Is My Grandaughter Really 16? (I didn't think I was that old)

Time and reality have set in.  Cindy and I just finished a week in Branson with our oldest granddaughter, celebrating her 16th birthday!  I find it really hard to believe that she is already 16.  seems like just yesterday we were visiting her parents while her dad was in the navy out in Norfolk.  Oh well, I guess time does fly (at least it moves real fast) when you are having fun and I do have to admit that for the better part of my life, I have had fun.
Well, back to the fun filled week in Branson.  We had originally booked this week in order to go check out an RV campground membership program, something that we had been looking at for a while and the 4 free nights were hard to turn down for a 90 minute presentation so we booked our time at Branson Ridge Campground and Resort. 
Now we have been to Branson many times but most of those times were just to visit with some very dear friends of ours that live there, we would maybe take in a show but with the exception of our vacation there in 2007, we never really did the tourist scene there.  That changed this trip.  Lilli had  never been to Branson and I wanted her to have a very memorable time so I let her set the itinerary for the week and Grandpa proceeded to pry open his rusty wallet in order to make sure that she would remember this birthday for at least a week or two. 

Getting ready to hit the town!

Lilli had decided, after some coaching from her mom, that she wanted to Ride The Ducks, see the show The Haygoods, and have a dinner show on the Branson Belle so that is just what we did, plus some!
We picked a really good week to be there, school had just started and the town was kind of in a wind down mode.  The down side to this was that the shows were not running full schedules and you had to buy early for the Haygoods because they were on a roll and had many sold out performances during the season.  I can fully understand why they continually sold out after we saw them, they are beyond a shadow of a doubt the best show I have ever seen in Branson!
Now, for those that know or have known me will find the above photo quite different from photos of my past.  There are two things that are notably "different" about me in this picture.  Can you spot them?  I'll give you a few minutes.....In my 59+ years, I have never , NEVER worn shorts in public.  Number two is that I am smiling!  This, although it has happened in the past (usually motorcycle induced) has become a more common occurrence for me.  It seems that I have finally come to the realization that life is good!

I think she had a good time

some of the old military vehicles on display at the gravel pit

The Showboat Branson Belle as seen from the Duck

One of the original Ducks

We decided that the first venture would be the world famous "Ride the Ducks" attraction.  My friend alerted me that there were two separate Ducks in the Branson area, one based on the strip and one headquartered at the landing.  We were advised to take the one based on the strip and are we glad we did.  I'm not slighting the other one, after all I don't know their route, but the one based on the strip takes you into a gravel pit that has numerous older military vehicles on display and the only way to see this display is to ride the Duck!  Now, the Ducks were not new to Cindy and I, we had ridden them in Hot Springs, Arkansas while attending a Gold Wing Rally back in 2006.

Grandma and Lilli after our guided (or mis-guided) tour of Branson.  The captains on these Ducks give you  a comical and informative history of Branson.  Well worth the money.

Here is a view of Arkansas from the Duck route across Table Rock Lake

The next item on the agenda was to see the family show "The Haygoods".  I had heard from very reliable sources (Lilli's mom) that this was a must see show, and as usual, she was spot on!  I purchased the tickets Monday morning and by Monday evening the Tuesday evening show was sold out.  This is a very talented family and the showmanship was excellent!  Definitely a must see while in Branson.

Now I do ask that you all remember that I am getting old and forgetful, and when in a rush very forgetful so the only picture I have of the Showboat Branson Belle is the one above that I took from the Duck tour because I forgot my camera.  The show was very good, the food was tasty and the excursion on Table Rock lake was beautiful, you'll just have to trust me on that one.

We all went out for frozen custard at Andy's (can't go to Branson without a visit to Andy's) after the Haygood show and just took in the sights of the amazing Ferris wheel and the choreographed light show that it offered during the clear night.  One of the Haygood men was responsible for doing the computer programming for the enormous wheel.  If the Ferris wheel looks familiar it may be because it was at one time  in it's life on the pier in Chicago.  It is a new attraction in Branson.  We did all ride it the last day there.  The view from the top was AMAZING!

