May 8, 2024
Today is Wednesday. Starting tomorrow a family will start to come into the Inn. They have rented out the entire Inn, all seven rooms, and the Cottage. They are not requiring any of our services. They will be cooking their own meals. That means we have 5 days off. So we decided that we would take a short trip up to Branson, MO. Its only a little over 2 hours from here. But first Nancy has a doctor’s appointment. She has been having some trouble with her knee. She made an appointment with the same doctor who took care of me. So we have left Ashes and Bree at home and Jessica will be coming to take care of them a couple times a day.
So last night we realized that we did not have a small bag to pack. We brought one but it is still in our RV which is in Conway. So I had to run to Walmart to pick up one that was on sale. Then we packed and this morning we loaded the truck. Not only did we have our one bag for clothes, we always travel with our pillows and then we always take a shoe bag. Finally loaded we head to Mountain Home. Nancy got a shot in her knee and was feeling better when we left the doctor’s office. She decided it was time to get my hair cut and beard trimmed. She located a barber shop nearby and made an appointment for me. In that shopping center was also a hair salon so she got her hair cut also. What a way to start a vacation.
We plotted a course for Branson. We did very little planning. We spent a few hours last night looking for a motel. After some more searching, Nancy called a Quality Inn and made a reservation for 2 nights for us. Once we hit town, we just drove through downtown and scoped things out. We have been told about several things to see and do. We passed a Visitor’s Center in downtown Branson so I dropped Nancy off and I found a place to park. We wound up getting some discount tickets to two attractions and three shows. The first show is tonight.
After we got our tickets for our stay we found our motel and checked in and found our room. We rested a little after unpacking the truck. Next decision is where to eat dinner. We settled on Big D’s BBQ. The food was very good. After filling up we decided to check out the dispensary across the street.
Arkansas has legal medical marijuana but not recreational. Missouri has both. It was a very nice shop and they actually take debit cards here. In Arizona and Colorado, they did not. Each state is different and it’s interesting to see how each state works. While we were in the dispensary, a very strong thunderstorm rolled through so I had to run through pouring rain to get the truck to pick Nancy up at the door. We left the dispensary and went to the Pierce Arrow Theater. The show we will be seeing is called Decades. It features a little bit of comedy and the music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The show was awesome. I always thought of Branson as a tourist trap. It does remind me a lot of Myrtle Beach with all the shows available. I’m glad we went to Branson and I’m glad we are close enough to come back. There are still a couple of shows I want to see. Back to the motel for some sleep.
