2024 October Trip – Return Home

2024 October Trip – End of trip and return home to Kenosha

End of trip, total distance 5,183 miles across 13 states in 23 days. A quick car wash and full tank of gas and it’s back to normal life and dreaming up the next expedition. Nothing too exciting in this post – I’m mainly creating it to drop a pin on my geomap. Click the link … Read more

Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site

Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site – Main house on plantation

Continued north from Taum Sauk Mountain and crossed onto I-55 which means I am getting close to home with familiar highways. Before leaving Missouri I was able to squeeze out one final stop at the Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site in Grantwood Village. Weather today is warm but quite nice with abundant blue skies … Read more

Taum Sauk Mountain

Taum Sauk Mountain - Accessible trail to the highpoint

My morning route would continue to push north, closer towards home. I was enjoying the windy rural Missouri roads so I kept driving them at first for no particular reason at all. A short time later I checked the map and realized I was near the state’s highest point at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park. … Read more

Ozark National Scenic Riverways – Big Spring

Ozark National Scenic Riverway - Big Spring - Water flowing out to the Current River

I came into this spot blind last night just looking for a place to sleep. Randomly winding up at Big Spring in Missouri just searching for a campsite? Pretty fortunate. I broke camp and drove just a short distance outside the campground to find Big Spring but you could walk/hike the Slough Trail if you … Read more

Ozark National Scenic Riverway – Big Spring Campground

Ozark National Scenic Riverway – Big Spring Campground

Tonight’s campground was a happy accident – I didn’t intend to end up here, I was just driving north towards home and this was the best stopping point I could find. Truth be told I knew nothing about the site; it was a road sign that led me here as the daylight was fading. That … Read more

George Washington Carver National Monument

George Washington Carver National Monument – Entrance Sign

Final full day of adventure and starting to make my way north towards home. I have crossed over from Arkansas to Oklahoma and now into Missouri, and the next stop at George Washington Carver National Monument has been on my list for quite some time as I find his life and accomplishments both impressive and … Read more

Natural Falls State Park – Dripping Springs Waterfall

Natural Falls State Park - Waterfall view from boardwalk

Cooler temperatures this morning allowed for near perfect conditions to hike to the waterfall on the Dripping Springs Trail. If you are a camper, access is a very short walk just from the campground; day visitors also have easy access just left of the main entrance at the parking lot. The start of the trail … Read more

Natural Falls State Park – Camping

Natural Falls State Park - Entrance sign

The heat today was a problem; not only that, a few of the other spots I checked out had dried-up streams meaning no waterfalls meaning nothing to share. Fall colors are fading. And I was running out of time quickly so I couldn’t reasonably stay down south to explore the Ozarks further on this trip. … Read more

Mount Magazine – Signal Hill

Mount Magazine Signal Hill highpoint - Sign at summit

Weather today is again surprisingly hot for October reaching highs above 90°F. Decided to combat that by finding higher elevation at Mount Magazine State Park in Arkansas. There are several access points to the summit; I started from the Cameron Bluff Campground trail head. The trail is very well marked and maintained, and includes an … Read more

Oklahoma Sign

Oklahoma sign

Not much to see here – just a quick pit stop at the Oklahoma border sign as I was leaving Fort Smith. Another angle. Main reason for this post is to put a pin in my Geomap feature of the site, another reason is just because. Lat = 35.4012413 , Long = -94.4458847 — Show … Read more