Some shots from the Ferris Wheel

We left Branson and we did buy that membership for  the RV resorts so now we are looking forward to many, many more  adventures in many MANY more places.  Stay tuned for more!

Oh yea, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLI!

  

Can You Really Trust Ratings?

We Just finished a trip that had the main purpose of attending a memorial service for Cindy's Mom in Arkansas, just west of the Memphis area.  Now I'm sure most of you are aware that there really isn't a whole lot to do in that part of the country during August that doesn't involve a profuse amount of sweat resulting in that part of the country being fairly boring during August, at least for us.  Another factor about this part of the world is that after visiting there I am 100% convinced that we were there during the international mosquito convention and there were representatives from all over the world, there to announce their plan for world dominance!  I am sorry to say that some of those representatives won't be returning to their home due to the fact that they elected to make themselves a part of the front of Matilda and Brutus.
The memorial was to be held on a Saturday and Cindy wanted to bring the twin grand-daughters with us.  Now, just because I'm a real nice Grandpa, I decided to make the trip a bit more fun than just going to Earle Arkansas and participating in the memorial so I decided that we would leave town on Wednesday and spend a few days in West Plains, Missouri, then go on to the memorial, arriving there on Friday, Leaving very early on Sunday and going to Springfield, Missouri and finally heading back to home base on Monday.

Wilma Martin's final resting place

We loaded  up Matilda and Brutus with bags of stuffed animals and the twins sleeping gear and headed off to West Plains.  We had reservations at a campground that was out of the city and was a very, very nice place.  The campground was given a 10-10-10 rating by Good Sam and the reviews were all very positive.  We had a great time at Chipmunk Crossing campground and I can see where this facility deserved to be rated and reviewed in the extremely positive manner in which it was.  The hosts were magnificent and the grounds were very clean, the sites were large and the facilities were superb!

  Now the twins were looking forward to the pool more than anything so it was no surprise when we arrived, the first thing they wanted to do was go swimming.  The surprise was that Cindy didn't hesitate to go with them.  It is sure great seeing Cindy get active again.  Having her knees replaced was one of the best things we could have done.  The twins did inform me that one of the things they wanted to do on this trip was go to the Mall of Arkansas.  Having visited the Mall of America in the twin cities, they added this mall to their list of places to see, so while we were here, we ventured across the state line to the Mall of Arkansas, commonly known as Wal Mart.

If you want clean, quiet and just all around nice, this is the campground for you!

We spent a lot of time in the pool at this campground and also visited one of the nearby mills.  Natural springs are plentiful in this area and this one seemed like the one to go see.

We stayed at Chipmunk Crossing until Friday morning.  Now Cindy and I have seen Mammoth Springs, Arkansas several times but the twins had not so we decided to make a stop there on the way to Earle.  It had been a few years since we had been there and when we pulled into the area, it was very evident that there had been a lot of improvements made since  our last visit.  The area is now a very nice park with a walking trail all around the springs and water area as well as a very nice visitor's center, some walkways over to a mill and much, much more.  This is a very worthwhile stop when you are in the area.  The Mammoth Springs are the headwaters for the Spring river.  This link will give you more:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Spring

