Postcard from Missouri- 3

Posted on Monday, 21 May 2012 by bruce10b

21 May 2012

Branson, MO

Looking around

Back side of flood gates at Table Roc

We made it to Dewey Short Visitor Center on Sunday, took a few photos and took the tour of the dam. To my huge disappointment I learned we aren’t allowed to take cameras, cell phones or pocket knives into the dam. Homeland Security controls all this sort of thing on Corps of Engineers sites and I was about to break 3 federal laws. Mrs. Bowman’s little boy decided it was getting to late in life to start a criminal career, so he dutifully handed over all the contraband as the trolly entered the dam parking lot.

So I have no photos of the dam interior (yep… we walked into 2 different galleries inside the dam!) nor of the 4 generators in the generating room. We’ll have to make do with this shot of the back of the flood gates of Table Rock L Dam taken from the observation area on the lake side of the center.

When we were there none of the generators were operating, so we had a quiet tour, but we were assured that when they get a call to spin up 1 or more generators it gets really loud in the generator room. Unlike some hydroelectric sites, this one operates only as demand on the grid requires it.

Btw, when the generators are operating, they have to sound a siren, wait 15 minutes, then open the “wickets” (rotating blades which block the water flow to the turbine). The reason is that the outflow dumps into Taneycomo Lake where it raises the depth of the water by 3 feet for each generator that’s turned on. That in itself isn’t an issue… unless you happen to be one of the trout fishermen in waders out in the middle of the flood plane! Lake Taneycomo looks essentially like a river in the area below Table Rock Lake Dam., so they have to hustle their butts out of there when the siren sounds.

The reason they’re fishing there is because the water  coming out of Table Rock L is very cold… on the order of 47 deg F this time of year. Trout like cold water (it contains more oxygen) and the fishermen go where the trout are. As do the Blue Heron.

Becky, Dave, Celia & Bruce posing beneath the
requisite dead Missouri animal.

Sunday was a good day to go to the visitor center as Dave & Becky were working that day and we got to chat a little before the tour… in their uniforms no less!

Then later we got together for dinner. Dave drove so no one in the truck had to worry about The Captain having a repeat of his parking lot fiasco a few days ago!

We ate at MacFarlain’s which is inside the building which also houses the IMAX theater. MacFarlian’s had chicken and dumplings on the menu which I’d been talking about not having seen on a menu in years, so it was time to order it. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I had an excellent dinner.

And if you don’t know what dumplings are, they’re kind of like a boiled biscuit instead of the usual baked. Done right they’re like a light, fluffy biscuit without the baked crust; done like my mother did them… well, they were less than great. My grandmother, however, was a master at making dumplings so I got hooked at a very young age.

Scenic Outlook

Look for these 2 smiling faces at Dewey Short Visitor Center!

On the way home we stopped at the scenic outlook on MO-165. I think Becky figured we were never going to stop on our own, so she took the initiative.

Looking across the valley from the
scenic outlook.

It had rained while we were eating and a cold front had moved in, so there was some mist rising from the river and wet areas. Looks almost like smoke from cabins hidden in the woods. OK… I admit it. Shoulda’ stopped sooner at the Scenic Outlook. The location offers an amazing uninterrupted view of the Branson area, Table Rock L & Dam, and Lake Taneycomo.. But it wouldn’t have been near as pretty as it was Sunday evening!

Lookin’ around

Monday morning I talked to our GMAC claims adjuster and learned we don’t have to have the truck inspected. Cool! The claim is in process and they should have contacted the owners of the Porsche by now. So we should be on the road again on Wednesday morning, heading for Elkhart, IN.

In the mean time we’d spotted the old town area of (I think!) Hollister which looked interesting and I thought there might be a chance for a few photos. Plus I’d seen a station in the area that had diesel cheaper than I’ve seen in awhile. We headed over to have lunch at the Branson Cafe. The sign in the window says 1910, but the food is much fresher than that. We had cheeseburgers and blackberry cobbler.

