12-Day Speed Run House-Hunting Trip

The Big Texan is known for their 72 steak challenge:

72oz Steak Dinner Challenge Includes: Shrimp Cocktail, Baked Potato, Salad, with Roll, Butter, and of course the 72oz Steak

1. Entire meal must be completed in one hour. If any of the meal is not consumed (swallowed)…YOU LOSE!

2. Before the time starts, you will be allowed to cut into the steak, and take one bite. If the steak tastes good and is cooked to your satisfaction, we will start the time upon your acceptable approval. The time will not stop, and the contest is on, so make SURE before you say “yes.”

3. Once you have started you are not allowed to stand up, leave your table, or have anyone else TOUCH the meal.

4. You will be disqualified if anyone assists you in cutting, preparing or eating of your meal. This is YOUR contest.

5. You don’t have to eat the fat, but we will judge this.

6. Should you become ill, the contest is over… YOU LOSE! (Please use the container provided as necessary.)

7. You are required to pay the full amount up front; if you win we will refund 100%.

8.You must sit at a table that we assign.

9. If you do not win the steak challenge, you are welcome to take the leftovers with you.

10. No consumption or sharing of the leftovers is allowed in the restaurant once the contest is over.

11. If you fail to complete the challenge, you must pay the full $72 dollars.

I'll be honest, I have zero interest in doing the food challenge. However, $72 for 5 pounds of ribeye plus all those sides feels like one hell of a deal!

We always joke about 72 oz of meat. That's about 4-1/2 lbs of full beef -- quite a load of cholesterol! My husband and I could each barely eat the 12 oz ribeye, much less 6x that amount.

There was ice cream and special cookie treats out in the gift shop that just looked heavenly. However, neither one of us had a bit of room for either one!


Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist

Congratulations on finding a new place to call home. That will be a big change in culture and weather!

Mark

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Weather, yes, definitely. But hubby is Missouri-born-and-raised and is glad to be getting back to a more laid back area. I know the weather will be a learning curve for both of us, especially me. I never did learn to drive on snow very well. I'm looking forward to a more laid back lifestyle, too, and I love the area a lot.


Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

I'll be honest, I have zero interest in doing the food challenge. However, $72 for 5 pounds of ribeye plus all those sides feels like one hell of a deal!

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I don't think the 72 is ribeye, I believe it's sirloin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

Weather, yes, definitely. But hubby is Missouri-born-and-raised and is glad to be getting back to a more laid back area. I know the weather will be a learning curve for both of us, especially me. I never did learn to drive on snow very well. I'm looking forward to a more laid back lifestyle, too, and I love the area a lot.


Donna

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It doesn't snow that much here, and when it does it's usually gone in a couple days.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by glc

It doesn't snow that much here, and when it does it's usually gone in a couple days.

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That's what we're told too. However, this past winter, the lake froze -- that only happens once a decade or so. There's probably more of a chance of a tornado than the Big Freeze Up, most years. The Lake area is still debating what the storm was that happened on Wednesday last week, while we were still there. In some areas (mostly between Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Lake), it acted like a tornado. Where we were, it was a heavy rain at some points, mostly during the early morning.


Donna

Final Costs for a 12-day Speed Run:

Lodging (11 nights): $ 660.58 *
Fuel - 3979 miles $ 689.44 (diesel, about 18c/mi)
Food $ 891.54 (about $75/day)
Sundries $ 49.38
Tolls $ 20.00

Total $ 2310.94

* We had a big issue with Quality Inn Lake of the Ozarks. We checked in properly and about 4 days later, they called down to the room and told us we hadn't checked in correctly, we had no "card on file" and hadn't paid, so we were essentially staying for free. WHAT?! Long story short, it was THEIR screw-up, not ours, so they comp'd 3 nights and charged us for 4 nights of the 7. Two of those 3 nights they had to comp, were weekend-at-a-resort rate. Our total for the 7 nights should have been around $600, bringing our projected lodging total to right around $900.

We didn't argue at all. First off, there was NO housekeeping service at all during the 7 nights we were there. We had to ask for trash service TWICE and they finally picked it up on the 2nd request *and* left us an extra couple of trash bags for us to put our own bags in the can. I needed an extra towel. They brought me a POOL towel because "we don't have any clean bath towels". As I stated earlier, their breakfast had become a joke. Yes, I know we are still in a Pandemic. But really, I'd seen better last summer in terms of hotel breakfasts, when we were even more in the midst of the Pandemic.

Would we stay here again? No, we wouldn't....even if we weren't moving 5 miles from it.


Donna

Beautiful downtown Lake Ozark - aka "The Old Strip":

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...95319b94_c.jpg0402Strip

Driving down Bagnell Dam. They can't do much about the width, but the road is full of potholes and the sidewalk is even worse. During the tourist season, people love to walk down the Dam. f

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e165ac44_c.jpg0402DamDrive

Deer are everywhere. I'm told that folks have to go some, to be able to have a garden - flower or vegetable - because the deer eat it all. These four posed for us.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4abf95d7_c.jpg0405Deer

In May, 2019, a tornado swept through Jefferson City and Eldon, MO, destroying a lot in its fury. One of the buildings that got some national attention, including a photo of a piano in the church's choir room, was this one. It has been rebuilt beautifully. We attended church there on Easter Sunday. They had indoor services - masks required, especially if one was going to sing (and I do!) - but all socializing was to be done outdoors.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dc80d0ab_c.jpg0404ChurchEasterSunday

Update to this thread: Previously, I mentioned about the US-54 traffic light at Hwy W, north of Osage Beach and the Lake of the Ozarks area.

That light no longer exists. They were building a whole new freeway-style intersection over the past year, and it finally opened a couple of weeks ago (according to both LakeExpo.com and my daughter who travels the route often). Now you can drive on US-54 between Camdenton and I-70 with NO traffic lights.


Donna

Other updates to this thread:

We completed this move in June/July 2021. For the thread regarding the actual move, click here.

The motel mentioned in this thread, Quality Inn Lake of the Ozarks, no longer exists. As of July 1st, the place closed, barricaded the parking lot, and now sits empty. Evidently it was purchased by a new owner and we don't know what they're going to do with it. There is only one Choice property in the Lake area: Sleep Inn, Camdenton. There are plenty of other motels and resorts in the area, but most of them are not chains. Holiday Inn Express and Margaritaville Lake of the Ozarks (formerly Tan-Tar-A) are among the few chain motels and resorts.


Donna