Tag Archives: Lake of the Ozarks

Wayfarer's Journal

Labor Day Weekend at the Lake 2017

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Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer at the lake. For the second straight year it was a long adult weekend with the JPs and VLs. They left the kids at home and joined us on Thursday night. We had an absolutely gorgeous weekend to spend together enjoying lots of sun and fun together.

Mornings were quiet and lazy. Everyone generally took their time getting up, having the first cup or two of coffee/tea, and easing into the day. Eventually the six of us ended up chatting around the table over a bite of breakfast. Time typically flew and it was suddenly mid-day.

Friday we took the JPs’ boat to the Red Head and spent the afternoon in the pool there. Lake traffic gets pretty hairy on holiday weekends and makes for unpleasant boat rides. We chose to make the long jaunt to the Red Head on Friday figuring it would be a little less crowded, and we were correct.

On Saturday morning Shay and the ladies coerced the men to join them on the dock for yoga. Shay did a great job leading us rookies. I will say that doing yoga for the first time on a floating dock made balance even more of a challenge. Despite the occasional attack of horse flies, we managed to make it through. I think more yoga may be in the future for Wendy and me.

 

That afternoon we took the much shorter boat ride to our other favorite hang out on the lake, Bear Bottom. We didn’t arrive quite as early as we’d hoped, but were still able to get prime seating at the swim-up bar. We enjoyed a couple of hours of fun and conversation before heading back. We took the boat back to Bear Bottom that evening for their fireworks.

Sunday was a lazy day on the dock. I enjoyed scoring the Cubs game on the deck (despite their loss) while everyone else hung out on the chill raft. I eventually joined them. JP’s sister and family swung by on their boat and hung out in the water with us for a while.

Each evening together was spent enjoying a meal along with good conversation and Wendy’s cheesecake. There was also reading, playing cards, and watching DVDs.

On Monday morning we headed to Chances R for breakfast together before the crew packed up and headed home mid-day. Wendy and I are working remotely this week and welcome some more friends tomorrow.

Tom's Photos, Wayfarer's Journal

A Short Family Vaca (Including a Total Eclipse of the Sun)

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We didn’t plan it this way. Earlier this year we planned to find a few days to spend together with our girls at the lake. It just so happened that the stars aligned in such a way that we would be driving to the lake during the sun’s total eclipse. The path of totality passed right across Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri which are on our way to the lake.

So it was that we began our family vacation on Monday by pulling off the road just outside of Jefferson City to experience the eclipse. Taylor had scored some eclipse glasses for us. The process of the eclipse takes over an hour so we spent much of the early stages in our car staring through the sun roof. As totality neared we got out and experienced it together including watching the eery shadow bands on the ground and looking at the corona over the 2-3 minutes you can actually look at the eclipse without searing your eyeballs. It was a blast to experience the rare celestial event together.

Traffic was crazy after the eclipse as we made our way the rest of the way to the lake. It was a fun couple of days together as we haven’t had a family vacation like this for a long time. I kind of laughed as the four of us sat around the dining room in the mornings with our laptops working away. My, how times have changed.

Schools are already back in session, so the lake was blessedly quiet and the weather was picture perfect. We enjoyed grilling out, laying on the chill raft, hanging out at Bear Bottom (we were literally the only ones there), breakfast at Chances R, riding the wave runner, and (of course) watching movies together. You know we ate well. Wendy brought cheesecake!

Unfortunately, it was far too short. We headed back early Thursday and Madison is already on her way home to South Carolina. Nevertheless, we enjoyed making more memories together which will be added to all the special times we’ve been blessed to have at the lake together.

Tom's Photos, Wayfarer's Journal

July Fun at the Lake

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Wendy and I got to spend some time at the lake in late June and early July. We were joined by our friends Kev & Beck and their kids for the weekend before the 4th of July. We enjoyed all of the normal summer fun with trips to Bear Bottom and the Red Head. We also enjoyed visiting friends David and Lola who have a place on the lake, as well. Kev, Beck and the kids had to take off on the afternoon of the 4th, but we were able to enjoy fireworks from Captain Ron’s together on the evening of the 3rd. Always lots of fun with that crew.

