A Weekend At Lake Of The Ozarks

Tom, Mary, And The Grown Up Marlena

Our Grandson, Nick, A Freshmen At The University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Bella, The Family Pup

It's 7:40 and I have been up since 6:20 and the house is still quiet.  We are at my son Tom's home, in Lee's Summit, a suburb southeast of Kansas City.  It looks like a beautiful day although it was a cold 29º here this morning, as the warm weather they have been having (it was in the high 70's on Thursday) has gone.  The same seems to be true of Chautauqua as we had mild temperatures during the week but it's supposed to snow today.  We are driving a  couple of hours today to spent Saturday and part of Sunday at Tom's new condo on Lake Of The Ozarks.  We cannot wait to see it.

Life On The Road To KC

Yesterday was, as predicted, a little less than a six hour drive from Effingham to Lee's Summit, with stops only for food and a quick shopping at my favorite Western wear store, Kleinschmidts.  I usually buy a flannel shirt there or something Western or outdoor work related by Carhartt but resisted the temptation this time.

Mighty Missouri River

We arrived to an empty house after a 932 mile drive because Mary was shopping at Costco and Marlena had yet to return home.  We quickly emptied the car, put the dog, Bella on a leash and went up to the corner to meet Marlena's bus, our custom over the years.  She got off the bus with a big smile, gave us hugs, and we walked her home, hearing all about school.

Relaxing With My Favorite Dog Named Bella

We got her a snack and before long, Mary drove in, and we helped unload the car.  We sat around listening to Marlena tell us all about her school, her friends, her activities.  She is one happy girl.  She was going to one of  three birthday parties she was invited to this weekend, needed a present, so the three girls drove off to the local shopping area to pick up presents and I kicked back, watched some Sports Center and fell asleep until Tom drove in about 5:00, a bit early from work.  He looks great, seems happy and busy with work (they just opened a new call center in Texas employing 450 locals), a boon for Wichita Falls, Texas.  The girls soon returned, so we relaxed with a beer and some chips and dips and got caught up on our the family news.  We were going to eat out but it sounded too good to just stay home, so we ordered a pizza.  Tom picked it up around 6:30 and Mary took Marlena to her birthday party.  We ate pizza, salad, and watched the Kansas/Siena basketball game on TV.  We stayed up talking and watching basketball until 10:30 when Marlena arrived home from the party. All of us were tired, so we all went up to bed.

Today, we are leaving late morning to spend the day and night at Tom's place on Lake of the Ozarks, near Laurie, MO.  It's about a two hour drive, just right for them.  It should be sunny and cool, a good day for a hike around the Ozarks or to just sit inside watching football, enjoying a beer.  Either sounds good to me.