Birmingham

Apparently, I've been remiss in my blogging responsibilities; at least according to "Anonymous" and his recent comment! :) I have neglected to let everyone know that we are now in Birmingham, visiting with our wonderful friends, Dan & Debbie Domer! (Now, can you guess who "Anonymous" is?????)

Actually, we had an easy trip from Memphis to Birmingham. It was rainy most of the way, but we were traveling on good roads, so it wasn't so bad. We arrived at the Domer's around 3pm and proceeded to make ourselves at home. It's great to have friends with whom you are so comfortable that you really do feel their home is yours, too. And that's the kind of people Dan & Debbie are, they are so very generous with all that is theirs.

We are house- and dogsitting for Dan & Debbie this weekend. Since we were going to be here for over a week, they took the opportunity to go to NC to play with their new granddaughter! They haven't seen her since she was born a month ago. We're glad we were able to coordinate our visit so they could take this time away.

Not sure what we'll be doing over the next week, but Dan is taking off from work and we'll do some sightseeing, I'm sure. Until the next time . . .

Take care of each other and send us a note!

Graceland

Although the day was rainy and cool, we ventured out to tour Graceland anyway. I was a bit bummed that the weather was so uncooperative because we had wanted to walk to Graceland. But, we got in the truck (we needed to fuel up anyway) and headed down the block. Well, we soon came right back to the RV park because the parking fee for Graceland was SIX BUCKS!! Outrageous! We decided it wasn't raining hard enough to keep us from walking.

I've only posted a couple of pictures below, but have many more on our Webshots site. Unfortunately, some of the pictures are blurry because no flash photography was allowed and my camera doesn't like that!

It was very interesting to tour Graceland because of the other folks in the group. Some of these people were those we have heard about - totally in awe of anything/everything Elvis. You almost had to shove them out of the way to get a quick picture! However, we are very glad we took the tour, as it was amazing all of the stuff that has been kept for folks to view. Gold records, awards, clothes, furniture, pictures, etc.

The Meditation Garden is rather overwhelming - done in a big, gaudy way that was Elvis, apparently. He is buried there with his folks and grandmother. At this area, people really tended to linger, almost in worship. A little weird.

We leave Memphis tomorrow morning and arrive in Birmingham at Dan & Debbie's. Really looking forward to catching up with them.

Until the next time . . . enjoy the pictorial tour of Graceland. Keep in touch!

Visit to Graceland

 

Branson in the rear view mirror, Memphis up ahead!

We left Branson early this morning and headed south. We were looking forward to getting to some warmer weather - it was 30 degrees this morning!!!

After about 7 hours on the road, we arrived in Memphis at the Elvis Presley Blvd RV Park. We are only about a mile and a half from Graceland. And yes, we will be taking a tour of Graceland tomorrow. You just can't be in Memphis and not tour Graceland, right? Hopefully, we'll have decent weather to do so.

That's about it for now. Pictures tomorrow, I hope!

Beautiful Day Today

Today was a beautiful day! We treated ourselves to breakfast at a local restaurant in "Old" Branson. We shared our table with a couple who have lived in Branson for 31 years - he was Greek and she was from St. Louis originally. They used to own a restaurant on what is now Branson Landing. Apparently it was a well-known restaurant in the area and when city bought them out, they retired! They continue to be very involved in real estate in the area and, we think, are fairly well off. It was neat to talk to some "locals" and get their view of the town. They love it!

In the early afternoon, we took Blackie and went for a drive through some of the outlying areas of town that we hadn't yet seen. Got some great foliage pictures, one of which I've share below. Then we headed to Table Rock Lake State Park to walk the trails there. Perfect weather for walking along the lake! Blacke was in smell heaven - he couldn't move back and forth fast enough! :) Posted a couple of pictures taken from the trail. The one of the marina doesn't begin to show the huge number of boats docked there. There were at least ten to fifteen of those covered docks. The water was just gorgeous with the sun shining on it. It was a wonderful walk.

Finally, I was able to upload some Red Skelton Tribute pictures. Hope you enjoy them, too.

Not expecting great weather this weekend, so I don't we'll do too much. Planning to drive up to Springfield next week. There are some FREE things to do there. A couple sound really interesting; a driving tour of the Battle of Springfield from the Civil War and there's a portion of Route 66 that has been "immortalized" for lack of a better word.

Roy & Barb left this morning. :( They are headed back home to Ohio, via St. Louis and Hannibal, MO. It was great spending time with them and we hope to hook back up sometime this winter. Did I already tell you that in an earlier post? Oh, well, sorry if I did.

Enjoy the pictures. Until the next time . . . take care of each other and keep in touch!

Branson in the Fall & Table Rock Lake & Marina

 

Red Skelton Tribute

 

Red Skelton Tribute Show

We went to a great show yesterday, Red Skelton Tribute Show with Tom Mullica. I took lots of pictures, but once again, am having trouble uploading them here. Please take a look at them at http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0, our Webshots site. You will be amazed at how Tom transforms into Red Skelton and all of his characters.

We had front row seats which concerned me because, as I said to Barb just before the show started, I tend to get into trouble at comedy shows because of my loud laugh. Yes, I know that's so hard to believe! HUSH! Well, do I know myself, or what???!?!!? Not five minutes into the show, something funny was said and I laughed. That's all "Red" needed. For the rest of the show, I was part of it. He was so funny, not just the jokes, but his facial expressions got me going. Needless to say, he had a good time with me. Toward the end of the show, though, he presented me with a signed poster, a gift for being his best "laugher." Several times during the show, he offered me money to just come and sit in his shows and laugh. I told him I'd take him up on it! At the end of the show, he stood outside and greeted each person as he/she came out, which was very nice. I was able to get a picture with him. Pretty cool.

Weather's supposed to be kinda nasty again today. We'll be making dinner for Roy & Barb tonight as they are leaving tomorrow to head back to Ohio. It's been great catching up with them again and we hope to see them sometime this winter. Not sure what the next week will bring for us. I'm sure we find something to do!

Until then . . . take care of each other!

Branson Landing

Took a couple of hours this afternoon and walked around "Old Branson." There are lots of shops, restaurants, and one very large 5 and 10 cent store. This 5 and 10 cent store was amazing. It had aisles and aisles of everything you can imagine; toys, clothes, knickknacks, sewing kits, housewares, etc. You could spend the entire day in this store and still not see everything in it!

After dinner, we went down to Branson Landing. This is an apparently new area in Branson right down on the water. There are lots of stores, restaurants and a fountain area right down on the river. Every half hour there is a fountain "dance" display to Van Morrison's "Moon Dance" and Whitney Houston's version of the national anthem. It only lasts about 10 minutes, but it's the coolest display. You know, no matter how often I hear our national anthem, it still gives me chills.

Tomorrow morning we are going to a Red Skelton tribute. Looking forward to that. In the evening the campground is hosting a campfire complete with roasting marshmallows. Do we have fun or what?!?!?!!! :)

Fountain display during "Moon Dance" by Van Morrison 

Another picture of fountain during "Moon Dance" 

Fountain display during National Anthem 

Seeing Shows

The rain is gone! It was so yucky these past two days - cold & rainy. But, we persevered and had fun anyway. No surprise there, huh?

We saw two shows yesterday evening. Yes, TWO shows! We had planned to go to the Circle B Chuckwagon & Cowboy Show at 5pm. Then, the campground gave us tickets to a free magician's show at 8pm! Of course, of all nights to get a free show, it was on the night we already had tickets to another show. But, we figured we'd see how early we got out of the Circle B show and go from there.

The Circle B show was so much fun! We had a "typical" cowboy dinner - BBQ roast beef, sausage, beans, baked potato, biscuit, applesauce and dessert. The food was pretty good. The Horn family is the host of the show and the entertainers as well. They sang cowboy songs and had a comedic routine that was very funny. We really enjoyed this show. It also had a strong Christian message and was very uplifting. Pretty cool. The show was over by 7pm, so we figured we'd hit the magician's show and see what that was like. Figured it was free, so how bad could it be???? :)

The magician's name is Kirby VanBurch and we'd never heard of him. Other folks at the campground had been to his show and like it a lot. And, they were right! The illusions were great! He cut women in half; made them disappear and reappear; used animals (white Bengal tigers, black leopard, snake); made himself disappear and reappear on a motorcyle as well as in and out of difference cages. His final illusion was making a helicopter, yes a full-sized helicopter, appear on stage! That was pretty cool. I recommend his show to anyone coming to Branson. The final neat thing he did was at the end - he stated that all of his illusions were just that, illusions, and that all real miracles come from God. Then he proceeded to share a short testimony of Christ. That was so very cool. The only bad thing about the show was that I forgot my camera!!! How dumb was that?

So, not only did we have a very entertaining evening last night, we were treated to some uplifting messages about the Lord. Didn't expect that, but really appreciated it.

Our weather is supposed to be much better over the next few days. On Wednesday we are going to a Red Skelton impersonator show. We're looking forward to that. All of us (Roy, Barb, Randy & I) have great memories of Red Skelton from his TV show. Hopefully, this will be a good show, too. I'll let you know!

Riders of the Circle B - the Horn family 

Scenic overlook from Route 165 

Branson Belle cruising Table Rock Lake 

Table Rock Lake 

Taking a Look around Branson

We had a very quiet day today, which was nice. We did get our internet satellite up and running!!! YAY! I couldn't believe we actually got connected; I thought it would never happen. We are very grateful to our son-in-law, Jason, for the cell card he's lent us, though. It's kept us connected through all this time when the satellite wasn't working. He's a keeper! :)

We took a drive through Branson, just to see what it looks like. Oh my goodness! It's very overwhelming - your head can't turn fast enough to see it all! We are trying to figure out what shows we want to see. We've decided we can afford to do a couple of them and now we have to weed through them to decide which two. Of course, we've had all kinds of recommendations from anyone who's been here.

We stopped at Table Rock Lake just to take in the view. It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, so the sunshine on the water was breathtaking. It was hard to believe that just a mile or two away is the craziness of Branson. A very nice respite.

Enjoy the pictures. Hope all is well with everyone. Please keep in touch!! Until the next time . . .

Arrived in Branson - finally!

It was a loooooonnngg day yesterday! There is no direct highway route from Sikeston, MO to Branson, MO. It was all US and state routes - which we do like because they are much more scenic than traveling on the freeway. However, this particular route (US 160 West) was a curvy, roller coaster road. And after a couple hundred miles of it, we were tired. I guess I should say, Randy was tired - I just kinda sit there, reading and watching the GPS. But, it was a beautiful day to travel, weather-wise, so we are grateful for that.

We got to Branson about 1:30/2:00 CDT. Yes, we are now in Central time. Hard to remember that sometimes. We'll be in Central until we get to Atlanta, then it's back to "real" time! :)

We are staying in an Escapees Rainbow park. And our friends, Roy & Barb are here. We were able to get the site right next to them. It's great to be with them again and catch up with all they've been doing. They traveled across the northwest this past summer and have some great stories to share. They were also so kind to us - they had dinner ready for us last night! I decided that was such a nice thing to have upon arrival that I think every campground should do that for us - don't you??? We can just call ahead and give an ETA and then someone at the park can make us dinner. I like that idea! But, as my lovely daughter told me, "Good luck with that!" hehehehe

Today is a down day - we're going to try, once again, to get our internet satellite working. If it doesn't this time, I'm done!!! Plus, we need to go to the bank, figure out what shows we want to see and generally get a feel for the area. Really looking forward to sitting still for the next couple of weeks.

That's it for now. Until the next time . . . take care of each other!

Mammoth Cave, KY

Well, I was pretty much right about the cave - it was a lot of gray rock under the earth! Guess that simplifies it a bit, but sums it up. Randy totally enjoyed the tour and I enjoyed watching him have fun. There are some pictures on our Webshots site, if you're interested. I'm posting this while on the road and Blogger doesn't seem to want to upload any pictures, so take a look at Webshots.

We took a two hour Historic Tour which took us around a two mile loop through part of the cave system. We were warned there were over 400 steps involved in the tour as well as places where we would have to stoop to get through the trail. Needless to say I was a little leery, but figured I could handle it.

The history of this particular cave area was pretty interesting. Tours of this cave have been going on since 1816. The area was privately owned for many years before becoming part of the National Park System. Many minerals were mined out of the cave and was overseen by a guy who would become quite rich - DuPont. With the lack of technology available back when the mining was going on, it’s amazing how they were able to it. I forget how spoiled we are now with all of the technology we have.

Obviously, the cave system was brought about by underground rivers flowing and eroding the earth. We went down 310 feet underground and saw very little wet area. The rivers have gone deeper over the years and now are found at or below 360 feet. All of these rivers are flowing to the Green River which is a very long river that runs through Kentucky.

Going down the 310 feet wasn’t so bad. We had to stoop under some very low overhangs, but it was “Fat Man’s Misery” (the National Park’s name for this trail - not mine!) that gave me pause. This is a very, very, very, tight passageway that I cannot imagine anyone much bigger than me getting through! I asked the ranger if they ever keep anyone from going on the tour because of size. He said they are not allowed to tell anyone they can’t go on a tour and that’s why the rangers go over what to expect, to give people a chance to back out. He said humongous people (again, his words, not mine) have gotten through that pass. It’s the ones who have heart attacks that cause concerns. And, that has happened!

Of course, when you go down 310 feet - guess what! You gotta go back up!! UGH! That was NOT fun. At one point we had a 100 step staircase going straight up to climb. It wasn’t the steps that bothered me so much, even though I thought I was going to join that group of heart attack victims at one point. It was that the staircase was in the middle of thin air! Or at least it seemed like it. I have realized that I am afraid of heights in my middle age (not old age!). Let me tell you, the hot flashes kicked in, adrenaline was pumping and I didn’t think I was gonna make it. But, I kept praying and just watched the person’s butt in front of me! Finally, we made it to the top - and we still weren’t out of the cave! But, the rest of the walk wasn’t as bad. We still had to walk, but at least it was on solid ground!! Guess I’m a wimp.

That’s enough for now. We’re on our way to Branson. No caves there, I hope!!!

