It was tough....

Our cabin at Indian Trails Resort....

Sadie's Sideboard and Smokehouse....

Working hard....

Sunrise on Lake Taneycomo....

Trout rising....

I love this place....

Great Blue Heron....

Quiet in the early a.m.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy....

Tool of the trade....

Table Rock Dam in the background....

Hungry buzzards....

(as always, click the pics to enlarge)

The trip to Table Rock was great, as usual. It's a long drive, but always well worth it. It's about 600 miles, which isn't so bad if you aren't in a hurry. We definitely weren't. We stopped at Cabela's in KC and I picked up a new net and some dry flies then we got back on the road again. Oh yeah, we got some chocolate, too. Love that stuff!

We got to our cabin about 8 p.m. and just sat back and relaxed. It was good! Sunday morning found us at the bottom of the dam buying my fishing license and trout stamp. We went over to the trout stream where I discovered that I'd left my fleece wader liners and one of my neoprene booties at home. The bootie wasn't such a big deal but the water is cold and I missed my wader liners. Duh! I just wore my jeans inside my waders and got along (fairly) fine. (I also left the extra spools for my reels at home, but that's another story)

I spent a lot of time fishing and caught a few nice trout. The one thing about the area I was fishing is the length rules for trout. Rainbows have to be less than 12 inches long, or more than 20 inches long to keep and Browns have to be greater than 20 inches long. The fish I was catching were all in the slot so it ended up being a "catch and release" trip. Ahhhhh well..... Someday I'll catch a big brown out of there. There are a lot of them in Taneycomo. They do get caught. I landed a 22 inch brown the last time we were down there on a 3 weight rod and reel. Exciting!

Other than fishing, we went to the Titanic Museum, which was very cool, and did a little shopping. Well, Judy shopped and I followed.... We also made our annual pilgrimage to Sadie's. If you like ribs and catfish and plenty of other good food, they have an awesome buffet. They are located right in the middle of "the strip" on Hwy. 76, but in my opinion, it's worth the trip.

We did go to Downhill Bikes, which is the only bike shop in town. It is located in an outlet mall off Gretna Road and was fairly difficult (for me) to find. Craig Erickson is the owner of the shop and is in the process of constructing a new building out along the highway to house his business. He was also instrumental in getting the Tour of Missouri to come to Branson last summer and has a committment for next summer also. He is passionate about cycling and will be trying to get the city more involved in cycling activities and trails in the future. There can be so much more to Branson than the shows and he knows it! It could be the perfect place for a cycling "destination" with just a little work and promotion. Check the shop out here. Lots of good information on riding in the Branson area and some personal perspective on the state of cycling in and around Branson. Talk to Craig if you get the chance. He's a great conversationalist and has a wealth of knowledge about cyclng in the area.

One thing to consider when ridng offroad around Branson is the thorns. It seems that the locals who ride offroad a lot go tubeless. Stans sealant was recommended by a couple of riders out at Busiek State Park. Also, heed the signs refering to black bears. They do live in the area....

The trip home saw us stopping in Independence, Missouri to visit the Harry S. Truman Presidental Library. Definitely a worthwhile stop, especially if you enjoy history. If you ever stop here be sure to allow yourself 2-3 hours to see everything.

That's it for now. Gotta see if Jackal wants to ride today. It's up to 36F now and I know he's just jonesin' to ride his new bike. He just received his new Cannondale Liquigas System-Six with Campy Record. Those skeleton brakes have me green with envy! SWEET ride! The_Smackdown takes good care of him!

Ride safe.

Peace out, yo!