Missouri to Tennessee

July 4th the weather started out lousy in the morning, so we just hung around until late afternoon. Once the rain stopped and it seemed like there would actually be fireworks, we threw the grill and some food in the back of the truck and headed out to find a spot to watch them. The ones we wanted to see were being set off on Table Rock lake, so we found a grassy area near the lake and cooked some burgers once we got settled. The fireworks were not of the caliber that we are used to but we had a great time hanging out. The weather was perfect- no jacket needed. Getting back to the trailer was a long process, since we had to get in line with thousands of other cars.  

              Our last day in Branson was spent on the other large lake in the area-Taneycomo. Two lakes- separated only by a dam, and yet they are so different. Table Rock Lake had warm, beautiful blue water, and was wide, and roundish, like you would think a lake would look. Lake Taneycomo is on the other side of the dam. This lake is long, narrow and shallow, and seems more like a river, with trees growing all along the banks- and the water temperature is about 20-30 degrees colder. It is fed water from 140 ft below the surface of Table Rock Lake, which makes the water about 55 degrees and perfect for trout. The lake is stocked with up to 80,000 trout per month from a nearby hatchery (which we toured). We took the inflatable a few miles down the river, and watched fish swim and jump all around us. There were so many fish, we could see trout swimming around the people who were trying to catch them! We went as far as Branson Landing, the river walk where we had gone shopping the other day. On the way there we went slowly, because the lake is pretty shallow in most spots- only 3-5 feet deep. On the way back though, we zipped along wherever we knew it was deep enough.

          Back at the trailer we headed to the pool to cool off before cooking dinner, then once the boat was dry we put it away. We were invited to our “neighbors” for dessert. We had become friendly with some of the people in the trailers near ours, and they had made homemade ice cream and cobbler, so we weren’t about to turn that down. We sat around until we couldn’t stay awake anymore, then said goodnight.
          This morning we drove very carefully to Springfield, where we had all new tires put on the Everest. The old tires will be sent to Goodyear for evaluation, and we’ll see what they will do for us. Once that was done we drove all day long and ended up in Dover, Tennessee, in a National Recreation area that is called “Land Between the Lakes” because its basically an island, with Kentucky Lake on one side, and Barklay Lake on the other. The site we have is on the water, and the sunset was awesome tonight.
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July 4th weekend

For years, the week of July 4th has been a particularly fun time for me.  For the many years that my dad and I had a boat, we would take that boat onto the Charles River for 5 days with a bunch of other boating friends.  We'd all tie up together, and then the party would begin!  Of all the years I've made that trip, 1998 was the most special. For the first time after the death of my dad, I had to drive the boat by myself the 3 hours from Danvers to Boston. On July 2, 1998, with my boat tied up to 8 others, I was having a grand old time partying. A solo boater pulled up and asked if he could tie his 30 ft boat up to mine for a couple of days, since it looked like we had a safe spot with a great view. My friends and I agreed we had room for him, so a few minutes later his boat was secured and he spent the next 2 days partying with us.  That solo boater was my husband Paul. Two years later we were married, and I've never been happier.
      Life brings changes, and we no longer have a boat, and although every July 4th  I miss my boating friends,  the memories of our Boston trips will always make me smile.

        As for the last few days, we did take our dinghy out on Table Rock Lake  for the day on Thursday.  We packed a picnic lunch to eat out on the lake, and the water was the perfect temperature for swimming.  Thursday night our show was "The Haygoods"- a family of 8 siblings who not only sing great harmonies, they play most of the instruments themselves as well.  All of them play the fiddle, which made their rendition of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" awesome.  I really enjoyed the show.  Afterwards they asked the audience to stick around because they had a film crew from L.A. there to tape a live version of their new original song, and they needed an audience for the filming.  It was fun being there while they did 4 takes. Who knows- maybe someday we'll see ourselves on TV.

    Yesterday it was time to zip on the ZipLine for the first time!  I was a little nervous  as I let go of the tower for the first time, but after that initial moment,  I really enjoyed the trips along the cables. Would I do it again?  Probably not unless there was something new and unique to it.  It was a lot of money just to zip on 4 ziplines for the heck of it.  It was fun though, and I wanted to try it, to see how it was.
     Last night we went out to dinner at a small Mexican restaurant- the Margaritas were great, and the entire dinner was under $50.  Not bad.
Paul started the day feeling a little lazy, and then feeling guilty for feeling lazy. We didn't feel like venturing out too far, and it is supposed to rain today, so he is doing projects around the trailer, and I am doing laundry and catching up on paperwork.  Tonight is our last show- a comedian named Paul Harris.