Big Cedar

We were honored to have been invited to spend the Easter holidays with my BFF and her family at Big Cedar just south of Branson, Missouri.

It rained and rained and rained some more but that did not dampen our spirits one bit!

We trekked down the hill to the big house where most everyone was staying.

We had this spectacular view of Table Rock Lake from the balcony.

One afternoon we took advantage of the poker chips that were in the house and I taught Lisa and Paula to play poker. Of course Paula had a flush for her first hand. Emma helped her grandma Carolyn with her hand.

It wasn't long before the crowd grew and Robert and Paul joined in. Obviously this was not their first game.

Ed and Becky seemed to stay busy in the kitchen but we did not mind. Ed's steaks were the best I have ever eaten and I lost count of how many of Becky's deviled eggs I ate.

Most of the adult activity seemed to center around the kitchen. John David is working on his photography skills and perhaps Paul is checking on a recipe for us?!

Drew and Becca are learning some trivia.

Soon Paula leads the way while seven youngsters got there food and convened at the table.

Carolyn observed that Stephen appears to like deviled eggs as much as I do.

Andrew supervised the egg dying while Emma and Erin were busy doing all the work.

And Robert finally got his turn in the kitchen when it was time to do the dishes. We hardly saw the younger generation except at meal time. Downstairs there was a pool table, a large den and television, and a theater.

Hey, Larry! Now what are you up to?

Larry, Robert, Lisa, Paula, Leon and I went over to Buzzard's Bar to listen to Clay play the guitar, sing, and share some humor! Uh oh, Paula, I think you've been caught.

Erin, Lisa and Paul.

Before most of the folks left we convened at our place for lunch. With three teenage boys it seems food is always being served.

Leon, Becky, Lisa, Ed and I went over to the Devil's Pool restaurant for a fine evening meal. That way we got to bring leftovers home with us!

Leon and I were quite pleased with our accomodations.

\

Becky, Ed, Leon and I often gathered here and usually had a fire in the fireplace as the temperatures were fairly cool. We stayed in a different location from the others.

The gift shop is a fun place to visit and of course Becky, Lisa and I did.

Big Cedar is owned by the folks who have Bass Pro shops and sprawls along the shore of Table Rock Lake in Ridgedale, Missouri. The ammenities here are hard to surpass.  Had the weather been better we would have swum, visited the hot tub, hiked numerous nature trails and done some geocaching. But we would not have had any better visit. It was a fabulous few days.

Trout were everywhere. It sure made me want to go flyfishing.

We finally gathered our belonging and said our long goodbyes.

We headed south down the winding road and left the Ozarks behind us. Everything is such a lush spring green. Storms danced all over the state but we managed to miss even the rain.

The streams were swollen and there were several areas where the water spilled down the sides of the hills along highway 65.

We got home just in time to say goodbye to Hayden as he was heading to the airport to fly home.

We caught Patrick on a wink but asleep he was not!