30 hours – just the right amount of time for us to get totally away, relax and recharge. Destination Branson – and the beautiful home in Sunset Cove where friend Bev lives with her Bichon, Holly. We started with a beer on her deck looking out at a spectacular view of the lake – in fact the late afternoon calm made it tough to leave but we were headed for a margarita and some Mexican food before seeing the production of “Six” on the Strip.
“Six” is a musical ensemble of half a dozen brothers who not only sing but create the orchestral effects with their voices to accompany the songs – however, we all agreed that a little of that went a long way, the drummer-brother was MUCH too loud and Six scored about a 5.5 out of 10.0. The warmth of the theatre almost had us leaving after intermission but we stuck it out for the last 45 minutes which included the Branson formula for a show of including gospel and patriotric music – but lacked anything country/westerm (one thing in their favor)!
We awoke to a picture-perfect morning just made for coffee and breakfast on the deck, again admiring the calm lake with early sun hitting it just right. Holly needed a walk so we took off to hike the hillside (how else do all these fabulous homes get lake views unless you keep going UP?!?) and even walked through an awesome home that’s under construction. Gotta see how the rich and famous of Springfield plan to live.
The main agenda for the trip was to get in some lake time so we loaded up a cooler, grabbed our towels, some reading materials and the dog and quickly were out on the water. While it’s fun to cruise on the lake we opted instead for a short ride to a quiet cove where we tied up and soon were floating in the water, oblivious to anything and anyone else in the world. Bev and I have a stock phrase that we’ve used incessantly throughout our long and dear friendship – “I wonder what the poor folk are doing?” It’s a phrase we utter when life is just too perfect for just the right reasons, like when we’re floating on a raft in the lake or biking together on the Natchez Trace or horseback riding at a dude ranch in Arkansas – or even when we’re simultaneously laughing and crying over kids or men – and we’ve done them all!
After a delicous lunch of grilled brats and beer, we were back in the water again – this time Bev and I got on the big tube and let Holly roam around all over us. By about 4:00 the clouds were rolling in, the black flies were biting (a sure sign of rain, per Bev) and we were all getting water-logged. Of course that’s when the boat decided it didn’t want to start! Thankfully we had 2 captains as Burl and Bev were both seasoned boaters so while I entertained Holly, they alternately worked on starting the boat and after about 15 minutes it finally caught and we were off – and just in the nick of time!
We could see the rain in the distance and realized that’s where we were heading. The lake became a sea of whitecaps and other boats were quickly trying to reach their safe destinations. We pulled into the dock and under cover just as the clouds opened up fully and the rain came pouring down. We soon had the boat secured, unloaded and on the hoist and sat on the dock for over 30 minutes listening to the rythmn of the falling rain (sounds like a good line for a song………….). It finally let up and we made it back to Bev’s house where we showered and warmed up with hot tea, fresh fruit and her homemade Amish bread.
Mulligan’s tail was moving 90 miles an hour when we pulled in the drive a little while ago – we suspect he didn’t dig out of the yard while we were gone since we left the back door cracked for him to come and go. Since Springfield also saw a lot of rain and he was dry we’re certain he listened to the rain from the comfort of the living room.
Nothing like a day of sun and water to bring on a deep sleep – Good Night, Sleep Tight!
