Living Life "our way"

03/08/2014

Pictures from the ghost town of Rush Arkansas. Some of the buildings date back to the 1880's

02/16/2014

Withrow springs state park near Huntsville Ar.......this photo is actually upside down :)

01/29/2014

This is Grand Falls in Joplin Mo. On shoal creek.

01/27/2014

Looks like fun

01/27/2014

Wow.... I'd have never guessed.

01/19/2014

Bridge built in 1926 outside of Independance Kansas

01/19/2014

Driving back to Arkansas from Kansas we stubble upon another ghost town. This ghost town is in Picher Oklahoma. Looking around we noticed apartment buildings with no doors or windows, empty buildings where business once were active, a empty High School, homes that are falling apart, roads that are over growing with grass and trees laying on top. As were driving around we notice big hills of gravel, the roads leading to this mountains of rock are blocked by boulders and signs that say "no trespassing". Our curious minds had to do some research on this ghost town and this is what we found out...... The fact is Picher Falls has been named the most toxic town in America. In 1967, due to mining, the water became contaminated and turned the local creeks red. Established in 1917 Picher was once a thriving town sporting a population of over 15,000 people. Zinc and lead were discovered in Picher in the early 1900's and supplied large amounts of the lead for bullets used in WW1. In the 1970's the payload ran out and the mining companies pulled out of picher leaving their tailings behind. Huge mounds of mining waste some piled over 200 feet high. Laced with lead and other harmful materials these toxic waste piles have seeped into the water supply contaminating the town. The town was declares the Tar Creek Superfund site in 1981 but most of the residents remained until 2006 when it was discovered that the whole town was in danger of collapsing into the mines. The post office, high school and city hall all shut down in 2009. Finally on Sept 1st 2009 the city ceased as a municipality. Today Picher Oklahoma stands empty except for 6 holdout residents. Decaying buildings, empty foundations and a few street signs are all that remain. All are dwarfed by the dozens of toxic piles of mining waste that still litter the area and dominate the horizon.

01/14/2014

01/13/2014

1893 Pratt truss bridge with waterfall below. Elk falls, OK

01/10/2014

Whitaker point Ar.