Going to Mammoth Cave

Our stay in Crittenden, KY is coming to a close. We have had a great time catching up with Ray & Judy as well as seeing some of the sights in this area. The Tall Stacks Festival was a highlight. We didn't get to see the parade of boats yesterday, however, because Ray wasn't feeling well and we would rather spend time with him and Judy than leave them at home. So we spent the afternoon/evening trying to finish talking about all the things we wanted to share before we left them. And spending a day with good friends can never be topped! :)

Our next stop is Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Randy really wants to stop here. I'm not quite sure why - you've seen one cave, do you really need to see another one? I don't know. But, it's a moot point 'cause we're going. Supposedly it is a great place to stop - I'll let you know. Having toured Luray Caverns in Virginia, I can't imagine anything that will match them, but who knows? We'll be in Mammoth Cave until Thursday (well, not literally) when we head to Missouri.

Can't wait to get to Branson, MO!! Everyone tells us we're going to love it. PLUS, we will be catching up with Roy & Barb! We haven't seen them since our stop in Amish Country in Ohio last April, so we are really, really looking forward to seeing them. Don't know what shows we'll see or anything else, but of course, you all will be the first to know! :)

Until the next time . . . take care of each other and keep in touch.

Tall Stacks Festival in Cincinnati

We had a great day today. We started early (left home at 5:50am!) with a breakfast cruise aboard the Belle of Louisville. This steamboat is one of the few genuine steamboats left. Apparently most are now just for show, but this one actually runs off steam. The breakfast was great and we cruised up and down the Ohio River. Even though the weather wasn't the best as it was overcast, damp and cool, we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

One thing we found was that Cincinnati has a LOT of bridges!! Three in particular caught my eye . . . the first was a yellow bridge with arches and yes, its nickname is the Big Mac Bridge. The second bridge is the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge. Apparently, the fellow who designed the Brooklyn Bridge was told that a suspension bridge that long couldn't be built, so he built the one in Cincinnati first to prove it could be one. This was in the late 1800s! And the last bridge is a foot bridge that is called the Purple People Bridge. It originally was used for vehicle traffic, but has become a pedestrian bridge and is painted purple, thus the name.

After the cruise, we strolled along the riverfront. There were many booths from local merchants and restaurants. Saw a vaudeville show on a permanently moored showboat. And toured "Sawyertown," which had several booths set up as you would expect in a small town out of a Tom Sawyer novel. There were tons of kids everywhere as many of the local schools were on field trips. They could participate in broom making, dollmaking, see glassblowers, a blacksmith, tinsmith, compete in a tug-of-war and go through a maze. They were having a blast.

Another highlight was seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales. Those are some massive horses!!! And beautifully cared for. You just don't get tired of seeing them.

This was a fun day. Looking forward to going back on Sunday afternoon when there is a parade of all the boats at the festival. They line up and sail down the river. That should be something to see. Will let you know!

Until the next time . . .

Kentucky, At Last!

We got up to an absolutely beautiful sunrise this morning. Looked like we would have another great traveling day. And then . . .

we made it! After five days and four nights on the road, we got to Crittenden, KY about 1pm today. We are sooooooo glad to set down for the next week. We got set up onsite and then headed to Super WalMart for a grocery run. We hadn't eaten yet, and there just happened to be a Cracker Barrel almost next door to the WalMart, so of course, we had to stop there first! :) You know it's never good to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach! (Randy has marked off two more CBs on this trip. He is one happy camper.)

Tomorrow we will visit with Ray & Judy and figure out the agenda for the Tall Stacks Festival. We are going on a breakfast cruise Thursday morning and we're looking forward to that. I'm sure we'll have some great pictures.

An update on my sister, Paula: she came through surgery w/o complication and she's already home. She has a long recovery ahead of her; she has to wear a neck collar for at least 6 weeks and then go from there. Thanks for praying for her and, as God brings her to mind over the next few weeks, please continue to pray for her recovery.

Until next time . . . keep caring for one another and keep in touch!

Another Day Closer to Kentucky

Tonight we stay in Fort Bellefonte, PA which is just east of State College. The campground is very nice and we even got an offer to workamp next season! Needless to say, we turned that down. Beautiful view of the mountains from the campground.

Had an easy drive today, just four hours on the road. The weather cooperated nicely, had blue skies most of the way. Got a nice picture of the changing leaves while going down the road.

Next stop is Homerville, Ohio. Then, Tuesday we hit Kentucky. Definitely ready to spend a few days in one place! This daily traveling gets old. Gonna be sure to add a few days in between travel from now on.

Hey, one request. My sister, Paula, is having neck surgery tomorrow to fuse a couple of cervical vertebrae. Please pray that the surgery goes off w/o complication and that the surgery will be successful. She's been in excruciating pain for months now. Thanks!

Until next time . . .