The Freaks Come Out At Night

Table Rock State park is a pretty good place to camp. It’s a few miles outside of Branson, a perfect base to operate out of. I’ve been going for decades. Now, we’re camping with my son.

In all the years I’ve been going, I’ve never once taken advantage of the programs offered at the park by the Park Rangers. We’ve always been there just to play on the lake or in Branson. This weekend, however, we had some time. We caught a program on turtles before dinner. Very educational. The little guy loved it.

Later that same night, after dark, we went on a 90-minute bug safari. All manner of creepy, crawly, slithery, slimy things come out when the sun goes down. Park Ranger Christie handed out flashlights and we followed her into the Ozark bush. Very, very cool. Goodness gracious the spiders. Blach.

By far and away the coolest critter we encountered was an Ant Lion. This guy starts out as an egg, grows up into a little bug that buries himself in a hole to trap and eat ants, then cocoons himself, finally turning into a winged creature that looks like a funky dragonfly. I’ve seen a bunch in my lifetime, but never knew what they were.

You know, every time I take a side road, or do something not on the agenda, it turns out being one of the most memorable things on the trip. These little adventures are probably everywhere. If I’d just stinking slow down long enough to notice them…