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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Branson Finale

We wrapped up our Branson visit with a few more shows.  Once again, all the pretty girls were falling all over my Dad.



Watching Dad, I had another of my rare, brilliant thoughts.  Recalling the old saying, "The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree", I asked the young lady in the second picture if she would be so kind and let me have my picture taken with her.

Smiling sweetly, she said, "Sir, I don't do Beauty and the Beast poses".

With all the dignity I could muster, I held my head up high and slowly backed into a nearby crowd, my tail between my legs.

In one of the shows, there was incredible talent.  A family show, with all the kids.  These kids had more talent in their little fingers that I have in my whole body.




Just amazing talent. 

We enjoyed all of the ten shows and the Duck ride we did, in just five days.  When you're not full time, you have to cram as much fun into the limited time you have.

One of the interesting things I saw was this RV.  It is a Vixen .



We left Branson Saturday morning and tried a different route home, up to St. Louis and then East on Rt 64 through Illinois, Indiana and spent the night in my old Kentucky Home, also known as Flying J.  I guess you could call it "Flocking", a derivative of boondocking.  For inquiring minds, don't buy fuel in Indiana, it was 25-30 cents more per gallon than any other state.  Fortunately, I was just topping off the tank with a few gallons of diesel.

Another early start and we drove the rest of the way home, a nice day, sunny and warm.  Beautiful countryside and views of mountains through Kentucky and West Virgina.

The ride home was uneventful except for one almost mishap.  NASCAR drivers may be quite talented but their transport drivers, or at least one, was not.  The transport driver passed me and before he was half clear moved over into my lane, forcing me completely off the road and on to the shoulder.  I won't mention any names but...


All tolled, we drove 1100 miles from Branson to our home in Northern Virginia, splitting the trip again into two days.  The Journey ran really well, it is approaching the 40,000 mile mark and the CAT diesel engine is getting broken in.  I saw miles per gallon rise a bit from a 7.5 mpg to 8.3 mpg.  That is towing the Element and running around 65 mph.  I'm liking that.

We've decided the next time we go to Branson, hopefully we'll be fulltimers.  Then the drive out should take us a week...or two.  Right now I'm trying to let my butt re-inflate from the 500 plus miles per day legs.

I'll do a post of the shows we saw and our recommendations in an upcoming post. 

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.


18 comments:

  1. Glad you're home safe without any scratches or dents. That's always a good thing. Looking forward to your posts and reviews.

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  2. Sometime it is nice to be home safe and sound, but other times, we all still want to be out there on the road.

    So glad that you had a great time. And that you are safe. Those NASCAR guys can be brutal!

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  3. You had better check out the brand of aftershave you dad uses:)

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  4. That was a great trip... I think I would have enjoyed the Ducks the most (am not much for shows myself) ... LOL on the gal's retort to the picture request.. too funny!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  5. glad you are home safe and sound!.minus the #12 semi trailer running you off the road!

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  6. Sounds like you had a really nice time. I'm sure your Dad appreciated the time with you guys.

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  7. Oh my 500 miles a day. You gotta get that house sold. Great memories for both you and that ladies man you call your dad! You've obviously got some great genes and a long life to look forward to.

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  8. Oh my 500 miles a day. You gotta get that house sold. Great memories for both you and that ladies man you call your dad! You've obviously got some great genes and a long life to look forward to.

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  9. What can you say about your dad? He's certainly a ladies man but at least it sounds like you took him home without them following him.

    Glad you made it without any damage. Sometimes the bigger rigs get a little pushy.

    Hopefully, you'll be making more trips soon as a fulltimer.

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  10. What a nice time everyone had. Hope the house sells soon... You need to be able to TAKE YOUR TIME !!!

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  11. I have never done 500 miles in a day in the rig, and I hope I never have to. :)

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  12. Sounds like those transport drivers need a refresher course! Glad you got to spend some time in Branson (grew up there). K

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  13. Love reading your blog but . . . Ryan Newman has been driving for Stewart/ Hauss Racing for 3 years now and he is now # 39 and his sponser is US Army. There is not a # 12 with the ALLTEL sponsor in any of the three top series of NASCAR. NASCAR crews are just as safe as their drivers so I don't know who drove you off the road but it was some other type of racing series or it happened 4 years ago.

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  14. In my defense, and showing my total ignorance of NASCAR, I must have chosen the wrong era picture of the #12 car.

    I was passed by several NASCAR haulers, they sure are pretty with all those ads plastered all over them. And they all were flying way faster than the traffic.

    I did see the #12 on the trailer. Please pardon my oops. I have now been set straight. Another new thing learned. ;c)

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  15. Awww Paul -- you'll always be a beauty in our book. :-)

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  16. Glad nothing too bad happened when you got run off the road! I hate when that happens. As I read about you traveling 500 miles a day, I wished for you a more leisurely pace too. Hang in there guys. You're getting closer by the hour! (I've missed you guys!)

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  17. I'd tell Ryan Newman about his transport driver! Or Alltel... Wow - 10 shows in 5 days! My butt would be sore too, and not from all the driving.

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  18. That was really a whirlwind tour, but sounds like you had a wonderful time. My father is also 90 and I think he's amazing, but yours is unbelievable.

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