This week, we're in Lake of the Ozarks. The drive Sunday took us about 6 1/2 hours, which is pretty good. Our condo is enormous, and posh. It has a big Jacuzzi that I enjoyed this morning with some fragrant shower gel as I finished reading my book. On the down side, we don't have any access to the lake and we must drive to see things. This made Roger quite grumpy for a while, because his back was sore from the drive. Where there aren't homes and resorts, it's VERY commercial, so I had to look around a bit to find things to do. Even though the area is beautifully hilly and woodsy, right around the lake there are lots of bumper cars, marinas, and fudge stands. On top of that it was raining Tuesday afternoon and all day yesterday, so yesterday we (a-hem) endured a bout of sulking and threatening to go home. But it all turned out OK. There is an outlet mall nearby! (Smile.) We braved the downpour, and Roger made himself comfortable in a bookstore while I hit the jackpot at Koret, Liz Claiborn, and Van Heusen. There is also a Coldwater Creek and a Crocs outlet that we must visit before we leave (wink).
Unfortunately, it's too early in the season for boat cruises. (At this time of year I am told they do weekends only.) On Monday we visited the Bagnell Dam museum, which was very interesting and scenic, and we found a panoramic overlook. Today, we walked around Ha Ha Tonka, an unbelievably gorgeous state park that has castle ruins, bluffs, wildflowers, frog choruses, warblers, and (finally!) quiet access to the lake. There are lots of caves in the area, and tomorrow we'll visit Ozark Caverns in Lake of the Ozarks State Park.
Of course on Tuesday we watched the election returns, all the way to the final results at 1 am, just prior to which CNN spent SO much time chewing out the mayors in Lake county and talking about Indiana. They were actually pretty well informed. Roger and I were chuckling about the little county (Union) that showed no count at all, even after we went to bed. We figured that after the polls closed, the volunteer ladies there yawned, stretched, wiped out their Crock Pots, and went home to bed--figuring that waiting until morning was no big deal. Anyway, what a time. I think we really did count this year. Tuesday's results have certainly changed the landscape altogether.
Anyhow, as I have been unwinding into the quiet space, change of scenery, and sometimes boredom, I'm finding it therapeutic. My past two weeks had been crazy and anxious, like keystone cops but not at all funny. (Deadlines, conferences, medical procedures, bad home repairmen, food poisoning, Julia's car outage plus illness and job woes, kitty illnesses, on and on.) After being away from it all I feel better now.