Brutus and Matilda behind a Civil War cannon at Mammoth Springs Park

Grandma and the twins striking a pose

Taking time to admire God's work

We departed Mammoth Springs and headed on up and over the Ozark mountains on to the flat lands and into Earle, where we set up house in Cindy's uncle's yard.  Now, as I stated in the beginning, there really wasn't much that was interesting enough to keep us in this part of the world so we decided to leave real early, like 6 am, Sunday morning and go to Springfield, Missouri and stay the night there.  The twins are huge animal lovers and they really wanted to go through the Paradise Animal Safari drive through park.  I pulled out my "trustworthy" Good Sam directory and found our destination campground, Paradise in the Woods RV Park, in the community of Strafford, Missouri.  Now this is where the title comes from.  We had stayed a  10-10-10 rated park that was very clean, very quiet and very accommodating so I, in my own way, figured that this should be a fairly good place to stay with a 9-8.5-9.5 rating.  We entered the park to a sign that greeted us with big bold letters "RV Park for Sale".  We turned into the entrance of the park to first see the rear of and older motor home that looked as though it had just been towed in from a rear end collision, well, maybe not just towed in, it did after all have some very healthy tomato plants growing through the remainder of the rear bumper.  Now, to see one or two of this style, obviously long time dweller is not un-expected, I do understand that some parks serve a dual purpose and provide a home for many, much like a mobile home park, but I would estimate that at least 45% of the spaces were occupied by long term dwellers. I have to admit this is the first park I stayed at that I made sure I locked and double locked everything that would lock.  It just gave that kind of vibe.  One thing I want when I pay to stay someplace, be it a hotel or campground, is quiet.  This park is so close to the interstate that even my near deaf ears were continuously filled with the exciting noise of the road.  The pads were very, I do mean VERY close to each other.  Now I have never, EVER had any electrical issues with Matilda and thanks to the electrical grid in this campground, I had the first scare in the life of Matilda.  I had gone up to do laundry when Cindy called and said that she had lost all power to Matilda.  I went up and found the breaker had tripped.  Now, we had run Matilda on a 5000 watt, 21 amp generator circuit at her uncles with absolutely zero issues, just as I had done many times in the past.  One of the first things my brother told me to buy was a good surge protector, so, thankfully, for the second time, this saved me a bundle of cash, but not a huge scare.  I reset the breaker and everything came back to life....except my air conditioner.  I realized that the air unit in Matilda was over 18 years old and was some day going to die, I just wasn't ready for today to be that day.  The timed internal breaker just would not reset so I started checking my Camping World coupons and looking at the ads and since we were conveniently just a few miles from a Camping World Super center , decided that first thing in the morning I would have to go buy a new unit.  Not thinking, I turned the switch to the air off, surrendering to the reality that the air had lived its life.  I don't know what made me do it but about an hour later ( I guess it was wishful thinking), I reached over and turned the switch on.  The sound was utter music to my ears!  The unit came back on like it had always done.  That is when it hit me, I remembered reading in the owners manual but had forgotten that in order for the to reset the unit must be turned off for a period then back on.  I had not turned the switch off!   Needless to say, I drew a line through this one in the book.  We did stay there but won't do so again.

We took the twins over to the animal park and they had a blast looking at the animals as we drove through and then it was almost impossible to get them to leave the walk through and petting area.

Needless to say, if there were animals involved, the twins had a blast.  I'm going to close with these pictures and hope you will tune in for our next adventure when we take our oldest granddaughter to Branson. 
Until then, always trust your instincts and not the ratings!

 

Gypsy Life = Destination Unknown

 

 



If this doesn't fit our current lifestyle I don't know what does.  This message was left just for us!



 

 

To this point, we had had the pleasure of staying at full service campgrounds or at locations where I knew what to expect and what to bring in order to be prepared.  We went from Branson to Beaver Lake, Arkansas where I have had a spot reserved out on the peninsula at the Dam Site for Beaver Lake.  I had camped at this site many years ago with a couple motorcycle buddies and vowed that someday I would return, during the season, and spend some time here.  The campground is operated by the US Corp of Engineers and the spaces are large and very accommodating.  When I made the reservation, I knew that sewer was not available but neglected to read the part where water was also not available at the site. 

I got Matilda backed into our reserved spot and proceeded to connect everything then realized that there was no water hook up.  There was a water hydrant located just out of the reach of the hoses I had with me so I decided to do a bit of problem solving and devised a way to get my tank filled without having to spend a lot of money for a long hose.  I had to go into Eureka Springs to buy some groceries so while I was at the store I picked up a two and one half gallon container of water. I poured this water into the tank then used the empty container to top off my water tank from the nearby hydrant.  Worked out just fine with minimal expense. 

The water issue is the only negative we found about staying at this camp site.  The spaces were large and had very nice shade.  The weather was hot, but the almost constant breeze that came across the lake made sitting outside under the trees feel very nice.  We had a very pleasant rain shower almost every day and we both just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet and beauty that this site provided. 

