Shopping and Shoji Tabuchi

Shopping

Mem and I did a little shopping this morning at the Books A Million, Kohls and Wal-Mart stores. We each found a book that we had been looking for. Kohls had a great sale on jewelry (60% off) and we had some specific outfits that we were looking for jewelry to coordinate. We were not disappointed.

Danna's BBQ & Burger Shop

Janice suggested we all meet at Danna's for a big lunch today at 2:00 instead of going out for dinner later. Good Idea! Alot of us had their ribs and barbeque--and will have them for lunch tomorrow too!

Shoji Tabuchi Show

WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! What else can I say about the Shoji Tabuchi show that we all attended tonight. We were center stage on row two. We really got to experience the "mist", "bubbles", "confetti" and "snow" throughout the show! Shoji sure had some spectacular jackets and I tried to get a picture of him in each of them, but I'm sure I missed a few. His beautiful daughter, Christine, also performed and was a big hit.

To start off with, we all had to check out the Gentleman and Ladies Rooms! I took some pictures in the Ladies Room and Chuck took the camera in the Gentleman's Room. WOW! A billiards table in the Gentleman's Room had women wanting a tour too! And can you believe it, crushed ice in each urinal! At intermission, there were two ladies in the Ladies Room directing us to which toilet room to go to next. It went very well and the line moved right along.

Ladies Room Pics at the Shoji Tabuchi Theater

Gentleman's Room at the Shoji Tabuchi Theater

Ralph (the Duke) Washing Up

Before the show started, there were clowns up and down the aisles and on the stage to keep us entertained. And then Shoji, in his colorful jackets, and Christine came on stage and dazzled us!

Shoji "Elvis" Tabuchi

Fish Jacket (Picture doesn't do it justice!)

Christine & Shoji Tabuchi

Parsons & Bowdens Enjoying Shoji

Mathenys & Halsteads Enjoying Shoji!

Show Time - Roy Rogers, Jr. & Country Tonite

Happy Trails to You!

Our first Branson show was the Roy Rogers, Jr. & the High Riders show at 10:00 a.m. at the Happy Trails Theater with a self-guided tour of Roy & Dale's museum after. Before the show started, they showed the "This is Your Life, Roy Rogers" TV show up on the screen. Boy, that brought back memories. They also showed pictures of Dale and told about her career BEFORE becoming a cowgirl and Roy's wife. We sure enjoyed all of the music that they sang and played and especially enjoyed Roy Rogers, Jr. (Sandy) telling us about his father and mothers (Dale was his step-mother as his mother had died shortly after giving birth to him) and all of his sisters and brothers. This was a great first Branson experience.

Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Theater & Museum

Museum Picture of Roy & Dale

Roy Rogers, Jr. (Dusty), Chuck, Donna & Dustin Rogers

(Doesn't Dustin look like his grandfather!)

We went to lunch at McFarlains Family Restaurant at the IMAX Entertainment Complex. Mem and I thought we'd died and gone to heaven when we started eating the fried green tomatoes that we got as an appetizer! We had chicken pot pies, stir fry and country fried steak with corn bread. Oh, so good! No, there was no room for desert. We thought this might be a good place to get desert after a show, BUT as it turned out, they are not open late enough for shows that get out at 10:00 pm. We stopped at the Factory Merchants Outlet and shopped at the Crocs store. Chuck and I each got a pair of Crocs and Chuck even got Republican "Elephants" to put on his!

Country Tonite - Oak Ridge Boys Theater

Larry & Mem and Chuck and I went to this show tonight at 8:00. I enjoyed the gift shop--I got a black cowgirl hat with sequins and some "bling" jewelry at a reasonable price. Picture of hat to come later one night when I wear it. NOTE: It turns out that I never wore it because I'd just have to take it off during the show so people behind me could see and I'd have to hold it for 2 hrs.

This was a very fast moving, brightly colored show! It was hard to get any good pictures because everyone was moving so fast! Here are a few of the best ones.

The young lady about the middle of the stage sure could sing and perform. I think she is 11.

Bob Nichols was the Emcee and Comedian

Branson - Getting Organized!

This morning, Mem and I headed down to the Campground Office to get tickets (vouchers) to most all the shows that we want to see this week. There are about 80 shows to choose from! Wow, how to decide! The Halsteads and us have decided to take in mostly country western/country shows while we are here like Roy Rogers, Jr, Country Tonite and Joe Diffie. We were fortunate to get tickets to all the shows at the times that we wanted and even got good seats, usually center, second row! This seems to be a great time to be in Branson for shows and the weather has been good too in the 70's. We drove around Branson getting the lay of the land and even picked up most of our tickets at the different theaters to save us from having to stand in line just before each show time. I got a new job--ticket lady--and I held all the tickets for the shows that the Halsteads and us were going to go to! I'll retire from that job on Thursday!

We went downtown Branson for lunch and then stopped in a few of the shops there including Dick's 5 and 10. You could spend hours in this store; they had everything you might need there! We picked up 2009 calendars for $1.00 and I got a new Christmas hat for $1.99!

