Did I mention that when we were in the Kansas City area my dad, Floyd, fell ill. He was admitted to the hospital in Independence with pneumonia. He was release nine days later needing oxygen at least for a week or week and a half. Before he was released Louise and I discussed what our options were - go back to Denver and hunker down for the winter (probably renting a small apartment and storing the trailer), or, shortening our trip by heading due south to the gulf coast of Texas and then go back to Denver when it warmed up, or, continue our planned trip. Well, we decided to hang around Kansas City and give a few days for dad to strengthen first. If he had marked improvement we would then continue on. Fortunate for all concerned, he improved quite rapidly and a doctor follow-up gave him a clean bill of health! So, off we ventured, destination Branson, Missouri. I have never been there, heard about it (from friends and wife, Louise) and I wanted to experience it myself. Branson is located in the west part of the Ozark Moutains, riddled with streams, occasional lakes and lots of hills, and more hills.
We stayed at the Pea Patch RV, a smaller RV park maybe 500 feet of the main street. Branson boast over 50 entertainment shows every day of the week. We selected two shows, one staring mimics of great, Elvis, Tammy Wynett, and Garth Brooks. The other show was put on by a family of four, all very talented in dance, song and general audience allure. We also spent a day at Silver Dollar City, shopped, ate and took in an old time bar musical.
Pea Patch was run by a very warm and inviting couple, who, for the most part prepared a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings and pie, for RV park guests. It was one of the more unique Thanksgiving weekends we all had individually experienced. And for you travelers, off-season has it's advantages economically, with the nightly fee reduced at least $15 off the in-season price. Show discounts also seem to be steeply reduced. For some reason I didn't take pictures of the town. I intended to, particularly one scene, the reenactment of the famous King Kong movie scene; a building with miniature skyscrapers and the monster size gorilla, King Kong, holding the bi-wing plane while hanging onto the top of one of the skyscrapers. I even saw life reindeer out in front of the Titanic museum, built as a scale-down front half of the famous ill-fated cruise liner. For Sunday church, Louise and I went to a Cowboy Church on the main drag. Dad decided to rest. We were treated to more country cowboy music with a mix of Christian teaching.
Well after a few days of all that excitement, we head east, stopping at West Plains, Missouri one night. West Plains and the Richards family has a short history together, very short. About 28 years ago, Louise and I and our fourth child, Kristin, traveled to West Plains with interest in the possibility of moving into the area. I had had a job interview set up with a pastor of one of their churches. He was looking for a youth pastor, part-time. When we were there we also looking into the possibility of purchasing a Christian bookstore. Fortunately, our hearts and minds led us to decide we were not going to move our young family of four children to Missouri. Well, we said our "goodbyes" to West Plains and proceeded south east to Memphis, Tennessee. This was a large metro area that we could dispense with the oxygen tanks and the oxygen concentrator that dad had, but was no longer using.
On our way to Memphis we enter Arkansas and we were delighted by being greeted by Mammoth Spring, Arkansas; the "instant" river flows at a rate of over 9 million gallons per hour.
As soon as we could drop of the equipment, we headed out of the city, electing not to stay and see Elvis's estate. What we soon experienced, that took us through the entire length of Tennessee and most of North Carolina, were scenic settings, wood, farms, cute properties and estates of every shape and size. We stopped at one town, Hardy, to look at some of its antique shops, get a bite to eat and have my dad get a hair cut at an old timers barber shop. We happened upon the Shiloh National Military Park, just outside of Shiloh, Tennessee and even the National Bird Dog Museum. There seems to be a museum for just about everything.
We also visited the Tennessee River Museum that spoke to its history with native tribes, tribal mounds in the area, its commerce and also the use of it during the Civil War. As we traveled to eastern Tennessee, we enter the Blue Ridge Mountain (for a few days), then proceeded to Asheville, North Carolina, the southern portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains Parkway and visited the Eastern Tennessee Craft Guild museum and shop. Well, I skipped over a bunch and now it is time to show the pictures with short titles. I hope you gain the flavor of the experience...
A solemn place, a place to reflect. The tall grave stones are known and named soldiers, the short ones are unknown and only cataloged by number. Many a brave soldier fallen, but not forgotten.
Next posting will bring us to Gatlinburg and the Great Smokey Mountains. I think you will enjoy the pictures I took of the many historic buildings in the park and the beautiful sights we experienced. No wonder it is such a well traveler park.
The Korean War Vet, Floyd, giving honor at the site of battle
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