We are both beginning to feel more at ease with this life style that we have chosen.  Cindy has been walking more and more as her knee is getting better and I have learned to relax to the point that the two of us did something that we have not done for years.  I bought a table game while we were in town and we sat down during the heat of the day and spent some quality time just playing Yahtzee. 

I want to go into an observation that I have had during our outings.  I have noticed and am guilty myself of participating in this behavior.  Why is it that when families are out in the camp environment the man will do things that there is absolutely no way he would do at home?  I have no problem sweeping out Matilda, or cooking breakfast, or cooking any other meal.  I actually enjoy doing these things and absolutely dreaded the same activities at our sticks and stone home.

The time we spent on this outing was calm and peaceful.  We did have a visit from our friends from Branson and we went out for a good dinner together, then returned to our site and the four of us just sat around and we all relaxed, something we all really needed more than we realized.  I do have to acknowledge that another plus that I enjoyed while at this site was that the internet was not readily available.  We had phone and text but the internet was very minimal.  It really felt good to not have that for a while.  The lack of the internet brought back the old way of actually talking to each other and just sitting back and relaxing and enjoying life. 

We had a very nice view from every window of Matilda and the surrounding area was just majestic!  We did decide that when we traveled to areas that are great for fishing, we will start doing some fishing.  I haven’t been fishing in ages and I guess the reason we haven’t done any to date is simply that I have no fishing gear.  I have always had the mindset that just sitting and waiting for a fish to bite was a real waste of time, time that could be of better use doing something.  I have to admit that I can see the therapeutic advantage to just sitting, waiting and relaxing.  Our next outing at a lake or near a fishing area, we will do some fishing.  I’m going to pick up some basic gear and we are going to learn to drown some worms!

I did find one thing very fitting about our campsite.  The picnic table shelter at our site, someone had painted on the trim board the very fitting and appropriate “Gypsy life=Destination unknown”.  It just feels like everything continues to point to the fact that this is the life Cindy and I are supposed to be living, and we really couldn’t agree more!

I did notice while we were driving around Branson that I had an unusual noise in the front end of Brutus and just couldn't locate the cause, well, while at this site I discovered that I had a failing wheel bearing.  I made some temporary modifications so that we could get home to where I could take care of the problem properly.  I didn't get upset or anything, after all, if you drive a 300,000 plus mileage vehicle, some things are to be expected.

Well, here are some pictures of the scenery we had for the week.  We are looking forward to our next “scheduled” outing but until then, we’ll be satisfied going back to our base and spending some time with the kids and grandkids.  Life Is GREAT!



This is where Cindy sits most of the time.  She loves the window and being able to do craft stuff at the table.  The picture behind Cindy is of one of our granddaughters.  Family pictures hanging in Matilda just make it more of a home.

We had great scenery from every angle!

A panoramic view!