Wendy and I worked remotely from the lake that week and then enjoyed a weekend visit from Matthew and Sarah. We packed our two days together with dinner at Captain Ron’s, laying out on the chill raft, steaks on the grill, a trip to Bear Bottom, lots of conversation, and a movie night watching The Shack.

 

Sunday Summary, Wayfarer's Journal

The Latest 09-14-2016

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Summer 2016 wound down with a beautiful 12 days at the lake with family and friends.  A full autumn schedule has begun. Here’s the latest….

The Shootout included an “air show” which we watched from our dock.
Enjoyed scoring a few Cubs games on the deck!

Wendy and I spent relatively little time at the lake this summer in comparison to previous years. We were, therefore, ready for some sun and fun in August. We headed to the lake on August 25th. That weekend was the annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, an annual speedboat race that is centered out Captain Ron’s, the resort in our cove. The timed runs take place on the main channel outside our cove. It’s a big deal at the lake and makes for a crazy weekend with a lot of activity around our place. Wendy and I usually avoid that particular weekend, but we’d planned all summer to try to get Madison there around that time.

As things turned out, we weren’t sure Maddy Kate was actually going to make it. She had a few issues with her car at the last-minute. She ended up driving but splitting up the trip, stopping in Nashville to stay with a Pella native who was happy to help her out. Madison arrived on Monday. The weather that week was a little rainy, but we still found time to get out on the boat, go out to eat, and enjoyed some family movie time in the evenings. With school back in session the lake is very quiet, which affords us the opportunity to spend more time on the water.

Our little 18′ runabout, Apollonia, doesn’t do well when things are choppy on the lake, but it was quiet enough that we were able to  take Madison to Ha Ha Tonka State Park by water. Wendy hiked with us to the natural spring there, but opted to stay with the boat while Madison and I hike up to the top of the ridge to visit the ruins of Ha Ha Tonka Castle. It was a gorgeous day, and on the return trip we stopped at The Nautifish for an afternoon cocktail from Buff, our favorite bartender at the lake.

It was so fun to spend four days with Madison. She’s doing well with her budding career at new community in South Carolina. We’re proud of her adventurous and independent spirit. On Thursday night we all went to Captain Ron’s for dinner and she took off for home early on Friday morning.

A few hours later, on Friday afternoon, our friends the JPs and the VLs arrived for Labor Day weekend. Both families had been there earlier in the summer, but this was a weekend for the adults. The JPs brought their boat and we enjoyed a weekend full of the nicest weather Wendy and I experienced at the lake all summer, beginning with a late evening cruise on Friday evening after dinner.

On Saturday we took the boat all the way to Shady/Lazy Gators which was a long (over an hour) ride in very choppy water created by heavy lake traffic. Wendy and rode in the front on the way there which was a bit like riding a mechanical bull that occasionally sprays you with water.

We had lunch and hung out at the pool for a while before heading back. We made a brief stop at the Red Head before determining it was too busy, and then proceeded back to the Playhouse. The JPs have a water mat that we threw out off the dock and enjoyed floating and enjoying each other’s company. We grilled out and had an amazing steak dinner that night.

On Sunday we went back to the Red Head by boat, but made it there early enough to beat the crowd. We enjoyed hanging out in the pool, having lunch right there in the water. Sun, fun and conversation before heading back to the Playhouse for more fun and frolicking off the dock. We returned to find a number of large yachts tied together at the back of the cove, with everyone floating off the back enjoying the sun and water. We enjoyed a meal of appetizers and wine and settled in to watch Hail, Caesar! (though not everyone stayed awake). On Monday morning we went to Chances R for a local greasy spoon breakfast before packing up and heading back to Iowa.

Wendy and I started rehearsals for The Christmas Post immediately upon our return and I had to make a business trip to MN/WI. I also had my first meeting back at the helm of Union Street Players.

