Lake Ozark, MO - Boatin'

We awoke at 7:00 but waited until we heard some sounds from others before we rose - which didn’t come much later - these two are early risers. LaVonne drove back to Columbia today to work with her grandson on some school work. I took some pictures of the sun rising and the fog lifting over the lake.

Craig, Gary and I lingered over breakfast on their deck overlooking the lake while we discussed what we wanted to do. It seems that all we wanted to do was linger over breakfast but finally we decided to walk the dam, visit the dam museum and then take a boat ride. Ever since he was young, Craig told us, he had always wanted a boat. Now, here he is, at 68 with not only a home on the lake but a boat. Well, he tells us that he actually has a yacht, not a boat. The dividing factor is length; 27’ is a boat, 28’, which his is, is a yacht. Thus, our first boat ride on the Lake of the Ozarks was in a yacht - pretty spiffy.

But, first, we’ve got to walk the dam which made the lake. Lake of the Ozarks, which is 86 sq miles and has 1150’ of shoreline, was formed when the Ozark River was dammed up in 1931 by Bagnell Dam. At the time of its construction, it was one of the largest man-made lakes in the world and the largest in the US. Because it follows the river bed of the Ozark River, it winds like a snake through central MO, and thus had lots more shoreline for homes and boat slips. I was surprised when I looked at Google maps and saw all of the dammed up rivers which make up the lakes in MO.

Thoughts of a hydro electric power for Kansas City began in the early part of the century and a developer named Ralph Street actually managed to begin building the roads and railroads that would support a dam. But, when his funding went down the tube, Union Electric Power and Light stepped in and completed the dam - even though it began 2 months before the beginning of the Great Depression. Not only did the company get the dam built, but they employed 40,000 from the every state in the US and 9 foreign countries in its construction, providing living wages for many families during the Depression. Most of the construction was done by hand, thus more could be hired to work on the project.

They finished the dam in February of 1931 and began to fill it at an average rate of 1 1/2 feet per day and the lake reached its full height in the spring of 1932. Bagnell Dam is classified as a concrete gravity dam. This means that the dam is so heavy that the water coming at it can’t push it over. Whew.

22 towns and villages were destroyed or relocated, 32 cemeteries and 74 scattered graves had to be relocated.

And, that’s the history. Now for the walk. Obviously, the dam sidewalk was not designed for 21st century walking. The roadway is narrow which means that cars and trucks hug the outside of their lane - where the walkers are. Trucks and cars are one thing but when BIG boats in trailers come over the bridge, they stick out over the sidewalk. When we saw these coming, we all stood as close to the bridge railing as we could. We were actually a bit worried when these came at us as we were walking. Then we found this type of problem - looks like the cement is showing its age. We could see down through the bridge to the water below and could see the rebar which supports the cement. Whew, we scampered off the bridge. Not a walk we’d recommend to others and I’m not sure what we gained by doing it.

Time to visit the Willmore Lodge. Beautiful lodge made in the Adirondack style as the headquarters for the Union Electric. The logs were cut and assembled in Oregon, then inspected and dismantled, numbered and transported to MO where they were reassembled. It’s gone through several owners and finally was bought by the Willmore Lodge Foundation to be used as its headquarters and a dam museum. Neat lodge with a beautiful view of the lake. We toured the lodge and the museum where I took all the pictures of the dam construction above, walked around it down to the lake side and back.

Here are the two college roomies.

Lunch at a local restaurant. Then back to Craig’s condo, where LaVonne was waiting for the intrepid bridge walkers. Time for a boat ride. Oops, I meant a yacht ride. Every condo has a slip - I mean, who’d buy a condo on the lake if it didn’t have a slip? Life vests for all, Craig backed out and we were off down the lake. Then Gary and I each got a change to steer the boat. What fun. It almost looks as if the boat is standing still in this shot but, look at my hair - we’re moving a bit. Hey, look, you can see my grey hairs when it blows back like this.

We docked about an hour later, put the cover on the boat and headed up to the condo for a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and spinach salad. I could enjoy this kind of life.