Hurlshort

Day 19 - Last day in Branson, and we went to see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. This was an amazing show, very well done. They served us great food while entertaining with all sorts of horse and animal numbers. When they brought out a small group of bison, I was hooked. They also had these huge Belgian horses that were simply massive. I got to see them up close and compared to the other horses they look incredible. This show alone was worth the trip. Tomorrow we start the long drive home. It will take us 5 days, and tomorrow we drive through Kansas.

Welcome back! Looks fabulous. Also, I fall in love with places I visit regularly and hatch schemes to move. They pass in time.

The internet is weird.

Day 18 - So my sunburn from yesterday's adventure is pretty bad. My wife and kids are great, they've basically taken on a nice tan, but my shoulders and back are absolutely on fire. We had quite a bit of rain in the morning, so we relaxed around the RV and did some laundry. We got picked up by a shuttle at 3:00 to go see a show called Jonah. Growing up as a kid, I used to go with a friend's family to church pretty regularly, and the story of Jonah was always one that stuck with me. It was colored with some more believable ideas like Jonah's hair and skin changing after being swallowed by the fish. Anyways, the show had some amazing set design and was cool to look at, but it was a bit preachy for me. My biggest issue was they introduce this Jesus like character at the end to counsel Jonah against hatred towards Nineveh. That was a bit too much creative license for me. But overall it was not a bad show. After that we went to dinner, rode on these round little boats shooting water at each other, and went to bed. Not much in the way of pictures today, I think I'm getting a bit lazy about them.

Oerwinde, I'd love to give Xcom:the bureau a shot.

Most of the RV parks have cable. I have a long cord that I run out to the cable box. I can pick up a couple channels via antenna, but a couple years back my dish came off the roof somehow (I suspect a low hanging tree) so we don't have the greatest signal. I'd get a new one, but as I said, most parks have cable anyways. I didn't even notice it until we got the new TV, because the old one wasn't able to pick up the digital signals anyways. We also bring a ton of movies with us, so when we don't have cable, we keep ourselves entertained pretty well. Typically when it is a driving day, I'll stop for lunch, turn on the generator, and put a movie on. That way I can grab a short nap while the kids eat and enjoy a show. Right now it is raining out, and my daughter is watching the TV, my wife and son are on tablets, and I'm on my laptop. Ah, togetherness.

I am also reading it. I had to fight the urge to reread the first book for a couple chapters there, events were a bit fuzzy. But now I think I've caught myself up on the events.

Just a little view into our sleeping arrangements. I get the compartment behind the TV

Day 17 - Branson is a weird place. It is very hilly. I guess that is what the Ozarks are all about, but it has made it a bit difficult to get around. Typically when I look up on google maps that somthing is a mile or so away, I think that's an easy walk for my family. But here in Branson it's a bit more of a challenge. Needless to say, I am a bit regretful that I did not rent a car. We are using Taxis for anything over a mile, which isn't too bad. Branson is just covered in miniature golf courses, go-kart tracks, and odd family themed attractions. I mean they are everywhere, I have no idea how they all stay in business. Today we hit a water park and went golfing at a dinosaur themed park. Somehow everyone got sunburned except Logan.

Somehow I ended up purchasing Wildstar. It seems pretty fun so far.

Ouch Lexx. Nice xray though.

If I ever decide to have that work done NO WAY am I letting them try and finish in less time than it takes me to shower, shave, and get dressed. Bring a soda, put on the radio, take your time. I wasn't going to encourage them to spend any more time down there with sharp object than necessary.

Day 16 - We left Memphis today, but we did stop off at the national headquarters for my wife's sorority. Unfortunately they were closed, but she was able to take some pictures of the outside. Most of the day was spent driving through Arkansas, namely the Ozarks. You don't hear much about Arkansas, but it was a very pretty state. We pulled into a nice small campground in Branson and cooked up some ears of corn and pasta. Branson is a kick, I'll take a bunch of pictures. It basically is what Vegas would look like if it was run by a Megachurch. We are hitting up a water park tomorrow.

Hah, I can't speed in the RV if I wanted to. I get passed regularly by big rigs.

I was always amazed how long my son could cry before finally rolling over and sleeping. My daughter would go for 5 minutes, tops. Thankfully it was a lot more rare for him to fuss than her, but he could go for awhile.

Unfortunately we are moving on to Branson today, so we ran out of time to see Graceland. But that's alright, I had a fantastic time and now I have a good reason to come back in a few years.

