Family Reunion Vacation in the Lake of the Ozarks

 

Family Reunion Vacation in the Lake of the Ozarks

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for July 5, 2021

We drove 11 hours into Missouri to visit the Lake of the Ozarks for a Family Reunion Vacation!

We rented cabins at Lakeview Resort in Sunrise Beach, Missouri which sits upon the Lake of the Ozarks.  It's always great seeing my family!

We were joined on the trip by my mom, Grandma Linda, as well as my sister, Tracy, and her husband, Dave.

My niece, Bailey, and her husband, Justin.

My niece, Lauren, & her good friend, Ben.

My nieces, Brittany & Lindsay.

And of course I was accompanied by my favorite wife, Miss Sheri, and my boys, Luke & Avery.

We were pretty nervous leading up to the trip because the weather app said it was going to rain almost constantly during the 5 days we were there.  The app must have been broken however because we had sunshine probably 80% of the time.  Silly weather channel.

We hauled the boat down with us which we were a bit nervous to do since we'd never driven it that far before, but were very glad we did because we had a ton of fun on it.

Dave was pretty excited  about our choice to bring it.

Driving the boat on the Lake of the Ozarks is quite a bit more challenging than Prior Lake because it's so much bigger.  That means much bigger boats and much bigger waves, but we were ready for the challenge.

We made anyone willing to get on the tube feel the thrill of flying over the big waves every chance we could.  I had Dave 5 feet up in the air a few times, but to his credit I was never able to flip him off.

Justin also performed quite well holding on as we flung him from side to side wave jumping.  I think I need a bigger boat next time so we can really throw them up there.

We also liked to tootle around and look at all the mansions and million dollar boats that seem to be quite prevalent on the Lake of the Ozarks.  It always amazes me to see how much money there is out there.

When we weren't on the boat, we had fun in other ways taking advantage of the lake.  I liked to tell my sister that we had to be careful of all the Alligator Gar in the area because it freaked her out quite a bit.   I'm glad I was lying because I'd really hate having a confrontation with one of those things.

Grandma Linda's lake swimming days may be behind her, but she was still brave enough to take on the kiddie pool.  There's definitely no Alligator Gars in there.

We didn't see too much wildlife around our cabin except for a bunch of deer in the evening and the occasional friendly Groundhog that wandered by for a visit.  They wouldn't let us pet them, though.

There were several caves in the area so we spent one afternoon hiking through one of them called Stark Caverns.

We chose this one because it had more water features than the others.  I thought it was a great idea until I realized I'd feel like I needed to go to the bathroom the entire time I was in there.

We also like to eat a lot and had fun at some of the Lakeside restaurants including Backwater Jack's in nearby Osage Beach.  They have an adult pool and everything, but we didn't get to visit it because we had some Under 21's with us.  Which was unfortunate.

After dinner we enjoyed dessert back in the cabins.  

Everybody Loves Frosting!

Most of all, we just really had a lot of fun being together with family!

I like to tease Miss Sheri, but we do really kind of like each other.

If you're looking for a pleasant Lake Vacation, check out the Lake of the Ozarks!  Just don't hook up with Marty Byrd and his friends.  They're dangerous.