October 20, 2004

October 20, 2004

Mansfield to Branson, Missouri

DAY 125

 

Yesterday as I was walking through the campground, the woman who runs the place approached me and said "who's Jay Korue Pore ?" My response was "HUH ?" She pointed to my chest and said "You ran for Jay Korue Pore. Who's Jay Korue Pore ?" I looked down at my chest. I was wearing my t-shirt from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Run For Life. In the middle of the shirt is a spot where each runner attached a card naming whom they were running for. Above the square where the card was to be attached, the text reads "I ran for ... j'ai couru pour ..."

We left Mansfield, Missouri this morning in thick fog. I used my windshield washer to clean the windshield, and the windshield washer tank / pump / hose assembly self-destructed. This is the fourth time this has happened since I bought the truck about 13 months ago. Surgenor in Ottawa has replaced these parts 3 times already, twice at no charge. I guess some GM dealer here in Missouri is going to be replacing them again at no charge ! Must be a design flaw of some sort. We drove west on Hwy. 60 to Springfield, Missouri. Isn't that where "The Simpsons" live ? ? ? At Springfield, we turned south on Hwy. 65, a road with a lot of very big hills up and down the Ozark Mountains. Shortly after turning we stopped at the city of Ozark, Missouri for lunch and to buy groceries. Dee-Dee and Harvey struggled at 60 km./hr. ( 35 mph ) up some of the long mountain climbs, although they did manage 140 km./hr. ( 85 mph ) coming downhill. They could have gone faster, but at 140 the navigator was insisting that I slow down.

We were headed to Branson to check out our first Escapee owned RV Park. At the Escapee Fall Escapade in Goshen, Indiana, Joanne decided that our likely route for this winter would allow us to visit 8 of the 9 Escapee owned RV Parks. Tonight we are at Turkey Creek RV Village in Hollister, a suburb of Branson. Interestingly, the next town over is called Kirbyville.

We knew that Branson was a sort of country music Mecca, giving Nashville a run for its money as the country music centre of the universe. What we were surprised to find was that there are many theatres here in Branson, each with 3 shows daily, morning, afternoon, and evening. Each show is different. There are well over 100 different shows daily. And they transcend country music. There are many comedy shows, magic shows, circus shows, variety shows, etc.. This place has evolved into a huge and varied entertainment centre. Joanne spent the afternoon perusing all the tourist information booklets we picked up when we entered the campground. She has decided that tomorrow afternoon we will be attending a performance of the musical play "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Lorri recently bought her a CD of the soundtrack after she heard it play in Lorri's <snicker> minivan, and commented that she liked it.

We arrived here just in time to attend the park's daily 4:00 P.M. social hour. I was able to ask for some help in identifying some of the mysteries we've encountered lately. What I thought were chestnuts are actually black walnuts. Last night I "roasted" one on the barbecue, and this morning we cracked it open and tasted it. It was good ! The mystery fruit falling off the cliff in Kentucky are hedge apples. Nobody knew what the pods with seeds from yesterday are. And the male and female birds that walked by our trailer shortly after we arrived were Guinea Hens.

DSK