Running the Roads-July 13-14

Tuesday saw us pouring over the brochures and leaflets of the different activities and shows here in Branson.  We scouted out the upcoming Christmas season.  Any Williams declares “the Season” and it is a local joke that almost all the entertainers who do a Christmas program refer to when plugging the Season.  We are seriously thinking of coming back sometime during the Christmas season for a last week of “camping”.  Laundry follows us wherever we go so spent a half day getting that done and followed up with updates in the grocery line as well.  Went to a show tonight….The first half was a group of talented young performers, none of which are “big” names.  They did a very energetic program with lots of strobe lights that really bothered the eyes, but the music was quite good.  The second half of the show was the 3 Redneck Tenors.  I missed them on America’s Got Talent, but they made it to the final 10 acts, which means they got some good TV exposure if one is a fan of that show.  They were funny.  If you get a chance to see them, do it, you will laugh and enjoy good operatic singing brought down to redneck level. Picture the theme to Green Acres as opera.....To top things off, we got in for almost half price because this time of year is very slow for shows with so many shows shut down for mid summer and there was a deep discount. I guess most of the folks who come in mid July do it for the abundant recreation, not the shows. Today, Wednesday the 14^th, saw us going to take in a Cajun fiddler and his band.  Wade Benson Landry isn’t a household word outside of southwest Louisiana or Branson, but for toe tapping fiddle music there is none better.  We bought a CD to replace the one we wore out and were crowned the King and Queen of Mardi Gras.  How did that happen, you ask?  The purchase of the CD had nothing to do with it. We had aisle seats down near the front and Wade grabbed Curt and dragged him into the spotlight.  They crowned us and gave us lots of beads, a jar of hot sauce and a jar of picante sauce(one of the sponsors of the show).  It was fun, embarrassing, but fun.  After we have supper we are going to a family show. We are going out since at 5PM it is still a hair above 95 degrees. Four generations of performers who have been here from the beginning of the entertainment world that is now Branson.  I am sure that they’ll be good or they wouldn’t have lasted for 40 some years.  Change of subject: Have you ever seen a STOP sign that is electrified?  There is one here and at night it really shows up.  Since it is powered by the sun, I guess you can call it "green".  We should get one for our county!  It is adorable. Curt is examining the routes out of here, asked at the desk about MO 248 going west and they suggested we NOT take it as it was described in terms of US 219 north of L'burg, and we have already done that kind of a road on this trip.  More planning and on the road Friday morning.  Until then.....keep smiling and make folks wonder what you are up to.