Christmas Fly/Drive to MO and Back

My husband and I decided to go to Missouri for Christmas this year, for the "first time in forever". We debated between driving our own car, renting a car to make the entire round trip, or flying and renting a car while out there. It took us a full day to decide that just flying out and renting a car would be best, as we "only" had two weeks and we wanted to spend time with our older daughter and her family at Christmas. To say that our younger daughter (who lives in CA) was surprised was an understatement, but she was very pleased for us. So within the space of 4 weeks, we made flight arrangements, arranged to rent a car in St Louis (through Costco), got lodging secured at the Lake, and did all the pre-trip stuff you have to do to leave your house.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17

Neither of us slept very well on Friday evening, due to anxiety and some excitement. Members of the Missouri family had put a lot of worry and anxiety into us, due to some weather that they were experiencing with Winter Storm Decima. Between our daughter and my SIL, they informed us about icy roads, blowing snow, and my SIL went so far as to advise us to stay overnight in St Louis.

With this information, we were made even more anxious when the Cloud 9 Super Shuttle was a few minutes late in picking us up. However, we were the last stop and made it to the airport in plenty of time. Check in with baggage on Southwest Air is now almost self-service, only seeing an agent to actually get your bags onto the conveyor belt.

At the gate (3), we found that our plane was delayed in San Jose. The storm had affected flights all over the country on Friday, and our plane had to come from San Jose. There, they had personnel issues (flight attendants who didn't make it to their connection like they were supposed to), so they had to take a different attendant. In the end, we waited 1-1/2 hours extra to get onto the plane. However, once on board, the pilot announced that he had a tailwind and would arrive in STL at 3:35, 1 hr 5 minutes later than we were scheduled.

Once down, we had to wait a long time for the 4 bags, but once out to the Enterprise shuttle, the driver came right up to us. At Enterprise, which has relocated to a larger facility, we had to wait in two lines, one to check in and one for the vehicle. Watching them salt the sidewalks and scrape the cars, made us even more anxious and worried than we had already been.

The drive wasn't as bad as anyone had made it out to be, until just before Jefferson City. The freeway (70) was wet but not slick, and there was a bit of traffic without being heavy. We stopped at Kingdom City's McDonald's for the first real food of the day (only had coffee in the airport and snacks on the plane). The snow began to fall just before Jefferson City, but the only bad thing was when it started to come down so hard that it would obliterate the middle line, making it hard for my husband to determine where the lane was.

Roads at the Lake of the Ozarks were starting to be covered by snow, but we found our way into the Lodge of the Four Seasons and got situated on the 4th floor of the Main Lodge. After settling in, we called our daughter to let her know, we would see her in the morning, and we took a walk around the whole Lodge place. (I needed to walk and we needed to explore.) I just didn't feel like we should try to find her place in a snowstorm, and it was after 9 pm by the time we got settled at the Lodge. The Lodge was sanding and scooping their roads, but we weren't sure who was doing Horseshoe Bend Road, or any of the roads that shoot off from that to take us to our daughter's.

Two of the discoveries made while walking around the Lodge: indoor waterfalls!

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Donna

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18

We woke to our phone alarm telling us it was time to get up and take our medicines. When we looked out the room window, we found a view of the very steamy lake, some snow on the ground, cars and roofs, and the sun trying to rise to a clear day. The Weather app told us, however, that it was 2F!!! Brrrr! A text message from our daughter shortly thereafter told us not to come right away as they had not plowed their streets.

We dressed and made our way down to the restaurant in the lodge. It was a wee bit expensive but nothing we've never seen before. The coffee was delicious ($4 for the refillable cup). We had a nice conversation with the waiter, who loves to motorcycle and was looking for some pretty routes in the US. I told him about RTA and noticed that he wrote it down.

Back in the room, we got the go-ahead from our daughter, so we made our way to her house where everybody was up.
We had a long, lovely visit which included lunch and dinner with our daughter and family, visiting and hugging the grandkids, and having fun. My daughter and I went to the grocery store, where I picked up some things for the room, like sodas, coffee and creamer for the machine, and snacks.

