Mizzou

We left Arkansas and headed north to spend New Year's Eve with our buddy, Big John.

Along the way, we stopped in Jefferson City.  We try to see state capitols when we can and Missouri's is quite nice.  It was also good for Bailey to stretch his legs during the 6 hour trip to Columbia.

At the Missouri Capitol, there is a statue commemorating the Treaty of Paris.   This treaty was signed in 1783 to end the Revolutionary war.

While in Columbia, John & Kate took us by the Magic Tree. We are unsure if the tree actually holds mystical power's, however this Columbia holiday tradition started with a guy stringing lights of various colors on a tree in his front yard for his daughters. The story is, the tree became such a popular holiday destination, they moved the tradition to a tree in a local park to alleviate some of the traffic to the neighborhood. Today, there are several trees around Columbia with this distinctive light display. It really is quite magical!

It was a wonderful New Year's at John's place catching up on all his adventures.   The Bayman also needed a little relaxation from the travel.  He wasn't too happy with the fireworks in the neighborhood though.