Day 5-June 3

Check out time is noon so we are packed up and ready to pull out after a quick sightseeing tour of the area.  Our first stop is right up the road at Alley Mill.  Thank goodness for Jess’s four wheel drive because we obviously don’t read directions very well.  The sign said left to Alley Mill.  O.K. but there was a bridge going across the stream so we thought that was the way to go.  The river is just as beautiful from this view as it was when we were canoeing yesterday.  The only problem is that this is definitely not the way to the mill and there is no way to turn around.  Jess got to use his four wheel drive (it’s a guy thing) to get us out of what I considered a pretty rough spot and then we were able to get turned around and headed in the right direction.  This area used to be a community many years ago.  The mill and a one room school house are all that remain today.  The spring that powered the mill in its day is beautiful with its turquoise coloring.  We then traveled down Hwy. 106 a few miles to see the Blue Hole.  It is just a short hike out to the spring and it is well worth the walk.

Back to camp in time for a quick lunch before heading north.  We are still in search of cooler temperatures (at least I am). We found a delightfully quiet camping spot just north of Marshall, Mo.  Van Meter State Park is set in a shady orchard of Walnut trees in an area where the Missouri Indians lived many years ago.  There is a wetlands area that provided us with a nice walk after we got set up.  We were concerned that we may have trouble finding a camp site on a Friday evening but evidently this place is so far off the beaten path that it is still relatively undiscovered.  There is only one other group of campers out here with us so we have decided to spend the weekend here.