Donna & Mem Outside of Dick's 5 & 10

All of us were invited over to Mason and Flo's for dinner. They have a park model and 2 RV lots in the Fall Creek Resort. Wow, what a spread from appetizers to ham, sweet potatoes and baked beans. Flo had ice cream and cake for dessert, BUT no one could fit it in. They have a Statue of Liberty on one of their lots and we had our picture taken with her.

Mason, Linda, Jim, Chuck, Ralph, Janice, Donna, Mem, & Larry with Miss Liberty!

Branson Bound!

We left St. Charles and headed out about 8:30 this morning to overcast skys, but no rain. The rest stop on Interstate 44 was closed that we had chosen for our lunch break, so we found a Wal-Mart store parking lot instead--of course! We arrived in Branson early afternoon. We are camped at the America's Best Campground just outside of Branson (Site 63 tolsons; Site 65 Halsteads; Site 62 Mathenys; Site 61 Parsons). This campground even has a car/RV Wash. We were given a huge packet of information about the attractions in Branson and spent many hours looking over the info and trying to decide what we wanted to see and do! Tomorrow we will go and buy our tickets.

St. Charles, MO

Thursday - What a rainy trip we had today from Mount Vernon, IL to St. Charles, MO. It was raining so hard at our departure time that we way laid it for another half hour. As we got on I64 west, Larry and Mem were in the lead and it was hard for them to see the road. Of course, all the rest of us had to do was follow their tail lights! How fortunate we were!

We are camped at the Sundermeier RV Park in St. Charles, MO for the next 3 nights. Tonight we decided to try out the Beef Eaters restaurant across the street, but we opted for a light dinner as we would be eating here again tomorrow night too and having their prime rib.

Friday - Chuck and I and Bob and Nance (our IL friends that we met in Crystal Lake, Naples, FL a few years back) drove down to old town St. Charles and went in the shops there. My favorite stores were the Knit & Caboodle (what beautiful yarn they had!) and I found a stained glass shop (The Glass Workbench) where I found a book of lamp patterns--I hope to make one this coming winter while I am in Crystal Lake. We all had fun reminiscing looking at antiques at an antique store there in town.

Our friends (also from Crystal Lake), Larry & Patty Hellrung from Alton, IL across the river, came over for a visit, margaritas and dinner. There were 14 of us that went across the street to the Beef Eaters restaurant for dinner again tonight, but tonight most of us had their prime rib and will have it again probably on Sunday because we had so much left over!

What a LONG walk across the street from the coaches to get dinner!

Saturday - This morning 8 of us (Roths, Mathenys, Parsons & Tolsons) headed out for the AmeriStar Casino for a couple hours of slots and then lunch. Chuck and I played slots for an hour and a half on our original $10 where we were up to $20 at one point and then began to loose. We stopped when we were back down to $10 again and cashed out--loosing no money, but winning none either! After lunch, we headed over to the mall for a small RV show. No, we didn't see anything that we just had to have. When we got back to the coach, we had our usual happy hour at our coach before going to dinner at Fratelli's--an Italian restuarant that Bob and Nance had recommended here in St. Charles.

AmeriStar Casino Fountain (It was fascinating watching this fountain and I will try to upload a video clip of it that should appear at the bottom of this page.)

Happy Hour
(Larry, Jim, Linda, Mem, Mary, Rhodes, Janice and Bob)

Fratelli's Ristorante in St. Charles, MO
(Up left then down right) Janice, Donna, Nance, Linda, Jim, Rhodes, Mary, Mem, Larry, Bob, Chuck & Ralph

Video of Fountain at Ameristar Casino

Camping at the Mount Vernon Wal Mart in IN

Today we headed west on I64 thru Huntington, WV and into KY passing Lexington and Louisville. Continuing on I64 west in IN, we decided to drive a little further than our planned stop at the Wal Mart in Corydon and stayed at the Wal Mart in Mount Vernon, IL. As usual, we shopped in the Wal Mart, but this store was being renovated inside and there were a lot of new empty shelves. They are calling for rain here tonight and tomorrow. A few hours drive tomorrow and we will be in St. Charles, MO for 3 nights and looking forward to seeing our Alton, IL friends.

Heading to the Wal Mart in WV

What a beautiful morning with a beautiful blue sky. The turkeys were out in the field catching grasshoppers at the Halsteads "campground" as the sun came up. This morning we all hooked up and headed out for the first leg of our trip to St. Charles, MO (north of St. Louis). We took I64 west thru Charlottesville and Lexington in VA and then into WV where we passed Lewisburg and Beckley and then turned northwest on I64/I77 to Charleston and then into Cross Lanes where we camped in the Wal Mart parking lot for our first night. Of course, we did some Wal Mart shopping and got chicken wings for supper. Later in the evening, Linda and Mem and I took a short walk over to the Goody's store to checkout their clothing sale. I had never shopped in one before.