Then we did the 2 or 3 block tour of the old downtown area which included Dick’s 5 & Dime.  Straight out of my childhood if it had still had the Woolworth sign out front.instead of Dick’s.

Tornado damage

When you visit the old town area you can’t help but see the Hilton Hotel there. It was hit pretty hard by the 29 Feb 2012 tornado and as far as I can tell is still closed for repairs. You might think that it’s just a case of replacing some missing windows, but as I understand it the damage goes much deeper inside the hotel.

We used this public parking garage which obscures the cenvention center just to the right of the Hilton. Looked like it had its share of damage as well.

The Hilton isn’t the only one that was hit, though it was the tallest and easiest to see. There’s a lot of damage which, as I mentioned before, is uneven as the tornado touched down then lifted only to touch down again. Nasty stuff.

Just fuelin’ around

Oops! I was momentarily possessed by the pun-genie. It frequently jumps into my head and I can’t seem to control these temporary urges to utter corny puns. Just keep in mind that you, dear reader, would have thought of this as literary genius had it come from George Bernard Shaw or Will Rogers!
Just down the road from old town is Casey’s General which looks to me to be an industrial strength convenience store. We stopped there for fuel cuz I saw a tour bus fueling up. At $3.699/gal it was the cheapest diesel we’ve seen in a long time.

Getting ready to move again

This is Memorial Day weekend coming up and I’m not sure what to expect for crowds. Probably sizable since the further east you go, the earlier folks plan their vacations & holidays. Unlike the west where planning a trip consists of making sure the gas tank is full, these more-easterly folks actually make reservations. Way ahead! So I’ll have to do some calling on Tuesday to see how much trouble we’ll have when we head out on Wednesday morning.

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Postcard from Missouri- 2

Posted on Saturday, 19 May 2012 by bruce10b

19 May 2012

Branson, MO

The Admiral & Kelly and Becky & Rocky

At last we were able to connect with RVing friends Dave & Becky. This is the first time we’ve been able to connect since Sioux Falls in July 2010. They’re here in Branson courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers… they found jobs work-kamping at the Dewey Short Visitor Center at Table Rock Lake Dam.

And they must have the coolest campsite I’ve ever seen! Nearly impossible to park in the site, but once you’ve threaded the needle’s eye you have a completely paved site with shade, a concrete picnic table, and a storage shed.

Hangin’ out at Campsite #2

We stopped over for a visit on Friday afternoon and took a walk along Table Rock Lake. They have asphalt paving along the shore and it’s all beautifully maintained. On the way back to their site we stopped and let the dogs sniff the water. Annie did her imitation of a giraffe since there was no way she was going to put her feet in the funny stuff that smells like water but makes noise! She finally stumbled on a slippery rock and got her tush wet, then bolted out of the water. “How unlady-like!”

A very overexposed photo of Table Rock L (mea culpa!)

Table Rock Lake Dam feeds into Taneycomo Lake. If you just said “Taneycomo? Doesn’t sound very Indian to me!!”, you’d be right: TANEY-CO(ounty)-MO = Taneycomo. Sounds like a CoE engineer picked that name!

The great news was that D&B’s traveling buddy, Rocky, is feeling way better than when we last saw him almost 2 years ago. He’d been taking a lot of meds in order to get around with his hip problems and arthritis. A very smart vet somewhere along the way convinced them to take him off all the meds and Presto! He’s getting around much, much better! He still has trouble with the steps on the RV, but he walked a couple miles along the shore with no problem at all. Way tuh go, Rocky!

Uh-oh!

