On the Road Again 2018

On the Road Again 

Trip Report #1

Autumn 2018 ~ On the road again … traveling the byways of this marvelous country. 

• We’ve explored the North West part of North American in 2015 traveling through Canada via Banff/Jasper to the Alcan Highway all the way north to Chicken on the Top of the World Highway then west to Alaska.  (See our 2015 entries to this blog.)
• Then in 2016, we traveled to the opposite end of the continent … the North East … goal Newfoundland/Nova Scotia and all the Maritimes.
• In 2017 there were a number of short trips that included the Total Solar Eclipse, which we caught in east Oregon; then exploring Oregon and Nevada.

This year, 2018, we head through the center of the U.S then to the South East corner. This map is our tentative route. However, as we prefer local roads (blue highways) rather than interstate highways, there will be a number of deviations and tangents and wanderings. So enjoy our blog and feel free to comment, especially if you have any suggestions for “not to miss” sights.

Missouri

Top priority – grandchildren Duncan and Rowan. Labor Day weekend spending time with grandsons in Kansas City,MO. Leaving reluctantly on Monday and heading south to Branson. A bucket list place to visit. No … not on our tentative map, it is our first tangential excursion. The Ozarks are just gorgeous! Each part of this county offers unique landscapes. This one is rolling, rolling and more rolling hills with thick forests in all directions. The first thing we noticed is the traffic ... going the other way. As retirees we get to choose when we travel. This picture reveals traffic leaving Branson. I bet Branson was unbearably crowded labor day weekend.

We found a spot at Table Rock State Park and we are pleased with this place. It is our experience that state, city and county parks are the best places to stay. Non-commercial and inexpensive. $20 a night with hot showers and large spaces to stay.

The lake is just beyond the trees in this picture of our campsite. The state park also has a 2.5-mile hike/bike trail along the shore of the lake, ending at Table Rock Dam … which we rode the first day there.  The state park wraps around this spit of land with boat docks and trails all about. The Table Rock Lakeshore trail in the picture shows the blue dot at right bottom of our campsite and the happy face the dam with the visitor center.  The trail is along the white lake border.

This dam and the other four dams on the system created a serpentine series of lakes filling the valleys all around … preventing flooding and providing hydropower for the entire region. The park is a ten-minute drive from Branson.

Branson

Branson is an entertainment city that we expected to be like Vegas. Nope. Branson does have over 100 musical reviews, theaters and rides. However, God and country are paramount here. Very conservative city. We found that the musical theaters do not sell alcohol. All the shows include, in addition to their show, a moment to honor God, a tribute to veterans and the U.S. and sales pitches for their CD's and books.
We attended three shows. The first one was on the Showboat Branson Belle, a paddle wheeler that traveled around the Taneycomo Lake while serving a great dinner and an awesome musical review. The very talented and energetic dancers and singers belted out music from at least 10 different genres. All very wonderful.  

The second one was at the IMAX with a story of the history and origin of one of the families that settled the Ozark area around Branson in the early 1800’s. The third one was the original musical review that started the whole Branson entertainment phenomena in 1959, the Baldknobbers. It was very good and covered all types of country music and very respectful of God and country.  No alcohol available at any of the venues. However Walmart sells hard liquor … ironic. There is a lot more to see and do and go to … the titanic and Imax shows and roller coasters and the amusement park Silver Dollar City and much more, but we thought 4 days was enough.

 

More Missouri

We left Branson and our friend King Kong here, heading northeast skipping the highway and heading into part of the Mark Twain National Forest. This is the Ozarks! All those rolling hills and numerous valleys and rivers and lakes make for plenty uppy/downy, windy/roundy roads. Beautiful for sure, but after a couple hours we headed for a highway. The goal for tonight is south of St. Louis at the Mississippi River. Keeping to 330 miles or 3:30 p.m. and made it to a Cracker Barrel for Dinner and overnight by 5:30 p.m. Many thanks to our family for those Cracker Barrel gift cards and to Cracker Barrel for offering free overnight parking.