Greetings again, Campers!

I can hear you all saying "Show Me!". That's right, we're in the Show Me state... Missouri.

First off, I forgot to include yesterday's trip map. Here is yesterdays route (Fulton, MS to Powhatan, AR) and today's (Powhatan to Stockton Lake, MO) in one view:

June 16 and 17 Route

So, Mrs. C' is doing a bit better as the wonder meds fix her painful tooth. We took it slow but pushed off from Lake Charles shortly after 10. Within about an hour we crossed into Missouri. Spent the entire day in "the Ozarks" since Lake Charles in in the southeaster Ozarks and Hawker Point in the Northwest.

The Ozarks are a combination of beautiful scenery, frozen time, salt of the earth people and Branson, MO (which was described to us as a cross between Nashville and Orlando.... sort of a cutesy mouse in bib overalls and a wife beater tee... we decided to bypass it).

In place of Branson we opted for an Ozark education and decided to park it in Cabool, MO for lunch. Cabool is named after Kabul, Afganistan. No, the city fathers didn't decide to make a pun out of their name by building mud hovels and a US Airbase there. Rather, the town looks sort of like a series of tornadoes picked up buildings from throughout the Ozarks and neatly laid them side by side on Main St.. Here, let me show you....

So, we parked the Airstream on a side street. Put the dogs in it with water (it was cool enough to do that today) and headed to "El Imperial" (that's the sand colored building in the middle of the block in the top shot above. We figured that based on the advice of 14 TripAdvisor clients, each of whom was probably a restaurant critic in their own right and the close match of the restaurant to its authentic location we couldn't miss. And I'd say the critics were generally right. Not bad Mex. Mrs. C' had the beef fajitas (tender, flavorful, a bit under seasoned), I had marinated pork in a light green chile sauce that was also good.

At least three people asked us where we were from. Now... either the town is so small that strangers are immediately noticed. Or 13,500 lbs of silver aluminum and steel rolling down Main St (see above) attracted attention that we didn't notice. Or our clothes, sunglasses on my head and camera around my neck marked us as passing through. I'm not sure which, but I can tell you you can't pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Cabool. To a person they were warm and friendly. The restaurant, it turns out, has been there for 40 years. The owner was working the cash register. She must have opened the place when she was 20. Turns out her son was our server. Although I believe there is no social prohibition about asking in the Ozarks, I refrained from saying "Geez... are you really from May-he-co?". I suspect she would have said "Si, Senor".

After a short shopping spree (do you believe Mrs. C' got a good deal on a bracelet from a manufacturer she knows at a shop right there on Main St that could have been lifted in one of those tornadoes from Bethesda, MD and dropped right there in Cabool? Yep. And the fellow running it had retired from Nestle' and was expanding his own brand of BBQ sauce nationwide. You see... you can't judge a town by the facades of its buildings on Main St.

So, we pressed on deeper into Missouri and landed in the Lakes Region. Still in the Ozarks, but on the shores of the 5th largest lake in the State... Stockton Lake. Build in 1968 by the US Army Corps of Engineers and covering something like 29,000 acres. Try doing that today! In fact, all of the large lakes in Missouri are man made! Looking back on it, I think Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll helped build America. Today's kids are too connected and socially conscious to go to Woodstock while the Army flooded endangered species from their homes. What is the secret to a new age of American progress, you ask? More drugs and music for our youth! Naw... maybe that's not such a good idea.

Anyway, the rain was starting to fall as we approached the US Army Corp of Engineers Hawker Point campground. We crossed a bridge that offered a spectacular view of the lake. Here's the bridge, then a view to the right then a view to the left. Or campground in on the point closest to the bridge in the view to the left.

Finally, here's tonight's panorama (there is a larger version on our Flickr page if you just can't get enough of this... Silver Cliche's Flickr Photostream ). It's a 400 degree view of the campsite we're in as I write this. Note for the first time the weather is cool enough (and sadly, wet) to open the hatch on the AS. The bridge from which the above were taken is visible about 1/3 of the way in from the left.

Tomorrow its on to Kansas. Next three nights will be there. One in Eastern Kansas, two in the west including a day off the road. I'm thinking Elvis probably never even visited Hays, Kansas. If he did you can bet we;ll drive by the plaque on the gas pump which hasn't been used since he filled up there in 1963. We'll post that pic when we get it.

Keep thinking of us when you grab another 'smore!

SC