Sunset at Bucksaw, Harry S Truman Lake, Missouri
The wind blew hard and unpredictably most of the evening, making sitting round the campfire hazardous at times, but the sparks made up for the absence of fireworks.
05 November 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Autumn color on the road to the South trail head at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area
01 November 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
View from the duck blind at Valley Water Mill Pond
Having spent all morning languishing in bed with my laptop some activity was called for. Not wanting anything too strenuous we decided to check out a small nature center just North East of Springfield.
At one end of the pond we found a duck blind with this magnificent view. So much for my saying I was going to try and cut down on the landscape lakes and rivers pictures.
02 January 2011 | Watershed Center | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger Sitting by the camp fire in the moonlight
We decided to cheat on preparing the fire. Not wanting to spend a lot of time and energy gathering and cutting wood, we bought some logs for $4 and I split them with an 8lb non backpacking axe. However, we did successfully light the fire backpacking style using cotton wool pads coated with Vaseline.
20 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Gary and Ginger: wildlife and lake watching
Friday evening we took Alek, Katie and a couple of kids from youth group to Kansas City for a Church event. We needed to be on hand to collect them again Sunday afternoon, so we left Lanie in the capable hands of Ginger’s cousin Betsy, put Getzger in charge at home and once we’d dropped the big kids off we turned around and went back to go camping at Berry Bend on Harry S. Truman Lake.
We didn’t bother taking the kayaks; we had a very nice quiet day sitting watching the lake and wildlife instead. It gave us a change to try out our Trekker chairs. I was dubious about sitting so low to the ground, but they proved very comfortable. The great thing about the chairs is that they use our existing Therm-A-Rest mattresses for the seat and seat back so there’s very little extra to carry. Which brings me to a problem. My Nikon weighs in at 2lbs. I need something lighter for backpacking, or I’m going to have to compromise somewhere else. We’ll see.
While sitting here we saw loads of different woodpeckers, hawks, and other birds including a bald eagle. We also watched the squirrels and chipmunks rushing around. Over the course of the weekend we also saw a deer, possum, coyote, and evidence of a beaver.
I never did get a chance to read the book I brought along, and I don’t think Ginger got much knitting done either.
20 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Berry Bend, Harry S. Truman lake, Missouri
09 October 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Berry Bend, Harry S. Truman Lake, Missouri
08 October 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Red Bluff on Huzzah Creek, Davisville, Missouri
Once more the lighting is challenging, and I’m still not 100% happy with the results. I do like the person at the bottom of the frame – he really serves to give an idea of the scale of the bluff, though I had to rush the shot to catch him in the sunlight.
05 August 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Huzzah Creek and Red Bluff, Red Bluff Campground, Missouri
Red Bluff is one of our current favorite camping destinations. However, getting a decent picture of the bluff is proving a bit difficult. The red coloring on the bluff is actually a stain from the red topsoil. In places where there’s no soil the bluff is white. At around 150′-200′ the bluff is quite impressive.
22 July 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Davisville, Missouri
Tail light cluster of the 1963 Chrysler Gas Turbine car
For the curious those are lights. Apparently the exhaust has a wide thin rectangular section to spread out the exiting hot gases and thus prevent toasting any following vehicles when driving in traffic.
24 July 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Museum of Transportation, St Louis | Chrysler Gas Turbine car | Mick’s Visit
Cedar Ridge, Stockton Lake, Missouri
02 July 2010 | Cedar Ridge, Stockton Lake, Missouri | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Sunset on Stockton Lake, Missouri
02 July 2010 | Cedar Ridge, Stockton Lake, Missouri | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Sunrise and fishing on Table Rock Lake
The peace, tranquility, light and mist on the water more than made up for being up at six-thirty.
20 June 2010| Big Bay Recreation Area | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Sunrise on table rock lake, Missouri
Ginger found us a very nice campsite at the Big Bay Recreation Area on Table Rock Lake.
We got up early and ventured down to the lakeside to see the sunrise. Fortunately the water was very warm as I had to wade in up to my waist to get this picture.
The peace, tranquility, light and mist on the water more than made up for being up at six-thirty.
20 June 2010 | Big Bay Recreation Area | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Big Bay Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
19 June 2010 | Big Bay Recreation Area | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Jacks Fork, Blue Spring Campsite – Ozark National Scenic Riverway
Jacks Fork and Blue Spring at the campsite where we spent Memorial weekend.
Today I confirmed that taking the Nikon camping is not necessarily a good idea, as the humidity caused problems, with a whole load of images spoiled due to internal fogging on the optics.
A complete slideshow of the weekend (22 Slides)
31 May 2010 | Ozark National Scenic Riverway | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Bluff on Jacks Fork – Ozark National Scenic Riverway
Ginger and I were invited to join Tom, Rebbie, Dash and Leslie camping and on a float trip this Memorial weekend. They even borrowed a canoe for us to use. We’d planned on a couple of hours float back to our campsite, but our planned put-in point was overwhelmed with people, so Tom took us further up river, and we had a much longer trip.
I discovered that taking the Nikon on a float trip is not conducive to taking pictures. Ziplock bags managed to keep the camera dry even when we took on a load of water, but it was very difficult trying to get the camera out of the bags. A small waterproof point and shoot is required.
A complete slideshow of the weekend (22 Slides)
29 May 2010 | Ozark National Scenic Riverway | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Meramec Caverns, Stanton Missouri
My son and brother have been in the US on a family visit. After visiting the Gateway Memorial Arch in St Louis, we headed off home via Meramec Caverns. As Missouri has lots and lots of caves, it didn’t seem right not to include a cave tour in Robert and Ian’s itinerary.
This was my favorite picture of the tour.
10 May 2010 | Meramec Caverns, Stanton, Missouri | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
Cutting Wood
We had just finished cutting wood and loading the pick-up, when I spotted this picture of Tom, his son, and the truck silhouetted against the sky. I deliberately under exposed the picture with this treatment in mind. I think the composition would be a little better if we hadn’t already loaded the wheel barrow.
We’ve spent several Saturdays working at this location which is around 25 miles South of Springfield. It has a wonderful view of the Ozark hills, albeit spoiled by Highway 65 and the advertising hoardings that stand alongside it.
05 March 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Off Hwy 65, South of Springfield, Missouri
High School concert
Tonight we watched Katie take part in her first High School orchestra concert. It was very impressive, and the children are to be commended on their achievements.
22 October 2009 | Springfield Missouri | Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman
Enjoying the ride
My son Keith and his friend Jon have been spending 3 months touring the US. They arrived back in Springfield on a surprise (for me only it seems) visit while crossing the country en route to Florida. I wanted to show them a bit more of the mid west way of life, so I took up my friend’s Tom’s offer to take us all out fishing.
Tom has been offering to take me out on the lake for ages and what with one thing and another I’ve not been able to set a date. I’d already had a look at his boat, but what hadn’t registered was the 200HP engine, and I don’t think the lad’s had fully taken in the implications of the beast at the back. It was fast and exhilarating, especially to someone like me who is more used to sailing than motor boating. Keith and Jon’s enjoyment of the ride is quite evident in these pictures.
29 August 2009 | Table Rock Lake | Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman
Meramec River
Driving home from St Louis we decided to leave the I-44 and do some exploring.
24 July 2009 | Meramec River, Missouri | Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman



























