On the road to the Ozarks

We left home on Thursday morning heading to the Ozark Mountains. Our ultimate destination was to be Branson, Missouri, but we would first stop just south of the Arkansas/Missouri state line on the south end of Table Rock Lake. We had been given a coupon for two free nights at the Ozark Outdoor Resorts of America RV Park. This is a an upscale park that is mostly owner occupied. The individual sites are mostly owned by individuals and the rest are for sale. After purchasing a site, at between $40,000 and $60,000 depending on how close to the lake they are, people immediately start upgrading their sites. Many have had additional concrete poured, retaining walls installed, statues and fountains placed on the sites. When the individual owner is not present the resort rents those sites to overnighters like us, with the rental fee going to the owner after the resort takes their commission. This is a very beautiful place to stay but is also very expensive at $70.00 per night. There is a nine hole, par 3 golf course along with swimming pools and tennis courts. Waterfalls and fountains have been placed in the open spaces around the resort.

Although our plan was to spend time in Branson during this trip it turned out the resort was closer to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, than to Branson. Since we have always like visiting Eureka Springs we decided to take Friday and drive there in the car. After strolling around town and checking out the shops we stopped at the nightclub, Eureka Live. This is operated by one of the people I worked with for many years who had become a good friend. Michelle retired from state employment the same day Joanne and I retired.

After a good visit with Michelle we headed back to the coach and spent the evening wondering around the resort, checking out all of its amenities. Although we were impressed with the park it is really out of the way, down several miles of narrow, mountain roads and is not close to any other activities. Even if we were in the market for an RV home base this would be a little out of the way for us, especially at the price of their lots.