Lake Ozark. Mo.

We drove to Lake Ozark in the afternoon Sunday. It was 70 degrees and overcast when we left Kansas City. It was 75 and overcast when we got here. We never did get any rain as we traveled.

But just wait 10 minutes and all that will change. We are in the Midwest where weather is subject to change at a moments notice. And change it did. This morning it is 32 degrees in freezing mist and rain. Kansas City has 26. The weather came from a line of nasty that stretched from Texas to Wisconsin. It is tracking slowly Eastward.

So we are here for a day or so before the freezing stuff moves East. Thats OK.

We found the cabin here in good shape, as we hadn't been here since the first of the year. The heat was working and the water system was not compromised. Or at least as we turned it on, it pressurized normally. It is a relief to have everything OK.

We have a pontoon boat on a floating lift in a floating dock in front of the house. It is all designed to change levels with the lake. As the electric company uses the water to generate electricity, the lake level naturally changes. It is down about 6 feet which is normal for this time of year.

The lift is raised by air pumps that fill the floats and then close valves to hold the air in the lift tanks. Last year I purchased a computerized system that checks the lift level and automatically fills the tanks as needed.

This is a God send as it allows peace of mind when you are away for extended periods of time. If the air escapes from the floats, and the lift goes down, your boat is back in the lake, floating on its own. It is tied to the dock and will not drift away, but wind and wave action will cause a lot of damage in just a short period of time.

We do have rubber fenders that hang in between the boat and the dock, but they seem to get pushed up over time and do not always protect things like they should. Also the green algae grows on everything almost within a day. So keeping your boat up and out of the water is the only option.

Our boat was floating nicely, but the neighbors boat was in the water. So I went to his dock and turned on his air pump to fill his lift tanks. I do not think he has been here for quite a while either. He was interested in the automatic lift pump, but hasn't purchased one yet.

So all is well here in Lake Ozark....