Tourism

An article in the Springfield newspaper caught my attention this morning. The state is predicting an increase in tourism spending this year. There is no way to know what things were like in Lesterville/Arcadia Valley in 2005 vs. 2006. Lots of stories, but no hard evidence. I still find it interesting that tourism (recreation) only received 4% of the $5 million. I don't know about Arcadia Valley, but in Lesterville almost everyone that is involved in a tourist business is from somewhere else. Even Gil at BRL still considers himself an outsider after more that 50 years living on the river. So the fact that most of the money went to help "the locals" doesn't surprise me.

Another part of the article that caught my attention was about a bike race that will occur in Missouri during September. If you vacation in Lesterville I'm sure you have seen some of the hard core bike riders struggling up the hills. However, because of the narrow roads and no shoulders, most people wish folks would bike somewhere else. Besides if those later day hippies were real Americans they would buy a pickup.

Tightenupamerica!