Headed back to the room after the grands went to bed. It was a school night, so we didn't want to keep one up late, and both adults have to work tomorrow. We will entertain ourselves with Christmas shopping! While out at HyVee and Target, my daughter showed me the routes to get down to the Osage Beach Premium Outlet Center and Walmart, plus the Target and HyVee.

Our room at the Lodge had a nice refrigerator, a Keurig coffeemaker, iron and board, nice closet with doors. We got a good deal on the winter rates. This is not affordable for us at summer rates, though -- our room would cost 2x as much in June, and 3x as much in July. We bought K-cups because they only provide 2 per day, and charge for any more -- and we drink 4 cups a day between the two of us. So buying our own, plus liquid creamer, would be a lot better on the budget.

The steamy lake in the morning:

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The snow on the rooftops and ground:

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Our rental car. They didn't wash it on the day we picked it up, and the storm just made it worse. Yes, it had WV plates.

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Donna

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19

Finally it was a good night's sleep. Friday night had been full of anxiety and Saturday night was a strange bed. So by Sunday night, my body was ready for a good sleep, and it got one.

The Keurig in the morning was rather fussy, and after a call to the front desk, she sent up a pot of coffee and some cups from Room Service, and I unplugged the Keurig maker. Got it working again at that point, meaning I will be able to have some oatmeal if I like. I called her back to tell her that I got it working, but she told me that Room Service is "really bored" and would like something to do, and repeated that there would be no charge. It was very good coffee, too.

The two of us headed out towards Osage Beach, intending to get a late small breakfast before doing any Christmas shopping. Found McDonald's Osage Beach. Then headed for Walmart next, followed by Osage Beach Premium Outlet Centers. We looked at new winter coats for each of us, too, but decided that by the time we get much use from them, we'll either be out of size or out of date, or both. We're already out of fashion, so why spend more money on that? We did manage to find a Merrell Shoe outlet going out of business, where hubby got new hiking style shoes and I got new hiking boots, for $25 per pair EACH. For Merrell, that was an incredible deal! We'll have to spend a little to ship them home, but not as much as it would cost to buy the shoes at full price, even at Amazon's discounted rates.

Stopped for lunch back in Lake Ozark at J.B. Hook's. It wasn't nearly as expensive as we thought it would be, but the view is incredible and the inside décor is ALL music stuff!! Hubby had catfish and I had soup/salad.

After a short nap for each of us, daughter called to say she was home from work, so we headed over shortly after. We had a good visit again. She made roast beef and potatoes for dinner, which we all enjoyed. The grands and I played iPad games, while all of us watched NCIS Season 3 again. Then it was the grands' bedtimes. Since it is once again a school night, we left so that we'd be back to the Lodge by 8:10. It's only a couple of miles down the road.

The weather has continued to be cold at night and in the early morning hours, but it got up to 30F today. When walking around the Outlet Center, our hands and faces would get cold, though the rest of our bodies were fine. The rooms have good heat, though.

Views from JB Hooks:

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Donna

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20

It was a fitful night of sleep for each of us again last night. Hubby seems to have picked up a cold, but mine is allergies. I was able to take Benedryl for mine, which helps, but hubby doesn't take much for a cold, he just suffers through it.

Nevertheless, we had coffee in the room, made with the Keurig. Each of us tried the Green Mountain Lake & Lodge flavor that the Lodge provided, plus one K-cup of Eight O'Clock, that I'd picked up at HyVee on Sunday. We aren't very impressed with that particular machine, but it's cheaper coffee than going to the restaurant, ordering room service, or even going to McDonald's every morning.

