Clean machine...

We will be rolling again tomorrow - hoping to get the motorhome washed before we leave this RV park (it is one of the few that allow washing).  The weather weasels were originally calling for an 80% chance of precip today, but by this morning it was apparent that wasn't going to happen.

I got out my rig washing stuff and went to work.  While I worked on the outside, Joan cleaned inside and did laundry.  Life on the road is still life, and this stuff needs to be done.  While I washed the Honda, Joan cleaned all the exterior windows.

We will be looking good as we head down the road!  Until we squash the first couple hundred bugs.  All over the front of the coach.

With Labor Day out of the way, it is pretty quiet here in the RV park and around Branson. 

Hard Work U...

College of the Ozarks - we like to dine here when we are in the Branson area.  This college has a unique perspective: students that attend here work for their tuition.  It is a Christian liberal arts college, that has over 30 academic majors.  The program requires students to work 15 hours per week, plus 2 40-hour work weeks during breaks to cover their tuition.  If they are able to get a summer work program position, it will cover their room and board.  They will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts or Science degree and no student debt.

The college operates a farm where they raise their own produce, pigs, and cows (all used in their restaurant).  A grist mill, jam and jelly production, and dairy (they make their own ice cream).  The restaurant is student-run, and is a fine-dining atmosphere without the high prices.  Your waiter or waitress will be in a white jacket, and they will have been trained on proper restaurant/service etiquette.  It's a nice experience.

We were a few minutes early for our reservation, and used that time to look around - an interesting display of Cold War memorabilia...

On to the restaurant...

Unique dishes - Joan and I gave each other samples of our entrees, and topped it off with a fresh baked chocolate dish (they called it a cobbler, I'd call it a gooey brownie) topped with fresh ice cream.

:-)

Rats!

Not the rodents.  Nor the cry of dismay that Charlie Brown uses.

Little Izzy has a beautiful coat, with silky fur.  She is great with her self-grooming, and Joan brushes her regularly, which Izzy generally enjoys.

Unless there is a mat in her fur.

Then, if the wire brush can't get it out, Joan goes in carefully with scissors.  Which Izzy doesn't enjoy.

She does not hold a grudge...

This evening, Iz and I went for a walk.  At the end of the park near the creek, there is a pile of gravel and rocks.  Always enjoying the "high ground," Izzy bounded up that pile and stood at the top in her best "Lion King" pose.  No, I didn't have a camera with me.

On the way back, we passed an RV where a guy was sitting outside with his black lab puppy... it bolted towards Izzy... I couldn't tell how long the lease was, and stepped between them... Izzy stood her ground, ready to take out the dog (not on a date)... the guy hollered at the dog, and... it reached the end of its leash about 4 feet from us, with a choking jerk.  The guy kind of apologized and drug the dog back.

The rest of the walk was uneventful.  Well, except little Izzy is just a sweetie.

Second chances...

There are a lot of people in town for the holiday weekend.  We didn't feel like adding to the crowds in the shows, so today, we took a drive by the water - specifically: Table Rock Lake. 

We stopped at a scenic overlook on the way - you get a real feel for how hilly and wooded this area is...

In that photo above, you can see the Table Rock Dam in the upper left.

On to Table Rock State Park, where they have a very pretty Visitors Center with info about the dam and the lake.  The view from there...

Table Rock Lake is large - as in: 857 miles of shoreline.  You could spend a long time here, exploring all the outlying areas of the lake.

We sat in the comfortable chairs on their deck, just enjoying the views...

Up a level is an observation deck...

We watched a film about the building and purpose of the Table Rock Dam.  It was a dam fine film.

We checked out the bike trails in this area - we may take them in before we leave.  Also checked out the State Park Marina...

Nice facility.  From there, across the dam and into Branson...

And, on to the "second chance" part of this post.  Years ago, I was craving a steak sandwich while traveling.  We came across a Steak 'n Shake...

I felt I had been mislead when we found out they don't have steak sandwiches, but rather they use "ground steak" in their burgers.  We left.

Well, there are some days when what you really want is a good burger.  Today was one of those days.  I decided to give one of the local Steak 'n Shake restaurants a try.  After all, they were advertising their "New Prime Steakburger" on their marquee.  That's what I had; Joan had a regular "steakburger" and a particularly tasty chocolate malt.  The place was packed, but they had seating at the counter... which faced their grill... so we go to watch them prepare the burgers while we waited.

The verdict: a fine burger.  They say their Prime Steakburger is made with brisket and ground chuck.  I say: tasty!  Rivals 5 Guys and Burger Fi.  Blows away Fudruckers.

For those looking for one of these restaurants, they are mainly in the mid-west and south, and working their way up the East Coast states.

Entertaining...

I was playing my guitar for Joan and Izzy around 6:00 this evening.  The neighbor behind us came by and said, "They have a jam session here on Fridays - you should go check it out."

Last time I did a "jam session" at an RV park, it turned out to be a round robin, where each person plays a song, but nobody plays together.  As close to an open mic that this ol' rock 'n roller has ever done.  It was not what I would call a good experience... didn't want to repeat that.  The neighbor said, "They have all kinds of amps, usually a couple guitar players, a bass player who is a good singer... and a drummer who kinda can't keep time."

I chuckled; looked at Joan and she said, "It's up to you, but it could be fun for you."

I asked the neighbor if they played any rock 'n roll... "Well, it's mostly old time country, but they play a bit of everything."  When I asked if he'd be there, he said, "We did it last week, but we have friends in town tonight and we're going to a show..

I decided to give it a try.

When I walked into the room, I could see this was going to be an "oh-oh" situation.  There was a guy with a Telecaster, another one with a Taylor dread, and the drummer.  They had 3 mics set up, and a decent PA.  How bad could it be?

