RAIN !!! Day 8

Hola everybody, it's Tori obviously,

Today it finally rained.  We had to think of a quick plan of stuff to do, but we managed.  Today we saw the IMAX version of Born to Be Wild.  It is an animal movie. That is just admiring and inspirational for animal conservation and preservation, started by two women in two different parts of the world.  It really showed me that people care about wildlife and will give away their soul to save them. After the amazing movie we went to the Dixie Stampeed. That was a Dolly Parton show. There was a comedy and a rivalry between the North and the South .  They resolved the issue by doing fun, hilarious races you would normally see at a rodeo. The cutest races were the baby horses racing with dolls on their back and then the tiny pig race.  They were so cute.  We had a perfect ending with dolly Parton singing a beautiful song and saying " there is no North or South or east or west, there is the United States of America.  That part had to be my favorite part.

Anyway Love you all.

Love, Tori.




Susan:

Group Hug!  Harrison is in the next one!

Paddle Boats are great

Well, after a meltdown with this computer last night, Chrissie as set me on the right path for photos...I think.

I will re-visit the past posts and add a few 'illustrations".  Everyone knows I have taken hundreds by now

Yesterday, after a few minutes curiously watching the clouds gather and darken...the expected clap of thunder unleashed a rainfall the like of which I only know in the South.  It also had the effect of sending three adults to phones and computers to cancel a boat pontoon boat rental and to search out reservations for we 9 could DO instead of pools watersides and boats!  That might have looked like computer-Keystone-Cops:  phone service spotty, online reservations painfully slow, finding the credit card, finding the discount card, and "..what time is THAT?"  Lose the bathing suits and gather the troops.
The ensuing drive THROUGH Branson was S-L-O-W ( I had been warned).  I think I had  pictured    it more compact..WRONG...on our tour we had time to notice all the tornado damage from February, all the musical acts we didn't recognize, all the abandoned swimming pools (formidable lightening).  Did I mention the driving was S-L-O-W

The IMAX was lovely.  Somehow these two women have been under my radar while they have been saving the orphaned elephants and orangutans in Kenya and Borneo.  They are of my generation but lack the world wide fame of Goodall and Fossi.  It was truly an inspirational endeavor.
Despite our fear they would sell out (storm), there were few of us there...and it seats 500 +.
We exited through the obligatory gift shop where Victoria found a bling-y V keyring to identify her backpack and we still had an hour before the stampede.  SO..we drove.  And found the Table Rock Lake Dam and the fish hatchery.  Saw fingerlings and giant attack trout ( you can even tour the inner workings of the dam...if you were not on your way to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede...) .  All were impressed by...the turtles in the information house.  Tom and Harrison fed fish large and small.

attack fish

The Dixie Stampede looked a bit like the Stock show gone South....With Paula Deene serving an ENTIRE cornish game hen ---with corn, potato, soup, and pork brisket...before an apple turnover...to EACH person.  Only in the South.  The tiny  pig races and barrel racing with mini horses. strawberry drinks served in a plastic cowboy boots,  Dolly's " be friends with each other song"  It was a fun show for everyone.
 We were not finished! Oh no, no, no.

Drove to Branson landing where we found flocks of ducks (big and small) that would swim in formation and then eat from your hand.  Bass Pro shop provided "rest stops" and we walked the colorful riverside mall and finished the evening with a laser =water show.

This town feels in no way cohesive, but Tom found the best things for us to do and we only took one questionable turn in returning to Still Waters.
Life is good.