The Rest of the Story

(Note: No we did not fall off a cliff in Branson! After finally getting on the internet to post my first day in Branson, I was not able to make any other internet connections at all. I knew there were problems when I couldn't post the pictures to my last post of the trees at the cemetery. So I went ahead and posted each day in a Word Document so that I wouldn't forget. So this post will include the rest of our trip all in one post. Also be sure and check out the pictures I posted in the Maplewood Cemetery post. They were really some of the prettiest pictures from the whole trip. Thanks to all of you who went on this trip with us via my blog. We have had a great time and hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading about what we have done.)

Monday, October 27

After purchasing our tickets, we decided to go to the IMAX Theater where there was a movie on the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is one destination that is on our list of places we want to go. So we decided to do the next best thing and that is to see it on the huge IMAX screen. The scenery on the screen was outstanding. It was done from the view point of the Colorado River looking up at the canyon as you go down the river. It lasted about an hour and was worth the money. They have a nice small shopping mall attached to the IMAX which we spent a little time before and after looking around in.

After this, we came back to the camp for a lunch of ribs and potato salad and then we both took a nap. When we awoke from our naps, we went out and went in a few local specialty shops to kill some time before we ate dinner. We ate dinner at Montana Mike’s before our “Six” show at 8:00. We were disappointed in the food at Montana Mike’s. It really was just O.K.—nothing special. But the show, “Six” was not a disappointment. I had been told before we went to Branson that this was a “must see.” “Six” is a group of six brothers that perform the whole show accappello. Two of the brothers make sounds like drums and symbols and the rest of the brothers sing most of the time. But they change up and do different things throughout the show. They were funny and were greatly talented. It was another night that I didn’t want to come to an end .

Tuesday, October 28

After a breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and sausage at the trailer, we went to the “Titanic.” It is very cold this morning. It went down to around 25 degrees early this morning. “Titanic” is an approximate 1 hour and 45 minute walk through a museum and historical display of all that happened on the “Titanic.” It was very well done. You walk around with a personal audio player and as you come to certain areas, you put the appropriate number where you are and you get an audio description of what you are viewing. Anyone who liked the movie, “Titanic” I would think would find this museum fascinating. I am not one to usually like this kind of thing, but this was GREAT! So well done!

Back to the trailer for a light lunch today because we want to have a big appetite for the Dixie Stampede. We know when we went to the Dixie Stampede in Gatlinburg that the amount of food you get at the dinner with the show is overwhelming. The Christmas show at Dixie Stampede is very similar to the regular show that we saw at Gatlinburg, but it is still very good. There is a Nativity scene in the middle of the show that is very good where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus come down from the ceiling in the center of the arena and all the shepherds come in with all of their livestock. Later the 3 Wise Men come in on their camels. It was definitely the best part of the Christmas show in my opinion. The food seemed better to us at the Gatlinburg show, but was exactly the same thing. We remembered that we had been on a strict diet for 6 months before we went to Gatlinburg and we were splurging that night by eating the food there. That may have been why it seemed so good to us there. That strict diet is going to have to return when we get home. I am sure we have both gained at least 5 lbs. on this trip!

After the show we went back to the R.V., watched a little T.V. and off to sleep we went. These late nights take a little getting used to.

Wednesday, October 29

Ham, Cheese, Mushroom, and Onion Omelets were the breakfast from Randall’s kitchen this morning. We definitely have a full day today, so we will need lots of energy! We began our morning heading down to historic downtown where you will find a new shopping complex called Branson Landing. What a great place to shop. They had a lot of great stores all connected by a brick landing where music was piped in all around you as you walked. It was already decorated for Christmas and was beautiful. In the center of the landing was a huge Christmas tree and directly across from it was a water & fire show that was connected to the music. The stores were anchored by Belks and Bass Pro Shops. We loved Bass Pro Shop as you might expect. We went in to a lot of interesting shops. We ate lunch at Texas Cattle and Steak and had a delicious hamburger.

Time slipped up on us and we had to hurry back to the R.V. to get ready for our afternoon show of “Noah” at the Sight & Sound Theater. This is a relatively new theater and show and have heard that it is spectacular. The show was SPECTACULAR! The building that it is held in is equally as spectacular as you can see from the pictures here. The tickets to this were the most expensive, but well worth it. At one point in the show, you feel as if you are actually inside the ark with Noah and his family and all the animals. You are in the middle and there are stages in front and both sides of you with all of the animals in cages. Some of the animals are real and some are animated, but from a distance it is hard to say which is which. It was really awesome!

After Noah, we went back to the R.V. for a quick break to let Camp out. Then we were on to our last show of our vacation called Grand Jubilee featuring the New South Quartet. This is the show that we got tickets two for one. It is held in one of the original theaters (very small compared to the new ones) in Branson and is approximately 30 years old. The show was good—not great, but worth the $15 a piece we paid. The highlight of the show was the comedian that did spots throughout the night. He has been performing in Branson for about 25 years and his comedy is much like that of Don Rickles and Harvey Korman on the Carol Burnette Show. In his bio, it said that the Carol Burnette show was where his love of comedy came from and he was just as good as they were. He was outstanding!

We are getting up and heading home in the morning. We are not sure how far we will go tomorrow but we have decided we would like to be home for Halloween so that we can see Carter and Ryleigh. And also, Ryan, Elizabeth, & Carter are leaving Saturday morning to go on a cruise and we want to see them before they go.

Thursday, October 30

We got up early this morning, around 6:30, and began the tear down process in order to head home. We ate a quick breakfast of Pop-Tarts, took quick showers and were ready to head out at 8:30 A.M. We have had an absolutely marvelous vacation. It was everything we had dreamed it would be! We were able to enjoy God’s beautiful creation as well as enjoy the talents that He has given to man for our enjoyment as well. As we leave this morning, it is with grateful hearts for all that we have been blessed with.

We stopped for lunch at Chilis around Pine Bluff, AR. Randall has decided at this point that we can make it all the way to Bladon Springs by about 8:30 and he says we are going all the way, And that’s what we did. We arrived in Bladon around 8:45 P.M. which made for a very long day of driving and riding. Randall had to drive the whole way, 6 hours of which was on a two way highway in the mountains which is very stressful especially when pulling a trailer. I am just not ready to try to drive and pull the trailer. I will get the courage to try it soon, Just not today….so the poor guy had to do all the driving. I must say it was nice to get into a larger space for a change. The 23 foot trailer is fun, but after 2 weeks of it, I was ready for a larger living space. We slept great and got up Friday morning and transferred everything in the trailer to our truck since we are leaving the trailer up there through hunting season. We didn’t realize how much we had in that little trailer until we started unloading it into the truck!

Friday, October 31

Well it’s Halloween and we are home. We arrived in Mobile around lunch time and we have driven according to our odometer, 2505 miles since we left our driveway two weeks ago. We have seen gas prices from $2.59 per gallon to one station in Branson where it was $1.99 per gallon. The gas prices going down was another blessing for our trip. When we planned and figured the cost of our trip, gas prices were around $4.00 per gallon! This price drop helped tremendously! While vacations are wonderful and exciting……. It’s good to be home!