We set out to finish up our Christmas shopping. First stop was Kohl's, where we shopped for the Columbia family. I managed to snag a Corduroy Bear for my classroom, too. Next stop was Menard's – wow, a cross between a full hardware and lumber store, and a department store. About the only thing they didn't seem to sell were clothes and shoes! Then back out to Walmart. Somewhere in there, we stopped at Ozarkland and got sweatshirt jackets for the California grands, with Lake of the Ozarks emblazoned on them. (Ozarkland is a gift store, candy store, and has a lot of other stuff in the store at Osage as well as the one in Kingdom City.)

Finally, we stopped at Baxter's for lunch. The food was a little less expensive than yesterday's JB Hook's, but it was nothing impressive. I ate only half of my Turkey Reuben because it was very filling and I was a bit afraid of the calories – and besides, we're going to Golden Corral tonight as a family. (I am once again on a weight loss thing, as I'm like a yo-yo. Gained too much weight this past summer!)

Came back to the room. Hubby took a cat nap in the chair while I went out for about a 20 minute walk around the hotel, picking up some steps and some stairways while I was out. Then I came back and napped for about a half hour.

Before heading to daughter's after she got home from school, we ran to CVS to pick up some cold stuff for hubby. Then went to daughter's for awhile, before going out to dinner.

The 7 of us (we included my daughter's MIL, who resides with them) went out to Golden Corral for dinner, on Osage Beach Parkway. It's a good family place where everyone has good choices, as much as they want to eat, and the prices are right. Three adults were senior price, youngest grand's meal was free, and other grand's dinner was discounted because it was Tuesday. Food and drink for 7 people, $75. I'm not arguing!

Nice sunset:

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Donna

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21

Hubby slept a whole lot better last night when he took some medication for his cold, and so did I. Good thing, because I was up at 6 getting ready to go with my daughter to her school. Like me, she is a teacher.

I will spare you all the details of the last day of school before break. Let's just say, that my own experiences on Friday matched that of my daughter's, and we were both glad to be out of school for awhile!

We drove out to the Outlet Center where daughter took advantage of the Merrell Shoe Store Going Out of Business Sale (just this store), by picking up some shoes for her and her family. Second stop was at HyVee. Then she dropped me at the Lodge.

Hubby had been there all day, just reading. He took himself to lunch at HK's, the restaurant inside the Lodge. I got back, then we headed over to daughter's and played with the grands. We had dinner with them.

Back at the Lodge armed with a pair of scissors, some tape and extra Christmas bows, we wrapped a few presents. Then I went for a long walk through the building. I've been trying to get more exercise these days, and it isn't easy in this cold weather.


Donna

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22

Daughter was off school today and had scheduled herself for a doctor appt. After getting fuel at the Break Time ($1.99/gal), we picked her up and headed for Jefferson City.

Hubby and I waited in the lobby, just reading our Kindles. From there, we had some errands to help her out with.

We went to lunch together at Perkins, just the three of us. They serve good food and the prices are fairly reasonable, too.

The afternoon was spent with family. We stayed for dinner (pork chops and rice), then headed back to the Lodge when the girls were going to bed for the night.

More presents had to be wrapped, and we managed to finish everything that had to be wrapped or boxed, except those to each other. It was a unique experience, wrapping Christmas gifts in a hotel room. We bought our own paper, but borrowed the rest of the supplies (scissors, tape, tags) from our daughter.


Donna

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23 and SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24

Suffice this to say that these days were pretty much family oriented, pretty mundane stuff.

The most interesting was attending Christmas Eve church services. My daughter attends a church in Jefferson City, because she is also their choir director and occasional soloist. She sang "Mary, Did You Know?" on Christmas Eve, and if I may brag, she moved many to say a loud "AMEN!" when she was finished, and others were visibly tearing up. Also that evening, we found some good friends from college whose mother/MIL is an elder in that particular church. We hadn't seen them in years, so it was an exciting reunion before church service began. To top it all off, many of the Columbia, MO ("CoMo") family came down to Jefferson City for the evening service, so our family took up the better part of two long pews.

It was a bit odd to spend Christmas Eve in a hotel room, but not a bad thing, because family was nearby. We went to bed early, because Christmas Day was going to start very early at our daughter's home -- because of the two little grands.

