Sunday, May 4, 2008

LAKE OF THE OZARKS: I Never Dreamed Missouri Would Be This Beautiful

Are ponchos still in style? If not, I'm in big trouble!
On Easter Sunday Sam surprised me with a weekend get-away to Lake of the Ozarks, which is in central Missouri. We took our little vacation last weekend. We had heard it was beautiful down there, but I never dreamed it would be this beautiful.
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was going to Ha Ha Tonka Stake Park and hiking to the castle ruins. Who would have thought Missouri would have castle ruins? I seriously felt like we were in Scotland or something. In the picture above you can kind of see the top of the castle above the trees.










The bluffs surrounding the castle were too steep to hike on, so the state park built these stairs to traverse the park. Its a little different than hiking in Utah and Idaho, but I definitely liked it!


Its kinda hard to tell in this picture, but this is a natural bridge that we hiked to.


Look at how pretty this is! I never would have thought I would see this kind of scenery in the Midwest.

Below are some pictures of our tour of the Ozark Caverns. (I think that is what they were called.)









We spent one afternoon on our mountain bikes. I am by no means a brave person, especially on a bike, so this trail we did was a bit of a stretch for me. Sam was very proud of me. Heck, I was very proud of myself!

This little dip was a lot steeper and scarier in real life than it shows in these pictures.

This was my attempt to cross a decent sized stream. What the picture doesn't show is that half-way across I got nervous, stopped pedaling, lost balance, and got my feet very wet.



We were both a little dirty when it was all said and done.







I know you're supposed to save the best for last, but this is probably the least exciting of our pics. My mom wanted to see a picture of where we stayed - so this one is for you Mom! We love you!

18 comments:

Leslie said...

That looks like so much fun Lacey! Hi, it's Leslie Jacobs. Hope you don't mind, I stumbled across your blog. I love it!! It's great to stay in touch with old college friends. You and your husband are a stunning couple! Best to you both!

Jenn said...

FUN!!!!!! I want to go to the ozarks for vacation. It is seriously BEAUTIFUL there! Looks like you had a blast!!!

Unknown said...

I'm so glad you guys had a great trip. It's beautiful like that by in Branson and I'll never forget the first time we went down there after moving here. It made me decide that Missouri was beautiful after all!!

Jodi said...

This looks awesome. How fun for you guys to get out for a weekend. Sure wish something like that would be in my future soon.

When you said that you weren't too adventurous, it made me think of the time we went 4wheeling with Emily and that guy Nate. You were so nervous to do anything crazy. Glad to see that you are overcoming your fears.

Kiera said...

You have made me want to leave the kids for a weekend away with Marc! That is saying something since we NEVER want to leave the kids behind! We love to vacation with them. Hummm.. now that is a thought! I guess we will have to make it a family getaway!

Amber said...

Yeah! I'm glad you had so much fun! The Ozarks are beautiful...You should go again in the fall! I love that time of year in the ozarks!

Sam Ransom said...

Wow. I would love to hear details of where you stayed. Maybe I can talk James into a trip once things settle down a bit for us. It looks awesome!

JoJo said...

What I am most impressed with is all your pictures TOGETHER. Did you take a long a personal photographer? :)

Tiffany said...

It is pretty down there, I love that Missouri is so green. Glad you had fun, and good job being prepared with the rain poncho!

Kara said...

Looks like so much fun!

Nicole said...

Wow, it sure is beautiful there!! Looks like quite the bike riding experience, I'm glad you had fun!!!

Leslie said...

Tralee is pronounced Truh-LEE. Thanks for your comment, it's fun to stay in touch with blogs.

MattJulieGavin said...

I am so jealous! That trip looked awesome! It's so gorgeous there...it really does look like you went out of the country.

Kelli said...

Hey...great blog. I love Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake. We try to go to one or the other every year to boat and camp. Your mountain bike adventure looked fun...i am proud of you for being so brave!

Kipp and Ashlee said...

Hi, Lacey! This is Ashlee (was Cox) Chambers. It was fun to check in on you since I haven't seen you since before you got married! I had forgotten that I knew your husband from working at Sunshine Solutions a LONG time ago. My sister is Jami, and she kind of ran the camp (he'd probably remember her more). I don't know if he'd remember me or not. You look so cute... I don't know how you are so fashionable when hiking, biking, etc!!

Nicole and Kevin said...

I am so impressed that you rode your bike through the river! I am a huge wimp, expecially on a bike (I don't like going down hill really fast and feeling like I have no control...I know lame), but it looks like a ton of fun. Plus the poncho is a great look for you :)

Kim and Todd said...

Hey Lacey, Charlotte told me about your blog and it's so fun to see photos! Hope you don't mind, I put a link to your blog on ours...I think Lynn and Roger will love to see your blog. Ours is http://kimandted.blogspot.com/
Hope to see you and Sam sometime soon. -Kim

Alexandria said...

Looks like a fun adventure! If you come to Boise this summer let's meet up. We're here until the 25th of August.