vrbo – Postcards From TLC

March 28, 2018

LOTO Weekend Getaway

Spring is upon us and we’re headed back to our condominum at the Lake of the Ozarks. We still have a few cosmetic things to accomplish in the coming days and still have our goal within reach of having everything complete and ready for funning and sunning visitors by April. We hope to have it ready to go on the VRBO rental market towards the end of summer as well.

Hubby’s going to finish painting the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. No, your eyes don’t deceive, some of them are currently white and some of them are off-white. Who does that? We also get to install a new faucet this weekend, which is really needed! After that, it’ll be time to find some curtains and a few more red accents. And SOMEDAY, not any day real soon, we’ll be able to upgrade the appliances, which I hope will really make the kitchen pop.

The bedrooms are mostly done. Aside from a few minor decorating touches in the master bedroom, like some more pillows on the bed and having the dresser painted, they are pretty much ready for sleeping in. We actually adore the master because the bed is much larger and way more comfy than the bed we have at home!

Master BR

Sunset BR

Beach BR

The ultimate task, which may or may not get completed this weekend will be the kitchen table. Even though it’s character was one of the selling points of the condo, the poor thing is so beat up I haven’t had the heart to take any pictures of it. Right now it’s a sage green color with green and tan checkered seats. We are planning to paint all but the wooden top and re-upholster the chairs in colors that will flow better with the rest of the condo.

Our goal is to make enough progress on the condo that we (or I) have time to go to my favorite place Saturday–Coral Reef Seafood! They have been having cooking demos on Saturdays–2 weeks ago was Mussel Mania–and Chef Ryan has been doing it justice.

Mussels with Andouille Sausage in a tomato sauce

Not only does he demonstrate how to make the recipe, we then get to sample it. He demoed three mussels recipes which were all incredible!

Really, I can’t say enough about Coral Reef. If you like seafood, you must stop by. Even if you aren’t interested in the cooking demonstrations, they have some of the freshest seafood available. Justin’s Stuffed Roughy and the Large Wild Gulf Shrimp are the usuals we buy to take back home for dinner later in the week.

Besides that, they have a Bake N Serve Seafood Lasagna that I have my eye on for a future dinner. I’ve also heard they will be having crab legs on sale this weekend which may have to be dinner Saturday night.

And dare I mention that their non-seafood items are great too? I believe they have the best andouille sausage I’ve ever had, and they also have a selection of steaks, side dishes, marinades and spices.

Apparently, I have a lot to look forward to this weekend. I can’t wait, c’mon Friday!

August 17, 2017

Eclipse Frenzy–2017

I guess I’m one of the lucky few who will not need to travel ANYWHERE to see the Eclipse. Apparently, I live right in The Path of Totality (sounds ominous, right?). Since I live right smack in the middle of Missouri (we call it Mid-Mo) right smack in the middle of the US and we’ll have something like 2 1/2 minutes in the shadow, it seems ALL of the general public is expected to travel to us. Really?
“They” say we are to expect 400,000 people to descend on our big, little city of 120,000. “They” say we are to expect congested roads and traffic delays for the weekend proceeding and the hours following. I’ve even heard some of “them” say, “I have a friend who is renting out rooms in his home (at $500/room) for the eclipse.” “They” are even warning us to gas the cars up and get groceries prior to the weekend. It drives me nuts when I don’t have a clue who “they” are.
Of course, since Missouri is the Show-Me State, I turned to the tools I am familiar with so I could see for myself what the expectation should be. A quick check of Expedia shows that some of the rumors are true. There is not a hotel room to be had in a 30 mile radius for Sunday and Monday. VRBO has 3 homes left to be rented (but I would suspect these home were recently listed). The local campgrounds are booked, and I stopped short of calling local Porta-Potty services to see if they have any inventory left to rent. I figured that’s another good way to gauge crowd expectations in the area.
So, it looks like “they” are right. A huge amount of people are coming to our town. I’ll be prepared though! I’ll have the car gassed up, and groceries bought. I already have my Solar Eclipse Glasses – CE and ISO Certified Safe and a back up pair.
Now I just have to decide–TO LOOK OR NOT TO LOOK? Drop me a comment and let me know if you will be looking at the Eclipse where you are.

