The new "New Jetta"



"Here fishy, fishy, fishy"

I was trout fishing below Table Rock Dam in Missouri last week. It was 82 degrees! I woke up in Minnesota this morning and it was 6 degrees. Gotta love it! Judy and I drove down on Saturday in the new "New Jetta" for a little down time. Spent most of the day on the road driving but did visit Cabela's in KC for a pair of gloves and a pair of wader liners. Those things are the best!

Sunday found us down at the water for awhile so that I could try to do a little fishing while Jude read one of her many books. Didn't catch any trout but still enjoyed the day. We ended up at Sadie's in Branson for Dinner. Gotta love that buffet! All you can eat ribs..... Yummmmmm.

On Monday morning I went for a ride on the yellow bike. It was cold outside (38F) but the ride was great since I had dressed appropriately for the occasion. I came back after an hour and a half in the "Ozark Mountain Woods" and found that I had ridden a whopping 7.5 miles. Seemed like 75. Oh well..... After I showered I cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast then we took off for Pea Ridge, Arkansas to visit the Pea Ridge Civil War Battlefield and National Monument. The trip over was awesome and the battlefield was an excellent choice for our day trip. The roads in northwest Arkansas are amazing and have to be driven to be believed. The Rockies got nothin' on the Ozarks, Baby! Judy was trying to take pictures from the car with one hand and hold on to the "Oh Shit" bar with the other. She kept mentioning the "drop off" on her side of the car and pointing out the little yellow signs with the suggested speed on them! I asked if she could get a picture of the speedometer and the little yellow sign at the same time. LOL. No way! Perhaps we'll attempt it again someday. We saw some truly beautiful scenery and had a great time.

Tuesday was spent shopping in Branson and then trout fishing in the evening. When the horn at the dam went off shortly after dark Judy mentioned that I may want to move in closer to the shore. The knee deep water became crotch deep water in about 3 minutes. Since it was pitch black outside, I waited for what I felt was an appropriate amount of time and moved back toward shore and knee deep water. It only took a few minutes for that to become crotch deep again so I moved toward Judy once again. Funny how I didn't seem to be getting much closer to shore! Anyway, over a span of about 15 minutes, the level of Lake Taneycomo rose about 2 1/2 feet and took about 60 feet of shoreline. It takes a lot of water to turn those generators! After catching one nice fish I packed it up and called it a night. Supper at Steak & Shake with strawberry shortcake for dessert and then back to the cabin.

Wednesday was spent travelling back to Waterloo. We decided not to take the interstate home and left Branson on US 65 to Springfield and finally ended up on US63 north to Iowa. We stopped and visited friends Joseph and Rita Orr in Osage Beach. They were happy to see us and we had a nice visit before heading out. Judy was back at work on Thursday and I was recovering from the vacation to Missouri.