Saturday – April 29 – It rained all night last night so I kept waking up and thinking about how wet John would get hooking up this morning, fortunately though about the time we got up the rain stopped so he managed to hook up in the dry. The Branson forecast was for high winds and severe thunder storms so John wanted to leave as he is paranoid about possible hail. We got away about 9:30 and although we didn’t see rain all day the winds were really gusty – probably the worst we have seen yet.
We got to Cedarbrook RV Park at Mulberrygrove IL about 4:30 this afternoon and when I got out to go check in there were a few people barbecuing near the office and the one fellow said something about our awning and I turned around and here it had started to unroll. We got set up and a couple of the people who had seen the awning when we came in came over and helped John get it out and rolled up but there is major damage to the awning, it has started to rip loose from the roof for about 1/3 of the length – just what we need!!! John has been unhappy since day one with this awning as it doesn’t have the lock on it to prevent it unrolling like the other ones did – proof today that this lock is necessary! He now has it duct taped, strapped etc. and hopefully we can get home without any further damage. If it is really windy tomorrow I think we will just stay for another day.
Friday – April 28 – Today was an off and on rainy day and now it is raining quite hard. We had a quiet day, did laundry and a bit of cleaning then read. We left about 4:30 and stopped at the office and asked where there was a grocery store. The closest one (and I suspect the only one) is about 5 miles away so went a picked up a couple of groceries, stopped and got gas then went to the Cracker Barrel for dinner before going to Cirque.
Cirque was very good, it is amazing the things these people can do. The costumes were also good, all in all an enjoyable show. We managed to get back before the rain started again but now it sounds like it is good for a while and I think the forecast is for rain for the next few days – great. It is pretty well bed time so will get this posted before I go to bed.
Cirque was very good, it is amazing the things these people can do. The costumes were also good, all in all an enjoyable show. We managed to get back before the rain started again but now it sounds like it is good for a while and I think the forecast is for rain for the next few days – great. It is pretty well bed time so will get this posted before I go to bed.
Thursday – April 27 – Today was a real nice day, sunny and warm. We drove around Branson, can’t believe the number of motels, theatres and restaurants, but we didn’t see one grocery store! We stopped at an outlet mall for a bit, I bought 3 pairs of socks and John bought a book – last of the big time spenders. We are definitely in the Ozarks, it is a very hilly city with lots of narrow streets. At one point we had stopped at an overlook and the woman beside me said one of the two houses below belonged to one of the Lennon Sisters – she thought is was Janet Lennon, so the picture is for you Pat.
We went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede and quite enjoyed it. The building was huge and first we went into a large room for the pre show entertainment which was a juggler and he was very good. At one point he balanced an 8’ ladder on his chin – amazing. We then went into the arena where the show was held and the sides of the arena were tiered with a bar type table along the length of each tier and this is where we sat and had dinner while watching the show. Dinner consisted of a roll, a cream soup, a whole chicken, a slice of pork, corn on the cob, a huge potato wedge, an apple turnover and all the coffee/and/or iced tea or pepsi you wanted – and eating utensils were your hands. The dinner was excellent but far too much and the show was very good. John hadn’t realized that the show consisted of a lot of acts with horses, there also were pig races, ostrich races, and other races and it was the north against the south like in the Civil War, all in all very entertaining.
We went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede and quite enjoyed it. The building was huge and first we went into a large room for the pre show entertainment which was a juggler and he was very good. At one point he balanced an 8’ ladder on his chin – amazing. We then went into the arena where the show was held and the sides of the arena were tiered with a bar type table along the length of each tier and this is where we sat and had dinner while watching the show. Dinner consisted of a roll, a cream soup, a whole chicken, a slice of pork, corn on the cob, a huge potato wedge, an apple turnover and all the coffee/and/or iced tea or pepsi you wanted – and eating utensils were your hands. The dinner was excellent but far too much and the show was very good. John hadn’t realized that the show consisted of a lot of acts with horses, there also were pig races, ostrich races, and other races and it was the north against the south like in the Civil War, all in all very entertaining.
Wednesday – April 26 – Today was quite cool and cloudy, I had on a T-shirt and vest and had to resort to a sweat shirt, hopefully tomorrow will be warmer. We were very annoyed as by the time we had gone from Oklahoma City to the Missouri border we had paid $33.50 in tolls, we certainly will think twice about going this way again.
We arrived in Branson about 4 and are staying at the Branson Ozark Country Park, it is a Passport America park and seems quite nice and is only $15/night. I got a lot of information on shows when we arrived and went back to the office and booked Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner & Show for tomorrow night and will go back in the morning and see if I can book Cirque for while we are here. John doesn’t really seem too interested in the shows but hopefully he will enjoy them when he gets there. I just can’t see coming here without taking in a show or two.
The park has free wi-fi but it seems to come and go which is a bit frustrating but as long as it is free I guess I can’t complain too loudly.
