October 9, 2018. Nearing the End Here.

October 9, 2018.  Nearing the End Here.  Friend and faithful reader, Fred, alerted me to the "white out" appearance of the narrative in the last blog.  I don't know how that happened.  It was fine after I posted it.  Then, overnight, the words disappeared while the pictures remained.  I have tried republishing it to no effect.  I have changed it slightly, then republished.  Still, no effect.  

But, I have discovered a work-around.  If you put your cursor at the beginning of the white out, then drag it down the page, viola, the words appear.  Just between you, me and the two or three other people who actually read this drivel, it probably isn't worth the effort.  

We walked around the condo yesterday (and today) and then went back to the outlet mall in search of another book.  I found one in the history section.  The title is "The Earth is Weeping."  It tells the story of the Indian wars in the second half of the 19th Century.  I have just begun to read it.  It is an attempt at a balanced treatment of the conflict which existed between cultures as America stretched westward.  I may have an assessment of the book later, assuming I get far enough into it before the trip ends.  

The pictures above show the tall cylindrical water tank which provides fresh water to the island.  There is a sewage treatment facility nearby.  I spared you pictures of it.  There are a couple of photos which show the first signs of fall colors around the lake.  There is a dilapidated truck just waiting to be rehabbed, a shanty which I thought was an outhouse until I saw the electric meter affixed to the front.  Then there is an A-frame which is symbolic of many of the homes between here and Osage Beach.  Oh, I tossed in a dead tree for my second daughter, who loves dead trees as much as I do.  Finally, I've shown you the parking lot of the outlet mall to put the lie to the story told by the optimistic store manager who predicted "big crowds" over the holiday weekend.  

That's it for tonight.  I'll plan to do one more before we move on to the Branson area.  Don't be disappointed if that doesn't happen.  I have shown you about all there is to see and my creative juices aren't flowing.  I hope this doesn't disappear, too, once it is posted.  If it does, you won't know how to fix it, will you?

Goodnight.  

October 7, 2018. Rain, A Movie, Mexican Food and a Rainbow.

October 7, 2018.  Rain, a Movie, Mexican Food and a Rainbow.  Yes, I still have a pulse.  It rained here most of yesterday.  At times, there was a deluge.  There are two boats in the first picture above.  The rain was so heavy at the time, you can barely discern their form.  They were about a quarter of a mile from our deck.

In another picture, you see a man and woman in a bass boat, wearing rain gear.  They disappeared shortly after I took the picture, seeking shelter in an empty slot in the boat dock.  In yet another picture, you can see water rushing off the roof of the dock and splashing into the lake.

Today, we saw “A Star is Born.”  The movie is getting a lot of Oscar hype.  It stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.  Both deliver outstanding performances.  Cooper doubled as the movie’s director.  I was surprised by Lady Gaga.  Not only is she a talented vocalist and instrumentalist, she is an excellent actor.  Cooper is not only an excellent actor, he has a distinctive, well-trained singing voice.  I didn’t know that about either of them.  The only negative is the overuse of language many will find objectionable.  That said, it is not my kind of movie.  I am more of a cowboy/comedy/history kind of movie-goer.  

Tonight marks our seventh night here.  We move on to Table Rock Lake on Friday.  I am not sure what else we will find to do here between now and then.  Annie doesn't want to rent a boat and go out on the lake.  I am not sure I do either.  We didn't bring fishing gear or the bicycles.  This area is too hilly for recumbent bikes, anyway.  And, I finished the only book I brought with me.  Here's an idea.  We could go to a bookstore.  That would give us an excuse to get off the island and it would provide me something to read when we return.  Yes.  That's a good idea.  We will do that.  

Goodnight. 

October 5, 2018, Two, Going on Five, Days of Nothing.

October 5, 2018, Two, Going on Five, Days of Nothing.  Yesterday, it rained most of the day, so we stayed in, watched the news in Washington and read.  Neither of us could think of anything we wanted to do today, so we repeated yesterday.  This is a holiday weekend and the parking lot of the condo is full.  So, we may stay in, out of the Lake traffic, over the weekend.  Gee, I am starting to feel old.

I am not complaining, mind you.  These two days have been very relaxing.  That is what a vacation is supposed to be.  But, if I get much more relaxed, check me for a pulse.  