D&B mentioned a place to eat that had good food at less than outrageous prices (unusual in Branson!). So we went to Danna’s BBQ & Burger Shop on SR-165. Little tiny parking lot in front of the cafe with an empty parking spot at the end of the entry… I thought. Turned out to be a handicapped space, so I had to move the truck. There were extenuating circumstances, but the bottom line is I hit a car trying to get out of the parking lot. The sidewall of our outside rear wheel (recall that we have dual rear wheels) on the passenger side rubbed against the car’s bumper. Even though it was the rubber sidewall of the tire, the plastic bumpers can’t take it and I crushed/crinkled/mashed the corner of the bumper.

I went in and talked to a waiter who said he’d see what he could do to find the owner. That happened to be Sherry Grisham, a local realtor who was the model of composure. A brief look of horror flashed across her face, then she managed to stay pleasant and kind to the 2 old farts that were devastated at having damaged her 2002 Porsche Boxster (why, why, why did it have to be a Porsche?!).

I finally found the insurance info (I’d carefully put the ID ‘cards’ in the file drawer and didn’t have the claims number with me… Aaarrggh!), so it was the next day before I called GMAC. Hopefully the ball is moving now. Unfortunately we will apparently have to have the truck checked by a GMAC adjuster, so we’ll be here thru Tuesday. Which is unfortunate as it’s starting to get busy on the road with touristas.

Gratuitous shot of Annie- holding the
earth in place with her butt

Another visit tonight

In the mean time we’ll get in another visit with D&B tonight and I’ll have another opportunity to retell the harrowing tale! They work on Sunday and I’ll be sure to stop in and do my best to embarrass one or the other of them. Or not, since payback is hell!

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Postcard from Missouri- 1

Posted on Thursday, 17 May 2012 by bruce10b

17 May 2012

 Oklahoma City, OK

Rockwell RV Park in OKC

We made a 1-nite stop here at Rockwell RV Park on the W side of OKC. Big, wide gravel pull-thrus with excellent shade from mature trees for $30/nite. Gotta love it. They parked us with the big dogs, which is to say we were lost from view between a couple Class-A motorhomes. We also had an 18″ wide pothole that scared the hell out of me. Fortunately the diesel pusher to our right pulled out ahead of us and I was able to avoid dropping into the black hole.

Not exactly what you expect to see in an RV park!

We were late getting out of OKC and had an over-300 mile day to get to Branson. As frequently happens when the Captain is rushing, he, well… blew it! I glanced down at the brake controller about 5 or more miles out of the park and thought “Hmmm… the display looks pretty dark.” Yikes! The trailer cable wasn’t hooked up! That’s not exactly what I said, but you get the picture. It was another 10-15 miles of white knuckles before I was able to find an off ramp I was sure lead straight back to the Interstate and I was able to connect the trailer cable. And what could have been worse, I found the tail gate still down. In hindsight, it was a good thing we were late leaving as the traffic was light. No panic stops with no brakes on the trailer.

And yes- the Admiral had reminded me at least 2 times to connect the cable and flip up the tail gate (to the extent you can flip anything that weighs 80#).

In general, roads in Oklahoma have fallen into disrepair, much as I found in California early last year. It’s been a few years since the last time we drove through OK and it’s pretty shocking how much the roads have deteriorated.

So, after way too much drama, we were on our way to Missouri…

Branson, MO

Nice shade on Sunny mornings (#21)
What you see as you pull in to register.

We’re settled into a big wide pull-thru which has a cement pad here at Branson Stagecoach RV Park.

But getting here wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. Generally I let the GPS pick the shortest (not fastest) route and this time was no exception. This system-setting allows the GPS to route us thru the back roads which gives us a chance to actually see something. Remember this?

“Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.” – Charles Kuralt

We agree with the late Mr. Kuralt and believe that, if you have the time, staying off the Interstates is much more interesting.

