#39 Branson, MO 11-5 thru 14-08

Another show we went to see was The Osmond's with a tribute to Broadway. We couldn't take pictures, but here is the playbill that was on the stage before the show.

Then the weather turned really, really cold. So we put on all our winter weather clothes and headed to Silver Dollar City to see the Christmas lights, and the shows. It was so cold we didn't walk around too much, but we did stay to see the lighting of the Christmas Tree. It is all digital lights and changes colors to music. All the trees and buildings in the park have lights on them. Over 6 million lights! They have a light parade twice a night, so we had to see that, too. Then we headed for the car and turned on the heat full blast! It got down in the 30's at night and one night we had to unhook our water hose so it wouldn't freeze, below 30 that night.

While we were at Silver Dollar City we saw the musical production of Dickens Christmas Carol. It was as good as plays on Broadway. We were very impressed.This year we made it to Dick Clark's 57 Theater. Before the show we went downstairs and went through the '57 museum of cars. It is spectacular. This is a 57 Dodge, Lancer. I remember this car from when I was in High School. Only the one I remember wasn't a convertible. Oh my, that really dates me!!

Paul Revere and the Raiders performed at the Dick Clark, Theater. What energy.

And we got to see Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers. He performed the old songs and then brought on his two children who are very talented. We both enjoyed the show.

I felt that I was blessed to get together with my high school friend, Judy. She drove over from Kansas and stayed in her daughter's condo. We got to spend one full day together and another part of a day. It was just like old times. She hasn't changed at all. Still sweet and fun.

#38 Branson, MO 10-29 thru 11-14-08

We arrived in Branson and met up with our friends, Don and Alice. We always have so much fun in Branson.
The weather was beautiful the first few days we were there. One of the first things we did was ride the Ducks. Below is Frank with his quacker, which we are told to blow when ever we see another Duck!The trees were beautiful. The leaves had started to turn colors and while riding the Ducks we drove through the woods and hills around Branson.We go from land to water in the Ducks. This picture was taken from one of the hill tops looking down on Table Rock Lake. This is the Lake we take our "boat" ride on.One of the first shows we saw this year was the Andy Williams Christmas Show. He will be taking a year off and promoting his new book next season, so we were anxious to see his show. He is amazing. He is over 80 years old and I don't think he was off the stage more than 10-15 minutes the entire show.

Veteran's Day is celebrated all week, the week of Nov. 11th. The first program was a double amputee parachuting down in front of "The Mansion" theatre where all the Vets and families are treated to a free show with many of the entertainers in Branson performing free for a few minutes. The Oak Ridge boys, Kim Barber, Bobby Vinton, Barbara Fairchild, Deana Martin and Yakov Smirnoff were just some of the performers. It was a wonderful show and very well done.


The parachute jumper gave a very nice patriotic talk, before the show. Then he flew off to jump again in Oregon the next day. Amazing story.

#37 Ash Grove & Langleys 10-26 thru 28 2008

From Union City we drove to Springfield, MO. We spent a couple of days in Springfield and drove to Ash Grove and visited with friends, Allan and Dee Sanders. We drove around their acreage and cut a lot of "walking stick" wood. Then for dinner we drove to Ozark and went to the famous Langley's, home of the "throwed" roll. We have been there once before with Allan and Dee last year. It is so good that we wanted to go back. This is one of the guys who throws the hot rolls. We also get as much fried okra, black eyed peas, macaroni and tomatoes, home fries with our main meal. It is a real experience to eat there.
After we left Springfield, we drove to Branson.

#36 Union City TN, week of 9-29 thru 10-8-2008

While we were in TN, we stayed at AAA RV Park in Union City. There weren't any parks closer to Martin. Boy, did we luck out! The owner of the park is Bill Autry (he says he's cousin to Gene Autry, and he is sticking to that story!), and his wife Shirley. Together with their daughter Beth and son Billy, they run the park and have a dirt business. I think he just likes to play with his track hoe and tractor and dump truck! The second night we were there we were invited to a old fashioned bar-b-que, along with the rest of the park residents. There are only 21 spaces in the park and lots of the spaces are people who stay for weeks at a time before moving on to another job. Bill really took us under his wing and showed us the sights of Union City. He grew up in Union City and has so many stories to tell about the people and their successes. The morning after the Bar-B-Que (which was cooked by a competition bar-b-que cook), Bill stopped by the RV and took us out to breakfast. We were regaled by stories about the folks who frequent the cafe, and then Bill drove us around the area and gave us a history lesson on different businesses that have been started and became successful right there in Union City. We found out about the man who invented the "stone washed" process for jeans. He holds the patent on the process and any of the major blue jean manufactures that want to use that process have to send their jeans to Union City. This man started out as a linen supplier for uniforms. He is now a multimillionaire.
Then on another day we took Bill to the "Snappy Tomato" pizza place for lunch. He had told us about this place that makes unusual pizza. And boy are they unusual. Ever heard of a cheese burger pizza?, how about a hot wing pizza, and to top it off he makes a killer chocolate pizza with Bavarian cream filling and chocolate chips, as well as a apple cream pizza and a cherry cream pizza. And boy are they good! We met the owner/operator and he is just a country boy, and any friend of Bill's is a friend of his.

Above is a picture of part of the collection of autos-mostly Fords, that the owner of the Dixie Gun Works has in his museum. For a nominal charge of $2.00 each we could spend as much time as we wanted looking at his collection. Not only were there cars, but there was a carnival popcorn wagon that was powered by a steam engine, an old Whippet car, which is the forerunner of the Jeep, canoes, and the old time bicycles with the big front wheels.

The picture above is a replica of an old gun shop. All the tools and grinders and old barrels are in there. A person who knew what he was doing could walk right in and start repairing old guns and even manufacturing some. It was really cool, with labels on the equipment so you could see what they were used for.

I was fascinated by this mail delivery truck. For traveling in the hilly country when there was snow on the road, the truck had tracks onthe rear tires. Looks to me like it would be mighty cold work!

Ahh, I remember the Edsel. This car was supposed to really boost the sales at Ford. I remember when it first came out. It was really cool looking.

If you look on the walls above the Edsel you will see all kinds of parts hanging, both from the ceiling and from the walls. The entire room is just covered with all kinds of parts. Wheels, hub caps, fenders in their original boxes and all kinds of hood ornaments. The owners of the Dixie Gun Works put up discriptions of the cars, where they acquired, how much the paid for them and when they were aquired. This was all very interesting.

Out in the main store is where the guns and accessories are sold. Most of their business is mail order and they have a huge catalogue and are known world wide. If you would like to by a suit of armor, they have a couple for sale. There are some cannons, and lots of Civil War replicas. This was another Union City business I'd never heard of.

We were both unaware that Goodyear tires are made in Union City. The plant here employes almost 3,000 people. It is a hugh operation.

Another business in this area is "Kirklands," which is a big import business in home decorations. It was started by a couple of brothers that grew up in Union City. All their imports are personally selected by one of the brothers, who goes to China and other foreign countries to pick out their products. Bill Autry hung out with their younger brother when he was in grade school.

Who would have thought that the little town of Union City could hide such stories?

We were ready to hit the road after all our visiting, but sad to say good by.

Next stop-Branson, MO.