Journey to the Lake of the Ozarks | Off the Strip for free thinkers and adventurers

Journey to the Lake of the Oarks

Travel | Sandra | May 21, 2013 at 09:33

I took a hiatus from my writing ofÂ The Black Scroll to fly/drive to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for Mother’s Day.
The Ozarks was the home of my Dad’s mother and many of my extended family. I used to spend the summers and school holidays there, roaming the woods, fishing and hunting with my cousins.
The shots you see here are from the Cole Camp and Big Buffalo Creek Arms of the Lake of the Ozarks in Benton County Missouri. Nearest “city” of any size is Sedalia. Nearest towns are Cole Camp and the county seat, Warsaw.

My grandma’s house today. No longer owned by the family, it’s been allowed to decay. She built it herself from solid stone with help from my uncles & cousins in 1940. In the old days, she grew glorious roses and strawberries sweet as jam.

No Trespassing. You don’t see many purple signs in the Ozarks

Road to my Aunt Jerry’s house on the Lake

You have to cross four of these fords to get to my parent’s place. If it rains hard, you wait til the water goes down. This is road WW. You get there first from State Roads B and then W. Those are paved roads. WW, like all county-maintained roads, is dirt/gravel.

My grandma’s house from the road. She’d get snowed in every winter and have her projects – weaving rugs, tooling leather, embroidering tapestries. I remember when she got running water and indoor toilet, then a telephone and finally TV.

The roads never had names when I was a kid. About 10 years ago, streets signs appeared. This one is named for my family.

Big Buffalo Creek as it narrows from the Lake. The water can rush over the concrete slab ford in heavy weather, washing pickup trucks downstream. Note the clear water naturally purified by the gravel bed. Â You can drink right from the creek.

This is how deep the water can get. It happens in a flash – a flash flood.

Here's where my mom and I drank coffee in the mornings and had our bourbon in the evenings. That's the Big Buffalo Branch of the Lake of the Ozarks. My parents own all the land on this side of the water. Can't see the nearest neighbors.

Here’s where my mom and I drank coffee in the mornings and had our bourbon in the evenings. The strip of water in background is the Big Buffalo Branch of the Lake of the Ozarks. Can’t see the nearest neighbors.

Entrance to the Eagle Club where we ate Mother’s Day Breakfast prepared by the menfolk. Note warning, “No firearms allowed.” But smoking was. No windows at all in the building. We gobbled down our scrambled eggs and sausage in a cloud of tobacco smoke.

The Eagle Club Bar

8 Point Deer Head at the Eagle Club

Buzzards perching in a tree looking for prey. Saw foxes, coyotes, deer, tortoises, rabbits, raccoon, wild turkeys, ducks, geese and many other species of birds including cardinals, my favorite. Heard the whip-o-will and owls at night.

Buzzards looking for prey. I saw foxes, coyotes, deer, tortoises, rabbits, raccoon, wild turkeys, eagles, ducks, geese and many other species of birds including cardinals, my favorite. Heard the whip-o-will and owls at night.

Lest you forget

Cemetery by the side of the road. The oldest graves are from the Civil War. The newest is a man born on Aug 12 1912 who died on Aug 12 2012. No lie. I met his family putting flowers on his gravestone.