September Holiday

The "squire" and I are newly returned from our annual September holiday.  We like to do a short trip each fall, which is a special delight to the squire because he was a teacher in his pre-retirement life, and for 35 years fall travel was an impossibility.

Our excursion this year took us to the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Arkansas, where we experienced a few days of amazing summer weather, with daily temperatures in the high 20s and lots of sunshine.  I think the squire might have been a little disappointed as he really likes the cool, crisp temperatures of autumn, but I was very happy to have an extra week of summer.

The Ozarks are incredibly beautiful and I filled my eyes to the brim with mountainous splendour.

(An early evening view in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri)

(A through-the-windshield view of the highway we followed on a day's driving tour through the Ozarks, up, over, and down ear-popping mountainsides with ever more beauty to be discovered around each of the many curves.)

We also took in a couple of shows in Branson, a resort featuring Las Vegas style theaters and entertainment, enjoyed even more amazing scenery everywhere we went, and spent our last vacation evening dining on the Princess Fiona, a luxury yacht that offers dinner cruises on the river and lake.

(In the dining room of the $2.5 million dollar yacht at the beginning of our dinner cruise.)

((A beautiful fire and water fountain display (the photo just can't do it justice)  greeted us on our return to the dock at Branson Landing.))

Holidays are wonderful and we're always a little reluctant to return to the daily normalcy of our regular lives.  But we were delighted to arrive home and find the beauties of autumn in full swing, as our fall trip to Branson was a couple of weeks too early to experience their famed colours of autumn.  So it was nice to come back to the reminder that home, here on our country mile, is beautiful, too.