Branson, Sept.12

Another beautiful day in Missouri.  High temp today was 93 degrees. 

We started the day by driving across to the south side of Lake Taneycomo.  It looks more like a river than a lake to me but when in Missouri take them at their word.  I love the Missouri drawl and turn of phrase when they talk.  They all seem to come from a background of story telling because there doesn't seem to be a quick answer to a question---there is usually a great use of the language with an innuendo thrown in.  Hope that makes some kind of sense.

The pictures below were taken from a scenic view stop and are looking toward Branson.

Our next stop was at the Silver City dinner cruise site.  They have a full size Mississppi River boat that does dinner cruises with entertainment.  The lake in this area seems to be a great recreation area with state parks with campgrounds and lots of boats running around.

Just around the corner from the river boat was the Table Rock Dam that was built in 1957.  This dam is responsible for the lake and recreation area shown in the above pictures. 

We drove across the dam and back into Branson.  We decided to stop and do a tour of the Stone Hill Winery in Branson.  Apparently German people of Pennsylvannia came to a town named Herman north of Branson in the middle 1800's and started to grow grapes and then started a winery.  They did very well until Prohibition was institued during the 1930's.  After the Prohibition era they started the winery again and are doing very well.  Our tour guide Tony was quite the character and with his Missouri drawl and sense of humour he kept our tour group entertained.  His cousin worked in the winery as well and his name was Bobby Orr----not the hockey great as he looked more like Fabio than the great number 4 for Boston Bruins.

During the tour we went in a room where a person makes their spumante wines.  Now I know what Santa Claus does during the summer months.  He doesn't do any of the toy making at the North Pole at all.  He's enjoying nice weather in the hills of southern Missouri---who would have thought!!!!!

This gentleman explained the bottling process for spumante wine and had a very slow deliberate manner of speaking and a very quick wit and dry sense of humour.  We then went into the testing room and got to taste about 8 or 9 different wines.  It could have been more or less but after 4 I lost count due to the enjoyment of imbibing that much wine-----Al Tischer and Rick Rappel eat your hearts out!

By now it was time to return to the Colonnade where we are staying as they were having a free dinner and a variety of acts from the theatres in Branson.  This is a most unusual timeshare.  We get a free continental breakfast each morning of our stay which we have never had before in any of the places we have stayed.  The show lasted two hours and featured 15 different acts from the various venues.  What they are doing is showing you what is available.  The level of talent in this town is phenomenal (if I spelled this word incorrectly its because of the wine tour).  The show was hosted by a comedian named Harly Worthit.  He was absolutely hilarious.  Dennis-I know where you can get work if you get bored!!!!!!

We made the mistake of sitting close to the front and when he found out we were from Canada we then became the focus of many of his jokes.  If you're interested when we return home we will fill you in on the things he said.  Vicky lost most of her mascara from laughing at his jokes.

Now that I look at the picture we had taken with Harly I can see why our friend Dennis would do well in Branson,  you look a lot like Harly---but then again maybe it's the wine blurring my vision.  It does look like I've sniffed and drank a few too many wines.

Even though the performances were short they showed how talented the entertainers in this area are.  There are so many shows to choose from but you can't go wrong going to any of them.  They had draws for prizes throughout the evening and Vicky won a free ticket to one of the shows.  Tonight we're deciding which shows we'll take in over the rest of the week.

When driving down the strip and looking at the marques I was a bit dubious about the quality of the entertainment.  After our show tonight it seems like Branson has much talent entertaining.  They may not be the big name stars but they certainly seem extremely talented. 

Tomorrow the entertainment blitz will begin.

Branson, Missouri Sept11

Today was another beautiful sunny day in this part of the world.  The anniversary of 9/11 is very prominent on all the TV channels.  Hard to believe that 10 years have passed since that fateful day.

We went for a long walk this morning as we have not been doing enough walking for our health.  You can see from the following pictures that Branson is very much geared to the tourist industry and to the Boomer generation.

After our walk we decided to drive to Old Branson along the lake.  It again is very touristy but they have done a wonderful job of making it tourist friendly.  There are over 100 shops, restaurants, fountains and entertainment.

This is Dick's Five and Dime Store.  There was nothing for 5 or 10 cents in the store---how disappointing!!!

Vicky is standing by a fountain that is in the middle of the shopping area.

In the following picture it looks like a river in the background but they call it a lake.  It does open up farther west into what looks like a real lake.

Before leaving Old Branson we stopped at Waxy O'Shea's Irish Pub for a beer.  The young men at the next table were musicians or least budding musicians and they were practicing some songs. We had some impromptu entertainment.

Tomorrow the resort we are staying in is having a free dinner and entertainment for the guests.  The rest of the day hasn't been planned yet. 

Sat. Sept.10

Well, today was our last day on Route 66 before heading to Branson for a week.  We stayed in Springfield, Missouri last night and decided to look at some of the interesting things it had to offer. Our first stop was at the Pythian Mansion.  I have never heard of the Pythians before but it turns out they are a secret society similar to the Masons.  Dennis---I wonder if they have a famous secret handshake that we both know that the Mason's have.

