Roy, Dale, and Trigger

Before going to Branson Landing for some shopping, we went to the Roy Rogers Museum which Dusty Rogers relocated to Branson from Victorville, CA, some years ago. The museum featured continuous showings of the movies Roy made and had thousands of family photos and memorabilia. And, yes, Trigger, Buttermilk, and Bullet are well preserved and on display. So is Nellie Belle and several of Roy's favorite cars. We didn't stay for the show featuring Dusty and his band.
When we got to Branson Landing, I discovered the trolley doesn't stop anywhere in the parking lots. It only stops at each end of the stores and several points in between then makes a loop up Main Street then back to the Landing. At noon I watched the water fountain show and continued on my way to check out the rest of the stores. There was a good variety of stores, yet I was disappointed to find they were mostly high end.
We headed toward Mansfield and the Laura Ingalls Wilder farm where she lived most of her life and started writing the Little House series after she turned 65. The guide told us that she was concerned that daughter, Rose, who successfully wrote fiction, would "borrow" her life events and change them so she decided to write about her life the way it really happened herself. The house, which started as a shed that Almanzo dragged to its current location on a skid, is located up a hill across the street from the parking lot.
My feet hurt the rest of the day and my shin was still sore from ramming into that chair.
We continued back onto I-44 east to St. Louis to get on I-64 east to I-81 north in Virginia to see our relatives in Front Royal and Luray for a couple weeks before returning home

Branson Belle Showboat Trip

Excellent food but too much, great show, smooth ride, and a lot of fun, that's the Branson Belle Showboat tour of Table Rock Lake near Branson.
EXCEPT, during the show I needed the restroom so, not wanting to distract the audience by going through the curtains to either side of the stage, I went to the back, up a flight of stairs and across an unlit section of tables, to get to the second floor front restroom. On my way back to the table I went down the stairs in the back and had intended to cross the auditorium through a section with shelf seating (like a balcony) and tables for four with an aisle between them when I slammed into a metal chair someone, probably a staff member, had left out in the aisle. I could see no one was sitting in this section but couldn't see the tables or chairs until I ran into that one.
By the time I had dealt with the EMT who insisted on icing the lump on my shin, and two Safety Officers with their reports, the show was over and most of the customers had gotten off the boat, including Frank. I finally caught up with him and the others.
We visited the College of the Ozarks where the Foster Museum is located. Signs all around campus say, "Hard Work U" or something similar. This college is free to any student as long as the GPA requirement is met and 15 hours of work a week for the college which pays for the books and tuition, and 40 hours a week in the summer to pay for room and board. Sounds like what every college and university should require!
We returned to the RV park for dinner then met the group in time for the Acrobats of China at the New Shanghai Theater in the evening. While waiting, I decided to look through my postcards and brochures to see if I had duplicates or if I needed to get more. In that stuff was my driver's license!
The show was fantastic! Our hands were sore from so much clapping. Those youngsters (they all looked to be no older than about 15!) were exceptionally strong and managed amazing feats: the young girl who juggled a table with her feet, the plate spinners, the drummers, the boy who look to be about eight or ten years old who walked the slack rope on his hands as well as other stunts, and the girls who twirled fabric squares with their hands and feet. And we saw all of this from front-row center seats. During the birthday/anniversary mentions at the beginning of the show, it was announced that Jon Provost (Timmy of the old "Lassie" series on TV) was present so he stood and waved.

