The weather on Friday was a mixed bag, but we didn’t have any of the heavy rains that we had the night before. The precipitation was mostly a light mist drizzling down. Every once in a while, the sun would break through for a few minutes. Of course, every time I stepped outside, raindrops would start falling.

The water level in Turkey Creek receded throughout the day, although the woods along the bank here at Turkey Creek RV Village remain flooded. The ground is so saturated that I’ve had to re-level the coach a few times. Even though I put 12″ square pads under the foot of the jacks on the left side of the coach where it’s low, the pads are sinking into the ground.

Donna did her usual power walk on Friday. I spent a lot of time on Friday dealing with a vendor that shipped new air conditioner shrouds for our rooftop air conditioners. When I tracked the packages, it showed delivery was refused and the packages were going back to the shipper. It’s a long story that I will tell you about later.

On Saturday morning, Donna and I rode the scooter to Branson for the weekly farmers’ market. I rode to the intersection at Pacific Street and Business 65 where the market was supposed to be. No sign of an open air farmers’ market. We asked a delivery guy on the street about the market – he said it hasn’t been there for months. I guess they need to update their web page.

Since we were out and about, we decided to ride back through Hollister and head west to the College of the Ozarks. The College of the Ozarks is located on a beautiful, 16-acre campus at Point Lookout. We scootered through the campus and saw a few buildings that we want to return to. One of them is a tractor and farm implement museum. Since it was Saturday, the museum was closed. I’m a gearhead, but it isn’t just racing machinery that fascinates me. I like old tractors, trucks and trains too.

The College of the Ozarks is a Christian liberal arts school. It charges no tuition for full-time students. Instead, it has a work program for students which requires 15 hours of work at on-campus work stations per week plus two 40-hour work weeks during breaks. Approximately 1,500 students attend the college which is staffed by a faculty of about 90. It awards Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. It was originally called the School of the Ozarks. In 1973, the Wall Street Journal dubbed it “Hard Work U” and the nickname stuck. In 1990, the name was changed to College of the Ozarks.

We rode around the campus trying to find the Point Lookout view. The signage was confusing, but a student gave us directions. We parked the scooter at the Williams Memorial Chapel on campus and walked out to the viewpoint.

We followed the walkway behind the chapel. The viewpoint was a rocky outcropping with a metal railing. Parts of it were wet and slippery from runoff. The rocky point had natural steps as well as carved steps leading down and away from the sidewalk. The last step down is a long one – we had to sit on the step and hop down. Getting back up wasn’t too hard – we grabbed the rail and pulled ourselves up the giant step.

It was getting hot out – humid and nearly 90 degrees. We were working up a sweat just walking. When we were in Texas, we noticed most of the locals tended to walk very slowly. We also saw that in Memphis and again around here. We came to the conclusion that when it’s this hot and humid, you don’t perspire as much if you move slowly. We adopted the Texas mosey and walked slowly back to the chapel.

We went inside the chapel and checked out the beautiful stained glass before we continued on the scooter. We rode south, then turned west on MO165. This road winds its way to Table Rock State Park and the dam at Table Rock Lake. On the way, we stopped at a roadside viewpoint and saw the dam. The spillways were releasing a surprising amount of water. With that much water flowing out of Table Rock Lake, it’s a wonder that the flood waters downstream are receding.

We rode across the dam, then turned back and stopped at the visitor center.

Donna talked to the park ranger about hiking in the area and picked up some maps. We’ll return on a weekday and hike along the lake. We also want to visit the fish hatchery.

On the way back, we stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant called El Patio. We were curious about the quality of Mexican cuisine in this area. We know that when we get to the upper midwest, it’s hard to find good Mexican restaurants. Donna commented that she hadn’t seen any people of Mexican descent in the area. They were all at El Patio! We took that as a good sign.

I ordered a chicken taquito and enchilada plate from the lunch menu. Donna had two fish tacos. My plate was a little bland, but Donna said the fish tacos were great. The fish filet was fried then chopped into small pieces and blended with pico de gallo. Different than most fish tacos, but tasty. As we were leaving, Donna noticed a sign at the reception desk – El Patio was voted “Best Mexican restaurant” in 2014 and has a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor.

Later we rode over to the Bass Pro Shops store at Branson Landing. I wanted to find new flip flops. My current flip flops are great. They’re anatomically shaped with super arch support and are really comfortable. But I’ve worn them almost every day for the past year and I want to have a backup pair.

I didn’t find the flip flops I wanted but I did find shorts on sale for $18. I bought two pairs and will retire an old pair. Donna found new sports sunglasses that she liked and I bought them as well.

We also stopped at Macadoodles. I was surprised to find a gal at a table in the store serving whiskey samples. In most states, this wouldn’t be legal, but Missouri has loose alcohol laws. She was serving Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey and Jack Daniels Tennessee Fire. I sampled both. The Tennessee Honey had a maple-like flavor and I wasn’t too keen on it. The Tennessee Fire was cinnamon-infused bourbon and it was great! Much smoother than Fireball whiskey. I bought a bottle to add to the liquor cabinet.

Today I have a project to attend to. I’ll get up on the roof and clear the debris that’s been shedding off the mimosa tree. Then I’ll replace the air conditioner shrouds. Once that task is done, I’ll watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix from Austria.