Table Rock Lake

Hi again,

Yesterday I had to do some work for a consulting client in the morning. It's actually kind of fun for me, but in this instance it was kind of frustrating as well. There were a lot of changes to make to add some logic into an analysis that happens regularly, plus some updates because we are in a new calendar year. I completed a sort of 1st draft and sent it off, but then spoke to the client and realized it wasn't (yet) quite working right. So I took a break and headed out to explore. I stopped for some information in a place that deals in reservations to hotels, dining, shows and so on. Met the nicest guy in there who spent quite a bit of time talking to me since not one other person came in to the place while I was there.

As I kind of expected, there isn't much to offer here mid-week in January during Covid. Most of the shows either are down at this point or only open in the later part of the week and weekend. I didn't mind that, and for those of you who know me, shopping is not over any real appeal to me. (Well, perhaps I should say except old-fashioned hardware stores, used bookstores and the occasional art gallery.)

However, I did ask about walking trails. One of the few downsides of this trip is that I don't have woods right outside every door and window of where I'm staying, the way I do at home. A second is that I am spending a fair amount of time driving - which I like to do - but I miss walking in the woods, or by a stream, or preferably both at the same time.

I asked him about walking trails, and was told about a 2+ mile trail over on one part of Table Rock Lake. By this point is was about 2:30pm, so I headed that way. I drove into a resort close by called Chateau on the Lake, which sits high above one end of the lake. It was closed, but I was able to take a picture from their mostly empty parking lot. It is just below.

Then I headed over to where I could access the trail, just a couple of miles away across the dam. It was a beautiful afternoon, with temperatures in the mid-50s, an occasional breeze, and bright, bright sunshine. The trail was actually paved, but it was easy to get off the pavement into the woods. Trees weren't too thick and there were a lot of leaves on the ground but not a lot of underbrush, so it was easy to walk over closer to the water. One interesting thing was that the roots of some of the trees were actually traveling above the ground in many places. I have put a picture of that just below, and some additional pictures I took while walking.

It was just what I needed. I saw other walkers (or runners, or skateboarders, and even a couple of people on skates), but not that often. Pretty much everyone said hello as they passed, and everyone looked happy.

I even found a bench to sit on at one point, just staring through a few trees out to the water of the lake as it moved in the breeze and sparkled in the sun. I could sit like that for hours, just basking in the peace and beauty of the natural world around me. But the sun was setting, and so I rose and started on my way back to the car.

[Just an aside ... when I got back to where I'm staying, and had some dinner, I went back to the project. It took me another few hours, but now everything is working. Some might way, why are you working like this on your trip? Can't you relax? What those skeptics don't understand is that really thinking about a problem, and persevering until it is solved in a way that satisfies me, is in some ways as much joy as sitting or walking by the water

I know that I have been exploring - and I hope integrating - some of the more creative and intuitive parts of myself over this last year or two - but that doesn't mean I am not still the analytical, logical, and creative problem solver I always have been. I just hope I'm more than that, or at least will be soon.]

I went back over to Table Rock Lake this morning, and did it all over again. I had a couple of calls and a Zoom meeting earlier this afternoon. But in an hour or so I will be heading out to what I was told (by the same gentleman I mentioned earlier) is the very best restaurant in the whole area. It's a place a place called Top of the Rock or Big Cedar Lodge, and the restaurant is called Osage. It's a treat to myself; I don't spend this kind of money on a meal often! Here's the menu.

Tomorrow I will be back on the road, with an ultimate goal of San Diego, but no fixed plans about the exact route or when I will arrive. Middle of next week, perhaps? Or maybe the end? We shall see!