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.