Branson Scenic Railroad

Our train was to start boarding at 8:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. trip into the Arkansas Ozarks going south out of Branson, so we went east on Rt. 76 (Main Street) down to Branson Landing Blvd where the depot is on the southeast corner. We were in the RV. The depot was on the right and the only parking lot we saw was on the left (north) with a barrier fence and sign saying "No Left Turn". We turned right into what we thought would be RV/bus parking just before the depot on the right to find that it was not! We attempted to turn around but didn't have enough room so we squeezed between the chain link fence and the train to get to the parallel street where we turned right, then right again, crossed over Main Street to find the parking lot entrance blocked by big concrete barriers. So we turned around again! and went back to Main Street, took a left, then at the light took another left, and about a block north of the intersection made an illegal u-turn to get back to Main Street and the only entrance to the parking lot.
We all enjoyed the train ride. All the train cars were of different vintages and included three domed cars. We were able to sit pretty much anywhere we wanted because so few people were on board.
After the train ride we drove west on Rt. 76 to the Grand Country Comedy Jamboree to have lunch in their buffet before the 2 p.m. show. When I picked up the tickets for the show, we were given front-row center seats. This has been amazing!! We've had great seating time after time!
This buffet was the very best so far. It included many choices for salads, four soups, rolls and cornbread, several veggies (not just green beans and/or corn), two cobblers with three choices of soft-serve ice cream, bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and every thing was wonderful.
As we were enjoying our lunch, Rhonda, one of the servers, started signing at another table. She ad a wonderful voice so I took her photo with her permission.
After helping the economy by buying some bling, we went to the show and had a wonderful time. One of the pre-show people came out and took pictures of some people in the audience (Frank was one!) and used them in a comedy bit later in the show. The two couples sitting in the row behind us were from Stephens City(!) who runs an auction house from his barn and Front Royal(!!) who live on Stayman Street near where I use to live in 1970-71. One of the comedy skits in the show was singing "It Had to be YOU" to ME!!!! One of the guys dragged me up on stage for this bit. I can now say, "I have appeared LIVE on stage in Branson, MO!"; then David was picked TWICE for comedy skits. He was really funny; got into the skits with them. So, of course, we both bought the CD of that show.
When the show ended we decided to call it a day; canceled our dinner and shopping plans at Branson Landing and returned to where we were staying.

The Fun Really Begins Today

We met with the Lubinskis and Allens for some shows, buffets, and shopping. First was the Gatlin Brothers show at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater where we had fifth-row center seats. When I went to the side at intermission to purchase a CD, I discovered I didn't have my driver's permit. Thinking I had handed it to the woman at the ticket counter to get our tickets, I went out into the lobby to find she had no idea what I was talking about. So I asked her to please mail it to me at the address on the permit.

After the show we went to Starvin' Marvin's Buffet for lunch and were disappointed with the few choices available even though we were told it was the brunch menu. Very few people were in there.
We went to the Branson Craft Mall for the Ozark craft booths after dropping off the RV at the campground. Where we made several purchases (new purse for me!) and I seriously considered getting a dulcimer hand made by the man in the booth. As our next show was the Baldnobbers, we decided to have their buffet dinner and were sorry that we chose them. They had even fewer choices than the Starvin' Marvin's. The seating was crowded and the service was very slow. The show was very funny and entertaining. We had seventh-row center seats. We also noticed that the theater was only about one-third filled.

Whadda Ya Mean, NO RENTAL CARS??!!!!

After finding out no rental cars were available any where in Branson, I walked east on Route 76 to see where a few stores were and found a wonderful scrapbooking store. Then I stopped at a souvenir store where i purchased a Branson tee. After dinner we went to the Jim Stafford show and were wowed by his 15-year-old son and 11- year-old daughter. He can really pound that piano and she is really gifted, too. They didn't inherit their talents from their parents as they are both adopted. They joked around about how he stands over them to make them practice for the show; the son is in a band of his own.

Branson

We arrived in Branson on Saturday afternoon about 4 p.m.
As we drove through town on the two-lane highway, fortunately with a center turn lane, we noticed that it appeared to be built on the ridge line. The theaters were down the sides of the road and the parking lots were down the slope to the road that runs parallel in back of the theaters. Most of the ones we saw on our way in looked too steep for the RV.


The Musicland Kampground is wonderfully shaded and all the campsites are tiered down the slope and no two are on the same level. There's a small park directly behind our site with a trickling stream and many squirrels and chipmunks. The owners have placed several lawn ornaments of deer and other critters around this area.





We decided to just chill on Sunday and get a rental car Monday.

