Branson 2005
Diary of Linda, Meggie, and my RV trip to Branson,Missouri October 2005
9/27/05 Drove 350 miles to Santa Rosa New
Mexico. Checked into OK RV Park in Santa Rosa. They also had a barbecue
restaurant, so we celebrated Linda’s birthday with two orders of baby backed
ribs delivered to the trailer. They were excellent as we watched a new
episode of Las Vegas on satellite TV.
9/28/05 Drove 175 miles to Amarillo Texas
and checked into Overnite RV Park. The wind was horrible gusting 40 to 50
mph so I decided to make it a short day. This park had WIFI so I read my email
and paid some bills. We had dinner at the Big Texan Restaurant which was
excellent. I had a delicious rib eye steak, green salad, and Texas beans.
Linda had a Country fried steak with mashed potatoes. The restaurant had a very
interest marketing gimmick advertised on signs for miles before Amarillo. They
will serve you a 72 oz steak and if you can eat it in an hour it is free. If
you are unable to eat it, the cost is $72. I did not take the challenge. The
restaurant was a huge rustic building with western memorabilia and stuffed
animals all over the place. I snapped a few photos of it.
9/29/05 Drove 250 miles to Oklahoma City and
checked into Rockwell RV. Took Meghan for a run in an open field and she
stopped running and would hardly even walk. I checked her paws and legs which
were full of very sharp stickers. I encouraged her to walk back to the trailer
where I spent a good ½ - ¾ hour removing all of the stickers. Linda warmed one
week old tortilla chicken soup for dinner. Yuk yuk.
9/30/05 Drove 340 miles to Branson,
Missouri We checked into a nice heavily wooded Cooper Creek RV Park about 3:30
p.m. Linda wanted to see the Gatlin Brothers so I checked into ticket
availability and found some good 11th row tickets at the Lawrence Welk Theater.
We enjoyed the show allot especially Pam Tillis who was costarring with Larry
Gatlin. The cost was $37 each. The show duration was 8:00 to 10:30. The show
room was huge and only about 1/3rd full. Apparently the high price of gas is
affecting visits to Branson.
10/1/05 Kicked back relaxing and watched the
Wisconsin-Indiana football game on TV. Explored our camp ground with Meghan.
Its surrounded by trees and wooded area but good open space or trails to let
Meghan run. The main attraction at the Park is fishing for trout on Lake
Taneycomo. Its actually a river which is highly dammed. The area is very hilly
and beautifully wooded with several lakes. We drove 35 miles north on hwy 65 to
Lamberts Café where we met my two sisters Charlene, Joanne, and their husbands
Mike and David. The restaurant had great food and delivered hot rolls to our
tables by a waiter who actually threw them at high velocity.
10/2/03 Kicked back in the trailer and
watched the SD Chargers beat the New England Patriots bad. Visited Charlene and
Mikes Condo which was very spacious, nicely furnished and decorated. Joanne
made squash stuffed with barbecued hamburger which was really good. After
dinner Linda and I attended the Shoji Tabuchi Show. He is the most talented
violin player I have ever heard. The variety of music he played was really
diverse from classical to bluegrass and everything in between. The special
effects, sets, and choreography was better than most Las Vegas shows. This is a
must see show for anyone visiting Branson.
10/3/05 David and Joanne made delicious
French waffles that melted in your mouth for breakfast. We all attended the
Baldknobbers show at 8:00 p.m. The show was a variety production of singing
country gospel and comedy. It was a very funny clean slapstick comedy. This
show was the first one in Branson going since 1958. Not the best show we saw
but still very entertaining.
10/4/05 Had both sisters and their husbands
over for huckleberry sourdough pancake breakfast this morning. Pancakes turned
out very good. We all took a short walk down to the Lake Taneycomo fishing
docks adjacent to the RV Park. They were catching Rainbow and Brown trout.
Apparently the cold water coming out of the bottom of the dam is good habitat
for the trout. This evening we all attended the Shepard of the Hills play
written by Harold Bell Wright. The outdoor set was done with real western horses,
donkeys, and sheep. Lots of breakneck speed horseback riding, gun fights
against the Baldknobbers, and even a live log cabin fire. The play was excellent
and well worth seeing, in the top three must see shows in Branson.
10/5/05 Still keeping up our breakneck
itinerary, we attended Silver Dollar City Theme Park for adults. Their features
this time of year was blue grass music and crafts. We visited free, two great
family blue grass groups one being the O’Brian’s who had two fiddlers in the
running for fiddler of the year. The talent level was really high. Checked out
a few of the woodworking crafts venders. In the evening we attended a singing
group called the Pierce Arrow. They were good but not as good as the Gatlin
Brothers.
10/6/05 We had a two for one ticket at
Silver Dollar City so we were there at opening time 10:00 a.m. We decided to
see Marvel Cave, the reason Silver Dollar City was built. We walked one hour
through the beautiful cave and got loaded onto train cars that were to hoist us
out. The lift system jammed and we all had to get out of the cars for 45
minutes while the system was hopefully repaired. The only way out was out this
train or walk back the way we came. Our guide kept us occupied with all kinds
of cave facts and the repairmen got it working in 45 minutes. So the one hour
cave tour took us 2 hours and some claustrophobic fright. Charlene and Mike
were waiting for us when we finally got out. Next we went to a Vaudeville type
Can Can music and slap stick comedy. I was selected from the audience to play a
game. I picked Kid Carson as a famous cowboy who died at the Alamo. Boo hiss
I couldn’t remember Davy Crocket under pressure of the audience. We left at 2:30 p.m. and returned to
the trailer to make dinner for my San Diego friends Rich and Linda Strobel.
They also had with them a very nice couple Gary and Carol. We had a great time
discussing the show we all saw and the food was also reasonable.
10/7/05 Last day in Branson. We attended
the 2:00 p.m. Spirit of the Dance performance. The dancers were excellent, but
the choreography did not compare to a similar show we all saw River Dance. We
then visited a shopping area that had excellent craft shops and gourmet food
shops. We spent about $40 on some gourmet items.
10/8/05 Finally got on the road around 9:30
a.m. It was a beautiful day for driving. Stopped at a Steak n Shake restaurant
for lunch. Its basically fast food but good and very popular here in the mid
west. We drove 360 miles to Springville, Illinois. Checked into an RV Park for
the night.