Anyways, the Pythians apparently were a secret society that believed in doing good for the community.  They built this amazing building in Springfield in 1917 and used it to look after  orphans, sick people and the elderly.  We had a great tour guide to ourselves named Mia who was raised in Springfield and was very knowledgeable about the history of the building. 

The Pythian's owned the building until 1941 and because of twindling useage for orphans and sick people, the U.S. army wanted to buy it and built hospitals nearby to look after wounded soldiers from the war.  The army made many changes to the interior of the building.

After the war the army no longer needed the building and it went through a succession of owners and started to deteriorate.  In 2003 a woman and her daughters who lived in California and had done renovations to large mansions there, decided that they wanted to renovate a castle-like building and this one was on the market.  They bought it and have spent a lot of money restoring it.  It has a theater room,  a ballroom, and is still a work in progress.  Many people in Springfield use it to hold their wedding reception.  A couple getting married this fall were coming in as we were leaving to sign their contract.  They offered to take our picture.

Our tour guide had many interesting stories she had learned from some of the orphans that had lived in the castle. 

Our next stop was just north of Springfield.  The Fantastic Caverns.  Yes,  you're right---we did another tour of some caverns.

This tour was done by a motorized jeep with a trailer attached.  This cavern was quite a bit different than the Meramac Caverns we had seen earlier.  It is amazing that these caverns are privately owned and operated.  There are hundreds of them throughout Missouri. 

These caverns are truly amazing.  This tour took about an hour.  There are parts that are so large that they were used for entertainment.  Buck Owens and other famous country singers use to entertain in them.

After these two sites we were running out of time and headed for Branson.  Southern Missouri is very pretty with rolling hills and lots of forests.  Branson itself is quite unusual.  Think of the Las Vegas strip only with a narrower main road and wall to wall entertainment places, mini golf , places to eat etc.etc.etc.

Our time share exchange is just off the main road in the middle of the entertainment area which is great.  We are very pleased with our accommodation and look forward to being in one place for a week after 2 weeks of being on the move every day.

We went out after checking in and bought some groceries.  We are relaxing this evening.  Vicky is having a glass of wine and I'm having a black russian.  Life is good.  We hope everyone back home is doing well.  Al Tishcer-we hope your recovery is getting better everyday. 

We have WiFi access at the Colonnade where we are staying so if you want to send us an email we would love to hear from you.

Heike and Dirk---we are looking forward to hearing how the rest of your Route 66 trip is going.  Also we will note the places you recommend when we continue our Route 66 adventure next year.

Fri. Sept. 9

We started our day in Lebanon, Missouri.  Our first destination was to go see Munger Motel where our German friends Heike and Dirk had stayed last night. 

We then went to the Route 66 Museum at the Lebanon Public Library.  It was wonderfully done and we spent about 45 minutes there.

This room represents a typical motel room in the 50's except for the telephone exchange on the left side of the picture.

This is a typical 50's diner.

Our original plan was to go as far as Springfield, Missouri on Route 66 before going to Branson, Missouri for a week and then on the way back to Calgary we were going to finish the rest of Route 66 in Missouri and the 13 miles in Kansas.  However , today we had enough time to finish all the way to Kansas so we won't have to complete this year's trip on our way home. 
We really enjoyed our adventures today, especially when we happened to find our new German friends Heike and Dirk at one of the more interesting attractions along Rte. 66.  We also discovered today that we have something else in commnon with them.  We are both travelling with a blue smurf.  Now, you have to admit,  what are the odds of that happening?????   Dennis----I'm sure you'll have a comment about that!!!

At Paris Springs, Missouri we came across the Gay Parita Sinclair Station.  As we drove up we happened to recognize a car we had seen before.  Amazingly it was Heike and Dirk.  Again, what are the odds????  The present owner of this fabulous gas station is one of the most interesting "characters" we have met on our adventure.  His name is Gary Turner and his knowledge of Rte 66 knows no bounds and with his Missouri drawl he was an absolute pleasure to visit with.  He took quite a liking to Vicky because she thought all his jokes were hilarious and would laugh uncontrollably.  Gary thought she was absolutely delightful.

Gary put on his favorite Sinclair Oil hat for Vicky and let her make a phone call on his old crank phone.  He cranked it for a long time because he said that way Vicky could make a "long distance call".  Again Vicky laughed and Gary said "what a delightful gal".

Heike and Dirk talking with Gary. Gary is very intense in explaining different places on Rte. 66

While we were visiting here we made another amazing discovery.  A debate has been going on since Elvis died in August 1977 about whether he really died.  Well---the debate can now end.  As we were visiting with Gary a car pulled up and guess who got out and came to speak with Gary???  As the old saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words"--Look at the following picture and judge for yourself.

Gary asked us to move the corvette in front of the gas station and took some pictures of us and the car.  He want us to email the pictues to his son which we will do when we get back home.