I will say that they were very gracious in inviting me to "join right in."  Every song they played was a 3-chord progression, making every song sound pretty much the same.  I would have been able to follow along... if the two guitar players played the same chords at the same time.  They decided it would be best if we each took a turn picking a song.

I asked them, "Do you know any rock 'n roll songs?"

"You mean like Elvis?"

I asked, "How about the Beatles?"

"You mean like: 'She was just 17...'?"

I gave them the chords to I Saw Her Standing There (4 chords), and they kind of followed.  When my turn came on the next round, I asked, "How about Dave Mason, Feeling Alright?  It's two chords: A7th and D9th."  (Easiest song I know)

Once into it, I looked back, and it was just me and the drums... "That whole 9th thing isn't something we know."

My turn again, I pulled out the only "country-ish" song I play: Roger Miller's King of the Road.  Three chords.  The two guitar players handled it, the drummer sped up to the point where it was almost comical.  The small crowd is used to these guys, so there was always polite applause.  When it was my turn to pick a song, sing and play... it was like looking at deer in the headlights.

In spite of all this, everyone playing kept a sense of humor.  The lead guitar player asked me, "Do you know any Eagles songs?"  I broke into Take It Easy.  I think they could see I was making an effort.  I was picking every two to three chord song I could come up with when it was my turn.

At the end of the night, the other players shook my hand and summed it up with, "Well, that was different for us, but you're good!  Hope you'll come back and join us again."

Several folks from the audience came up and said, "Thank you for being here - I enjoyed your singing."

It was a 2-hour event.  Even though it wasn't my style, it would have been less than gracious to play a song or two and bug out.  After the first half hour, I decided to just grin and enjoy it.  Definitely not my style, and I have no doubt that I wasn't theirs.  But, everyone participated.  And everyone was nice.

As we walked back to the coach, Joan said, "Well, you never know what it's going to be like."  I asked her if she got any photos with her phone... "No.  I wasn't sure you'd want to remember this."

Really, after the initial shock, it wasn't bad.  Just different.  Very different.

;-)

Refreshing...

Out for lunch and a walk through Branson Landing.  What is Branson Landing you ask?  Thank you for asking - it is an outdoor mall that sprawls alongside the Taneycomo River.  There are two draws there for me: Bass Pro Shop and Famous Dave's BBQ.

The Bass Pro Shop here is a small version compared to most of their stores.  We walked through there, didn't find anything we couldn't live without, then walked down the mall.  OK, there is one other fun store: "As Seen On TV"... those places crack me up.  Better than watching late night infomercials, 'cause you get to see stuff that didn't make it to a half-hour show and shop.

I laughed out loud at this...

"It's the Cat Bonnet!" and as it says right there on the box: "Cats love it!"  Look at the expression on the gray cat - it is obviously delighted.  LOL  Now, I will admit that most of my interactions with cats have been our fur babies and our GrandKitties.  NONE of them would love this.  Isabella, who is the sweetest kitty ever, would bite your hand if you brought that thing near her.  I showed her this photo - she assured me that there is no cat on the face of the Earth who would like this.  Not even one.

Pretty sure the the guy behind the register in that store did not appreciate my laughter.  I tried to stifle it... yep, that never works.  "Who is their market for this - Amish cats??"

Yes, laughter is refreshing.  Almost as refreshing as BBQ.  Seems that one of us (I won't say who, but it was me) was reaching for some butter, caught the straw in the Diet Pepsi, and dumped the entire full glass into his lap.  Go ahead - try to look nonchalant when a large glass of ice and soda is pooling in your crotch!  Refreshing on a whole different level.

The waitress was mildly horrified, then tried to stifle a laugh (karma is a bitch), and brought me a towel.  And another soda.  "Do you have a sippy cup?"  It is important to keep your sense of humor when your testicles are floating in diet soda.

I was less than half way though my lunch.  The good news is: I was wearing brand new shorts made of a fabric that is "quick drying."  The bad news is: my underwear isn't.  Fast drying, that is.  There wasn't that much of a mess on the floor, because what flowed out of the pool in my crotchal area ran down into my shoes.

Really, I should not have laughed at the Cat Bonnet.

Touched...

I know some of you are thinking: "Yeah, that boy is touched... touched in the head."

Be that as it may, this is different.  The past week has been filled with the devastation Hurricane Harvey has inflicted on Texas.  First, the Category 4 winds, then the days of incredible rainfall, bringing on the unprecedented flooding.  Hundreds of thousands of people are affected.

Through this, we have seen the heroic efforts of of those helping with the rescue efforts, civilians as well as emergency services personnel.

This morning when I got up, I started my morning routine: change the calendars, feed Izzy, then get Joan's coffee ready to make.  Then I usually sit down to see what is happening in the world, on TV and the internet.  This morning, two e-mails stood out...

Emerald Guitars announcing their September Select Series...

Another gorgeous series, this month with pau ferro wood veneer (a Brazilian wood similar to rosewood).  These Select Series guitars are a monthly release, for 2017, designed and built by Emerald's owner Alistair Hay.  Always something different, and I like that each monthly series is not released on the first of the month (as today's was)... keeps you wondering when it is coming.  They are not always the wood veneers (although I find those the most striking), but each monthly series is unique.

There was another e-mail from Emerald Guitars - this one from Sean, their contact person.  I have dealt with Sean with the Emerald guitars I own, and he is what every Customer Service person should be like.  The e-mail wasn't regarding their new series... halfway across the world (Emerald is in Ireland), they know about the devastation in Texas.  Sean remembered that our home is in Texas and was just writing to let me know that they are thinking about us and hoped with had come through OK.  Nothing to do with trying to sell another guitar, just a caring person reaching out.

I am touched by his thoughtfulness and concern.