Finishing up Branson

Our last week in Branson was actually quite busy.  We had a quiet weekend and celebrated our anniversary on Sunday by eating out and attending a show put on by Dailey and Vincent.  It was a great show by a great bluegrass group.  They recognized us during the show and sang a song (My Only Love) during the performance in our honor.  Afterwards they gave Beverly a T-shirt and CD (which contains the song) for being at the show and liking their Facebook page.  We had a great time and capped off our perfect day.

Dailey and Vincent show, snowing inside the theatre

We received several free show tickets from our campground hosts and decided to fill up our remaining time in Branson with shows and performances.  Monday we ate with the Chuckwagon gang out at Shepherd of the Hills.  They cook the old-time chuckwagon meal right on the premises and then provide entertainment ala cowboys around the campfire at Christmas.  They told stories, jokes and sang songs as would have happened in days gone by.  The food was good and the time passed fast.

Afterwards we headed over the Hughes Brothers’ Theatre to see the Hughes Brothers and their families in a Christmas show.  It was a variety type show, similar to the Andy Williams shows on TV in years past.  They featured their entire families which included 35 children varying in age from early 20s to just a few months old.  At the end, they had a story about the symbols and colors of Christmas and how they all point to Christ.  A very entertaining group, with a lot of mouths to feed, that put on a great feel good show.

On Tuesday, we headed over to the Little Opry Theatre for a Sanders Family Christmas.  This is the sequel to Smoke on the Mountain.  The theatre is small and was not very full.  The audience was enthusiastic and would interact with the performers which made for a great evening of fun for all.  This particular cast was very entertaining to the point that we would actually go back to see them again.  Little June was a hoot.

The Sanders Family is a group of singers performing their annual Christmas presentation for the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church but poor Little June does not have a singing voice.  She instead ‘signs’ the songs for the audience, even though there are no deaf folks in the congregation.  Her signs are a combination of real sign language and her own interpretation of an appropriate sign to use.  She also has a ‘key’ role in a particular song using bells as you see from the picture below, she did not have enough hands to ring all the required notes so she improvised her own method of ringing the bells.

Lil' June displaying her bell ringing cleverness

We also enjoyed a dinner show at Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede.  You get a full meal to eat but no utensils to eat them with so a different experience for sure.  During the meal, the waitress tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I wanted to 'participate' in the show.  I being the gullible, likable person I am shook my head yes between bites of chicken.  Little did I know it was a competition and I was representing my side of the arena in a battle of horseshoes.  Not just any kind of horseshoes but Ozark style horseshoes.  You may not be able to tell from the picture below but the 'horseshoes' we are throwing are toilet seats.  Yes, but never used for their intended purpose toilet seats.  Alas, like Casey at Bat, I too failed to deliver the win for our side of the arena.  Close but not close enough.  I think I was distracted.

Ozark horseshoes, mine are red!

Having finished our ‘Christmas’ trip to Branson we headed back to Texas to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.  We also attended to some doctor appointments.  One thing led to another and we did not get to head out of state as soon as originally planned.  So we spent some time in and around North and East Texas.

Goodbye little yellow tree that is no longer yellow

This allowed us to catch up with friends and make new friends.  We met a wonderful couple from Canada.  We called them our Canadian neighbors (they literally were parked next door as neighbors) and we really enjoyed visiting with them during their brief stay.  We also caught back up with a high school friend and his wife that introduced us to a volunteer group.  Having a bit of time on our hands before actually hitting the road once again, we decided to join in and see if we could enjoy this activity.

The group we volunteered with is Texas Baptist Men Camp Builders.  It is one of several ‘builder’ groups with the Texas Baptist Men volunteer organization.  The organization also has other areas of volunteering under their umbrella with one being the well-known Disaster Relief group that springs into action when needed during and after a disaster.

The builder project we helped with was in Lone Star, Texas at Lakeview Baptist Encampment.  Each year the Texas camps schedule jobs with TBM and for three weeks the volunteers show up and work on whatever building project is underway.  This year the project(s) at Lakeview included renovating a worship/meeting center and upgrading bathrooms in an older dormitory.  Our traveling friends David and Sophie also joined in as first-time volunteers.

I can say we had a very good time and will definitely do more volunteering in the future.  However, the first week I truly wondered what I had got myself into.  All of my muscles were so sore and my body was so tired.  We quickly realized that not working (i.e. retirement) had allowed our bodies to atrophy and become accustomed to the easy life.  It did not take long to get back in shape but man oh man the aches and pains during the process.

The ladies were involved too.  Beverly and Sophie found themselves at the center of attention at the first break with the ladies.  When it was discovered both of them had given up the sticks and bricks for a life of full-timing in the RV, the ladies in the group peppered them with twenty thousand questions.  It seems they mostly wanted to know the mental process of being able to give up a fixed location and ‘material things’ to move into and enjoy a rather nomadic way of life.  Some of them even commented there was not any way they could fathom that as a possibility.  It seems there is a definite difference between how one gender views full-time RV living versus how the gentler gender feels about the lifestyle.

While the men were involved in painting, laying carpet, cutting and installing woodwork trim, taping and bedding, installing cement board, etc. the ladies were busy helping get things ready to sell in the gift shop.  They had small crafts to put together as well as some sewing.  Additionally there was a lot of packaging and pricing of a myriad of items for the gift shop.  There was plenty of work for everyone and the time just seemed to fly by.  Before we knew it the end of the session was here and it was time to say ‘see you down the road’ as we left.  They never say goodbye, only see you later.  The Camp Builder motto is: “come when you can, do what you can, stay as long as you can and we’ll see you down the road.”   These are my kind of folks!!!

We have enjoyed several rousing games of '42', Phase 10 and miscellaneous others during our recent sojourn. After spending some of our time watching several volleyball, basketball and baseball games the grandchildren were involved in and finishing the doctor appointments we have ‘officially’ hit the road again.  Stay tuned for the next installment on our adventures.