Another day in Branson

It's Sunday and we have been tidying up the motorhome. It's still HOT and HUMID, but we're plodding along and making the best of it. We can sit out in the morning and late afternoon, but in the middle of the day it is just too hot to be outside any length of time. Brings back memories of Biloxi in the early 60's before the common folks could afford A/C.

Speaking of A/C, last Monday, when we were supposed to go to Springfiels about 50 minutes away, the A/C quit in the Tracker. So we drove there with our 260 A/C going full blast.......that's 2 windows down at 60 miles per hour. Fortunately, I was able to find a shop only a mile from here that does air conditioning. By Wednesday we were back in business. Seems I had overfilled the A/C and all that was required was draining and refilling it to the proper level. Whew, that was close.....only $181.00 instead of $800.00.

We have been to a few more shows, but haven't been too impressed with them. It sure is hard to beat the Hughes Brothers and the Duttons shows, but I'm sure we'll find some of equal caliber. Afterall, there are around 100 shows here in Branson. We are going to the Motown show this afternoon at 2:00 o'clock. We'll see how that works out.

Also, we have been traveling around more to see the sights and some beautiful sights there are. Less than 100 yards from our camp site is Table Rock Lake. We walked down there at sunset for some beautiful sunsets and also an overlook about 4 miles down the road.

Sunset behind our camp site

The Branson Belle sunset cruise

View from the overlook

The Table Rock Dam in the background

Quiz Alert: (Grandkids only) Name 3 birds common to Missouri. (Hint: I already named 2 in a previous blog)

Bonus question: How many gates does the Table Rock Dam have?

Branson Belle and Hummingbirds

Thought I'd share a few pics from our Showboat cruise and the hummingbirds we have attracted.

Here's the Showboat Branson Belle band

And Janice Martin playing violin

The patriotic finale

Barb had me pick up a hummingbird feeder a few days ago. Within a very short time after hanging it, hummingbirds showed up. Imagine that! We can watch them from the motorhome window, where these pics were taken, about 15 feet away. They're fun to watch. (Doesn't take much to entertain some of us. ;) )

Feeding.....These are not very colorful, though the ruby-throated hummingbird is common to this area.

....and something we had never seen before.....these little guys sitting on a branch. Guess they need a lot of rest after flapping those wings so many times per second.

There is also a woodpecker nesting in a tree near us and I have been watching him/her go into the hole in the branch to feed the young.

Talk to you later,

Ron & Barb

Oldtimers

Well, we've been here about two weeks and are getting the hang of it. We worked Wednesday and Thuesday and then we're off for 6 days. Some job, eh!

Since I talked to you last, we have done a couple more shows. One show was the Jim Stafford Show. Now, if you're younger than 35 or so, you probably don't remember him, but he was a regular on the Smothers Brothers show from the 80's. He is a very talented guitar and banjo picker and quite a comedian to boot. He has a quiet, dry sense of humor, just my kind and very funny. I laughed a lot!

The other show we went to was on the Showboat Branson Belle. It featured a group of five singers, the Showmen, who did songs from the Beatles, the Bee Gees, the Beach Boys, Jackson 5, and several others.......VERY good. Also featured was Janice Martin, a Juillard School of Music grad and a very accomplished violinist and pianist. She also plays the violin while doing aerial stunts on two silk 'ropes' suspended from the ceiling. EXTRAORDINARY!!!!

As promised a few days ago, I am attaching a few pics from the 4th of July picnic we had.

Barb's gift shop

View out the back of the visitor center

Grillmasters....co-workers

Indoor picnic.....too hot to be outside

Barb chillin'out

A little funtime....that's Becky

Barb and Lynn keepin' cool before we have to go outside for the fireworks

A view of the Table Rock Dam

The crowd gathers for the fireworks

Showtime!!!

We have been to a couple more shows since then. Went to see JOSEPH at the Sight & Sound theater and was fantastic as are all their shows. Last night we went to see Pierce Arrow, a fine quartet with a great band and a hilarious comedian. We laughed hard and often. Another GREAT show here in Branson. One of the newer members of the quartet is Luke Menard, a finalist from season 7 of American Idol. Great entertainers all!!!

Barb's checking around for other shows to go to today. Don't know what she has pick out yet, but we'll probably see at least one. The weather has cooled down a bit the last two days and is wonderful to be outside without breaking into a drenching sweat.

That brings us up to date.

Quiz Alert: Grandkids only: If you are walking South in the afternoon, what side of your face is the sun hitting?

And now for something completely different.....

I'm going to depart from the usual accounting of our adventures and write about something that's been bugging many of us for a long time. I read the news just about every day as you know, and, as the old saying goes 'if it weren't for bad news, there'd be no news at all'. I read one article today that is indicative of the bad news that has been reported for many years. It is an article that illustrates the constant assault on our liberties, especially on our religious freedoms.

A privately owned restaurant in the Lancaster area is under investigation by the state for discrimination against non-religious people. Seems like they offer a 10% discount to patrons who bring in a church bulletin. An atheistic idiot by the name of Wolffe is tired of the religious 'self-righteous people' (his words) getting special treatment. He, of course is backed by the 'Freedom From Religion' whackos who don't realize that all they have to do is go to another restaurant if they don't like this one. In the end, the cost to the owners of the restaurant to defend themselves against the full force of the state government's suit will probably put them out of business. Really wonderful, isn't it!! The full article can be read at Foxnews.com.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/restaurant-faces-investigation-for-offering-church-discount.html

The difference between conservatives and liberals. If a conservative doesn't like a tv show, they switch channels. If a 'tolerant' liberal doesn't like a tv show, they protest and petition the government to have it banned.

This story prompted me to share this with you, but there are countless examples of this craziness going on every day for many years. It's insane and truly un-American. Hopefully, this November we will begin to put an end to this madness and restore the freedoms and principles that made this country great. I probably will not see it in my lifetime, but we must fight for the sake of our children and grandchildren so they may enjoy the America I knew growing up.

Thanks for listening to my rant....

Ron

Another day, another.........day

We were asked to work today because of a few people being out. We were VERY busy, but again had some fun. Barb made a few big sales in the gift shop and I went on another dam(n) tour. ;) We are both tired and need a little rest before we do it again tomorrow. Then we'll be off for a few days, unless they need us to help. Again, it was HOT! Don't know what the high temp was, but it was HIGH. Right now at 6:00pm it's 96 in the shade. I will put up a few pics of our 4th of July celebration later.

QUIZ: How many miles of shoreline does the Table Rock Lake have?

Hope you had a great 4th and stay safe.

Ron & Barb

First day on the job...........

Well, Barb and I had our first working day in many years ;) ;) and we had fun. Barb got the hang of the cash register and stuff around the gift shop and desk while I took on the job of meeting and greeting and giving out information. I also was the 'tail' for a dam tour. A 'tail' follows along behind the group and makes sure no one gets lost or out of line. The tour was very interesting and informative, and I will volunteer to tail along occasionally as needed, but not too often, since it is a bit hard on the knees with all the steps. (Got to remember the Aleve!) We don't work again till Friday, so we have plenty time to rest up. Last night we took in our first show 'it' at the Hughes Brothers theater. We got in free with our passes and we almost felt guilty for not having to pay for such a fantastic show. It features the 5 Hughes brothers and their wives and about 35 of their kids. What great entertainment.....everything from rock to classical to gospel to patriotic with LOTS of humor thrown in. A MUST SEE show!!! More later since supper is ready and I'm hungry. Have a safe and happy 4th of July Ron & Barb

Good afternoon. Here are a few pics of our 'gated community' campsite. The front

The back

The three other campsites

And the visitor center from our campsite.

We're having a 'cool' spell this afternoon......only 90 degrees! We've just been chillin' out today. Did a little work on the Tracker....tightened the belts since they were squealing from time to time and put up some 4th of July decorations. Quiz: (Grandkids only) What is the length of the Table Rock Dam?

Branson-2012

Hello again. As you probably know, we've taking on a new adventure. We have volunteered to work at the new Table Rock Dam visitor center in Branson. We arrived here on Friday and went to the visitor center to introduce ourselves. The folks here are just great and very acommodating. We had a little instruction on our duties and spent the rest of the day getting settled in at our COE campsite. It is very nice, though very, very hot. Saturday we got more training and met most of the folks we will be working with. Looks like we will be having a fun time. The three other couples are from Texas, and we are the 'outsiders' being from Pennsylvania. ;) It's been over 100 since we got here and are having a hard time keeping the motorhome cool. Fortunately, the nights have been in the 70's and the motorhome cools down quite well for sleeping. Backtracking a few days, we had an uneventful three days getting here, except for the bridges. Let me explain. We took 'the road less traveled' and everything was fine till we got to Wickcliffe, Ky. We had taken US highway 60 out of Paducah heading for an overnight in Sikeston, Mo. Everything was fine till we got to the bridge over the Ohio river. The bridge was high and narrow, but ok if you really paid attention to staying in your lane. Barb was quite apprehensive till we came up to the bridge over the Mississippi River. When she saw this bridge, she became outright scared. I must say I had become quite a bit apprehensive. This bridge is higher, longer and MUCH narrower. I mean no more than a foot wider than the motorhome. I think I have become very good at driving the motorhome, but this bridge was the biggest challenge I have encountered. As I started across, I paid very close attention to my mirrors so I would stay in my lane without hitting the side of the bridge. Everything was going fine till we reached the high point and started down the other side. Coming up in the opposite direction was an 18 wheeler. I slowed condsiderably as we approached each other. As I went by the truck I moved to the right just the least litle bit to avoid hitting mirrors. I heard a scraping sound and carefully turned back to the left till the scraping stopped. I could not stop after we got off the bridge to assess the damage because the road was narrow and no place to pull off. So we just continued on to Sikeston where we finally had a chance to look. Surprisingly, the only 'damage' was the carpet on the step had been torn (the scraping sound) and the right side tires were slightly scuffed. Apparently there was a low curb along the side of the bridge that was the first thing you would hit if you went over too far. Everything else was fine. Woooo, that was too close. We're not going back home that way. ;) That brings us to today, Sunday. We're just hanging around the campsite cleaning up and Barb's rearranging things in the motorhome. We have no other plans for the day. Might just go out later and tour around, as we have been doing. For the Fourth of July, the workers at the visitor center have arranged a cookout and we will be watching fireworks from across the lake from the deck of the visitor center. Since the center will be closed at that time, we'll have the whole place to ourselves. Looking forward to it! That's about it for now, so talk to you soon and have a safe and happy 4th of July.