Hard Work U (Branson, MO)

Keeter Center

in the floor

Here’s an interesting concept: what if a student did not have to pay tuition for a college education? Instead of paying tuition, how about the student works for the college?  Odd concept?  But it does work at the College of the Ozarks (Cofo) near Branson, MO, also known as the Hard Work U.

From CofO’s mission statement:  The mission of this unique institution focuses on providing a Christian education to those who are found worthy, but who are without sufficient means to obtain such training.

The college is small (less than 2000 students), but it offers their students a wide variety of academic classes from Accounting to Unified Science – chemistry endorsement.  According to HubPages, there are only 9 tuition-free colleges/universities, but the majority are geared towards a specific education like music or engineering.

Inside Keeter Center

CofO also encourages outside visitors.  After reading great reviews from TripAdvisor, we decided to visit and eat lunch.  There are no charges for visiting the campus.  The Keeter Center is a lodge with decorative rooms to rent, a dining room, and a conference center.  The lodge’s design reflects a Maine Lodge that was on display in the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.  The rustic place is HUGE with massive logs, polished wood floors, and high ceilings.  The dining room’s ceiling had decorative copper tiles and all the furniture has a  handmade look.  French doors open onto a back balcony overlooking the campus. 

 For luch we ordered the smoked Tomato soup, Pork Quesadillas, and grilled Reuben sandwich.  The food was tasty and reasonably priced.  They also have a bakery with a delicious looking display as you enter the dining room.

The campus was so peaceful with most students walking to classes and cows lying quietly in the fields. Yep, you read right – cows. 

View from the Keeter Center's back patio

They have a functioning farm on campus along with a working mill, and a fruit cake kitchen (you can watch them make fruitcake).  We did not visit all areas of campus, just a few, but we were very impressed with the campus and the students.

There are more photos in our album Hard Work U

Edwards Mill

Many Miles Later (Branson, MO)

Branson, MO

We have been doing a lot of traveling since our last post.  We are in Branson, MO and we are planning to stay a couple of weeks.  We are a little tired of the faster pace we have been moving.  We are staying in an Escapees’ campground called Turkey Creek.  We have full hook-ups and cable TV.  A real plus is the campground’s  location.  We are within a 10 minute drive from Branson that is across the river and yet, we don’t feel like we are that close to the hustle and bustle of the downtown Branson.

Historic Downtown Paducah

Mural on flood gate in Paducah

So, to get you caught up with where we were and what we were doing….Leaving Knoxville to Paducah, KY turned into a very long travel day.   We found a nice little campground through RV Reviews that has only been in business for about 5 years.  They have suffered through floods, ice storms, and renovations already.   Can you imagine spending a winter there? Our site faced a small pond that had one Great Blue Heron fishing in it a few times a day.

Sandy has wanted to visit the National Quilt Museum for many years.  We picked one of the hottest days to visit the historic downtown Paducah.  We got downtown early, but it was so hot and humid, we could barely breathe.  We walked along the city’s flood gate while checking out the gate’s mural and Ohio River.  The downtown area had some very unusual buildings and yes, Sandy took photos of a few of them.  We did not last long walking before we decided it was time to spend some time inside with air conditioner!  We were soaked! Ugh!  We had lunch and Sandy went off to the museum.  No photos were allowed.  Sandy did not get enough of quilts, so she walked over to Eleanor Burn’s Quilt in a Day shop.  The employees greeted her with an invite to take photos which surprised Sandy since most quilt shops discourage it.

New kitchen faucet

While Sandy did her quilt thing, Dan headed off to Home Depot for sink parts.  He had installed a new kitchen faucet, but found the new faucet connections have changed.  Of course, they did not fit right and there was some minor leaking.  The next day, he worked on the sink and now it is perfect!

Jay & Sandy in front of Kindly Geppeto

We left Paducah two days later and headed north to see Sandy’s brother Jay in Illinois.   The trip turned into another long travel day with too much traffic.  We were happy to settle at Scott AFB FamCamp despite only having 30 amp electrical and no sewer drop at the site.  We had a wonderful time visiting with Jay’s son Ryan, his wife Kim, and their two boys, Hunter and Caiden.  The following day, Jay played tour guide and took us into the downtown St. Louis area.  We wandered around the City Gardens and under the Arch.  Sandy could have spent more time taking photos, but again it was just too hot and humid to spend too much time outdoors. So we went shopping instead!

1 Fish-eye lens and 2 Arcs x 4

Thanks to Jay for showing us around St. Louis, cooking delicious vegetarian meals, and for letting us talk him into adopting a cat!  What a guy!  It all started when we went to Pet Smart and saw two very cute cats.  They were both quiet and wanted a lot of loving.  I guess we talked about the cats a little too much.  By the end of the evening, Jay was heading home with a 3 year old cat and a trunk full of supplies.  He changed her name from Paine to Charmin as in “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin. You have to admit she does look soft enough to squeeze and she has a very mellow attitude that we can see someone wanting to hug her a lot.

Charmin making herself
comfortable in her new home.

That night Jay sent this text message:

Litter box set up, cat tested and approved: CHECK!
Flea prevention applied while cat purrs: CHECK!
Water & food bowls cat tested and approved: CHECK!
House & owner (servant): Still under inspection, approval pending.

Post note: Jay sent an update today.  Charmin has Jay on a schedule and it sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship!