Branson Trip

The trip to Branson was very nice. The weather was perfect in the 70's or high 60's - clear blue with no gusting wind.  The place we stayed was very nice - Big Cedar Lodge, which belongs to Bass Pro. The drive to Missouri was gorgeous.  We took lots of back roads and did lots of exploring.  You know how I love mountains. These, of course, were nothing like the Rockies, but they were beautiful in their own way.  While winding around some backroads in Arkansas, we found this little "artisan" place. Well, there was very little art there and lots of curios.  I kept looking for a two-headed snake in a jar, but was disappointed - disappointed in the lack of art too, but the scenery was nice.
 We stopped for a couple of hours in Eureka Springs. That's a place where I could do a bit more exploring, although things seemed a bit pricey. Still, it was a neat place with its old buildings and fun stores.  We eventually meandered into Branson to find the hotel where where we had been directed to go to. Branson traffic is not fun. Then it turned out that they did not send the right email, and we had to drive back 15 miles to a place we had passed coming in to Branson. Nice. We had to drive back through the traffic, but it was good to be outside the hustle and bustle of Branson. Big Cedar was a very nice place on the lake.View from our room . Our room was comfy and very nice in a Bass Pro sort of way. If you do not like stuffed animals, antlers, or pelts, this would not be the place for you. That evening we ate at the restaurant on the premises. It was excellent, but pricey. We shared a bottle of wine with dinner. Then walked around the resort
Practiced our self portraits. And came back to the bar to set outside for a beer.  Very nice day.

Our lodge was on the side of the hill with the restaurant and other facilities at the bottom of the hill. We definitely got a workout while we were there. In fact, after a large wonderful breakfast, we went for a hike on the nature trail  - climbed a mountain is more like it.  The resort had all sorts of paved walk-ways, but no, we take a mountain trail up the side of the mountain. Practicing the portrait thang on the hike - Toby's arms are longer. It was beautiful up in the mountains reminding me of Red River, and okay, it was fun. I like hiking, but my legs were sore and needing a little nap when we got down. I also needed a burger. After being on this diet for a month and half, a burger was a big cheat. After that hike, it didn't really matter.  We went into town and ate at Fuddruckers. When we got back to the resort, we did some canoeing, and we were still married after getting out of the canoe. Sometimes paddling together can cause discord, but we had fun and worked our arms out. Now we were sore all over. We looked online for a different place to eat rather than the pricey, limited menu at the resort. Although we drove all over Branson, we never found the place, so we just ate in town. It was mediocre at best, but we were hungry by then.  When we got back to the room, we filled the jacuzzi and soaked our sore muscles. It was a nice end to the day.

Monday morning we ate the great breakfast again and headed to the high pressured sales meeting. We had a cute young lady for our sales person. She did a great job - friendly, knowledgeable, showed us around, etc.
The places to stay are very nice. The timeshare thang sounds great, but we said no to the whole enchilada. Our sales lady said goodbye and we hit the road.  We went home much faster than we did going up.  Our biggest excitement on the trip home was in Fayetteville.  While driving around looking for a place to eat lunch a young man riding a crotch-rocket fell over in front of us. Apparently his chain had come off, and his motorcycle came to a quick stop. He was not hurt. Toby helped him get his cycle out of the road and then helped get the chain back on.  It was obvious to me that the kid did not know much about his bike. Toby to the rescue!

When we got home, Jesse had supper ready. That was nice of her. She is home from school for the summer, although she will work and has a few trips planned. Also, she had managed to put a dent in Toby's truck while we were gone. It was a long story - kind of funny - kind of not - typical Jes. These things happen. 

Now it is back to the routine.  The tutoree  came and we did some school. We are taking the ITBS test this week. Art girls came in the afternoon. Toby went to work. Jesse cleaned her room. It is always good to be home.