Ha Ha Tonka — It’s No Joke

January 21, 2021January 27, 20212 Comments

Missouri Day Trip: Ridgedale to Kansas City

Ha Ha Tonka State Park Roadtrippers Map
Lake of the Ozarks
Closest Town: Camdenton, Missouri
About 158 miles from Kansas City and 178 miles from St. Louis
As with all Missouri State Parks, it is dog-friendly

From their brochure:
With its intriguing history and outstanding geologic features, Ha Ha Tonka State Park is one state park that should not be missed. The park is a geologic wonderland with sinkholes, caves, a huge natural bridge, sheer bluffs, and Missouri’s 12th-largest spring. The ruins of a turn-of-the-century stone castle overlook those wonders and offer impressive views of the Lake of the Ozarks and Ha Ha Tonka Spring.

I’ve wanted to visit this Missouri State Park for several years — it’s an Instagram favorite. It’s best known for its castle ruins, and its beautiful location at the top of a hill overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. It’s easily explored via trails, boardwalks, and staircases. And many stairs. Lots of stairs. Still … that’s better than blazing your own trail.

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Cuban Cowboys

May 14, 2017September 14, 20188 Comments

A Uniquely Ordinary Day in the Cuban Countryside

In March 2017 I went to Cuba for the first time, and I’m just now sharing my first Cuban photos. And, interestingly, they’re not photos of old buildings, old cars, or old people. But of the thousands of photos I took, these are the first I processed. And this was the most ordinary, and most unique, day of the trip. I went to Cuba on a photography workshop with Colby Brown Photography, and was thrilled that we didn’t just photograph all the usual suspects — old cars on the Malecon in Havana (we did that), colorful Trinidad (we did that, too) — but we went beyond the usual tourist attractions.

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Wheat field in Utah…

September 22, 2013September 22, 20131 Comment

Photo by Stephanie Roberts, http://ObsessiveHobbyist.com

Intermittent pavement…

May 4, 2013May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Photo by Stephanie Roberts, http://ObsessiveHobbyist.com

Soooo….this sign was AFTER the stream with the dead rattlesnake in it that we had to drive across.

And yet…we kept going.

My Lil Red Prius did not hesitate and forded the creek with style!

Figueroa Mountain, in the Santa Ynez Valley, California

Happy Canyon

April 18, 2013Leave a comment

Seriously, who gets to live in a place like this??? This is Happy Canyon (not kidding), in the Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, California. I just wanted to park my car by the side of the road and homestead.