A CHANGE IN PLANS FOR MOTHER'S DAY ADVENTURES

Life does not always go as planned...

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That beautiful photo above was the hoped for destination. However, since we only went there once about nine months ago, we didn't really remember the way. We thought that it would be fun to try to take @mama-pepper and my mom out for a bit on Mother's Day, so we gave it a try anyway. Unfortunately, not everything in the Ozarks has an "exact address" and even some of the ones that do never line up with the GPS.

PLAN A - BUFFALO RIVER

Not being able to recall exactly where our previous visit to the Buffalo River was, we opted for the Compton Trail Ponca Wilderness Access. This was not exactly what we were looking for...

It was more than a mile and a half to get anywhere down this trail, and the terrain was really rough. We don't mind stopping in at new places, since it at least lets you know what you dealing with, and now we certainly know what you'll find here. The trail that started just next to this one was about four miles each until you reached anything.

Even Sweet-Pepper knew that the "Most Difficult" trail may not be the best idea for three generations of peppers in the middle of a hot day. We still peeked down the trail a little bit, but then it was time for Plan B.

PLAN B - THE LAKE

Yeah, this one was still an adventure, and it's always good to have a Plan B. While @grandpa-pepper, my mom, @mama-pepper, and most of the @little-peppers hung out at the park and enjoyed some playtime, Monster Truck and I took a "Nature Walk." From the look on his face above, we had a lot of fun!

Among other things that we saw and caught along our trip was this impressive Snapping Turtle, and the little Map Turtle that he has in his hand. After all of the baby Red Eared Sliders lately, it was good to get some variety. We also saw a lot of large bass, some sunfish, and a few suckers.

As usual, we also found snakes. Yes, snakes! They seem to be everywhere I go, don't they? Total we saw three or four of these Northern Water Snakes. It only dawned on me after the first one was already released that I had my phone on me, which means that I could take some photos.

Yeah, it looks more intimidating than it actually is. You should see people at the park stare at us when we pull big snappers or long snakes out of the lake. Apparently doing so is not really a hobby that they have. We seem to enjoy it anyway, and even though we missed out on our intended adventure, we still got to have some fun!

As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:

proof-of-backup-adventure-and-a-happy-mothers-day

Until next time…

GIF provided by @anzirpasai

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