Being  Outside was nice as well




Beaver Lake Arkansas Dam

It's A Small World, Afterall

Fireworks from the landing in Branson, Missouri

This is a first for me in the RV travel blog world!  Cindy and I have been living in our rolling home now since the end of May and yes, we have made a trip to Tennessee and Mississippi and there was the church float trip, but I always waited to write about our adventures until we got back to "home port."  I am officially announcing that we have expanded our mental definition of "home port" to include where we are at the given moment so this blog is being written in our home port of Branson, Missouri, because that is where we are. 
Long before Cindy and I decided to do the full time RV living thing, (actually around December of 2015) my best friend informed us that his daughter had met the man of her dreams and was going to get married in Branson in July.  I sat down and made reservations at the Branson Landing   RV Park right then and Cindy and I decided to just make the excursion a multi week event.  The wedding was to be on July 2 so I made reservations for June 30 through the 5th of July, after all, if we were going to Branson, we had just as well stay for the fireworks and the stage show on the Landing.  The extended part of the trip was to be to go from Branson to Beaver Lake, Arkansas, just west of Eureka Springs, and spend a week or so camping there. 
Now a few years back, Tom, my friend, and I had motorcycled to Beaver Lake and tent camped there, during the off season.  Beaver Lake has a campground near the dam that is out in the lake on a peninsula and I had often dreamt of going there again, during the season, and camping on that peninsula, well, tomorrow is that sometime.  I made the reservation the first day that the Corps of Engineers started taking reservations!
This trip to Branson has been really our first real venture into staying at an RV park for any period of time and I have to say it has been supercalifagilisticexbealidocious! (I guessed on the spelling, spell check had no idea)  The very pleasant experience started with the ground host being very friendly and accommodating and the park itself was very clean and very close to anything we wanted to do, and for those things that were not close or the times we just didn't feel like walking, there were plenty of very friendly people operating free public transport from the campground to points of interest.
I will say that camping in an RV park will require that I develop some social communication skills.  I have found that this will not be an  option!  Life in an RV park reminds me a bit of how it used to be in the trucking industry, when you pulled onto that parking lot, you were all neighbors and everyone spoke to everyone just like they were long time friends.  That is what we experienced at the campground.  One quite astonishing factor I discovered was that in an RV park, "status" wasn't a factor. 
I really want to expand on that last statement some. When we lived in a stick and brick home, we never really got to know anyone that lived more than a house or two from us.  It seemed as though everyone was in competition to see who could have the best yard or the newest car or the latest electronic gadget and the only time that "neighbors" actually spoke was to compare their things. 
I make no  secret that we are a couple of very budget conscious RVer's and  no, we don't have a new anything, Brutus is a 14 year old truck and Matilda is a 18 year old fifth wheel.  We pulled into our site, got set up and proceeded to look around.  There were rigs on this campground that had to be in the six figure price category, high 6 figures or more, but no one had a superior attitude.  We were all RVers.  People did something really strange at this campground, they would actually talk and, get this, listen to other people!  Wow, what a concept!  If a camper saw someone that looked like a little help was in order, they would go and volunteer to help.  If you were just walking the dogs, it was not uncommon for a camper to come up and start a conversation, a real conversation!
I did have an opportunity to help a fellow camper while here.  I know what it is like to have problems away from home and not have anyone to ask for help.  There was a gentleman and his wife camped across from us that were from central Kansas.  He and I had conversed several times during the day and he knew I was mechanically inclined, to a small degree.  We had a storm roll through on Friday night and the park lost power.  Now I had received some stellar advice from an experienced camper before we had ever started out on the road ( did I mention that my brother is a very smart and knowledgeable person) that one of the first things you invest in if you intend to utilize public campgrounds is a good voltage surge protector.  That night gave me all the proof I needed that I, too was a smart camper because I listened to the advice of someone with experience.  While my unit was protected during the night from the voltage surge that occurred when the power came back, some were not so lucky.  This gentleman actually had his power converter catch fire!  I saw him outside after the storm with a flashlight and went over to see if I could help.  I was able to locate the problem and the next day I installed a new convertor for him.  Unfortunately, the power surge ruined his refrigerator and air conditioning unit and ended his week early.  There were two or three other campers very near him that also experienced some form of electrical malfunction due to the surge.  It felt good to help him as much as I could, unfortunately, there are some things that are just beyond my control and I couldn't save his week for him, but the point is, not only me, but several people came to the aid of this gentleman, because, that is what a camping community does.
I have watched people help each other set up and tear down, I have seen total strangers sit and share a beverage together and talk as though they were old friends, I have seen the social intermingling of all kinds and I must say, it feels GOOD!  I can't help but think, "what would our churches be like if they practiced the same love and fellowship habits that I have witnessed at this campground?"  I promise, I'm not going to do a soapbox sermon but it does make one wonder.
I guess another reason I decided to write this blog now and not wait until returning to home port is that I realized that if I started doing that I would end up leaving out a lot of information because sitting here in this park relaxing is just part of all the activity that is happening.  We came down here for a wedding, which was utterly fantastic, by the way, we were entertained by a top notch Journey cover band, I mean, if you closed your eyes, you would swear that Journey was on stage, we got to spend time with our best friends and then there was the real shocker and the idea for the title for this post, I learned via facebook that the previous youth pastor from our church and his family were here in Branson from Indiana so naturally we got together and had a meal together and enjoyed some good catch up and fellowship. 
This outing has solidified my feelings that right now Cindy and I are doing exactly what God wants us to do.  We are traveling together again and we are closer than we have been for a while.  We had never drifted to the point of not wanting to be together but we just really didn't do many things together.  Traveling on the motorcycle was the last time we experienced this kind of togetherness.  The desire to travel and see the country has always been in my blood and after Cindy got a taste of that, I feel that it is now a part of her as well.  I am so very thankful that God has granted us this opportunity to do what we both love.  We are proof that you don't need the top of the line, high dollar things to live life in a luxury that has come to be known to us as peace and togetherness!
I stated in the very beginning of my  blogs, some years ago, you just never know what direction my writings will take, this one took a good direction.
I'll end with some pictures of just a few of the exciting things we have done so far.  Thanks for reading and may God bless!


