Tour of Missouri: Long Branch State Park

Labor Day Weekend we achieved one of our 2014 goals. We visited our fifth state park in a year and earned our Camper's Award from the State of Missouri.

Long Branch State Park is located in Macon, Missouri right at the intersection of 36 and 63 Highways. For those of you from the Kansas City area it reminds me a lot of Smithville Lake. The lake is completely the focus of this state park.

We explored the lake by driving around. It was apparent really quickly that this lake is huge. Not only did we find Long Branch Lake but we also found Macon Lake. Both entertained us.

Long Branch has a camping area with electric hook-ups but they also have primitive camping available as well as hike-in camping. Our campsite was located in a tree grove which provided great coverage from the sun. The shade coverage provided us with amazing sleep both nights because the sun was kept at bay. We also enjoyed two rain showers during our holiday weekend.

We like to hike during our state park visits. Long Branch Park only has four hiking trails. Two of them are long; really long - in excess of 3 miles long. Most of them were also in full sun with little shade as they were in areas we have come to know as "Prairie Restoration Areas". Meaning, no shade. We selected a path with some shade that was under 2 miles and hiked it; The Lakeview Trail. The Short Chic thanked us. The Dog thanked us too. The Dog is over hiking! We found many Missouri Wildflowers on our trip. They flourish in Prairie Restoration Areas.

Long Branch has a public access beach that we visited and enjoyed the cool water on one of the last warm days Missouri was forecasted to have. The swimming area is nice with gradual slopes that allow everyone to play in the water. The Short Chic and her Daddy made a sand castle before calling it a day.

The location of the state park was convenient for us as it allowed others to visit us. My mother, oldest brother, his girlfriend and some high school friends all visited us at the campsite. We selected this state park due to its proximity to the annual Labor Day Balloon Festival at a nearby town. If you were looking for things to do outside the state park, you could visit the childhood home of Walt Disney (Marceline, Missouri) and tour the local museum.

This is our 7th camping trip this year. Our sixth state park (including Katy Trail State Park). This was the first camping trip that we encountered the walking stick. He showed up at our camp site the morning of our second day and hung around all weekend. At one point, The Walking Stick decided to leave the post he had been guarding and decided to introduce himself to The Short Chic. I am sure the entire campground heard her scream. That makes two creatures she has no need for (the crawdad and the walking stick).

Happy Camping!

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget. Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world. In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things. What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil. We had to immediately see an ENT Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed. We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy. Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My

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