Camping @ Coopers Landing
We love the opportunity to share our adventures with family and friends! When we pitched the idea of taking Amity’s nieces and nephews camping, we were excited to hear that it was met with excitement on the kids end! Our plan was to head up to Kansas City to pick them up, then head over to Columbia for some outdoor exploring at Cooper’s Landing; which just so happens to be right on a secluded and beautiful bank of the Missouri River! We have been to Cooper’s Landing a couple times in the past. We have never camped there though.
Mile: 41,985
Quote of the Blog: “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountains and the sea are all excellent schoolmasters, and teach us more than we can ever learn from books.” - John Lubbock
Song of the Blog: “Wagon Wheel” - Darius Rucker
We started our adventure by heading up to Kansas City for a night with the Early’s. We got in pretty late, because we left Arkansas after Amity got done with work at 6pm. This made for a quick night there. In the morning, we got the car packed up with everything we needed. Andy was away on a work trip, and was nice enough to let us pack everything into their Suburban. All in all, we had Finley, Atticus, Baylor, Amity and myself in the car with a bunch of camping gear! Would have been a tight fit in our car. We were also excited to hear that Amity’s dad, Mike, and his brother, Rick, would be joining us in Cooper’s Landing.
We piled into the car and headed east. We had some time to kill before getting to Cooper’s Landing, so we planned to stop in Columbia for some ice cream before meeting with Mike and Rick to check out Devil’s Ice Box State Park. We took the kids to Sparky’s Ice Cream in downtown Columbia. The ice cream was fantastic and the shop had a painting of Glacier National Park in it, which made me so happy! None of the kids had been to Columbia before, so it was cool to show them some of the city and specifically the Missouri Tigers football stadium. After leaving downtown Columbia, we met up with Mike & Rick at Devil’s Ice Box State Park. We have done this state park once before, and this time it was much different. This time we were not able to get back into the upper caves, because the main cave was gushing with water. A full river was in the place of the same place we walked around. Crazy to think the difference between this place now and when we were here in the fall. Nonetheless, it was fun and the kids thought the cave was cool.
We then pushed on to Cooper’s Landing. This spot is about 45 minutes west of Columbia, MO. There is a small campground that is located next to a river landing for boats. There is also a small facility there that sells food and beverages; it also frequently has music. Tonight was a quite night at the landing. We were able to get our tents set up quickly! Mike and Rick had a little trouble with their air mattresses and the pump they brought, but Asa was able to help them out when he came out. Amity’s friend from college, Michelle, came out to hang out to. She is so much fun! We always have a great time with her. She brought her youngest boy, Henry, with her. He ran around chasing the kids, while we all caught up.
As the night progresses, Atticus and Finley were very curious about my fishing equipment. I took them over to a field close by, and I showed them how to cast a fly fishing rod. Finley was a true natural, and was able to get the cast down. It was too bad that the river was moving too fast for us to be able to actually fish there. Nonetheless, it was great to share with them something I love. Later in the evening, we got a fire started at the camp and started hanging out around the fire. Amity and the kids went for a quick walk in the dark. They saw a large owl on their walk, which was fun for them to see. We did hot dogs and told the kids all the camping stories we could. At one point, Finley and I were able to identify the International Space Station flying overhead. That really blew their minds! Baylor and Atticus had a blast chasing bugs around with the Bug Assault gun. After some smores and some roasted Starbursts, the night quickly came to an end and we all headed to bed.
Early in the morning we started to hear a lot of movement going on around camp. We quickly learned from an adjacent camping group that a group of over 200 kids under the age of 10 years old was headed our way for a day camp. We then became overrun with people setting up for the event. They all but took over out space by 7am. We were told at one point that we “might want to pack our chairs up, because when the kids come they won’t know what part of the event is theirs and what part of camp was ours. This fired us up really quick. We were not given any notice about this at all. We had plans to stick around Cooper’s Landing all day and do stuff with the kids. This was now shot. We had to quickly break down camp and get everything set up before these busses started showing up. With the lack of communication and some stern objections, we were able to get all out money back for the campsite. Win for us!
With the incoming event we decided to pack up and head out. Unfortunately, our camp adventure was cut short. We hopped into the car and headed back to the Kansas City area to get the kiddos home. Once we got them back, we headed out on our own adventure on our way back to Arkansas. When we lived in Rolla, MO we had a blast exploring the different trout parks that are around the state. We had missed one, Bennett Springs. This area is another spot where a river comes out of the ground, and the state has designated it as a trout preserve for fisherman. It was not a far drive from Kansas City to the state park. We actually made a pit stop in Lebanon, MO to go to the Boat Town Brewery. This was really quiet town, and the brewery had a surprisingly strong scene going on! The beer was really good too. We were able to pull in camp just in time to get a good lay of the park, get our tent set up and get a fire started. An early night was in hand, as fishing starts at 5:30am, and I wanted to be out there when it fired up.
I was able to get down to the river just after the 5:30am siren went off. Amity had stayed asleep, and I had planned on being out in the river for a couple hours before going back to make breakfast and wake her up. I have to say, it is so nice to get out in the water in your waders on a hot day!!! I didn’t want to get out. After a couple hours, I was able to catch a few fish and really start to satisfy that fishing itch I have. I went back to camp to get Amity up and make breakfast. We slowly packed up and got the car ready to leave, before heading back down to the river. Amity loves river time just as much as I do, just for different reasons. As I fish, she sits next to the river while relaxing and reading. We both find our zen moments in different ways. I could fish all day here, but we did have a timeframe we needed to stay on to get home before it was too late.
On our drive home, we made a quick pit stop in Bentonville, AR. This city is known as being the HQ of Walmart. Surprisingly it is a very nice town. We stopped a couple local breweries to scope the town. The first one was called, Bike Rack Brewing Company. This spot was really nice with an open door layout and was very dog friendly. We ended up meeting Clyde, who was the biggest Mastiff dog I have had the pleasure of meeting. The second spot was called, Bentonville Brewing Company. It was also great! They had a massive back patio with a strider course for kids and all the patio seating necessary. They had multiple food trucks and a Cajun restaurant of their own. I went with the Cajun spot. To my luck, the line cook noticed me walk up and handed me a Double Bacon Cheese Burger and said, “We made a mistake.” I knew that was code for, “Do you want this for free?” I was beyond stoked! Cannot dislike a place that hooks you up with free food! Amity had to getting food from them so we could make sure those cooks got an adequate tip for their kindness. She went with the Tot-Cho’s, which is a personal favorite of ours! This area of Arkansas is nothing like the other places we have been. Every time we stop here, or come here we leave with a smile on our face and a great story to tell! We will be back, but until then we have to get to back to Fort Smith and the working world! Live Rad Y’all’s!!!