CHRISTMAS DAY, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25

We were up at 5:30 and over at daughter's by 6:10. Nobody was up there, yet. Finally we started to share gifts, daughter put the cinnamon rolls into the oven, and we used her MIL's Keurig (and our K-cups) for morning coffee.

We went back to the room about 9:30 and checked out, taking our luggage with us, then headed back for daughter's. When it was determined that MIL was not going with us to Columbia, hubby and I headed north, and daughter and family were 20 minutes behind us. CoMo is about 1-1/2 hours north of the Lake, all on US-54 and US-63.

We moved into hubby's sister's, visited for a little while. Their younger son was there with his girlfriend. Then we all headed over to another family member's home, for Christmas Dinner and fun.

The meal was scrumptious. The one thing about our family -- it likes to eat! Those of us with health issues have to be choosy, but there is always something for everyone.

My BIL's parents provided gifts for a gift exchange game. You draw numbers, choose a gift to unwrap, or if your number is higher, you can steal someone else's already opened gift. I ended up with 9 bottles of nail polish, which I will never use, so after the party, I handed them to my teenage niece. She loved them!

Back at my SIL's, we did a gift exchange and enjoyed watching their grandkids tear into gifts as well as our own grandkids.

By that point, it was raining. My SIL left to return to the Lake, leaving our daughter, their two children, and two car seats with us. Fortunately, my SIL has a large home with three guest rooms and loved to accommodate all of us.


Donna

BOXING DAY, MONDAY DECEMBER 26

The first ones up this morning were the little girls, at 6:20. They wanted to wake Mimi and Grammy for breakfast. Grammy (me) told them to go downstairs and play quietly in the playroom, and they did, for about 45 minutes. Pretty soon, everyone else got up, along with my other granddaughter and my great-nephew, coffee was brewing, and my SIL was working on breakfast.

Once we were all ready, the women and my husband headed for a day of shopping. In the US, "Boxing Day" is traditionally the day to go out and look for bargains on Christmas wrap and accessories, and items on clearance that did not sell for Christmas. Personally, anything I shopped for had to be small. Our boxes would weigh enough when shipped home!

Also, folks bring stuff back to the stores on "Boxing Day USA" to be exchanged for the right size, something that works, or similar. Fortunately, none of us had to do that, because the lines at Target, Kohl's, and other stores that we went into, were all horribly long!

Last stop was at Gerbes, where hubby and I wanted to check and see if they still had their in-store UPS/Post Office shipping. No dice on the latter, so we'll have to look up the nearest mailing place or just hope that the Post Office will give us a good deal. We saved three boxes at Christmas, to ship things home in.

The rest of the day was spent on "family stuff".


Donna

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27 and WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28

These two days were pretty much just full of visiting family. We drove up to Mexico, MO, to pay respects at the cemetery where family members are buried, and to visit with one of the family members that is still around and not working.

Five of us headed to the movies to see “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, a spin-off from the Harry Potter series.I found two movie theatre gift cards in my wallet, that I would probably never use, so I contributed those. The movie was pretty okay, lots of “magic” and special effects, with a good story line. We all enjoyed it, because all of us had read the entire HP series and some were even huge fans.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29

It was another kick-back-and-relax day, but call it "prep for the drive and flight back" day. I needed to get the laundry done so that we'd have mostly clean clothes to take back home tomorrow, plus visit with our daughter and the kids while we still had the opportunity. Unfortunately, our youngest grand picked up a bad cold from her grandpa, and has been a really whiny 2-year-old most of the day.

BIL took hubby and I out to the UPS Store at Crossroads West in the morning, to ship a large box and a small box to ourselves at home. Total cost including insurance on the large box, was $108. We had been prepared for $150-200, so that seemed okay for us. It went UPS. Unfortunately, the shipping place inside Gerbes on B, that we used five years ago, closed. What was nice about that place was the ability to choose the least expensive way to ship -- USPS, UPS or FedEx.

