Branson, Missouri

For our final trip of the year we went to Branson, MO for an International Coaches for Christ Rally.  South of Flagstaff we ran into this beautiful white stuff.

Somewhere between Flagstaff and Holbrook, we discovered we had battery problems - no house lights or heat except for small electric heaters.  The temperature got down to 19 degrees so we experieced a very cold first night on the road.  Left early the next morning for Albuquerque and Camping World where they were able to replace 4 batteries.








We spent the night in Amarillo, TX... and the next day travelled to Shawnee, OK, the home of Oklahoma Baptist University where our good friend Hannah Karr is a student. Hannah, along with her siblings, work in the dining hall at Ponderosa Retreat and Conference Center where we volunteer in the summers. 

Campus Entrance

The OBU bison

Hannah & Nancy

Chapel

This was our first visit to OBU and we were impressed with the campus.  We have several friends who are alumni, including Nancy's dad who attended his 75th reunion before passing away in 2004.  Marcus and Terri Rawls, Clint Walker, Jack Young and Don Browning are also members of this elite group!  While on campus we met with administration officials to inquire about our friends only to find out they had never heard of them - LOL!  (Stands for laugh out loud - we've learned the "new" language since learning to text with our grandkids!) For Don Browning that was understandable because he probably graduated before they began to keep records, but I don't know about the others!  What do you think?

The weather was quite foggy as we passed into Oklahoma and we didn't see the Welcome to Oklahoma sign until it was too late to take a picture!

While in Springfield we visited the Bass Pro Shop for the first time.  What a place!  We could have spent much more time looking around but met our friends PJ and Carrolyn Arthur for dinner.  They are part-time residents of Springfield and spend winters in Arizona; they are in our Bible study class at Palmcroft and are long-time friends of another acquaintance, Bob Goodin.

Nancy found this friend

As I mentioned earlier, the main reason for our trip to Branson was to attend a Coaches for Christ Rally with other members of Coaches for Christ from around the United States and Canada - 60+ RVs converged on Treasure Lake
RV Resort for a week of fellowship, fun and inspiration.  Every morning we had breakfast and devotions with great music and a different speaker each day.  There was at least one Branson show planned for each day.  The remainder of the day was free to go to other shows, shop, sight see, shop, eat, shop, visit local attractions, shop...well, you get the picture!

Our cruise on the Branson Belle included pre-lunch entertainment, a wonderful meal, and a stand-up comedienne who not only was funny but an accomplished violinist as well.  She gave some history on the violin - told when it was invented but said it wasn't a very popular instrument for many years.  Then...when they invented the strings to go on it, it increased in value and popularity!  LOL!

On the dock

Pre-dinner and show entertainment

Pierce Arrow

Shoji Tabuchi

This was our favorite show - five brothers, their wives, and a whole lot of kids ranging in age from a few weeks old to young adults - all of them performing in many ways - singers, dancers, violinists, guitar players, handbells - incredible!  In fact, they have had a "live" baby Jesus for their Christmas show for the past 17 years!  We recommend this show if you ever go to Branson!

The Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede was lots of fun.  The meal consisted of soup, biscuit, loin of pork, a whole cornish game hen, corn on the cob, twice baked potato and an apple turnover, all to be eaten WITHOUT utensils!  It was finger-lickin' good.  LITERALLY!!

We were at the Andy Williams show on the day of his cancer surgery so he was not there, but among the entertainers were the Lennon Sisters of Lawenrce Welk fame.

The lion and the lamb

Pre-program music provided in the lobby

The Sight and Sound Theater is relatively new to Branson. It seats more than twice as many as the Shoji theater and the stage is the length of a football field.  It was built for the purpose of bringing the Bible to life.

A group of us went to lunch at the beautiful Keeter Center on the campus of College of the Ozarks.  The college is unique in that students do not pay tuition.  They all have jobs on campus and what is not covered is provided by scholarships.  They grow all the food that is used in the restaurant and are basically self-sustaining.  All students must prove their inability to pay for their education before being accepted to the college.

 

Silver Dollar City is a large theme park near Branson.  They have shows, rides, crafts, etc.  We stayed for the light parade that evening.





Here we are hoping the light parade would hurry up and begin.  Below are videos of the light parade.

Although we have been to Branson many times we have never been for the Christmas shows.  What a wonderful time.

On the way home we had heavy rain between Oklahoma City and Amarillo.  Although we had a great time it was good to see the welcome to Arizona sign.  It's always good to be home!

Rocky Mountain Ramble

Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) has an annual rally in Farmington, NM with over 400 coaches from the rocky mountain area.  Coaches for Christ acted as a volunteer chapter this year assisting with registration.  However, our primary responsibility is to do the worship service on Sunday morning and the devotions each day of the rally.  As you will see later we ended up with a couple of additional responsibilities.  On the way to Farmington we spent 1 night in the white mountains near Overgaard, AZ.  It was actually 28 degrees that night. 

Following Sunday worship several of our chapter members enjoyed a breakfast buffet at one of the local hotels.

One of the chapters in FMCA is the Frustrated Mystros.  They are a group of singers and band members that perform for various functions during the rally.  After our Sunday service a couple from the group told Nancy that their keyboard player could not come this year and asked if she would play with the group.  Of course she said yes.  Later she found out that they rehearse 5 hours a day (above left).  They are actually performing on the right.  Looks like they have a big audience.  The group is performing during a breakfast.  The tables where everyone is eating are behind some 1,000 chairs set up for joint activities.

At the left Russ is manning a booth selling day passes for the general public to visit the vendors, car show, etc.  On the right 2 of our members are manning the Coaches for Christ table at the chapter fair.  All the FMCA chapters (38) have a table to attract new members.

After getting to Farmington Russ was asked to lead a 4x4 trip in the area.  We had 27 vehicles, mostly various kinds of Jeeps.  On the left we lined up all the way around the corner as we prepared to begin.  On the right are a few vehicles coming up the trail.

About half way we all stopped on top to take pictures and allow our newbees to have their heart get back to normal.  One of the Jeeps is seen on the right putting on a demonstration of what a $75,000 Jeep can do.  Everyone had a great time.

Volleyball

When we returned home Tiffany was into volleyball.  This was her first year and she did great.  Her team also did great.  After going through the season with only 1 loss they went into the tournment with high expections.  The team is pictured at the right as they accepted the trophy for 2nd place in the single elimination tournment.  Below you can see what we did during part of the matches.

Pagosa Springs

We try each summer to stop by Pagosa for a quick visit with my cousins.  Bill and Carolyn built this home as a summer get away to escape the heat of Dallas.  Bill's sister Jan, and her husband Dell, from Hideaway Lake, Texas were able to join us also.  We always have a great time, golfing, jeeping, shooting or whatever.


"Pagosa Pancakes", courtesy of Dell.  Yummy!

We didn't get any pictures shooting or golfing but did take these while jeeping in the Wolf Creek area -- over 11,000+ ft. altitude!







As many of you know, our family tries to get together for a Jakes family outing about once a month.  We had been gone for 3 and a half months so the kids insisted on getting together the evening we returned home.  Nothing big, just a get together at Chris and Bill's.  We didn't get pictures of everyone but they were all there.

At left is Chris and Bill's oldest, Stephanie and her boyfriend Anthony.  At the right is the "Golden Child"-- Rod, so named by his sisters; Bobby, Amy's husband and Bill and Chris's youngest daughter Alyssa; and of course below was the headliner Bella, our first great grandchild.