We are exploring a part of the state that I have never seen. The drive from Roaring River to Stockton took us on some back roads. We went through Monett and Mount Vernon. It was a good two hour drive on two-lane roads that were mostly deserted except when passing through a town.
Stockton is a very park like campground with large grassy areas and nature trees. We took a very nice hike that took us close to the lake. After we returned, we found it had been full of ticks so we had to do a thorough check of Kismet and us.
The marina is gorgeous. The water is a beautiful, clear blue and this is the place for sailing. Stockton is 25,000 acres with 300 miles of coastline. Sailing is a thing because of a dependable SW breeze. The lake is stocked with walleye which makes for great fishing. All summer, excess water from spring rains accumulates and provides hydro-electric power as well as water to the city of Springfield.
Our day trip from Stockton was the Olive and Nathan Boone State Historic Site. This is site # 7 on our trip. Nathan Boone was Daniel’s son. And apparently he was as accomplished as his father, a soldier, surveyor and business man. It was his wife that held together their homestead since Nathan was away quite a lot. The state park covers the life of the Boone slaves and makes it clear, that it was having slaves that allowed them to accomplish what they did. Both Nathan and Olive are buried here as well as their slaves.
Our 8th park to visit would be Pomme de Terre,. On the way there, we drove through Bolivar which I knew as the home of SW Baptist University. The town looks extremely prosperous. Part of our drive was on Hwy 32 which was familiar because it stretches all across Missouri and ends in Ste. Genevieve. The Lake, is not only stocked with walleye but also muskies. Other than the Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock, it seems most other Missouri Corps of Engineer parks do not allow houses to be built on the lake. So the shoreline is very natural. The time we spent here was over the Memorial Weekend holiday and we still found the campground to be fairly peaceful. We take a lot of time, looking at the state park map, choosing our sites and once again, it paid off.