This has been an incredibly blessed day for our family. Our beautiful Jenny "Bobo", graduated from college. Missing this precious moment was the main thing that worried us about this trip. Jenny graciously made us feel better. She told us we had always been there for her and she really thought we needed this trip. Today, using her cell phone, she sent us a video of herself in her chair during the ceremony, and those around her and whispered that she loved us. Didn't we do a great job raising her.
Okay, I already cried once today, on to the blog. We have gotten phone calls asking about what is going on with the blog. We enjoy knowing that y'all are enjoying it and miss it when I am lazy.
Branson and the Rally were fun. We met lots of great people and have received international (Canadian) invitations to visit and stay with some of them. We've even been offered a drive way in SF whenever we want to visit the city. There were almost 500 people at the Rally and about 250 Roadtreks. As you will see in the pics, I made Mickey's to put on ours so I would not get lost. That along with my Mickey Mouse Sweat shirt and crystal Mickey earrings from Joan got me a reputation in camp as the Mickey Mouse Person. Don asked me to pass on to the golfers the news that his team of 3 had 10 birdies in 15 holes. That meant they were 10 under par. I teased his team about being handicapped. One older man, one woman and the young guy had braces on both legs from a drunk driver accident.
Roadtrek had a big tent set up for meals and entertainment. In those 4 or 5 days, we ate more than the rest of the trip combined. The entertainment was fantastic. Artist from all the major theaters came to entertain us. Clay Cooper, Lennon Carthart Trio ( brothers of the Lennon Sisters) The Kecks, Frankie Vallie singers, and an unforgettable night with the Platters. They all enjoyed Junior when I went backstage before the show and met them. Each morning and evening there was music in camp. On Wednesday night there were 6 orr 7 huge buses to take us to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. We got
there early because there was a special presentation before anyone else was allowed in when all the lights went out and then star war music and flashing colored lights started flashing. Out came a prototype of the 2014 Roadtrek, never seen before. They rushed to finish it for this rally. This company really knows how to put on a show. Dinner was served while the stampede was going on. Bison, covered wagons, Southern Bells, Cowboys and Indian, Long horned cattle, and eveything in between. And the food was great. Way too much, Don and I each bought a whole chicken back to Cmor. During the Rally a plane flew over and took aerial photos of the camp. One evening, they announced that Roadtrek paid to have 8 by 10 photos printed and they were selling them for $10.00 each. Every dollar was going to Oklahoma for the relief fund. $2,000.00 was collected. Don's golf partner, Joe Morales, who put the whole rally together, got into a lift and while everyone was gathered together, took pictures. He will post them when they get back to Canada.
There was a cartoonist there that Roadtrek hired and they also had the Senior Olympics. Don and I participated and had fun. Junior has been a big hit at camp and has had his picture taken many times. We brought one of our games to the tent one evening and had to pass out the name to lots of people.
Don did a lot of socializing as expected. Each evening we seemed to have a gathering at our campsite. Each camp had two Roadtreks sharing. We fortunately had a great Couple from Ontario that everyone seemed to know. Very nice people. I tried to take pictures as we drove around town but there was just so much to see. We actually were sad when we had to say goodbye to our new friends.
We left Branson and headed East again. Our first stop was the homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Author of the Little House series. I took pictures of the signs for anyone interested. Pa didn't look too much like Michael Landon but was a good looking man. We got into Kentucky when I realized how close we were to Metropolis. So, back into Illinois. Another 3 state day. As you can tell from the pictures, Don and Junior have been working out. Saw the bonze statue of Noel Neill as Lois Lane. I wanted to go to the Masonic Cemetary to see the grave of Robert Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz, but decided not to push it. Then to Fort Massic on the Ohio River. Built in the 1700s. There was a fence around the fort buildings, because they were flooded in 2011 and were dangerous. I took the
picture of the beach to try to show you how high the water had to be. Back into Kentucky and The
Jefferson Davis Monument. Amazing to think the Confederacy President and Lincoln were born less than 100 miles apart. I talked to the Ranger at the State Park and asked him how tall the monument was. 351 feet tall. Began constuction in 1917 of the worlds tallest concrete obelisk. The walls are 9 feet tthick att the base, taperig tto two feet thick wheree the ppoin inclines. TThere is an leator inside that goes tto an observation room I was so tall I had a hard time getting a picture of it. The base made Cmor looks very small.
We ended the day atwith Mass at Saint Joseph's Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment