A Dot on the Ocean er Lake

Riding on a boat on a big lake at night one begins to feel small. It's such a large lake, and the dark blue sky above goes on forever. The Big Dipper and the moon shone down, along with all the other sparkling stars. In the scheme of things we're all small. But I wasn't alone on the boat in the lake. I was feeling happy and pondering how fortunate I was to be sharing that time with good friends on a warm summer evening.

Paul's smile says it all

It was a weekend of fun with friends at LOTO (Lake of the Ozarks). Paul and I arrived at Al and Sharon's "Lake Place" Thursday afternoon and Bobbie and Jeff joined us soon after. We spent some time sitting on the deck enjoying the lake on a hot humid afternoon, while catching up with pals. Later, Paul and Lucy came to pick us up in their boat to go to Paradise for drinks and food. Don and Diana joined us later after they arrived in town. It was the first time we'd seen this group for a while.

Friday we woke up to a dreary day and decided the catch of the day was big breakfast at Stewart's - #massivecinnamonroll. Then the guys split off and the gals did the shopping thing - Outlet Mall. When we got back, we got some dock time in - then the rain came off and on.

McKim's place - Diana is juggling 

We went to McKim's place Friday evening for drinks and dinner (Jeff McFee's yummy homegrown beef). Donnie and Diana have continued to work on their "fixer upper" and have added a kitchen since I was here last. Very nice. They had college friends visit, including Jim with his bride Rita. Most of us had met Jim's first wife Patti - lost to devastating breast cancer. $&#* cancer. We miss you Patti.

We're so happy for Jim and enjoyed meeting Rita, who is of Armenian heritage. Her accent is so sexy. #whymespeaksoplain? Their other friend Wally is somewhat of a nut who once dug sunglasses out of a port-o-potty. That night it rained off and on, but talk and laughter poured out too!

Luckily the sun popped out Saturday morning. Bobbie, Jeff, Paul and I took a 3+ mile walk in the hills around Higgin's place. We were rewarded with a big breakfast served on a table designed and built by Al. It is built with repurposed wood from their own porch, a windmill and other odds and ends. The bench is from Alan's family farm. Sharon picked out the cool chairs. Face it they are Creston's own version of HGTV's Chip and Joanna Gaines.

We parked the boat in a cove and floated on noodles in water that was the perfect temperature. When McKims arrived, Don rolled out the "lillypad", a large foam raft. It was good to have for when the fish were biting. They didn't actually bite me...but I heard rumors and Jeff helped my get my large fanny up on top of that thing until the fish got bored. A couple pairs a glasses bit the water (not dust), including Bobbie's prescription sunglasses. Eye doc Donnie just smiled.

That boat photobombed us...

We hit a couple joints on our way back - ordering appetizers and even dancing a bit. Too bad there wasn't any karaoke! I'm sure we would have killed it. It's funny, we didn't stay out late any night. #notcrazypartiers  Yet, we still had a crazy good time.

Bobbie & Jeff "huddle Up"

Al and Sharon

On Sunday we boated to our fave place, Miller's Landing, for breakfast. One last fun ride on a fairly quiet lake before we had to head home. It's fun to see the other boats and look at the beautiful homes on the lake. Many thanks to our friends who host us and let us share their toys. #feelingthelove