May 04, 2012

A Little Time Away

This past week, I got the pleasure of accompanying my husband to Branson, MO to watch him compete in the Bassmaster Central Open that took place on Table Rock Lake.  It was a week full of relaxing, fishing, reading, cooking, and knitting.  Exactly what I needed.  We got down there the previous Friday night and after a long days drive we decided to hit the hay early.  Special thanks goes out to the fraternity that seemed to have booked the entire hotel and party until the sun came up.  It was a spectacular nights rest!  We awoke to a very foggy and chilly morning but we were excited to see what Table Rock had in store for us.


If you've never been to this area of the country, I would highly recommend it.  It's very beautiful.


When I say that, I am excluding the city of Branson and referring to the surrounding areas.  In my opinion, Branson is a small window into what hell must be like, but I digress.  We got on the water that morning and Josh immediately had me throwing the Alabama Rig.


This was fun for me because they're not legal up here in Minne and they have the capability of catching more than one fish at a time.  Which is an awesome because I have dubbed myself "The One Fish Wonder".  Wouldn't ya know it, I actually caught two at a time!!  I think we might be onto something.

Catching those two filled my personal limit, so I decided to spend the rest of my time snapping pictures and reading this months book club pick of My Horizontal Life by the hi-larious Chelsea Handler.  That book is a must read and it will have you laughing out loud for the majority of it.  I was frequently reading snippets to Josh while he was busy fishing and had him cracking up too.  He's so lucky to have me on the boat with him to keep him company.

After we got off the water for the day we went to check in to the resort that we would be staying at for the remainder of the week and meet up with our new roomie Brent Homan.  We had dinner at the Altenhof Inn where I had the best sauerkraut and bratwurst pizza ever!  Granted, I've never had this combo before but it was an amazing pie!   All of us were pretty pooped from our day so after a little grocery shopping we decided to call it a day.

The next morning, Josh woke up at the ungodly hour of 5am to get out on the water.  We decided it would be best if I slept in.  Good choice.  I got to catch up on some much needed zzz's and then get the lay of the land.  Whilst doing this I snapped a couple of pics that caught my eye.

 

I have a serious love of peonies


Josh picked me up around 11 and we headed back out on the water.  It was a chilly and windy day!  I didn't take off any of my five layers that I was rocking.  But I did catch another fish!!

Shortly after this pic was taken, we realized we were being followed by this guy.   The pic doesn't do him justice as he was at least 3 feet long.


Neither of us were comfortable with the situation that had just formed so we hi-tailed it out of there and moved to a new spot.  It was at this point after my one fish limit had been caught that I took to reading my book again and snapping more pics.


 I got this one right as the herring was about to take flight.


Once Monday hit, I wasn't allowed to be on the water with Josh anymore (Bassmaster rules, not ours) so I was on my own with SW Missouri as my oyster.  A couple of times, I drove into neighboring Kimberling City and Branson West to visit some of the local antique shops and thrift stores.  I also stumbled upon the KC Bakery & Bistro where I had an apple cinnamon old world sweet roll.  I really should have taken a picture of this goodness, but I'm an idiot and didn't.  It looked quite similar to this though.

 
Talk about deeeelish, my friends!  That landed itself on the list of things I need to learn to make pronto.
 
On Tuesday, my husband had me driving up to the Bass Pro Shops in Springfield to stock up on some lures that he was going to need for the tournament.  Holy moly that place is huge!  I actually found myself really enjoying it there.  Lots of fun stuff to look at.  Also, since I happened to be in Springfield for the day, I went to Battlefield Mall and checked out Body Central.  This was a special treat for me because I buy clothes off of their website but never had the chance to visit the store.  The closest one to me about 400 miles away so I was pumped!  In the end, it was probably a bad idea that I went because I ended up walking out with half the store.  Whoops.

When I wasn't out and about exploring , I was sitting on the balcony working on my latest knitting projects. 

The view from the balcony
Our friends Ryan and Deanna recently had they're first baby and I've been making them the adorable Turtlebutt.  I try to make these for all my friends that have babies because they are so stinkin' cute.  I wasn't able to get it completed during this trip but I got pretty darn close.


However, I did finish a pair of socks I had been working on for Josh.


Tournament day was on Thursday and Friday and it was quite the event!


 I try to go to as many of Josh's tournaments as possible, but none have been on the level of this one.  Although they haven't had the prizes that this one offered either.  First place is $5,000, a new boat, an automatic berth into the 2013 Bassmaster Classic and potential to fish in the 2013 Elite Series.  Pretty much everything that my hubby has been working his butt of for all these years.  After the first day's weigh in, he had a total weight of 11lb 13 oz. which left him tied for 51st.


His day two total was 9 lb 3 oz where he finished in 81st place out of 166 boats.


I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't disappointing because it was.  I see how hard he works and everything that he puts in to these tournaments and it makes me sad when he doesn't do well.  However, whether he finishes in first or last place I am beyond proud of him.  It takes some big kahunas to fish at this level and I know one day he will make his and our dreams come true.  If you want to know the how's and what's of his tournament strategy, you can visit his blog here.

We had a great time in Branson, however, once the tournament was over I was more than ready to go home and see my pups.  I was dying for some sloppy kisses and my own bed.  I even had an extra day off which I used to go to the farmers market to pick up some fruit for another round of jam.  More on that next week!