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暑假了，想去圣路易附近的公园走走。最好是当天来回的。在网上搜索了一下，计划周末去Elephant Rocks 和 Johnson Shut-ins 玩一天。
Elephant Rocks 在小镇Belleview。圣路易的南面大约100英里，一个半小时的车程。Johnson Shut-Ins 在小镇Middle Brook。两者之间大约19英里。
Shut-ins 是一个很特别的词。指的是一个地方，河水被大石分成许多小溪流，因为水不深，自然形成水上公园。Johnson一家三代是最早在这儿建立农场的人。后来被圣路易居民Joseph Desloge买下，于1955年捐为州立公园。
2005年12月，AmerenUE 旗下的Taum Sauk水电站的水池崩了。13亿加仑的蓄水一泄而下，淹没Johnson Shut-Ins营地。大水夹带着树枝，大石，一冲而下，把整个公园的设施都摧毁了。公园花了5亿美元重建。于2009年再次对外开放。
七月十四日，最高温度87度。头晚还下了雨，天气爽朗。我们十点从圣路易出发, 近中午到达Elephant Rocks。在停车场绕了两圈，才找到车位。
Elephant Rocks 公园不大。一进小径，没走几步，就看见一块块巨石，林林落落躺于草丛中，犹如象群恬息。再向前几步，一块巨石山坡映入眼帘，有点像亚特兰大的石山的模型版。好些个形状各异的大石错落于山顶上。据说从高空看，这些15亿年前形成的花冈石就象马戏团的大象，尾巴拉着尾巴。Elephant Rocks的名由此而来。下次弄一个Drone，拍下来看看象不象。
这些石头之间，有些大大小小的缝隙。孩子们在里边穿来钻去，玩得起劲。有时候，我们还得从一块大石跳到另一块石头，不然就得从大石底下绕过去。孩子们一下就跳过去了。我怕高，生怕自己掉下去，在那几个壕沟之前，徘徊了许久。大家都鼓励我，可我就是不敢，看见别人从旁边的石头溜下去，再从低谷绕过。我就跟着，不料下了几个大石后，前面太陡，只好又折回来。有游人告知从另一边下会好一点。我这才绕过了那个壕沟。当我再下边绕的时候，孩子们已经来来回回跳过好几次了。还不断地给我指路，提醒我这么走。走过这段，前面就是平路了，可孩子们喜欢刚才的路程，我们又返回，从大石的缝隙之间穿过，像捉迷藏似的。有好几个地方，两边都是巨石，中间一条狭窄的空隙，我们得侧身才能过。
我们从石林中出来。孩子们玩得不尽兴，又去钻了一圈。我们则去车上拿吃的，准备午餐。我们在林中一边休息一边午餐。美中不足的是蚊子太多。喷了驱蚊的也不管用。
下午两点半，我们出发去Johnson Shut-ins。半小时的车程，一会就到了。一进Johnson Shut-ins公园大门，工作人员告诉我们：水边的停车场要排队等车位。我们就把车停在入口的停车场，然后徒步走了约15分钟到了水边。一路走来，看见一块块大石，散落在草地上。几个告示牌，简单地介绍了公园的特色。一块巨石旁边牌子写着：水的力量。这些石头都是十二年前被水冲到这里的。到了水边入口，看见还有16辆车正等车位呢。
游人不少，但不拥挤。水很干净，清澈见底。水从一块块石头中，潺潺流过。流得快的，冲过石头，溅起浪花朵朵；流得慢的，如涓涓细流，悄无声息。有游人在水流之间爬上爬下；有妇人坐在水里，捧着书，读得津津有味；有男人在巨石之间，搭起了吊床；还有人大半身躺在水里，闭目养神。
我找了个水流急的地方，坐在水里。背靠着晒得暖暖的石头，享受着流水的按摩，看着孩子们开心地戏水，打水枪。头顶是蓝天白云，四周是青山碧水。无城市之喧嚣，只觉得心旷神怡。
这里还有两个小湖。一个有足球场大小，水不深，大约5尺，可以游泳。另一个湖稍大一点。水较深，大约有两米。还有一个三米跳台可以跳水。孩子们跳了很多次。是他们最喜欢的活动。
六点半左右，孩子们玩累了，饿了。我们就收拾东西回程。在途中，找了家快餐店，吃了晚饭，回家已近十点。结束了愉快的一天。
Johnson’s Shut-ins
I took a deep breath, and jumped off the cliff. Hold up, I know what you’re thinking; somebody save this idiot! But you haven’t heard the full story yet, let’s back up for a second.
