Terry's Blog: 2016 Trip - 7) Even more Branson

Wed. 6/22… (Branson, MO) Happy Anniversary to us! 48 wonderful years! We ate breakfast and then went into town with Rick & Janie to take a ride on the ducks! B&T passed this morning. We have done this in the past but R&J never have so we thought it would be fun. It was fun, although it was a pretty rough ride and hard on the back.

They took us for a tour of Branson, including the dam and a hilltop view of the city. Last time we went down the main thoroughfares of Branson and then to the lake. This time it was less city and more rural. We went onto some private land and up to the top of a hill overlooking the lake. This is an old limestone quarry and the owners have staged an impress array of military vehicles.

A view from the top of the mountain....

I missed getting a picture but they have a huge cannon shell hanging from a dead tree. Our guide called it, get this – ‘a cartridge in a bare tree’!

Then they took us for a boat ride! We went out on Table Rock Lake for a few minutes to tour the lake and let all of the kids drive the boat! It was nice a breezy which made for a nice trip.

Once we got back we stopped in the store and bought a couple of replacement ducks for our camping club (we give one or two out each month for doing something stupid – yeah I have had it more than my share of the time!).

Afterward, we stopped at Steak n Shake for a quick meal and then went to West Branson Walmart and bought a few things for dinner plus a couple of $.94 noodles for the pool. We came home and rested and then went to Janie’s for hotdogs. Treasa brought beans and Lydia brought potato salad. We then left for the Sight and Sound Theater to see ‘Moses’, but first we made a stop at Andy’s for another custard treat. The S&S Theater is huge and we were in row GG but that gave us a great view of everything as the stage goes around the outside aisles. We sure enjoyed the production. Here are a few pics.

Thurs. 6/23… (Branson, MO) The guys went out fishing one last time. The boat is always the same. They just have now been holding it for us when we want it. We hit the same spot again in the morning and again started catching fish. I have never seen fishing this good all of the times I have been here. We moved to three different locations. I caught 27 again. Rick caught 6. Everything was going good all week until 2 minutes before we brought the boat back in for the last time. A large boat kicked up a swell and it hit the front of our boat big time. Rick caught it full on and got soaked. Hope his phone is ok. We looked into renting a pontoon boat but they are reserved for the guests staying at Cooper Creek so they get first dibs. It was also over $200. a day so we decided even split three ways it wasn’t going to happen. After returning and getting cleaned up I rested a while and caught up on my checkbook. We called the rv guy and left a message that he only has until Sunday morning to get our part installed (if it even comes in!). If not I guess he will bill me only for his service call. Maybe I can get the part shipped ahead. We’ll see……

Later Lydia was next up for dinner. She put a beef brisket in the crock pot. Treasa brought zucchini and Janie brought mashed potatoes. Everything was very tasty! But guess what? The repair guy called and was just around the corner. He has my part! While the others ate, they got it installed and tested and everything was good to go. He also brought 6 replacement batteries for the coach but instead of the $130 ea he had quoted, these ones were $280 ea. So I passed. We will replace them when we get home. He has to make a new invoice but they are coming back tomorrow to install a replacement icemaker line in B&T’s coach so I will pay then. After they left we found that we had time to do something else. We had decided that one night we would go to the show to see Finding Dory. Well that was tonight. The movie was very good. We always enjoy the fun cartoons! The theater was on the other side of the ‘Branson strip’ so coming and going is always a bit of a chore. But we got home ok and called it a night. But we did put things away outside as there are showers in the area.

Fri. 6/24…… (Branson, MO) Well, it did rain last night and it’s still sprinkling this morning. This is the only rain we have seen so far but it does cool things off a bit so no worries.

We have plans today for one more show. Lydia had ordered tickets to Dixie Stampede. B&T had seen it before (so have we) so they passed. Just a quick note here - if you are ever in Branson and plan to see shows, use Terry’s Discount Tickets (ttbranson.com). He always gets us good seats. We decided to go to the luncheon show at the Stampede. This show is kinda like Medieval Times. You sit on either the north or the south side and watch competition races and contests in the arena. The food was good and the show was entertaining. I was wondering how they would treat the subject of the Confederacy, given the recent issues with the confederate flag and such.