After church I told Emma we needed to go on a family adventure. We went inside, changed clothes, grabbed a lunch that consisted of a cold slice of left over pizza and a bottle of water. Sheba met us at the SUV and what fun is an adventure if you can't take the dog? We all piled in and headed south.
About 40 minutes we pulled into a familiar drive way. Before starting down the trail we had to stop and read about the history of Alcove Springs.
Alcove Spring - Blue Rapids, Kansas
"This picturesque area was a favorite campsite near the Independence Crossing of the Big Blue River. The spring originates in an unusual rock formation and falls over a rock ledge into a pool below. Emigrants carved their names in the rocks surrounding the spring, and many of these carvings are still visible.Edwin Bryant, traveling with the ill-fated Donner-Reed Party, wrote a detailed description of the spring on May 27, 1846: "We found a large spring of water, as cold and pure as if it had just been melted from ice. It gushed from a ledge of rocks, which composes the bank of the stream, and falling some ten feet, its waters are received into a basin. . . . A shelving rock projects over this basin, from which falls a beautiful cascade of water, some ten or twelve feet. The whole is buried in a variety of shrubbery of the richest verdure. . . . Altogether it is one of the most romantic spots I ever saw. . . . We named this the 'Alcove Spring' and future travelers will find the name graven on the rocks, and on the trunks of the trees surrounding it."Sarah Keys, Margaret Reed's mother, died here while the party was waiting for the river to fall enough to cross. She was buried somewhere in the area."
**I copied this information from this site... https://www.nps.gov/oreg/planyourvisit/site3.htm
The children didn't care to read the history so we were rushed to get started on the trail. Now I know how my dad must have felt when my siblings and I did that to him.
It didn't take us long to find water! We all took our sandals and shoes off to walk in the cold, spring water. Sheba loves being outside but she doesn't like getting into water. So while we were splashing in the water Sheba was exploring. I learned how to skip rocks there when I was a kid. So I taught my girls how to skip rocks too.
We stayed at Alcove Spring for over an hour. Emma wants to camp there. KateLynn wants to go back in the fall and take pictures. And I just want to keep making memories with them!
