The fifth, but not final, trip of the year would close out my 18th MO State Camper Award! This trip was to a new location as far as camping goes. It was the perfect pick! Long Branch State Park was one I had visited before on the MO Centennial Passport Challenge within the last two years.

The fourth trip of the year would take me back to Trail of Tears State Park in southeast Missouri! This park is dedicated to the Native Americans that lost their lives during the relocation march they were forced on by the United States government in 1838-1839. The trail and march have since been called the Trail of Tears for their losses.

My hunt for my 18th Missouri Camper Award brought me, again, to Mark Twain Lake State Park just in time for the annual Perseid Meteor shower! Easily one of the best places I can think of to see the meteors (as long as the skies are clear)! Like last year, this year did not disappoint!

It was an impromptu trip, much like many of my trips, to say the least! After what seemed like the longest winter on record, the first sign of nice weather and my gear was packed before the destination was picked!

With the weather.... better than it was and a fever to get back to camping, it was time to start the quest for the 18th camper award!

The hunt for a second MO Camper Award ends!!

The hunt for a second MO Camper Award continues!

The hunt for a second MO Camper Award continues with the Perseid Meteor shower!

The hunt for a second MO Camper Award continues... in record summer heat!

Beginning a new mission!

The time has come! Time to make the final push to knock out the last park of the MO National Park Passport Challenge!

The time has come! Time to make the final push to knock out the west half of the state in the MO Centennial Passport Challenge!

It was time to get back into action! After a very disappointing, snowless winter.... The goal was to try to complete the first half of the MO National Parks Passport Challenge by making a stop at Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Unfortunately, do to a communications mix up, the office was actually closed meaning I was out of luck in completing the 3rd national park of the total 6. Not to be deterred, I decided on making a stop at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield just a mer

It's hard to believe that, while living so close to the Gateway Arch, I haven't been here in quite a long time! Unfortunately there wasn't much I could do at the Arch as the grounds are currently being renovated and even the Arch trams were down for maintenance getting their cables replaced. There was still time to take a quick picture of the Arch from the Old Courthouse before rolling on!

Continuing to knock out parks here and there, it was time to REALLY finish off the east half of the state! This single stop trip was to the recently opened (January 6th, 2017) Don Robinson State Park! Unfortunately, due to the time of day, I did not have a lot of time to explore though this place is excellent for summer and watching the sun set! With a sizeable patio and pavilion with BBQ pits all setup to face the setting sun to the west, this will be a very popular place! T

Getting back into the swing of things, it was time to finish off the east half of the state! This single stop trip was to Graham Cave State Park! As the name suggests, this park does feature a cave where evidence has been found of people living in this shallow cave between 8,000 and 10,000 year ago! Not much to see now though as they have covered the insides of the cave with gravel and tarps to prevent weathering of the archaeological remains. Still the area offers decent hik

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