Ozarks Day 4

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Johnson Shut-In State Park

This state park was incredibly great a a hot summer day. It is only about a quarter mile from the parking lot to the river. From the parking lot, you walk down a boardwalk to discover the "shut-ins" which were rocks swallows along the bottom of the river. These divets were caused by erosion. My mother, sister and I decided to walk around in the rapids which was very fun but incredibly slippery at times. The water was freezing cold at first but because the weather was so nice, it was easy to get used to. At one point, some unattended child was taken for a ride by the rapids. My father saw this whole escapade and the condition of the man who saved him. This made my father believe that it was incredibly unsafe. I do agree that an unattended 4 year old in rapids is unsafe but if you had the right water shoes, you would be fine. We spent about 40 minutes there, walked the entire length of the boardwalk and splished splashed around. We walked back and decided it was time to get some twist ice cream cones from McDonalds.

Elephant Rocks State Park

This park was a lot smaller than I had imagined. Although the views at the overlook were breathtaking, most of the park is the loop to get up there and back down. This park is unique in that it is completely wheelchair accessible. At the overlook, you are at a higher elevation that the surroundings and there are indeed rocks that look like elephants. I walked around for a little bit and got lost. It was fun to venture around up at the top. On the way down, you walk by a small lake with 20+foot cliffs going down to it. It was kind of neat but the water looked really scummy. It was at this lake where I overheard someone say "Oh yeah, rattlesnake taste real good."

We also stopped at the West County Center in St. Louis, MO. There I was able to get myself Chelsea Handler's new book. I proceeded to finish it before I even got home.

We went to Applebee's for dinner (not my choice) and I got the southwestern salad with the Boulevard Wheat Ale. I went for the large pint glass and my beer was still only like 2 bucks.

We stayed in Collinsville, IL if only for the free breakfast.

What claims to be the Nation's Largest Cross, Effingham, IL

I had seen this cross before from my trip down to Kentucky but this time my family and I stopped. It was uninteresting. They have a 15 minute video inside if you so desire, we didn't

My parents dropped me off in Indianapolis and I took the Megabus back to Chicago. I think I ended up getting home before my parents at 730ish?

Good trip.

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