First Anniversary

Wow, it's already been a year. JoLee and I went out of town last weekend. Her Aunt and Uncle graciously loaned us their condo in Lake of the Ozarks which is about three hours away. It's the resevoir where everyone goes to boat and ski. It's like a Bethel Island on steroids. We didn't do any skiing, because it was winter, but we had a great time. We saw some caves and the ruins of an old castle that was built in the early 20th century. We had excellent eating, and we went shopping in the outlets. We even saw the local bank go up in flames.

The lake is huge and beautiful. Of course it doesn't look like this in the winter. I had to steal this image off the internet.

Several areas carry American Indian names. This place is called Ha Ha Tonka. Don't ask me what it means. Someone bought the land 100 years ago and built a castle on top of the hill (in the background). It burned down, and all that's left is ruins. JoLee and I had a great time hiking the area. We took 200 steps that went down the hill to the lake, and walked along trails next to the natural springs.

This is JoLee near the castle. The sun was setting.

The ruins were really cool. They reminded me of the cathedral in Cartago, Costa Rica.

The whole general area is dotted with caves. Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri all have several. This one is called Bridal Cave, because there is an old Indian legend of wedding ceremonies being held here. It is still used for weddings, and they have hosted over 1000. I went to the caves not expecting much, but I was very surprised at how amazing they were.

The cave is in two sections, and about 8 years ago, workers blasted a tunnel so that tourists like us could go between them. This is the man made tunnel that connects the caves.

JoLee has a thing for state capitols. I like them, too, because of the architecture. The Missouri state capital is Jefferson City, named after Thomas Jefferson. The capitol is nice on the outside, but it was really the inside that we came to see. Thomas Hart Benton was a famous artist who painted a few murals inside the state capitol in the 30's.

This picture is also taken from the internet. We couldn't take our own pictures, because several politicians were using the room to host a conference against cloning. We sat in the back of the room and pretended to listen while we looked around the room.


I think I owe everyone a huge THANKS for being so great to us over the past year. We appreciated all the cards and attention we got for our anniversary (and my birthday). Everyone sent a message, and it meant a lot to me. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you again soon.

--Nate