See ya Branson

Driving into Branson on Friday, August 26, LW pondered whether we had made a mistake booking a condo for 3 nights. Would there be enough to stay busy for 3 days? Ha! You could stay here a month and not see or experience everything! Figuring that out, we had to be slightly more selective. First we drove around town. Here's the fun we had.
Mini golf at Shoot for the Stars. It highlighted Hollywood landmarks. LW beat me of course.

We spent several hours reading about and experiencing the Titanic. My favorite parts: receiving the bio of a passenger and finding out at the end if he/she survived or perished.

There was a bucket of water in which you could submerge your hand to see how long you could withstand the cold. It was 28 degrees, meant to simulate the ocean water that night.
There were 3 decks sloped at various angles to simulate the sinking. I could not even get up the third one, the steepest at 45 degrees.
Then there was the Grand Staircase. We were able to walk up and down it. They also had Leonardo DiCaprio's costume from the movie. There were priceless artifacts including Madeleine Aster's life vest.  This attraction may be my favorite thing in Branson.

We also saw 2 shows. Hammers Unbelievable Variety Show and Legends. The variety show included magic, a singing impersonator, and acrobatics. Legends featured Johnny Cash, the Blue Brothers, Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Michael Jackson and Elvis.

So much to see and do here that it is a place we have added to our list of "need to return." Onward to Kansas City for 5 days.

Invisibility

Jennifer here. Just in case you can't see me. Cause the wait staff at Cantina Laredo obviously can't. When we walked in they took us to a table on the patio per our request. It's a beautiful night in Branson. We sat there waiting for 15 minutes. No one brought chips. No one asked about drinks. No one even looked our way. They checked on tables all around us but not a single sign of acknowledgement. Finally I got up and went to the hostess and asked if a server was assigned to our table but by the time I returned it had started to sprinkle and LW had gotten up and was moving undercover. A waitress saw us looking for a new table and helped.  I'm a very patient person when it comes to waitstaff. I've never held that job and never want to.  So you know if I was not happy ....
Having magically appeared, we ordered drinks and queso.  Soon our drinks arrived as did our queso. But still no chips. We waited and waited and waited. Finally I asked a busboy if he could get us some chips. LW wanted to leave. But I have an issue with leaving after I've already ordered my food and consumed some of my adult beverage. So...I guess we were wearing our invisibility cloaks this evening. What would you have done?

Razorbacks and Big Cats

August 25, found us in Fayetteville, Arkansas to start the day. We began with the Clinton House Museum.  This is a very small house where the newly married Clintons lived near the University of Arkansas.  They were actually married in the living room.  If you listened to President Clinton's speech at the Convention, this is the house he talked about.

After that we drove through the university campus.

We also had lunch on the square, saw the Peace Prayer Fountain and checked out the view from Mount Sequoyah Park.

At least 3 times people told us that Fayetteville is often compared to Austin.  It felt like Austin but much smaller.  We need to come back and spend more time here.

Then we drove to Eureka Springs to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.  This is a non profit refuge primarily for big cats, although they do have small cats and bears. All of these animals have been rescued from deplorable situations or from people who suddenly realize owning an exotic cat as a pet is not a great idea.  We walked around the complex looking at the animals, reading the signage and talking to the zoologist interns.

We watched feeding time.  Tyson Foods donates about 300,000 pounds of food for the big cats every year.  We watched as tigers were fed 2 whole chickens.

We drove into town for dinner and then to the Christ of the Ozarks statue.  It was built in 1966, stands 7 stories tall with an arm span of  65 feet and can be seen for miles around.  It is the largest statue of Christ in North America.

Then we returned back to the Wildlife Refuge for the night.  We stayed in their Treehouse.  We could hear the lions "caroling" off and on throughout the night and into the morning.   Today we will go on the guided tour led by one of the interns before heading to Branson.

Tulsa Oddities

We found a couple of oddities in Tulsa as we passed through on our way to Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Center of the Universe

Near downtown there is an acoustical phenomena called the Center of the Universe. When you stand in the center of this worn circle and speak, your voice sounds normal to the listener but not to you the speaker. It's been described as weird and no one knows why it does what it does. I was a little skeptical but wanted to see for myself.  And because I love the idea of roadside oddities, I had to stop.   When we arrived, there were no people around and  no signs pointing us to its location. I wasn't actually sure we were in the right place. But LW stood on the circle and spoke and was immediately surprised by what happened. It's hard to describe, maybe like talking into a microphone. Think of the kind of tinny noise you hear as you speak into the microphone. That's not quite it though.  Anyway, it was cool and now we can say we've been to "the center of the universe."

Golden Driller Statue

Across town stands the 4th tallest statue in the USA. It is the state statue of Oklahoma and the most photographed landmark in Tulsa. He was built in 1966, weighs 43,500 pounds and stands 76 feet tall. Near the driller were some facts about 1966. Here are my favorites.

1. A gallon of gas was 32 cents.

2. LBJ was the president.

3. Milton Bradley introduced the game Twister.

4. The Beatles gave their last performance un the US.

Can you see me?