Brutus and Matilda at home (for a week)

The inside of the majestic chapel where Janie married Ryan

We haven't been this close in years!

A gaggle of geese in the lake in front of our camper

Journey tribute band "Resurrection" at the Landing in Branson

Just one of the many fantastic fireworks from the Landing

 

Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment or follow.

Who Would Have Thought a Fish Would Be So Important?

One of the things that Cindy and I did not want to do is lose time that we spent with our grandkids.  We  felt that our travels would take away some of that time, and to an extent , it did.  The flip side of that coin is that the time we spend with our kids and grandkids is more precious than ever, and it was very precious before so that makes it more than golden now. 
I have eluded to the fact that many times in the past I was not there for my kids when I should have been but it seems that my sons and I have grown closer together over the past few years.  While we were out on our previous trip, my oldest son contacted me and asked if I would be interested in going on a float trip with him and my grandson.  I was elated to say the least.  It warms my heart so much when my kids include me in their plans.  Cindy and I got back on June 7 and the float trip was to begin on the 10th.  Cindy elected to stay with the granddaughters for this one so it was just us guys on a float trip with our friends from our church.
We didn't have to go very far, about 120 miles or so to get to the campground. We arrived, second ones to show up and the only ones to have luxury accommodations and not a tent. I proceeded to get set up and Franklin and Ollie went about checking out the river and other things of interest. 
One of the first things my brother, (who's advice I extremely value), told me to get was a surge protector for Matilda, not a cheap one but a good one that would warn me of possible electrical problems before they became my problems.  I must say that his advice really paid off for this campground.  I made my electrical hookup and the warning came across my protector that the polarity was reversed.  I made an attempt to get the campground to correct this but they insisted it would not effect anything.  I have spent enough years dealing with electricity and electronics to know this was not the case, so, when they weren't cooperative, I fixed the problem. 

I finished setting us up and Franklin started preparing our evening meal.  We enjoyed fresh burgers and had a good time just talking and enjoying being together as a family. 
Ollie had been wanting to go fishing since we had arrived so we prepared a rod for him and set it up from an old tackle kit that had been in the garage for about ten years.  I had bought it many years ago and just never had time to use it, the entire thing was still sealed in the package.  We figured that Ollie would be content just putting a hook in the water, we really (me mainly) didn't think that the old tackle would catch any thing but his attention.  We (me) were wrong!  Franklin taught him to cast and he got really good at it real quick.  I was going about finishing up my set up and Franklin was playing his guitar when Ollie began shouting "I got one! I got one!"  I really just figured he had snagged a branch or something but he really had a fish on his line!  His first ever catch was a crappie that was about palm size.  We kept it long enough to get a picture then released it back into the river. 

Franklin preparing dinner



The champion fisherman and his first ever catch!



The fish didn't  stand a chance now!
 

We had a fantastic time with our friends from church and went out on the SAC river the next day.  Ollie was out of the canoe every time it stopped.  He couldn't get enough of the water and we all had a blast floating down the river. 
We finished the 5 and 1/2 mile float late in the afternoon and headed back to camp. Ollie was intent to solidify his claim as master angler so while all the adults were re-cooperating, he went back to his fishing spot and proceeded to catch yet another fish!  He was the only one to catch any fish that weekend and I am proud to say that I was there.  This was a time that we all would remember. 
I close with this  simple thought, time with family is the most important time you can spend, those are the moments that are more precious than gold!