We arrived in Branson about 4 and are staying at the Branson Ozark Country Park, it is a Passport America park and seems quite nice and is only $15/night. I got a lot of information on shows when we arrived and went back to the office and booked Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede Dinner & Show for tomorrow night and will go back in the morning and see if I can book Cirque for while we are here. John doesn’t really seem too interested in the shows but hopefully he will enjoy them when he gets there. I just can’t see coming here without taking in a show or two.
The park has free wi-fi but it seems to come and go which is a bit frustrating but as long as it is free I guess I can’t complain too loudly.
Tuesday – April 25 – Go figure, after I went to the office yesterday and got logged on I came back and got the internet just fine in the trailer. I checked the e-mail before we left this morning and there was nothing. Today was very windy and cold, the temperature dropped over 60 degrees over night and was only in the low 30’s when we got up. It warmed up to about 60 during the day, but the wind was cold all day. We drove to Chandler, Oklahoma which is about 30 miles east of Oklahoma City, altogether just over 300 miles. It was a good drive, but mostly plains, lots of cattle, a few cotton fields, and other farming operations. We also went by the huge windmill operations near Weatherhead today and there sure are a lot of windmills.
The park tonight is not fancy, it is a Passport America park and only $9/night so we can’t argue with the price. Tomorrow we are heading to Branson and plan on spending a few days there.
I keep forgetting to mention that when we were at the park in Albuquerque John was talking to Amy, the manager, and mentioned that we had been there in January and she said she remembered us as we had “such a purty trailer”.
The park tonight is not fancy, it is a Passport America park and only $9/night so we can’t argue with the price. Tomorrow we are heading to Branson and plan on spending a few days there.
I keep forgetting to mention that when we were at the park in Albuquerque John was talking to Amy, the manager, and mentioned that we had been there in January and she said she remembered us as we had “such a purty trailer”.
Monday – April 24 – We did not get any rain or thunderstorms last night, so were lucky as from the sounds of the news it just missed us. Today was another sunny, hot day, in the mid 80’s so not as hot as yesterday.
We went to Palo Duro Canyon today and it was lovely. It is not as deep or as large as the Grand Canyon but is very nice with lots of interesting rock formations and colours. We were thinking of staying there but I couldn’t find too much on their campground on the internet so we decided to stay in Amarillo and just drive out to the canyon and that turned out to be a good thing. When we got there we saw a sign saying 10% grade for 2 miles and it was a very steep, windy road down to the bottom of the canyon where the campgrounds are. Also, the sights looked a little small for our trailer, so we were very glad we hadn’t decided to stay there. It is interesting driving out to the canyon as the area is very flat, you can see for miles, it reminded us of around Sarnia, then all of a sudden there is this large canyon. There were some very large looking cattle ranches with beautiful homes so I presume the cattle industry is a very prosperous industry.
After the canyon we came back and toured around Amarillo for a bit, it is a very large city and busy, there are lots of stores, restaurants, etc. here so no lack of shopping, eating or places to stay. We also saw a first in four months – a cemetery with grass!!
I can’t log onto the internet from the trailer so will have to pack up and go over to the office (or clubhouse) to use it. I will just download some of my pictures now so I can post a couple and not wait for John’s.
We went to Palo Duro Canyon today and it was lovely. It is not as deep or as large as the Grand Canyon but is very nice with lots of interesting rock formations and colours. We were thinking of staying there but I couldn’t find too much on their campground on the internet so we decided to stay in Amarillo and just drive out to the canyon and that turned out to be a good thing. When we got there we saw a sign saying 10% grade for 2 miles and it was a very steep, windy road down to the bottom of the canyon where the campgrounds are. Also, the sights looked a little small for our trailer, so we were very glad we hadn’t decided to stay there. It is interesting driving out to the canyon as the area is very flat, you can see for miles, it reminded us of around Sarnia, then all of a sudden there is this large canyon. There were some very large looking cattle ranches with beautiful homes so I presume the cattle industry is a very prosperous industry.
After the canyon we came back and toured around Amarillo for a bit, it is a very large city and busy, there are lots of stores, restaurants, etc. here so no lack of shopping, eating or places to stay. We also saw a first in four months – a cemetery with grass!!
I can’t log onto the internet from the trailer so will have to pack up and go over to the office (or clubhouse) to use it. I will just download some of my pictures now so I can post a couple and not wait for John’s.
Sunday – April 23 – Wow, what a hot day, it was over 90 most of the day and very hot driving. We changed time zones again, we are now in the Central Time Zone so it is only an hour difference from home. We arrived in Amarillo, Texas about 4:00 their time and are staying at the Sunset RV Park, it is $16.20/night with full hookups and free internet, the only trouble is that we can’t get connected in the trailer so will have to go to the office to use it. It is now 8:15 and is still about 85 degrees, there are severe thunderstorm warnings out so we are watching the sky. We can see a very dark cloud but it seems to be passing us by, hopefully it will stay that way. They are calling for much cooler weather tomorrow, apparently this heat is not common for here at this time of year. It looks like there could be a nice sunset tonight, will have to keep an eye on it.
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