Tunica Sam's Town

We left for Tunica thinking it would take two days to get there but it only took one. I misread the map mileage as 284 when it is only 184 miles from Jackson on I-55. We got there about 6 p.m. and went to the Hollywood Casino to park over night in their back parking lot. Tomorrow we'll go over to Sam's Town where we have three free nights. Two of the area casinos are offering $1 buffets as long as you have the points on your player's card so we'll eat well despite the fact the RV refrigerator seems to not be working. We were in the hotel so we didn't realize something was wrong until getting ready to leave to go over to Bally's the next day for lunch. The temperature in the freezer read 20 degrees but the bacon was soft so something was wrong. The "check" light had been on and when we flipped the switch from automatic to gas it went off.
I checked out the pool area. It's like a garden enclosed by the four walls made by the hotel and casino complex with a decent size pool and huge hot tub. I don't think we'll use the pool while we are here even though it's still open. The air temperature is 70 degrees.
The room was great - the view isn't. It's of the parking lot and the two other casino/hotels across the road. We could see the cotton fields and they are ready to be harvested.

THE Pool!

About 11 a.m. today, I finally figured out where the pool is at the IP Hotel. Yesterday I had followed the signs across the lobby but could only find the parking garage entrance. It turns out you have to travel to the 13th level of the parking garage by elevator only and there is the pool. It is enclosed by at least six foot walls, has dressing rooms and locker areas as well as a towel attendant. The pool is large both by width and length. On one side in about four inches of water is a sunbathing ledge; on the other side are two. Both of them hold about six plastic wicker loungers for this purpose. At one end of the patio area is a huge TV screen (football stadium size!) which only shows ESPN! There is also a large hot tub on a platform with a view of the bay.

Biloxi Bound

We arrived in Biloxi around 3 p.m. and toured the city. It's amazing how far the Biloxi/Gulfport area has come since Katrina hit. The beach road is still in pretty bad shape but they are moving right along with the repaving and reworking the medians. We enjoyed looking at the carvings someone is doing with the dead tree trunks. The beach is still closed as many areas still have piles of debris along the road side. Jefferson Davis' Biloxi home, Beauvoir, is nearly restored. We didn't get a chance to take the tour. I don't think the RV could have gotten through the turn into the parking lot because of the temporary fence but maybe the next time we're in the area we can get around that and the construction vehicles.
We got our free room for two nights at the IP which was on the 20th floor on the east side of the tower. We really enjoyed the free steak and snow crab buffet then we waddled over to the second floor slot machines to try our luck on the penny machines.

Getting on the Road, Again!

9 a.m. and we're finally ready to roll - or are we? Wait! I forgot my keys!!! Now we can leave; no, wait! I forgot to pack several pairs of shorts. Now, I've gotten that taken care of so we can leave. No, wait! Did I put the a/c on 80 degrees and 'hold'? Return to the house and check to find that I did do it.
Now we are headed to Ace Hardware to get propane, seven miles to the south. While the man is filling the tank, I can't remember if I'd put the cell phone in my purse. When he finished, I got back in the RV and ,yes, I did have the cell phone and also double checked that I had the camera.
Now we're are ready to travel west about five miles to Cumberland Farms for a gas fill-up. Frank decides he needs to drive four miles back toward home in order to get the unit to make the brake lights and turn signals to work. He got the wrong one the first try and had to return to the store to exchange it for the correct one. Now the brake lights work but we still don't have any turn signals. Oh, well. it must be they have a separate unit but where under the dash we don't know so we'll worry about them later.
O. K., it's now 10:40 a.m. and we're finally on I-95 headed north out of Florida.
Hours later outside Marianna, FL, we stopped at Florida Caverns State Park and found out they don't have any RV sites available so they referred us to Arrowhead RV Park in town where we had stayed before when we came this way going to San Diego two years ago. This park has not changed. They are nearly full because they have their for-sale units occupying the sites and most sites are not very level. They are also selling RVs and it appears they don't really care about the park conditions. It looks like they are reworking a large section of the park expansion (or maybe just upgrading).