Yep. My vasectomy was $5,000. After insurance I still had to pay $500 out of pocket, which ain't cheap. All that for a 30 minute procedure.

Day 15 - Today we tried to go to Graceland, but the line was really long in the morning, so we hopped on a bus downtown and started at the Rock 'n Soul Museum. It was decent, but honestly I thought Sun Studios was a better tour. Then we ate some ribs at Rendezvous, and I forgot to take a picture before. Needless to say, it was delicious and the whole family ate well. I highly recommend it, the downtown restaurant was affordable and the service was great. After that we hiked to the Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. For those of you that don't know, this is the site where MLK Jr. was assassinated. They have recently renovated it, it has only been open for about 2 months as I saw it. It is hard to describe how emotionally powerful this place is. I can tell you, walking through this museum was one of the most moving experiences of my life. You start off learning about the roots of slavery, then travel through buses where Rosa Parks struggled and the Freedom Riders rode. You pass counters where young students staged sit-ins. Then you follow the path of a Civil Rights March and end up in the very room that Martin Luther KIng Jr. was staying in. I had to pull myself together quite a few times, and by the end I was emotionally exhausted. Everyone needs to experience this, it is an incredibly important place. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Right now we are having lunch at Rendezvous and then going to the Gibson factory. We briefly walked down Beale, it looks like a pretty wild street.

Day 14 - I'm officially in love with Memphis. We took it easy in the morning, enjoying the cool air and the lack of an AC blasting in the RV. I played some Blackguards and yelled at the kids to go outside and play. After lunch we headed out to Graceland and caught a free shuttle to Sun Studios. I recently read a book about the history of Sun Studios, and was very excited to explore it. This place was packed inside. It's not a big studio, and apparently tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of Elvis's first record, so it was crazy. Logan was too young for the tour, so just me and my daughter ended up going through the whole thing. They made it up to us by not charging us for the tour, and they even gave my wife a free milkshake to keep her and Logan happy. It was amazing to stand in the recording room where Johnny Cash was discovered and even see a piano that Jerry Lee Lewis used to pound on. After that we walked down to the ballpark and enjoyed some food while watching the game. The park was really nice, definitely a top notch place. We enjoyed the game from a grassy knoll, it was perfect. The weather was great, their was a playground right next to us where the kids ran around for most of the game, and the fireworks at the end were amazing and up close. I'm pretty sure we were the only family with a Giants blanket at the game. I also wore my Giants hat.

Next year we will probably keep it a bit smaller, but my plan is to hit the East Coast in two years. I think I'll probably find a nice park in Pennsylvania and take trains to the big cities.

Day 13 - I went for one last jog on the levee this morning before packing up and rolling out of New Orleans. We spent most of the day driving through Mississippi. Thanks to the internet, we found a fantastic place to stop and eat lunch near Jackson. This place was off the beaten path a bit, but it was like stumbling onto a southern potluck, with a buffet filled with all sorts of dishes that you don't find easily in California. Our family stood out a bit, but were were not disappointed by the southern graciousness. After that we went across the street to a grocery store, and then headed the rest of the way to Memphis. My wife even drove a bit, letting me get a nap in. In Memphis, our park is right next to Graceland. We've got a playground behind us, and it's really a beautiful park. Honestly I'm greatly relieved to be in Tennessee, Louisiana was beautiful, but the humidity was starting to get to me. Tennessee is perfect weather right now, after dinner we spent awhile just watching the fireflies flit about.

I'm going to a Memphis Redbirds game to watch the fireworks, should be a blast.

I like the idea, and I love beer, but $300 is almost enough for a kegerator. I'm just not convinced breweries are going to buy into the whole bag idea, whereas most places sell pony kegs already.

Day 12 - I went for a run on the levee this morning and it was amazing when I got past the tree line and saw all the freighters and barges going up the river. It was a great run, and hopefully I'll wake up early enough for one more tomorrow morning. We jumped on the riverboat Natchez for a lunchtime cruise. The lunch wasn't that great, but the engine room was amazing and watching that big waterwheel churn to get us down the Mississippi was a sight to behold. I was pretty tired of the heat at this point, so we decided to walk down to the outlets nearby after out cruise. I got some new shoes and we were able to avoid the midday sun for a few hours. I had one last Jambalaya meal (The IPA was great), one last gelato, and we boarded our bus for home. Tomorrow we leave pretty early for Memphis, I've got a Howlin' Wolf CD prepped and ready to go for the ride.