We did take a walk around the Isla Del Sol this evening.  There are three, four story buildings here with plans to add two more.  The lake comes up to the buildings.  The main channel of the lake passes by the island and there is a cove which intersects the main channel from the north.  It is a lovely view.  

We noticed the boat traffic picked up considerably this afternoon.  I expect it to be even busier tomorrow.  One of the pictures above shows you the traffic from our deck.  You may get a lot of those pictures if we can't think of something to take us off the island.  

Sorry that this isn't very imaginative or exciting tonight.  But, then, Annie Farkley has accused me of making up a lot of the stuff which appears here.  It has to be clear to you, gentle reader, that there is nothing made up in this entry.  Maybe I should start earlier with the next one.     

Goodnight.

October 3, 2018 - Two Big Events at the Lake.

October 3, 2018 - Two Big Events at the Lake.  It doesn't get much more exciting than two Big Events on consecutive days at the lake.  There may be people on the Lake on jet skis, pontoon boats and bass boats.  There are probably people hiking the trails at Ha Ha Tonka.  There are likely people swimming in heated pools at condos and hotels all around the lake.  But, not us.  No sireee, we had two Big Events the last two days, both displayed in the pictures above.  We went to Walmart yesterday and to the Outlet Mall today.  Where do you think we spent more money?

Yesterday began with a nice sunrise over the boat docks below our bedroom and deck.  We had lunch at Panera Bread, one of Annie's favorites - not mine, but we make sacrifices in relationships, don't we.  We spent the next hour pushing a progressively heavier shopping cart.  It wasn't too bad until we added the 36 bottles of water and the 16 liters of Diet Pepsi.  Of course, there was no room in the cart except in the front.  A front-loaded shopping cart is hard to steer.  I learned that the hard way by pushing the loaded cart into the end-cap of the pickle aisle.

Today, we drove back to Osage Beach to the Outlet Mall.  We walked nearly two miles and saw seven other shoppers.  Many of the store spaces are vacant.  There were cars in the parking lot, but they had to belong to the sales people in the stores.  There are still a lot of open stores, but no one was shopping.  

That is a common occurrence at brick and mortar sales outlets in this era of Internet shopping.  The store manager at Ralph Lauren's store said they were expecting a large crowd of shoppers this weekend.  She said people will be storing their boats for the winter and it is a holiday weekend.  The lake will be busy.  Good.  We'll stay off the streets.  

And, that is the plan for tomorrow as well.  We will sleep til past the sunrise, then sit on the deck and read.  Sounds good, doesn't it.  

Walmart, $233.00.  Outlet Mall, $0.  Were you right?

Goodnight.  

October 1, 2018. Fall in Southern Missouri.

October 1, 2018.  Fall in Southern Missouri.  When you aren't traveling very far, you don't have to leave early.  This morning we left home about 10:00 AM.  We stopped for lunch in Sedalia.  It was a barbecue place, wouldn't you know.  Kehde's is part MKT railroad diner and part restaurant  The ambiance was different, the food was good and the prices were very reasonable.  We arrived at the Lake condo about 2:00 PM and loafed the rest of the day.

The condo is located on a small island, Isla del Sol.  It may be the best VRBO we've rented.  It has three bedrooms, two of which we don't need.  But it is open and nicely appointed.  The deck overlooks the boat docks.  The best thing is that this is a slow time at the Lake and it is quiet and peaceful.

It has been a while since I've shown you barn pictures, so I started with a picture of our barn.  Actually, we no longer use it as a barn.  The horses are gone, so it is storage for the mower, the ATV and the trailer.  There is some other stuff stored there, but I don't know what it is.  Every year or so, I take out everything, sweep the floor and put everything back in.  Most of the stuff stored there hasn't been moved, except for cleaning, in twenty years.  I should get rid of 90% of it.  But, if I did that, there wouldn't be anything for our children to do when we are gone.  At least, while they are cleaning up my junk, they will be thinking about me.  They won't be good thoughts, but they will be thinking about me

The stately courthouse is in Versailles, MO.  There are a lot of really nice looking courthouses in outstate Missouri.  Many of them are 100-years old or older.  The county commissions have maintained them well over the years.

Tomorrow's Big Event is a trip to the grocery store.  How can that be a Big Event, you ask.  Well, when it is the only thing you have to do, it becomes more important.  Maybe tomorrow night, I will tell you about grocery shopping in southern Missouri.  Brace yourself.

Goodnight.