today we begin circling around toward home. Just a few more nights of camping and our travels will come to an end for a while, but we certainly are enjoying getting to know our new state!
