Lake Times Two

Some of the best times this summer were spent at the lake. The first weekend trip we took was to Pomme De Terre to celebrate my dad's birthday. There are not a lot of places to stay on this lake, but my mom happened to find us a cabin at Goody's Resort. I find it ironic that this place refers to itself as a "resort" because it was far from it. Goody's was definitely meant for a couple of fisherman looking for a place to crash and not caring a bit about comfort, amenities, or interior decor. Orange carpet, mismatched furniture, and wall paper that looked like a page from my Game Fish Management textbook in college (don't ask). I'm talking Classy with a capital C. I wish I would have taken some pictures as evidence. 

Regardless of our living conditions, we had a great time. We rented a pontoon boat one day and thanks to a guy that forgot to stop the boat when pulling into the marina slip, we were upgraded to a bigger/nicer boat for the original price. We had a blast out on the water, but had to return a little early due to some nasty weather rolling in. We wanted to try and wait out the rain before transporting all of our stuff to the car, so we hung out on the floating restaurant under (what we thought was) a waterproof tikki roof. Not so much. We decided to make a run for our cars, only to discover that my dad's battery was dead. After a quick jumpstart in the rain, we were off to the cabin. Ella went down for a long late nap, and Eli and my brother attempted to grill hamburgers in the rain. Good times.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at the cabin, swimming at the local pool, cooking out, playing games, and fishing off the dock. Ella got to fish with her papa, but didn't have the patience to sit and wait for a bite. It was pretty entertaining to watch. 

My brother looks thrilled to be sitting there, doesn't he?

  

Luckily, she was able to get this bratwurst bait on the hook without sampling it first.

I catch a fish, Papa!

Overall, it was a perfect way to spend the weekend with my family. The best part of our trip was the morning we left ... my dad and brother decided to drive my dad's Pathfinder behind the cabin to load up the car from the back. The owner - Mr. Goody, I assume - came sprinting out of the office next door and was yelling, "What the hell are you doing?! Lateral lines, lateral lines!". He was really pissed and Eli and I had to laugh at the poor fools he was yelling at. It wasn't until I looked around the cabin that I realized he was yelling at my family. Oops. Turns out there were water/sewage "lateral lines" running underground behind the cabin, so there were no cars allowed back there. Mr. Goody was shocked that we didn't know what lateral lines were. I guess he didn't realize that we were "cabin" people and not "RV" people. Not sure we will be back to good ol' Goody's Resort, but we definitely have some lasting memories.

A few weeks later, we enjoyed our 2nd annual trip to Antler Lodge at Table Rock Lake. When we stayed here for the first time last year, I took some pictures that the owner ended up using on her website. To thank me for the pics, she offered us a free night's stay in the cabin. She even went a step further and offered to let us stay another night free, since we were arriving so late the first evening. She told us we needed to spend an entire day exploring some of the attractions near Shell Knob, including The Promised Land Zoo. That's how we spent our entire first day, and I am not sure anything else would have been as fun. The Promised Land Zoo is a four mile long drive-thru experience. You purchase a bag of food at the beginning, and drive along while certain animals walk right up to your car window, looking for a snack.

You can tell these animals are well conditioned to being fed from cars. They were not afraid of us at all, but I can't say that I wasn't a little nervous ... especially when this guy came up to us for some food. I totally freaked out and just about jumped in the back seat with Ella. Eli was being so mean, and locked my window so I couldn't roll it up. Does he not look like he is ready to peck your eyes out?

Here are some more of our little friends:

  

I'm pretty sure something dropped out of this guy's nose right into our car; hence, the look on Eli's face.

Could barely get the car through this part ..

Here are some more animals that I guess are not so walk-up-to-the-car friendly because they were behind fences

At the end of the drive, there was a small walk-through section of the zoo. 

 Ewwwww ...

Llama llama takes a bath
along our animal walking path ...

That evening, we headed to the marina near our cabin to have dinner at the Port Grill. We were also planning to swim a little, but once again, the weather got a little freaky on us. It quickly went from this ..

to this ...

 
After the weird windy rain blew through, we got a little surprise ...

and then another one!

I couldn't believe how beautiful the water looked with the light.

We enjoyed some fish and chips in the restaurant before heading out back to feed the ducks, fish, and turtles from the dock.

That night, I threw some glow sticks in Ella's tub. She loved her glow-in-the-dark bath!

The next day, we rented a boat and headed out on the lake for swimming and tubing.

Ella got to go tubing for the first time. As long as we didn't go too fast, she loved it!

That evening, we had dinner at the cabin and enjoyed smores outside by the fire pit. 

Patiently waiting to toast her marshmallow ..

  

One of our favorite things to do while here is go to the local park and watch the sunset.

  

From a deck at the park, you can see breathtaking views of the lake ...

and breathtaking views of my handsome hubby :)

One last drink before heading home.

What a wonderful weekend. We absolutely love Table Rock Lake. I am already looking forward to a trip back - hopefully very soon.