We also stopped at WalMart to see if we could find some disinfectant wipes in a small enough container to take with us and use in the airport and on the plane. Flying is a good way to subject oneself to illnesses, making me realize how much healthier it is to drive! Found some and bought them.

Our daughter went out later with my SIL and niece, to some stores, leaving the grands with me. Lil Bit was sound asleep at the time, so it was just the oldest and me. Hubby had gone out with BIL on an errand.

Just around the dinner hour, SIL arrived from the Lake, to bring daughter and his two babies home. After they loaded the car with car seats and other paraphernalia, it was a teary goodbye. I don't think the grands comprehended that they wouldn't see us for another 6 months, but our daughter sure did. She is the one for whom family always comes first.

It took a bit to get all 5 of us in the van to go out to eat, but we finally did – and headed for Red Lobster. Everyone enjoyed the evening and the food (for the most part). BIL got the box with everyone's leftovers, which he will enjoy for lunch tomorrow when he goes to work. After eating, we stopped quickly at the Mall for a last-minute gift, then went out to see some light displays. Those included a Magic Tree, and then Candy Cane Crib (a house really done up to benefit the Boys & Girls Club here in CoMo).

Hubby and I had to start to get everything else into our suitcases, including all the laundry that I'd done in the morning. Surprisingly enough, not much of what was purchased for our own consumption at the Lodge, had to be abandoned.


Donna

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30 – LAST DAY OF THE TRIP

We were up at a decent hour, packing up the last minute things, ready to leave the house around the same time as everyone else. SIL and niece were the first out at 8 am. BIL left at 8:40, and we left at the same time. We really didn't need to leave that early, but we didn't want to mess around with locking up someone else's home.

It was a leisurely drive to the St Louis Airport, stopping at the Wright City Rest Area and then at St Charles Rock Road for fuel (since we had to turn in the rental with a full tank of gas). The check in was easy, and a shuttle was ready immediately to take us over to the airport.

At the airport, we checked the bags in then got ourselves into the wrong line – instead of TSA Pre, we had to go through full check. Shoes off, laptop out of case, etc. Grrrrr!!!!!

Once at the gate, it was a long wait since we were there early. We read. We watched planes take off and land. We watched luggage and snacks get loaded onto aircraft. We took turns walking down the airport to get a sandwich (Burger King) and a drink so that we would not have a repeat of the trip out. Finally, the plane came in (from Cleveland) 10 minutes late, and we were 10 minutes late leaving STL.

The flight was long and a bit turbulent. We couldn't get up very often because the seat-belt light was on quite a bit. I read – started to read Violins of Hope, a story of the musicians and the instruments during the Holocaust period. I played Solitaire on the iPad.

Finally we got in, only 5 minutes late, had to wait for luggage, then had to make our way over to Ground Transportation and the Shuttle. Once on the shuttle, we were the last to be dropped off.

It was GOOD to be home. House was fine. Cat missed us. Got our suitcases emptied, put away, listened to 22 messages (20 of which were empty) on the phone answering machine, made phone call, sent text messages.... we were HOME!



Donna

Glad you got to spend some quality time with family over the festive period Donna, sounded like fun.

Dave.

It was a lot of fun, and you're right, quality time with the part of the family that we usually only see once per year.

I decided to go ahead and post my trip journal (modified) in order to show some of the issues in fly-drives and during the winter weather. Arriving in St Louis was one of those issues, as we had no idea what the weather would be like. We knew that on Friday the 16th, there were ice issues that closed down I-70 westbound, caused problems for kids getting home from school in CoMo (some did not arrive home until 1 am on Saturday), Jefferson City was having trouble keeping the roads open and cancelled church on Sunday 18th (making us miss seeing our oldest grand in the church children's program), and more. By Saturday, most of that was gone in St Louis, and the only problem for us during the drive was on US-54 between Kingdom City and the Lake, with snow falling pretty hard.

Funny, but that was the only snow we had during our entire 13 day visit to the Midwest, on the day of arrival.



Donna