Ugh! We were on our way to Johnson’s Shut-ins, I was
excited for the trip, but the car ride felt like hours! My family was going with other family friends.
I sat in the back of the car, and snuck out my phone, so did Alex, the kid from the other family. I turned it on and opened a game.
We weren’t allowed to play video games during car rides, but this car ride was so long, it was the only way to pass the time.
“What are you doing?” my mom asked.
“Playing games,” I replied. There was no need to hide the truth anymore.
“Turn your phones off, now!” Reluctantly, I turned off my phone, but Alex quickly turned his back on.
“What are you-” I started but then saw what he was doing. He played some music and held his phone against his ear. It was genius! I quickly did the same.
Finally, with the help of music to pass the time, we made it! We pulled up at the entrance and rolled down the window to pay the entry fee.
“Sorry,” said the little man in the ticket booth, “but all the parking spaces are taken. You can wait for someone to exit, or you can park at the far building and walk here.”
We chose to park at the far building because we didn’t know when the next person would exit.
“I need the exercise anyway!” Joked my mom. Together, we all walked to the park.
Finally, we got there, and it took my breath away, it was amazing! There was lots of rock, all smoothed away by the rushing water flowing over and around it. I stepped into the water.
Whoosh! The water was a lot deeper than I thought, I held on to the the rock wall for dear life, no matter how forcefully I swam, the swift current, plus the fact that I was wearing crocs, made it impossible to swim to shore. I yelled for help and thrashed against the current, but it did no good.
All of a sudden, a hand reached out and picked me up from the water and put me on dry land.
“Thanks,” I murmured to the man. Then I went and took off my crocs; I was ready to enter the water again. This time, I made sure I could see the bottom of the water and slowly descended into the pool and waded over to the calmer, shallower water.
This place was perfect for a water park! There were smooth sloping rocks, with water spilling over, so that they were like a mini waterslide. I slid down one of the slides,but the rock ended in a two feet cliff that I tumbled down and landed hard on my bottom.
“Oww,” I moaned, and sat out for a little, but soon I was feeling better and continued the adventure.
Alex and I explored the rocks, and we came upon a huge pool filled with people. We went back to our stuff and brought the water guns we took to the pool, and shot each other for awhile. After that, my dad told me that the place where I fell led to an even bigger pool.
I faced my fears and went down there again, but this time, instead of swimming against the current, I went with it. Surprisingly, the ride was smooth and fast-paced!
It opened up to a brobdingnagian pool even bigger than the one before, and there was a giant rock where people were jumping off into the water.
“Woah,” I breathed, excitement filling me from head to toe.
Bit by bit, Alex and I climbed up the rock. I took a deep breath, and jumped off the cliff into the water. I plunged into the cold water feet-first.
The water enveloped me and I quickly swam back to the surface. When I emerged from the water, I heard somebody bragging about how they could touch the bottom of the pool.
I decided to try to touch the bottom of the pool, and I jumped again, but this time I used my momentum to propel myself as low as possible. I reached out, but all I felt was water. I tried again, and again, and again, but to no avail.
Eventually, we got tired of rock jumping and swam all the way to the other side of the pool. We swam around for a bit, but I was ready to go home. So was everyone else, and we found my mom and Alex’s mom sitting on the rocks. We all prepared for another 20 minutes of walking back to the car.
As we walked, I thought back to the action-packed day I had, filled with cliff diving and the swimming. One thing I know for certain, I wish everybody has the chance to go to Johnson’s Shut-Ins, because it is definitely worth it.