June 30, 2014
Topeka Kansas
Deer Creek
Valley RV Park
We left Branson, MO
this morning after 12 fun filled days with our Cedar Creek RV Owner’s Club
family.
I have not written anything for the past few days simply
because by the time we got back to the RV after whatever activity we were doing
I was to dog-gone tired to write or upload any photos.
We went to two shows in Branson. One was Unbelievable (that’s the name of the
show). It was a mix of on stage magic
that was truly unbelievable as Cockatoos and huge Parrots appeared out of
nowhere and flew over the audience, and people were made to disappear, fly, and
levitate. Sure, it was all illusion but
being in one of the front rows right at the stage was a lot different that
watching magic acts on TV. The second
show was The Magnificent Seven. This was
a musical event that started with songs from the 40’s and covered most every
year up to the present. The presenters
did over 50 costume changes during the show – the changes were done in
seconds. Overall, we both felt like this
was the better show of the two. It sure
did bring back a lot of memories!
I (Randy) learned how to ride a Segway and navigated a
little over 6 miles in Table Rock
State Park along the lake. It was sort of scary but there were no
crashes so I guess I did OK.
There is a little retro restaurant in Branson called Billy
Bob’s Dairy Land. It is famous for huge burgers. I ordered a small burger and fries despite the
server’s encouragement to make it a triple or more. They would build any type of burger you
wanted and stack it all the way to the ceiling if you wanted. They had an old-time soda fountain and I
ordered a real honest-to-goodness vanilla coke.
It was the first Coke I had drunk since April 2013. It was good and reminded me of the soda
fountain at Pine Valley Drug Store back in Oak Ridge where I spent much of my
paper route profits on Vanilla and Cherry Cokes along with root beer sodas.
We spent one day shopping at Tangier Outlets. Nancy
bought me an early birthday present consisting of two really nice knit shirts
and a pair of Gore-Tex walking shoes.
They are waterproof yet still allow your feet to breathe. I believe they will be nice when setting up
the RV in the rain. I bought myself one
of those twin counter rotating blade Alligator saws. This was in a wholesale direct tool store
that had mostly Rigid and Ryobi products.
The saw was “blemished” (small scratch on the handle) and was priced at
$112 below normal retail. I like
bargains like that. This thing is
suppose to cut anything from stone to tile to steel. I’ll find out when we bet back home in
August.
Nancy spent some
additional time with Sandra running around Branson and shopping. Sandra and Charlie carry a Smart-four2 car
sideways on the back of their Volvo truck.
We have talked about doing the same but I am not sure it is really
worthwhile for us due to the time it takes to load and unload the little
car. We did not even bring the golf cart
with us on this odyssey. We usually have
no trouble taking the Volvo where we want to go.
We spent a considerable amount of time eating. Our dinners were community pot-luck that was
anything but luck. There was more food
than anyone could eat.
Our friends, Gwen and Allan, celebrated their 53 anniversary
while in Branson. We went with them to
dinner at Whippersnappers – a seafood restaurant that had all you can eat crab
legs and lobster. As much as I love
lobster I could only eat three, along with the same amount of crab leg
clusters. Allan devoured seven
lobsters. I am not sure how many Nancy
had but she was still eating long after I stopped.
The weather was HOT (as
expected) with a few afternoon thunderstorms.
Thankfully nothing that caused any damage.
We enjoyed a community campfire most every night. Chuck brought out some sky lanterns that we
fired up with hot air and launched. They
are neat and go so high that they literally disappear from sight. Once the burning wax in the balloon goes out,
they gently fall back to earth.
The drive today from Branson to Topeka
was uneventful with the exception of a huge boat being moved by a semi-truck
that got stuck at our exit off of I-44.
We had to go to the next exit and then backtrack to get on our
route. Kansas
is mighty flat and windy. We had a cross
wind all the way that was strong enough to push us around a little bit –
nothing dangerous but we could definitely feel the wind. The speed limit here on the Interstate is 75
mph. We kept to the left lane and
cruised between 62 and 65 mph. Cars
would blast by us as if we were sitting still.
With a 75 mph speed limit, most cars were probably running between 85 and
90 mph.
Deer Creek is a beautiful RV park. The have concrete interior roads, RV pads
& patios, lots of space between RV’s and grass that rivals a putting green
on a golf course. Oscar loves the grass
and enjoyed rolling over on his back for a good grass scratching.
I’m not sure what sigh seeing event we will choose tomorrow. We have numerous places to choose from. Tomorrow night we have reservations at a
local steak house with the friends traveling with us in their RV’s. Currently we have four other units but the
number may increase along the route as others join us.
The weather here is “safe” but some severe storms are
happening to our east. The news reported
a small tornado touch down about 3 miles from our RV park last night. I can’t say that we are sorry we missed
it. The temperature here today was 96
with a heat index of 111. A cold front
will move through tonight and the rest of the week should be in the high 70’s
or low 80’s with less humidity. That
will be a nice break.
We are having fun and enjoying all the new sights. I am especially looking forward to Yellowstone,
Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills.
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