Smithville Lake

I've rambled on in this and other blogs about all the different things we've been thinking of doing. I've talked about selling our trailer because we haven't used it much in the past year, moving to a condo at the Lake of the Ozarks, selling our house and buying an RV, and on and on and on.

Our trailer is stored at a facility near Smithville Lake. We never considered camping at Smithville because we did it years ago and it wasn't a pleasant experience. There were no trees, trails, or much of anything except the lake. Instead, we opted to haul our trailer to campgrounds many miles away.

We did enjoy Smithville lake back in the early 90s. We had a pontoon boat that we kept at one of the marinas. We really enjoyed taking it out. It was great to park it in a cove, swim, and relax. It held a lot of people and a lot of dogs! In our great wisdom, we decided to sell the pontoon and put a pool in our backyard. What a mistake!!! Now we have neither.

Last week we decided to take a trip around Smithville Lake. We were astonished at the changes!!! There are some very nice campgrounds with shaded sites on the water. There are miles of hiking/bicycle trails. Castaways (see previous post) is new. I cannot believe we have such a great asset just 10 miles from our house! Where did it come from??? We even found trailer storage just two miles from the campground. We'll be moving our trailer over there today or tomorrow.

I realize there will be an expensive side to this, but less expensive and less disruptive than all the other things we've talked about doing. There is no way we will be able to camp frequently on the lake and not end up with a boat. How fun would it be to boat over to Castaways, anchor in a cove again, sit in a pontoon watching fireworks, and then boat over to your campsite for the night?