Squash and a Lot of Parks

Can't stop won't stop with that Missouri state park game. Today we did some driving in Henry County, Missouri.

One of my favorite opportunities when driving around in rural Missouri is the produce stands. Heck yeah I'm buying a giant squash for 75 cents.

We briefly reconsidered buying them when we noticed that the stand owner was a nazi, but we figured this person needed all the help they could get.

We were minding our own business while passing through Butler, Missouri and I noticed this "Birthplace of Robert A. Heinlein" sign. There was a screeching of tires and then the detour was underway. I mostly know him for Starship Troopers but apparently "he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors".

Turns out Robert lived in a pretty normal, non science fiction-y sort of house.

Queen Anne's lace waiting to bloom at Battle Of Island Mound State Historic Site. The battle was notable for being the first time an African-American regiment engaged in combat against Confederate forces during the Civil War.

Queen Anne's lace became sort of an obsession for me. So it's a bunch of white flowers, which is the lace. Then there's a random few purple flowers in the center, which is legendarily where the Queen pricked her finger while sewing. 

There was a crazy woman in the parking lot here who gave us an earful about her ancestors being Osage and that the government was lying about the purpose of the mounds. My recollection is that the state says they aren't burial mounds, so it's ok to walk on them, but she was saying that they are in fact burial mounds. I don't know, lady.

Had a nice red, white, and blue patriotic salad on the 4th of July at Osage Village State Historic Site. The site preserves the archaeological site of a major Osage village, that once had some 200 lodges housing 2,000 to 3,000 people.

Some of the local ants looked like they were preparing for their nuptial flight.

We saw these fun spots that must be where bison wallow in the mud when it rains.

Tallgrass prairies once covered more than 1/3 of Missouri; today less than 1% remains, much of it preserved at Prairie State Park. No bison, but bugs are better. These are juvenile large milkweed bugs sucking on a milkweed pod.

Stopped by Lamar, MO to see Harry S Truman Birthplace State Historic Site. The home was dedicated as a historic site in 1959 at a ceremony attended by Truman himself. He is the only U.S. president born in Missouri.

Did some hiking at Stockton State Park south of Stockton, MO. The park occupies a northward jutting peninsula between the Big Sac and Little Sac arms of Stockton Lake, which was created by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1969.

Missouri clearly ran out of place names. This friggin town is called Humansville!