Two Year And Still Loving It...

This Morning I Realized That It Has Been Two Years Since I Move To The Ozarks And I'm Still Enjoying Every Day. 

I Put Together A Short Video Of Some Of The Things I've Experienced In The Last Year With Family And Friends.

https://youtu.be/DBy1F1Qp9Ko

Alley Springs - Alley Mill - Story's Creek School

Visiting Another Place Of Interest

The story of Alley is a tale of nature, people, and a century-old mill sitting at the heart of a beautiful Ozark scene. Weather this is an annual trip you've made since your childhood, or your first, take time to soak up the splendid scenery and get acquainted with Alley's lively past.

Cold, clear waters rise from deep within Alley Springs at an average daily flow of 81 million gallons. The spring basin is funnel-shaped with a depth of 32 feet. Tiny snails and colorful minnows live among clusters of watercress. Mink, muskrat, and banded water snakes may be observed swimming in the spring.

A short hiking trail along the spring displays a thriving abundance of life. Slick rock walls are adorned with hanging gardens of columbine and lush ferns.

A mill was vital to community life, where grain was ground to provide daily bread. The present building was constructed in 1894 by George Washington McCaskill as a merchant mill and was equipped with modern machinery that utilized steel rollers for grinding.

Check out Dustin's channel, he has a video about Alley Springs/Mill.

Dustin's Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRy60xf6eBA0YBEYTt2hV9w

Dustin's Alley Springs Video - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0PoWo7WaNI

My Alley Springs Video -

https://youtu.be/2gTMeATiwYg

The Blue Hole

This very short walk takes you from North Fork Campground to the beautiful Blue Spring. The Trail parallels the North Fork of the White River and travels into the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness. Among the trees, cardinals and other birds sweep from one branch to another. Flowering dogwood and redbud catch sunshine from the gaps between branches and leaves and display brilliant spring colors. Blue Spring on North Fork River is in an oval shape, about 30 feet in diameter. It averages 7 million gallons per day of cold, clear blue water. The pool is colorful and the setting dramatic - on three sides, the stone wall made of cherty Gasconade dolomite surrounds the spring and represents the karst topography of the Ozarks.

Check Out My YouTube Video... https://youtu.be/c3W30AKOF_I

Hodgson Water Mill

Hodgson Water Mill, in Ozark County. 

Built in 1861 to harness the power of a massive spring flowing into Bryant Creek and rebuilt in 1897, the tall, three-story frame building nestles against a bluff of the Bryant. Though the mill no longer grinds grain, it still houses the old milling machinery. (The nationally distributed line of stone-ground bakery products bearing the Hodgson name is now produced at a modern mill in nearby Gainesville.)

The spring still spews nearly 3,000,000 gallons of clear, cold water a day. Besides the mill, it once powered a cotton gin, a lumber mill, and a clothing factory. In pre-REA days, the power of the water also generated electricity for all the mill-site enterprises. And, once upon a time, thanks to the constant 58 degree temperature of the spring, the mill was a popular site for neighborhood dances.

Issuing from the bluff under the mill building, the spring is still picturesque. It nourishes native ferns and mosses clinging to crevices in the sheer rock wall. Some of the water is diverted to the mill pond, where watercress and other marine plants thrive. Inside the mill building, an opening to a cave in the face of the bluff provides natural air conditioning.

A modern day facility in nearby Gainesville, MO is still producing and distributing the all natural stone ground flours of the past under the Hodgson Mill name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6y_QpLgU3w

Tuesday Morning

I haven't been posting here for awhile, I have been working a lot on a Vlog and have been posting video on YouTube... here's a link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXxLjkW81M4

UPS brought my winch bumper kit this afternoon...

It's Lockable

When I bought the Blazer the owner didn't have a key for the back window, so after I found the part at LMC Truck I ordered one right away. Waited a week or so and the mail carrier brought the the new lock. I got right to work and installed it, put the tailgate back together and went to lock the window.
Sadly the lock came out in my hand... after taking the tailgate apart again I discovered that a little piece inside clutch called the pawl was broken and that the piece that holds the lock in place.

Back to LMC Truck and another week of waiting the new parts came in on a cold and rainy day, but today is beautiful and I had enough energy so I got it all fixed and I can now lock the back window...

        

Needed a Sexy Woman to give me a hand, but a couple of 2x4s worked well...

New Pawl, Spring, and Lock