First Stop-DFW area

So we got as far as the DFW area yesterday. LW played golf with a buddy (Little Pro) while I visited a few shops.
One of my goals during our travels is to visit the presidential museums. So we stopped at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. It is well worth the stop. Not only were there interesting things to see and read, it was also very interactive. My favorite was a replica of the oval office. The traveling exhibit, The Making of a President, was also interactive. Below are a few pictures from our visit. Later we had dinner with one of our favorite families...The Bogars.
Today we are moving northward.

 The moment Bush was notified of the 9/11 attacks.

Beams from one of the Twin Towers.

 An election carpet identifying all of the elections, who won and their parties.

 My campaign poster.

Preparing to give his acceptance speech.

 The President hard at work.

George W. Bush always signed his sharpies.

Here We Go

Packing Day!

Today is packing day.
For our travels we will each have one suitcase for clothing and other personal items. While it is still technically summer here in Austin, we will be traveling till mid November and we will be in some states where it will feel more like fall.  There may even be a few places where we could say, "Winter is coming." Because of that, we might need a few warmer pieces of clothing.  Here is the list of what I packed in my suitcase today.  This has been a work in progress and I guess we'll see if I made the right choices. When we return in November, we will reevaluate and go from there.

In my bag I have packed...
1 long sleeve t-shirt
2 yoga pants
4 t-shirts
2 work out shorts
1 sweatshirt (Rexstrong hoodie)
3 workout tanks
2 regular tops
2 tanks
3 sports bras
1 regular bra
3 shorts
10 pairs of underwear
10 pairs of footie socks
1 pair of boot socks
3 pairs of slipper socks
1 hat
1 scarf
1 pair of jean capris
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of dress pants
2 dress shirts
1 light sweater
1 pair of pjs
2 pairs of flip flops
1 pair of sandals
1 pair of tennis shoes
1 pair of rain boots
1 bag of personal hygiene items
a couple of 2 person travel games, including a deck of cards

We will also have a bag that will hold our electronics, books, and other materials.  I have packed a sheet, 2 beach towels and 2 throw blankets in case we get somewhere that requires bringing your own bedding.  I also have a laundry bag. We'll take a few pillows and LW is taking 1 bowling ball and his golf clubs.
That's pretty much it. Everything else we have placed in storage or given away. Now it's time to see if we made the right choices.  Anything we decide we don't need can be sent home or left behind.  We can always buy anything we feel we forgot.

Leaving in the a.m.

Surprise! Surprise!

Picture this:

It's your daughter's 26th birthday. It's time to celebrate. In our family the birthday person chooses where we go to dinner, followed by gifts, totally out of tune singing of the Happy Birthday song and finally birthday dessert.  When we asked Lauren where she wanted to go to dinner, she suggested Sherlock's Pub off Research Blvd.  I love their fish and chips but it's not really the kind of place I would have expected her to choose. But she made some kind of statement about choosing a restaurant we hadn't been to in a while.  Ok, that makes sense. 

Enter us arriving at Sherlock's about 10 minutes before 6. Lauren comes out the front door and meets us.  Hmmm...says they just got there too.  I step inside and my little buddy Rex comes running up to me. I'm so excited to see him and Lauren says something about running into him and his family at the restaurant. Hmmm. Ok but there's a Sherlock's (Baker Street) down closer to their end of town.  Ok, whatever. But then Lauren kind of makes me wait near the door for Lester who is parking the car.  Still I have no clue.

Once Lester comes in we head into the restaurant and SURPRISE!  She has orchestrated a surprise Bon Voyage party for us. Neither of us had a clue this was happening.  Here are so many of our good friends, come to wish us Bon Voyage and safe travels.  The Ryan's, the Karlins, the Georges,  Nicole David, the O'Daniels, Bill Bechtol, the McCornacks, Jane Wold, the Bankstons, Ambree Stone, the girls from Lester's office: Laurie, Nicole, Jessica, Melinda and her boyfriend.  (Hopefully I have remembered everyone.) We were so surprised and honored by this outpouring of love. We enjoyed visiting with everyone. We'll miss all of you.

This child of ours gave up her birthday dinner and celebration and planned this event with the help of her husband, David and her brother, Michael. How selfless is that?

Thank you to all who came out to spend a little time with us tonight. Thank you to David and Michael for their role in pulling off the surprise and huge thanks to Lauren for sharing her birthday with us and planning such a great surprise.

We did eventually celebrate Lauren's birthday with our fabulous singing voices, gifts and mini cupcakes for dessert.

It's Almost Time

With eight days left before we leave, we were sitting in our Extended Stay hotel room on a rainy Sunday thinking about our upcoming adventure.  There is some truth to the notion that there are ties that bind..we've lived  and worked in the Austin area for the last eight years.  There are places and things, and of course people, we will miss as we travel.

As one chapter in our life closes...a door opens...opportunity knocks, etc.  We'll be documenting our experiences and thoughts over the next year as we travel around the country.  Maybe this can help others reaching this stage of life.  Or if nothing else, if the stars align, we might get some ideas for a book, take some amazing photos, learn a few things, try something new and live to tell about it, get to know each other better/again, survive close quarters...such will be the days of our retirement life.

We are not going to promise how often there will be a post.  It will depend on what we are up to and what the internet access is like.  Sign up to follow us so you'll be notified when we do post.
If you live near where we are traveling, contact us and let's try to meet up and catch up.

Here's to a few more days before the adventure begins!