Taylor finished up her time in Scotland working at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She had a ball and I so loved seeing the joy on her face in all of the Snapchat, Facebook and texted photos. Unfortunately, Wendy and I didn’t get to actually see Taylor before we headed out to Kauai on vacation. But, more about that later.

Chapter-a-Day

Eucatastrophe and Resurrection in a Thin Place

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When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:54

I am a geek at heart. Exhibit A is my life-long love for the works of Tolkien. I recently finished listening to the entire audiobook version of The Lord of the Rings and am now reading The Silmarillion again. They call me back again and again, an my appreciation only deepens each time I pick up the adventures.

Tolkien himself coined the phrase eucatastrophe to describe the moment when the tide turns and victory is gained amidst in the moment when defeat seems a sure thing. Eucatastrophe would be a theme that he used again and again:

  • Most famously, the arrival of the eagles both at the Battle of Five Armies in The Hobbit, and at the Battle of the Black Gate in The Return of the King.
  • Gollum’s final treachery that is the salvation of Frodo
  • When Gandalf arrives with Erkenbrand at the battle of Helm’s Deep
  • When the Ents and Huorns rise up unexpectedly against Isengard
  • The arrival of Aragorn upon the Corsairs of Umbar

Tolkien loved the dramatic moment when the light of hope springs unexpectedly in the deepest darkness. In his personal letters (which I have also read; behold Exhibit B of my geekiness), Tolkien explains that the model of eucatastrophe, and its greatest example, is the incarnation of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

In today’s chapter, Paul argues for the resurrection of the dead against those in the city of Corinth who were teaching that there is no life after death. Paul, who had a life-changing encounter with the resurrected Jesus (read Acts 9), now explains that if there is no life after death then the whole of Christian belief is null and void. If there is no life after death, then his life-changing encounter was nothing more than a hallucination; His work to share the message of Jesus to the world a huge waste of time and energy.

It is Paul’s description of resurrection in today’s chapter that brings Tolkien’s eucatastrophe to mind:

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

This morning I sit with my cup of coffee at the lake and watch the warm sun coming up over the back of the cove, where bald eagles often roost. Staring back at the treeline I, from time-to-time, get to shout “The eagles are coming!” This is, for me, a thin place; An earthly location where the impermeable veil between the mortal and immortal becomes sheer. Eucatastrophes of various shapes and sizes are experienced here. In this place my faith in resurrection takes shape and mass. 

Sunday Summary

The Latest 09-13-2015

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Wendy and I have spent less time at the lake this summer than ever since buying my folks’ place back in 2008. There are a number of reasons for the reduction in lake-time including our increased involvement in Tulip Time, our trip to Scotland to see Taylor, Taylor’s move back home, a new house that still requires a  number of projects to get settled and finished, my parents transitioning into a retirement community, three weddings in August, and Suzanna’s final summer home and launch to college. As summer wanes, we figured we’d better get in some time down south before it’s too late.

We headed to Missouri on Tuesday, Sep 1st. Wendy and I worked from the lake and did some much needed cleaning up before our friends Matthew and Sarah joined us for Labor Day weekend. Matthew and Sarah were celebrating their three week anniversary (one of the weddings in August) and since they didn’t take a honeymoon after the ceremony this provided them with a much needed getaway for the two of them.

As soon as Matthew and Sarah arrived we jumped in the boat and headed to Bear Bottom for an afternoon of sun and fun in the pool. It was a gorgeous weekend and Saturday was also spent in the sun, this time off the dock. We had a fabulous grilled steak dinner on Saturday evening followed by watching the movie A Little Chaos (highly recommend). Sunday morning was spent in some amazing conversation before our friends headed home.

Wendy and I stayed behind and enjoyed some time to ourselves, though we continued to work while we were there. We were hoping for more sun on Labor Day, but the weather didn’t cooperate. We laid out on the dock with our books under overcast skies until it finally began to rain. Later that day we both had an “Awww” moment when we got a text from Taylor saying, “You can come home now!”

