Camp Zoe Memories
Field Trips
Camp Zoe purchased an old school bus and took campers on field trips to various Ozark destinations. Sometimes we packed a lunch. Round Spring was about 10 minutes away from camp. Eminence, Missouri wasn't much further.
My favorite Eminence stop was the Dairy Isle. A huge soft serve ice cream cone was 15 or 20 cents in 1976. It was an incredible bargain even in those days. Further south of Camp was Big Spring, Missouri. Millions of gallons of water poured into the river at this natural wonder. I also recall a field trip that stopped at Mountauk state fish hatchery.
Heading north from camp on highway 19 we ventured to Shannondale for a night-time bluegrass jamboree. I recall riding 30 miles to Salem to see the rodeo. Salem was considered "civilization" to most of us. Counselors drove into Salem on their day off. Salem had a Wal-Mart, a movie theatre, and Sonic. Some counselors visited all three stops in a single trip. Wow!
The Tennessee Walker horse stable was south of Salem on Highway 19. We saw some goose-stepping horses there. It was the freakiest thing.
Located upstream from camp on the Sinking Creek, the Sinks are the spot where the creek got its name. The water "sinks" under a rock wall and comes out the other side. One time we took innertubes to the sinks and floated all the way back to camp. That was a lot of fun. We floated by some hillbillies who were skinny dipping. One gal had a gold tooth. We pretended not to notice they were naked. We also pretended not to remember we had seen the movie "Deliverance".
We had a close call in the summer of 1980. Every camper in camp was going to Salem for the rodeo. The girls were in one bus the boys were in another. The boy's bus rounded a bend in the heavily wooded, mountainous terrain on highway 19, when we felt a jolt and heard metal scraping across the pavement. The rear right wheel popped off and fell into a ravine. We skidded on the axle across the road and stopped on the opposite shoulder. Nobody was hurt. It seemed exciting to us kids. For the adults, it was a tragedy narrowly averted. We waited around for the girl's bus to show up and then all of us went back to camp. No harm done, but the owner was understandably concerned. Jack Peters was a former Marine and park ranger. He served as camp director, chief troubleshooter, and bus driver. I don't know if he ever drove a bus in the service, but it was his steady hand at the wheel that evening that spared us from any peril. I salute him for that effort.