Wood and Water

Friday and Saturday, Scott and I attended a summer meeting for the Missouri Forest Products Association. We had a great time and stayed in a wonderful hotel. We rested and enjoyed the time away. The Country Club Hotel and Spa, is where we stayed, Definitely worth checkin out.... Anyway, this photo is of Scott and his 2 salesmen. The MFPA hosts an auction on Saturday evening. Items are auctioned off to raise money for the organization. Gary, the man on the right, carves these hats from a solid piece of wood. It really is an amazing process, he can even size and get them to the correct curve of your head. Missouri Mulch, auctioned off one of these hats- so Scott, Gary and Tracy each wore one that evening as an example of the coolness of these hats.

After Scott and I returned from a great trip to the Lake of the Ozarks, we headed to Mark Twain lake to get Jay, and take Sara and Abi along for the ride. Jay was so excited to see us, and his surprise visitors. Recent rains, have not let up at Mark Twain. The numerous creeks that feed the lake have not slowed down. A few weeks ago I posted about this, but now it is much worse. Currently over the levels reached in '93, a mild disaster is being predicted. It ended up being a great day, but the reality of the flood really set in.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/D3160F3F135B7A598625749500757091?OpenDocument

After walking across 8 new dock additions, this is what we came to.

Mom, Dad and Scott getting the scoop from Suzanne. She runs the marina.

Jay posing just like his Abi. What a treat, when mom and dad arrived to have Sara and Abi with them. below- a sign that says "Low Clearance" NO KIDDING! We couldn't' get under this week.

Boaters jumping off the rafters of the overhead bridge, that is normally 30 ft above water.

Us just hanging out in the lake. We had stopped to throw snacks to the sea (lake) gulls and decided to jump in.

Captain Jay and Captain Daddy!

This is the dam, before a 10 inch rain. There is only a foot or two, before it was about to go OVER!

This is the public beach. You can see the roof of the bath house,( ECO LI! which normally sits quite a ways up a hill from the beach. We just may have been over the beach when this photo was taken.

Surprisingly, the dramatic effect of the flooding, still made for a beautiful picture!