The Dick Clark American Bandstand Theater

The Dick Clark American Bandstand Theater

Branson, Missouri                     High 75 Low 66

The TV last night said that this part of the country has been going through a drought. Well, not any more. The prediction for today is heavy rain all day and tonight until at least 7 AM tomorrow. There are flash flood warnings all over the state.

Yesterday we went to see the show Legends in Concert. It consisted of various entertainers dressed like various famous singers.

We especially liked all the memorabilia in the lobby and seeing some of the contracts the singers had with Dick Clark. One of them only got $110.00 to perform on American Bandstand back in 1958. By 1975 the fee had gone up to $371.00. I’m afraid I don’t see any of today entertainers working for such a small amount, but maybe they were on American Bandstand before they were rich and famous.

The singers were very good although I hadn’t heard some of the originals. At the end of the show one announcement said that the Elvis impersonator was the world champion Elvis impersonator and he sounded just like Elvis when he sang. The others were good, but I wasn’t as familiar with their singing as I was with some of Elvis’ songs.

Sorry that some of these pictures are not very clear, but it was hard to get any better when they are moving around and we couldn't use flash.

We had an enjoyable afternoon and are going to see one more attraction today before we leave Branson.

Thanks for visiting.

Branson Show

Branson, Missouri                   High 81 Low 72

We had a good Fourth of July and hope each of you did also. The weather yesterday was excellent.

We had nice weather today until about 3:00 then it got cloudy and we had hard rain for a while.

Yesterday morning we went to a store called Kringles. It specializes in Christmas things, and they have a lot of unique things. Cindy got some ideas of new ways to decorate for Christmas. They also have another store that specializes in Department 56 decorations.

There is lots of traffic in Branson. There are lots of different Theaters and museum. The whole town is geared towards tourism. We were told they get 4 or 5 million visitors each year.

Last night we went to see the Haygoods. They are a family of 5 brothers and one sister singers. They are very good. They told us they have been in Branson since 1993. The oldest is 36 years old, so that means they started entertaining when he was 13 years old. He told us some of his brothers were only 4 years old when they started. They claim to be the longest running single family group in Branson.

We got to watch some fireworks on the way to the RV Park,, and the noise from them kept Cindy awake until after 2:00 AM.

We have more tickets to another show tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

We Are in Branson

Branson, Missouri                            High 81 Low 64

We drove from Independence to Branson yesterday. We had no problems until we actually got to Branson. The first problem was I had to make a right turn without enough room to make the turn. We were so afraid of the tight turn, that Cindy got out to watch the tail swing on the trailer. Then I had to have 2 cars turning left back up enough to let me take their lane to make my turn. Today, when we drove past the corner, we could see where large trucks and motorhomes had hit the light pole making the turn. There are big chunks of the concrete base missing and paint all over what is left.

We are staying at Holiday Hills Resort. Getting registered was an experience by itself, narrow roads and no place to park, in spite of going the way the signs told me to. I ran over more curbs with the trailer than I have for a long time. After we got registered and had our site assigned, I had to go back out the narrow roads to get to the RV Park. The road leading to the RV Park was not RV friendly with very narrow roads. The road they told me to go to get to our side required 4 wheel drive, it was so steep. Then the site was too short and very unlevel. When I was assigned, I was told that if for any reason I couldn’t use the site, to go ahead and find another and let them know. There were several nice long level sites and I was able to back into one of them.

We went into Old Branson after we got set up. We checked out Dick’s 5 and 10 and a little store selling Victorian dolls and all things Victorian.

Every thing in the store looked Victorian. The owner told us some of the things are built there.

 We also saw this chicken place.

Last evening, for a while, it rained really hard for a while. The gravel roads that had been worked on recently, got washed down the hill, with mud and gravel ending up in the Parking lot on the downhill side of the RV Park. Thunder showers are predicted for the whole time we will be here.

After getting set up, the site is really nice. They are nice and long and really wide. The RV Park has about 30 sites and there are only 5 RVs in it. I kind of like the RV Park, but I don’t know if the stress to get here was worth it. It was the only Park we could get for the Fourth, so we didn’t really have any choice. I probably wouldn’t stay here another time.

This freshly graded road is the one I tore up getting the trailer into, and when we came back the parking lot below was covered with mud.

Nice wide pull through site!

Today we went to see Spirit of the Dance. It is by the Irish Dancers and we enjoyed the show.

Some of the dancers after the show.

Thanks for visiting.

Why We Came to Kansas City

Independence, Missouri                High 82 Low 68

It rained most of the night. Today is cooler than yesterday but the humidity is way up and it still feels hot to us.

Yesterday we went to see Rod Ivers. When we were in Arizona last winter, Rod asked us if we would like some of Loyce’s material. He said he would rather have it go to someone he knew, rather than give it to Goodwill. Loyce’s sister already got some of it, but there was a lot left. Cindy was having a good time seeing what was there.

We ended up getting about as much material in our truck as we had room for. Cindy was very appreciative of Rod’s generosity. She was like a kid in a candy store. We spent a lot of today sorting it and storing it in the truck and trailer. She says she doesn’t need (?) to go to any quilt stores the rest of this trip. She told me to tell Rod thanks again.

Before we left home, I put a box in the back of the truck which has been empty until now…….No More. It is full of material. We had to go to Walmart to get some storage boxes to have some where to put some more of it.

Penny got to meet Biscuit and had a good time running around Rod’s home chasing with Biscuit.

We didn’t have time to do the Arabia Museum, so we went quickly to the Hallmark Visitor’s Center. We learned some about the Hallmark Company and some of the things they do beside greeting cards. Cindy has a lot of Hallmark Ornaments, so it was fun to see some of the history. We also watched a short video about the Company.

Cindy with Maxine.

Tomorrow we leave here for Branson to relax for a while. We have been in 5 states and 1 province in the last 6 day. It really seems like a lot of driving and I, for one, am tired. We wanted to get here before Rod left for the long weekend with his kids for the Fourth. We also have been afraid our daughter was going to move and we would have to get home, but her deal on a house fell through, so we can relax for now.

Thanks for visiting.