And that’s what we did… we got onto US-412 and followed that thru the eastern OK countryside into Arkansas and up to Missouri where we moved over to US-65. It was an incredibly beautiful drive and we were, to the immense relief of local commuters, the only RV on the road. And that was for good reason. It was as difficult to drive as it was scenic. Never had to drive below 35 mph, but we were at about the limit of what was safe. Everything ran fine and the trailer was never on the edge of control. But the Captain was definitely pooped when we finally arrived. And not a single photo to prove we were there since there’s no pull-offs. Anywhere. God help you if you have a flat tire!

Plus we got lost in Springdale, AR. Now Springdale is a busy, growing town, but it’s not that big. So how did I manage to lose my way? I’m going to lame it on Ms. Garmin. I turned onto S Thomson St as instructed and saw the next leg was 60 miles. A moment latter I heard Ms. Garmin utter the dreaded phrase “Recalculating…” 30 minutes later we were back at the same place – de javu all over again. And to my complete satisfaction, I got the same 60 mile estimate. This time, however, I noticed that there was a jog in the marked route about 200 yards along the road: turn 120 deg left, go 3/4 mi. and turn 90 deg right. I lucked out and happened to be behind an 18-wheeler and guessed correctly he was headed to the same highway. A few miles later we were back on US-412N. And Ms. Garmin did this remarkable piece of navigation with the latest maps from Garmin.

We kept calling the park to reassure them we really were going to arrive. Celia called one last time (we were arranging to have mail forwarded to Branson while we were driving) to get the Zip code and Linda told here she lives just across the road from the office and would see us pull in so don’t worry about the time. And a good thing it was that they were so close as we were about 2 hours late and didn’t arrive till just after 5 pm.

I’d guessed that Linda and her husband Jimmie were park managers but later I learned they’re the owners. And they are still active RVers limiting their travels to the slow season. So they understand the problems and have done a good job anticipating traveler’s needs. With our Passport America membership (this is the first time I’ve ever used it!) it is only $21.nite for a concrete pull-thru with great shade from trees. Plus Linda operates the on-site Grill from Wednesday thru Sunday, 7am – 2pm. Gotta love this place! We’re here till the 21st when we leave for Elkhart, IN.

Outpost Grill… Sun-Wed, 7am-2pm

Btw, if you think running an RV park is easy, think again: these guys work from dawn till the office closes at 5 pm every day. Plus they operate the on-site restaurant (the Outpost Grill) themselves.

On GPSs and maps

While the Garmin maps have countless errors and omissions, of necessity these maps can be no better than the data given them by the various highway departments. And with the economy the way it is, the information appears to be significantly out of date. We’ve find the Interstates are pretty good, but US-, or local-highways & streets are suspect. In Benson we have every street inside the SKP Saguaro Co-op park accurately placed, but the north side of downtown Benson shows you traveling by dirt bike across uncharted desert. Same thing in Amarillo. So, if you’re looking for a GPS, caveat emptor!

First a family visit…

Celia has a brother who lives in Springfield, MO. He and his family are traveling to Salt Lake City for their son’s graduation and only had Tuesday available to visit. He teaches at Missouri State University in Springfield and had just finished finals and probably needed the day for other school chores. But he dropped everything and drove down to see us, took us to lunch in Lead Hill, AR, then we visited their log cabin which lies (lays? never get that right!) vaguely between Lead Hill and Yellville (yup: Yellville!). His wife and son joined us later for dinner and a short visit before they had to get back to Springfield and get ready to travel. Really cool that they could take to time to do that!

Somewhere in the Arkansas woods.
Steve & Celia

 

 

 

 

 

Steve went all-out on the washing machine.
Does this guy know how to keep his wife
happy or what?!

 

 

 

 

I wonder if MO state law requires property owners to have
a dead animal on the wall… ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… then a day off!

Wednesday I finally had a chance to nap a bit to get caught up on sleep. Sort of. I can only guess this is what happens when you don’t move the rig much in 18 months!

More from Branson, MO later.

