Day 2 of our Branson trip started nice and easy. The hotel's free breakfast wasn't bad - eggs, sausage, waffles, plus the usual cold cereal, muffins, bagels, fruit, juices and coffee. The girls slept in so I had breakfast on my own, read some of a book on my iPad and glanced at the Casey Anthony trial on the TV set up in the dinning room. My take is she's guilty. Hurt a child, be removed from society forever. End of story.
Just as I was throwing my trash away, the girls came down for their feed so I sat back down for a few minutes. Shouldn't have. Somehow the Mamma-woman and I got into a discussion revolving around politics, something we know better than to do, but occasionally fall into that trap in spite of our best efforts. I soon determined it would be best to get on back to the room so that's what I did. Later this year will be our 20th anniversary and we've been together almost 23 years. Over that time we've managed to usually figure out when it is advisable to say, "Love ya, Babe. Catch ya later" and retreat to our respective corners.
After reviewing about a hundred shows, Youngest-daughter decided she wanted to see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede because there are horses in the show and she likes Dolly Parton. Dolly wouldn't be there herself, but the horses would and the 3:00 show wasn't sold out so that's where we decided to go. The show comes with a meal and we were still full from breakfast so no need for lunch. Mamma-woman wanted to go shopping and visit the local scrap book store so off she went while Youngest-daughter and I stayed in the room. Watched a little TV, fiddled around on the Internet, took a nice nap. Hey, I'm liking this vacation just fine so far!
The wife came back to pick us up and off to the Dixie Stampede we did go. We arrived in time for the pre-show show and got a Pepsi in our free top-quality, highly desirable, extremely collectible plastic souvenir boot cup. The pre-show show was actually pretty darn good. There was a guy who juggled and told a few jokes, but what he did best was balance stuff on his head and face. I guess you had to have been there. Then his step-son, the super-duper fantastic juggler came on. Now that kid was amazing! He has a couple of Guinness Book of Records medals to prove it. He only juggled for about 15 minutes, but we all really enjoyed him. Heck, I'd pay to see a show with him as the headliner.
Afterwards, we were led into what can only be described as a somewhat upscale rodeo arena. We got lucky and sat in the very front row. Well, lucky kind of. It was a pretty decent show with a few comedy skits, lots of horses and other animals. It was mostly a contest between the North and the South, the Yankees and the Rebels. Guys and gals dressed in gray and blue competed in games of skill on horseback and in races with show skits, singing, and special effects in-between the contests. While all of this was going on, we were served chicken, ham and half of a baked potato. I didn't like the fact that our hands served as silverware. If you have a sandwich or pizza or some other kind of finger food, no silverware is no big deal, but greasy chicken, slabs of ham and a hot baked potato is not finger food in my book. I would have thought maybe they could have afforded silverware with the money they saved on those Made in China souvenir boot cups, but no...
While eating we found out why getting on the front row may not have been as lucky as previously thought. We were certainly close to the action - a bit too close. The horses would ride right up to the railing and stop about 2 feet from us. The arena floor was, of course, dirt. When horses run at speed and stop litterly inches from you, the dirt and dust flies. When buffalo wallow in the dirt a few feet from you, the dirt gets thrown in the air around you. The white meat of your chicken tends to get a bit dark and taste a bit gritty.
I wish we could have taken a few pictures, but no pictures or video was allowed. When we sat down before the show started, I snuck a quick shot of the girls for posterity. The couple behind us just happened to take a picture at the same time and got busted. One of the waiters came over and let them know in no uncertain terms pictures were not allowed. We, however, skated free and clear. Snicker, snicker.
The show was entertaining and pretty much worth the money. By the end, the South had won 10 - 6. Hooray for us! We exited the building into painfully bright sun and air seemingly from a hot oven.
We returned to the hotel, lazed around for a while and then enjoyed the Jacuzzi and pool for a while. The Jacuzzi water was a bit hot even for me, which meant it was scalding for the girls and most of the other guests who tried it. The pool water was cold enough to take my breath away at first, but I forced myself to get in deeper and eventually it wasn't so bad I couldn't stand it. None of the kids seemed to mind the cold water, but they never do even when their lips turn blue. After an hour or so, we made our way back to the room, washed the chlorine off our bodies, hit the sack and quickly sank into sleep. Tweren't a bad day at all.
Just as I was throwing my trash away, the girls came down for their feed so I sat back down for a few minutes. Shouldn't have. Somehow the Mamma-woman and I got into a discussion revolving around politics, something we know better than to do, but occasionally fall into that trap in spite of our best efforts. I soon determined it would be best to get on back to the room so that's what I did. Later this year will be our 20th anniversary and we've been together almost 23 years. Over that time we've managed to usually figure out when it is advisable to say, "Love ya, Babe. Catch ya later" and retreat to our respective corners.
After reviewing about a hundred shows, Youngest-daughter decided she wanted to see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede because there are horses in the show and she likes Dolly Parton. Dolly wouldn't be there herself, but the horses would and the 3:00 show wasn't sold out so that's where we decided to go. The show comes with a meal and we were still full from breakfast so no need for lunch. Mamma-woman wanted to go shopping and visit the local scrap book store so off she went while Youngest-daughter and I stayed in the room. Watched a little TV, fiddled around on the Internet, took a nice nap. Hey, I'm liking this vacation just fine so far!
 |
| Our super-duper collectible plastic souvenir boot cup. |
Afterwards, we were led into what can only be described as a somewhat upscale rodeo arena. We got lucky and sat in the very front row. Well, lucky kind of. It was a pretty decent show with a few comedy skits, lots of horses and other animals. It was mostly a contest between the North and the South, the Yankees and the Rebels. Guys and gals dressed in gray and blue competed in games of skill on horseback and in races with show skits, singing, and special effects in-between the contests. While all of this was going on, we were served chicken, ham and half of a baked potato. I didn't like the fact that our hands served as silverware. If you have a sandwich or pizza or some other kind of finger food, no silverware is no big deal, but greasy chicken, slabs of ham and a hot baked potato is not finger food in my book. I would have thought maybe they could have afforded silverware with the money they saved on those Made in China souvenir boot cups, but no...
While eating we found out why getting on the front row may not have been as lucky as previously thought. We were certainly close to the action - a bit too close. The horses would ride right up to the railing and stop about 2 feet from us. The arena floor was, of course, dirt. When horses run at speed and stop litterly inches from you, the dirt and dust flies. When buffalo wallow in the dirt a few feet from you, the dirt gets thrown in the air around you. The white meat of your chicken tends to get a bit dark and taste a bit gritty.
 |
| Our illegal picture. |
The show was entertaining and pretty much worth the money. By the end, the South had won 10 - 6. Hooray for us! We exited the building into painfully bright sun and air seemingly from a hot oven.
We returned to the hotel, lazed around for a while and then enjoyed the Jacuzzi and pool for a while. The Jacuzzi water was a bit hot even for me, which meant it was scalding for the girls and most of the other guests who tried it. The pool water was cold enough to take my breath away at first, but I forced myself to get in deeper and eventually it wasn't so bad I couldn't stand it. None of the kids seemed to mind the cold water, but they never do even when their lips turn blue. After an hour or so, we made our way back to the room, washed the chlorine off our bodies, hit the sack and quickly sank into sleep. Tweren't a bad day at all.
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