The lake gets so amazingly quiet after Labor Day when all the summer revelers have left for the season and only the residents are left. We enjoyed breakfast at local greasy spoon, Chances R, on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning we took a nice cruise on the lake (we were the only boat out there) before grabbing pizza at Captain Ron’s for lunch and heading home where we found new sidewalks out front of Vander Well Manor thanks to G&B Concrete.

We got settled back in at home, and Wednesday evening was spent doing handyman duty as we had a couple of nightstands and a desk for Wendy’s office for which there was “some assembly required.” The nightstands were a cinch, but the term “some assembly required” was a bit of an understatement for Wendy’s desk which game in about a half-million pieces. Got ‘er done, however.

Suzanna came home from college for the first time on Friday. It was great to see her. She’s enjoying her freshman year at Hawkeye CC while living on the UNI campus. One of her friends from USP had a birthday party on Friday night and Suzanna came home to surprise her. Wendy and I enjoyed a date night at Kaldera with our friends Dan and Anna on Friday. As always, good food, good friends, and good conversation were a winning combination. We were among the first to arrive and the last to leave our favorite Pella eatery.

Taylor and Tom Coffee on the Patio

Taylor has been house-sitting again this weekend but came home for our routine family breakfast on Saturday morning. Wendy wasn’t up yet so Taylor and I sat out on the patio in the gorgeous early fall sunshine for coffee and conversation. So excited that Taylor has an interview for a job on Wednesday. More on that at a later date.

Dumping dirt for lawnThe one last major project at VW Manor is our lawn. We missed the window for planting grass in the spring. The result has been a muddy, weed infested, wasteland of a yard which I’ve told people was landscaped by the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  We’re finally getting that remedied and on Saturday morning Hackert’s had the black dirt delivered and grading began for what will eventually be an actual yard. Seeding should take place early next week.

Saturday morning was clean-up day as Wendy and I prepared to host the VLs and JPs for an Iowa-Iowa State football extravaganza with dinner following. The crew arrived around game time and we set up in the V-Dub Pub downstairs. Wendy and I, Cyclone fans, were outnumbered by black and gold but it was a good natured crowd 😉 At least it was a good tight ball game which kept everyone interested until the final couple of minutes when the Hawkeyes took the lead and the Cyclones imploded. Ahhhh, as a long-time Cubs fan I’m reminded that there’s always next year.

We ordered take out from George’s for dinner and enjoyed ourselves late into the evening.

Speaking of the Chicago Cubs, Wendy and are still excited about baseball in mid-September for the first time in years as our beloved boys of summer make a run towards the post season. Go Cubs, go!

Tom's Photos, Wayfarer's Journal

Happy Independence Day!

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2015 07 03 Fireworks Over the Lake1315 (1)Last night Wendy and I enjoyed standing together on our dock watching the fireworks over the bay. I captured this shot and thought it a worthy celebratory photo for this holiday. We are so grateful for this land, the freedom we enjoy, and the precious blood of heroes and heroines who sacrificially provided it to us over the years.

God, bless America.

Wayfarer's Journal

Family Get Together at the Lake

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It’s been an enjoyable week at the lake. Wendy and I headed down last Sunday to meet my folks, my sister Jody, along with our niece Emma and her friend Melissa. Our guests spent the early part of the week with us and left for home mid-day Wednesday.

It’s been a memorable year for my folks. Late last summer my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then, in January, my dad was diagnosed with cancer (multiple myeloma). They sold their townhouse last month and moved into an apartment in a local retirement community. Needless to say it’s been an eventful and stressful few weeks for them. They are still in the midst of unpacking and a few days at the Playhouse were just what the doctor ordered to provide them with some much needed R&R.

It’s been a rainy year at the lake thus far. Until this week I don’t believe that Wendy and I have experienced a day without rain here at the Playhouse. Fortunately, we had some very nice weather for the first few days. We enjoyed some boat rides and a lot of time on the dock in the sun. I took Jody out skiing early on Tuesday and she got up on one ski without a hitch. Not bad for a quintagenarian! We also rented a paddle board and enjoyed tooling around the back of the bay with it.

It was a special time with the folks. For so many years they hosted family and friends here at lake and provided for so many memories and special times. Wendy and I are so excited that we can return the favor and allow them to enjoy some time together at this special place. Dad was kind enough to pitch in and help with a few chores. Mom

As always, family meals were a high point of our time together, and we enjoyed playing cards in the evening together. The time passed far too quickly, but that seems to be the case here at the lake.

Wendy and I are looking forward to some quiet time together before heading home on Saturday.

Tom's Photos, Wayfarer's Journal

Flood Waters Rising at Lake of the Ozarks

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In the 20+ years we’ve been coming down to the Lake of the Ozarks, we’ve never seen the water as high as it has risen in the past two days. Torrential rains pushed the water over the gangway to our dock in the middle of the night. More rain is expected the next few days. They opened the flood gates at Bagnall Dam yesterday morning, but obviously the waters are rising fast than they can let it out. Here are some photos I took this morning along Ambrosia Lane on Buccaneer Bay at the 34.5 mile marker.

Wayfarer's Journal

Our Ninth Annual Kev & Beck Weekend

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You see this a lot at the Playhouse. The “Puddle Effect.”
What you need to know about this photo is that just a moment before it was taken Kev had grabbed Beck’s boob.

Speaking of our weekend at the lake, Wendy and I were sitting with Kevin and Becky around the table yesterday and realized that this was the ninth summer in a row that we have spent a weekend together at the lake. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of our annual Ozark pilgrimage.

This was a low-key year for the four of us. The weather forecast was a constant threat of rain and it did shower on an off the entire time we were there. Kev and Beck drove to Pella on Thursday evening and jumped in our car. We arrived at the Playhouse between 10:30 and 11:00. We unpacked, had a night cap, and headed to bed.

Friday morning we made our way down to the dock for conversation and soon realized we were all beginning to burn. It looked like the day might afford us our best opportunity to get out on the lake, and so we hopped in the boat and headed to Bear Bottom for a spot of lunch and a few hours in the pool there. It actually started raining as we ordered lunch and we were driven under cover from our table on the patio. By the time we finished lunch the shower had passed and the sun returned. We walked up to the pool and relaxed.

A gregarious couple from Kansas City came a short while later and struck up a conversation. The rest of the afternoon was spent talking to Chris and Brooke and enjoying the sunshine as it ducked in and out of the clouds. We were all various shades of sunburned pink as we hopped in the boat and headed back to the Playhouse. It was time for showers and a quick trip to Woods for supplies. Dinner was burgers on the grill (Tom grilled in the rain, which had returned) and the after dinner conversation lasted late into the night.

Saturday was, once again, a quiet morning as we chatted over coffee and breakfast and into the morning. Kev and I tackled mowing and trimming the lawn before lunch. The none of us really wanted to go into Osage Beach, so we played a little pool in the afternoon and watched Sabrina which Kev and Beck had never seen. We ordered take out pizza from Captain Ron’s for dinner. Kev and I went down to order the pizza and have a beer as we waited. The manager looked at me and said, “Pella, right?” Good memory. When one of the bartenders brought our pizzas out and began to ring us up he looked at the computer and asked, “Are you ‘Pella 1’ or ‘Pella 2’?” We had a enjoyed a sunset cruise after dinner, enjoyed a little scotch tasting, and broke out the cheesecake Wendy brought along.

Sunday morning we took a little trip down memory lane and figured out from my blog archives just how many years we’d been making our couples pilgrimage. We determined that 2007 was the first year or our annual trips and this year was our ninth (though in 2010 I’d clearly miscounted and wrote a post that said it was our 5th, but it was actually our 4th). We ended up back on the dock chatting away our remaining hours before packing up and heading for home. We stopped at Mickey D’s and Sonic (for shakes) in Jeff City on the way home. It was apropos that we drove through periods of driving rain and sunshine on the way home.