Oh, the Places I will Go! Part 1–behind the books
| As we head into the Dog Days of August, and as the final book in the Love in the Valley series, The Playboy Project, is out now, I thought I’d share some of the bucket list items and locations on which the books are based this month.First up, the caboose. You can find this Washington, MO, on the riverfront. I lived in nearby Labadie, but Washington was where we ate, shopped, and where my kids went to school. You’ll find the caboose in many books, such as What Happens in the Air. While you’re in Washington, eat at Marquart’s Landing or Oak & Front. Here’s a pic of my friends and me when we were in there this past June.  In The Playboy Project, I mention endangered bats. One of my favorite things to do is go into caves, and the disease I mention in the book is real. When I was in middle school, we would go into Onondaga Cave after an overnight float trip on the Courtois, Huzzahand Upper Meramec. Missouri is a great place to float, and I’ve been doing it for years, including some caves that you have to crawl to get into or wedge through the tiniest slip of space before it opens up into a huge room.Missouri has almost 7,500, and many are places you should visit (and no crawling necessary). We’re known as the Cave state. Find out more here: https://www.visitmo.com/articles/missouri-cavesFor fun, here’s two pictures from when I went in Mammoth Cave State Park about three years back. One great thing about caves, they are the same temperature all year long. |