June 30, 2017

Independence Day at Lake of the Ozarks–Part 2

We are all set! Yes, we are headed to the Lake of the Ozarks for the 4th of July! After receiving an email from Home Away, that there was no response from the homeowner so after our 24-hour wait our reservation was being released, we were heartbroken. Resolved to cram into any hotel we could still find available, we made one more attempt at a condo, but we were no longer optimistic. Minutes after I submitted our request, I get a text from a number I didn’t recognize saying “Hi Tracey, I am following up with you regarding rental of our Land’s End condo. I am worried that my emails through VRBO may not be getting through.” Can this be true?
I asked if the condo was still available, and it was! Wendy at Atlas Enterprises (who owns the condo) said yes, we could still rent it and even let us have an additional day for 1/2 price. We can also use the pool a couple of hours before the condo will actually be ready. I don’t think Wendy truly knows how much she made our day!
Now back to packing. Things to take to a rental condo:

beach towels–not all condos provide them
groceries–since we’ll have a full kitchen, we plan to eat in more than out
a couple of coolers–one for transporting the food items that will need to be kept cold on the way there, and one for adult beverages in case we go coving
inflatable mattress in case anyone sharing a room decides they can no longer share a room
pool/lake floaties
basketball in case there’s a court
sunblock

And that’s really it. Everything else we’ll need should already be there. We’ve already gotten a round-p of friends that will be down there at the same time, so we can hopefully hang out a bit together. And, by the way, we still have 2-3 extra pillows in case anyone else wants to come along (you will not get your own room, but you WILL get your own pillow.) Happy 4th of July Everybody!

June 29, 2017

Planning for Independence Day at Lake of the Ozarks, MO

This weekend finds us celebrating Independence Day, which means it’s a long weekend! Since our original plans to go to Arkansas have fallen through due to high water levels on Bull Shoals Lake, we’ll have to make due with an almost-staycation at Lake of the Ozarks, which is only an hour away. Since we’re taking the kids, which brings our family total to 5, and we hope to have some friends join us, we’ll be renting a condo to stay in in the hopes that we can keep costs controlled, while still having enough beds and pillows for all.
Renting a condo creates some packing challenges of its own, but provides a lot of perks as well. If you have never booked a place to stay using a site like Home Away or VRBO, I can vouch for their value. Homeowners can place their properties up for short-term rent at fair prices. They are entitled to require a certain length minimum, but a lot don’t. You search through the properties located where you want to be, for the size of your group, the amenities you want, and plug in your dates. From there, you can look through photos of the abode, review comments about the place, and book the one you want. Most charge a refundable security deposit of sorts, that you get back as long as you clean up after your stay.
We went with a 3-bedroom condo that sleeps 11, on a part of the lake where we should be able to see the fireworks show. Additionally, it was important to find a place with a pool. Since we don’t have a boat to tool around the lake, a pool is good back up. And a BBQ grill is always a must for easy convenient cooking. The place we found is called the Palisades, and will easily accommodate our bunch for less than the cost of crowded hotel rooms.
Oops, scratch that. We are apparently still on the search…drat! The condo we thought WE rented, apparently was already rented by someone else. This morning we had an email that said they were not able to confirm, try again. The condo still came up in our search, making us think it was still available, but nope, not so. When we still didn’t have a response 12 hours later, we called Home Away only to be told the condo was already rented, but the owner hadn’t updated the calendar, which is apparently a big no-no. The rep from Home Away, asked if we wanted to file a complaint–no we did not– still on the hunt for a condo for the weekend. Maybe we’re having difficulties because we are close to the holiday weekend? This is giving me a headache!
We were turned down within 20 minutes for our next choice, and are now 17 hours in on a 24 hour response time for our 3rd choice. I guess by this evening we’ll know if we are headed to Lake of the Ozarks or not. This is a great example of why planning ahead is a good practice. To be continued…