Branson

Dave and I took a few days this past week and traveled to Branson, MO. We had perfect weather and though the trip was short, it was very enjoyable.

We saw my favorite gospel musical, "Smoke on the Mountain." It was good old hymn singing, and just my kind of music. The play is a little silly, but for some reason I never get tired of it.

We also saw the musical "Jonah." We took the backstage tour prior to the performance and it was very interesting and fun. The show itself was a real "WOW" performance. The huge whale that hovered over our heads was truly remarkable.

On the last morning we headed to Dogwood Canyon for a 7 mile hike. The "nature preserve" has  paved trails, manicured lawns, man-built stone bridges, and tram rides. We walked several miles on the guided path.

 



Dave is wearing a bright yellow floppy hat. Back in the day when I cared about things like that, I never would have let him wear it out in public, but now I love it. It's very easy to pick him out, either in the woods, or in a big crowd like Disney.


The last 3 miles we took a detour onto an unpaved trail and some more rugged terrain. We did 3 miles of lots of uphill, challenging hiking. It was a test for us for our hopes to get on the Appalachian Trail next summer. We feel we passed the test. We were pretty impressed with ourselves and said we weren't even very stiff and sore after the long hike, especially after the steep last few miles. But comically, after we stopped for lunch and had sat awhile, we both got up and found we could barely get going again. We had to admit we were feeling it!

Our last stop was the huge Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO. We had some gift certificates to spend and we purchased our first AT supplies - a water filter and a tiny camp stove.

Drake...are you getting ready to go??