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Postcard from Texas- 2

Posted on Friday, 11 May 2012 by bruce10b

11 May 2012

Amarillo, TX

I changed our booking here at Ft. Amarillo RV Resort and now we won’t move till Sunday, 13 May. We did a little too much frenetic preparation before bailing out of Santa Fe and decided that, if we’re going to have a good time, we better get some rest!

Calico County Kitchen

If you’re going to get some rest, better start with a good breakfast. We chose Calico County Kitchen where we had a great breakfast served by a great waiter. And yeah, it was raining… the first we’ve seen since December in AZ.

I had my planned biscuits & gravy which were very good, but not to die for. As I said, I’m a hard sell when it comes to biscuits & gravy. Celia prefers the more middle of the road eggs, potatoes and bacon. So she went for a veggie scramble and home fries. Bottom line, hers looked better than mine! Next time I’ll go for the pancakes which are supposed to be excellent.

Golden Light Cafe

And then there was lunch. I met Jim working the desk when I extended our stay and he asked if we liked hamburgers. Not the usual fast food variety, but the kind that are greasy and dribbled down your chin. “Yeah! Our kind of hamburger!” I wasn’t so sure I really meant that, but off we went to Golden Light Cafe on SW 6th. It’s been there on Historic Rte 66 since it opened in 1946. I think it’s possibly the first real hamburger I’ve had in decades: toasted bun, cheese, the lettuce was green and it wasn’t iceberg, it had tomatoe and relish and chopped onion and was delicious beyond belief. I had bacon and cheese, Celia had green chile. The only thing missing was a milk shake!

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Postcard from Texas- 1

Posted on Thursday, 10 May 2012 by bruce10b

10 May 2012

Amarillo, TX

The cobwebs put up a valiant effort as we tried to pull out, clinging desperately to the rig and the adjacent juniper trees. But the F350 has plenty of torque and we finally broke free to get on the road, screaming spiders tumbling along in the dust.

We’ve made it to our first stop, Fort Amarillo RV Resort in Amarillo, TX without incident. Now we have a nice 50A pull-thru for $31/nite. The site’s almost level which means we sometimes stumble a bit when moving around. At $31 it’s a veritable bargain made possible with our Good Sam member discount (or AAA or any number of other affiliations) and competition from a lot of other local parks.

The park is pretty nice in a rustic sort of way. It’s not new by any stretch, but it has an indoor pool & sauna, dog runs, volley ball court, basket ball nets. Looks like they expect folks to actually get some exercise! They didn’t really need to go to all that trouble just for us. We already know just the thing for exercise: breakfast at Calico County Kitchen on Paramount Blvd. Highly recommended by Alaska Linda & hubby Doug. They’re supposed to have biscuits & gravy to die for (or from!). We’ll see… I’m a hard sell. I haven’t had really good biscuits & gravy since they sold the old Forty Niner Cafe in Angels Camp, CA and the new owner wasn’t interested in paying $100 for the recipe.

Diesel fuel is no bargain. Anywhere. We paid $4.16/gal in Santa Fe and it’s $3.96/gal here in Amarillo. So  at these prices we felt lucky to have fairly still air on the drive from Santa Fe. With the gradual drop in elevation from 6,500′ in Santa Fe down to 3,700′ in Amarillo, we were averaging close to 11 mpg. Then, about 60 miles out, the wind picked up and mileage decayed to a little over 10 mpg by the time we got to the park.

I updated the GPS firmware before we left Santa Fe and had hoped we’d not have a problem with out-of-place RV parks. But when I called this AM and asked for a reservation I was told the GPS would never find the park and that I should use the instruction in the Woodall’s guide. Sure ’nuff… Mr. Garmin would have had me drive another 13 miles east on I-40.

After all the rushing around to get out of town we’re both pretty pooped. Probably stay an extra couple nites so we can rest a bit, do some laundry, and commit death-by-hamburger at Golden Light Cafe (on SW 6th) before sending our unhealthy bodies on to Oklahoma City, OK on Sunday.

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