Thursday, July 12, 2007
The First Week
We've just completed the first week of this summer's trek, having left Tallahassee on the morning of Thursday, July 5th.
The first couple of days were designed to get us to Branson, Missouri as quickly as possible via Alabama, Mississippi (we spent the first night in Hattiesburg), Arkansas (the second night in North Little Rock) and southern Missouri.
The only notable sight en route was a series of signs in Mobile which said "Emergency Traffic Information -- Tune to 1620 AM When Flashing." Only problem, the signs had no lights, flashing or otherwise -- hopefully they are still under construction.
We arrived in Branson -- the old folks show capitol of the world -- early Saturday afternoon. Over the next three and a half days we saw six shows.
* Shoji Tabuchi -- Japanese violinist trained in classical violin who came to America to play country music after seeing a Roy Acuff concert as a teenager in Japan
* Yakov Smirnoff -- native Russian who came to America as a child speaking no English and has become a wildly successful comedian
* Acrobats of China -- an amazing troupe of acrobats from ages 8 up who perform a variety of feats of strength and balance -- it's a show you have to see to believe
* Mickey Gilley -- country singer and entertainer who started in Texas many years ago -- his Texas club, Gilley's, was the location for the Travolta movie "Urban Cowboy"
* 12 Irish Tenors -- a group of Irish tenors (7 native / 5 by ancestry) who sing a variety of music
* Grand Jubilee -- a variety show with an execllent quartet, a couple of soloists, an awesome band, and some silly comedy -- it's a high energy show that was a good way to finish this year's Branson experience
Although we saw six shows in four days we did not get bored -- each one of them was so unique that they kept our interest.
In addition to shows, Branson features three outlet malls. We only went to two of them. We also spent a half day driving our car for sightseeing in the nearby Ozark foothills and around several of the Branson-area lakes.
On Wednesday we has a short day of driving to Harry S. Truman State Park near Warsaw, MO. En route we stopped for a couple of hours at a collection of antique malls. We also had an interesting lunch at Lambert's -- Home of Throwed Rolls. Whenever fresh rolls come out of the kitchen, a waiter stands at one end of the room and throws rolls to diners who raise their hands. That was fun and the food was good.
Today we drove a final leg to Des Moines, Iowa, where we are spending two nights at an RV park adjacent to the Adventureland theme park. Tomorrow we plan to spend the day in the park. Then it's on to Forest City, Iowa for Winnebago's week-long Grand National Rally. I will report on that segment of our trip in about another week.
We have no pictures from this first leg of the trip -- hopefully we will have some by the next time we post.
The first couple of days were designed to get us to Branson, Missouri as quickly as possible via Alabama, Mississippi (we spent the first night in Hattiesburg), Arkansas (the second night in North Little Rock) and southern Missouri.
The only notable sight en route was a series of signs in Mobile which said "Emergency Traffic Information -- Tune to 1620 AM When Flashing." Only problem, the signs had no lights, flashing or otherwise -- hopefully they are still under construction.
We arrived in Branson -- the old folks show capitol of the world -- early Saturday afternoon. Over the next three and a half days we saw six shows.
* Shoji Tabuchi -- Japanese violinist trained in classical violin who came to America to play country music after seeing a Roy Acuff concert as a teenager in Japan
* Yakov Smirnoff -- native Russian who came to America as a child speaking no English and has become a wildly successful comedian
* Acrobats of China -- an amazing troupe of acrobats from ages 8 up who perform a variety of feats of strength and balance -- it's a show you have to see to believe
* Mickey Gilley -- country singer and entertainer who started in Texas many years ago -- his Texas club, Gilley's, was the location for the Travolta movie "Urban Cowboy"
* 12 Irish Tenors -- a group of Irish tenors (7 native / 5 by ancestry) who sing a variety of music
* Grand Jubilee -- a variety show with an execllent quartet, a couple of soloists, an awesome band, and some silly comedy -- it's a high energy show that was a good way to finish this year's Branson experience
Although we saw six shows in four days we did not get bored -- each one of them was so unique that they kept our interest.
In addition to shows, Branson features three outlet malls. We only went to two of them. We also spent a half day driving our car for sightseeing in the nearby Ozark foothills and around several of the Branson-area lakes.
On Wednesday we has a short day of driving to Harry S. Truman State Park near Warsaw, MO. En route we stopped for a couple of hours at a collection of antique malls. We also had an interesting lunch at Lambert's -- Home of Throwed Rolls. Whenever fresh rolls come out of the kitchen, a waiter stands at one end of the room and throws rolls to diners who raise their hands. That was fun and the food was good.
Today we drove a final leg to Des Moines, Iowa, where we are spending two nights at an RV park adjacent to the Adventureland theme park. Tomorrow we plan to spend the day in the park. Then it's on to Forest City, Iowa for Winnebago's week-long Grand National Rally. I will report on that segment of our trip in about another week.
We have no pictures from this first leg of the trip -- hopefully we will have some by the next time we post.