We enjoyed our visit with Gary but finally said goodbye and chatted for a while with Heike and Dirk.  The next time we see our German friends we hope it will be in Calgary.  They are welcome to come and stay with us any time they can make it.  We suggest Stampede Week.

Along the way we came across Mater's cousin.  For those of you without grandchildren, Mater is the tow truck from the movie "Cars".  The following pictures are especially for our grandchildren, Isabella and Leif.  Soon after we took the picture below, we came across the real Mater in Galena, Kansas.

The story goes that some people from Disney had seen this old tow truck as they were conceiving the movie and based Mater on it.  You judge for yourself.

Vicky having a conversation with Mater about Isabella and Leif.

This tow truck has to be the real Mater because he has Lighning McQueen upholstery?????

We were ending our Kansas trip on the route at the Rainbow Arch Bridge when a giant came along and asked us if we wanted him to take our picture.  How can you argue with a giant????, so we agreed.  You can tell it was a giant by looking at his shadow in the picture.

We actually ended our journey in Baxter Springs, Kansas before we headed back to Springfield, Missouri for the night.  We made one last stop at a place that had been robbed by Jesse James in the 1800's.

Tomorrow we will tour some Rte 66 sites in Springfield before heading to Branson.

Thurs. Sept. 8/11

We started our day in Union, Missouri.  At breakfast we met 4 fellows from Austria that are travelling Rte 66 on motorcycles.  They had flown to Chicago and rented  Harleys and are going all the way to Santa Monica.  Two of the young guys were twins about 19 years old and their dad and a friend of their dad.  They knew a lot about 66.  They did a close examination of our corvette and were on their way.

  Our first stop of the day was at the Meramac Caverns.  We had barely parked the car when an Italian family took a fancey to the Corvette especially the licence plate.  They took some pictures and told us they had flown to Chicago and rented an SUV and were driving Rte 66 to Santa Monica.

 We thought we had seen a lot of exciting things up till now but the caverns has to be the highlight of our trip so far.

This is a barn advertising the Caverns

At the entrance to the tour of the caverns they have an old moonshine shack that was moved there from the backwoods.  You go through the caves in a group with a tour guide and it is fabulous.  We have never seen anything as fabulous as these caverns.

This array in the picture above is estimated to have taken 75 million years to form. 

The pictures do not do justice to the spectacular arrays of stalactites and stalagnites.  The tour guide would turn coloured lights on in various caverns which made the arrays even more spectacular.  These limestone caverns are found throughout this area.  At the entrance they have an underground ballroom that can hold up to 3000 people.  The Meramac Caverns were supposedly  used by the Jesse James gang as a hideout. 

We stopped in the town of Cuba to look at the Wagon Wheel Motel.  It is the oldest motel on Rte 66 that has been in continuous service since the 1930's.  The present owner bought it in 2009 and has spent a lot of money making it a class motel again.  We met her in the shop and she told us what she has done to get it up to scratch.  A lot of work and she said it is finally starting to pay off.

At one time there was also a gas station at the front of the motel.  The owner at the time decided to build a pit beside the station to change oil.  The present owner has moved an old car over the pit.  Looks like an early 50's Chev.

The outside of the motel has been kept to the same look that he had when it was first built.

We also found an old gas station in Cuba that had once been a Pontiac dealership as well.  It is no longer functioning but the family that owns it has decided to make it look good.

Cuba also had many murals depicting the history of the town

The mural below was taken at the site of the World's largest rocking chair.

Now that's a large rocking chair.  I also found something at this location  that I think I will invest in when I return to Calgary.  It  would be a great way for Vicky to work off her excess energy.

At the gift shop we saw a young couple but didn't talk with them.  Later in the day we would meet up with them on a few occasions.  The first time was when I took a wrong road and they followed us.  Later we ended up at the Devil's Elbow and started to talk about how at times it is easy to make wrong turns on the Mother Road.  We went in to the bar at Devil's Elbow and chatted over drinks.  Heike and Dirk are from Hanover Germany and they had flown to Chicago through Amersterdam and had rented a car to travel on Rte 66 to Santa Monica.  They have 4 weeks holidays and will have plenty of time to stop along the way.  Tonight they are staying at Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Ill.  Heike's parents stayed at that motel when they did the trip 14 years ago. 

After leaving Devil's Elbow all four of us ended going in the wrong direction.  After many miles we realized our mistake and turned around and headed for Lebanon.  Somewhere along the way we lost sight of Heike and Dirk.  They must have taken a different route than we did.  Our intention was to stay in Springfield, Missouri this evening but with the long detour we took and by the time we got back on track we ended up staying in Lebanon.  The good part about getting lost is that we saw a lot of the countryside.  The roads we travelled were very windy and had lots of dips and twists and turns.  It was fun to drive those kind of roads and it gave the Corvette a good road workout.  It passed with flying colours.  It was such a beautiful day that we travelled most of the day with the top down and had a real authentic Route 66 experience