Something sucks!

There's an old joke in state A about how the wind always blows toward state B because state B sucks. Well, today we were traveling in Missouri, and the wind was bloing from the south. I'll leave it up to the imagination of any readers north of here as to which state is state B in the old joke.

60's Hits in Branson

We spent a couple nights in Branson, MO, parking in the Escapees' Turkey Creek RV Salon. They don't call it a salon, but I can't think of the whatg they do call it. It's a convenient location, just a mile or so from the Landing, and a few miles to the strip. We took in a show, #1 Hits of the Sixties. My expectations were pretty low, given that we chose one of the cheapest tickets on the list. But I was pleasantly surprised. The talent was excellent, both vocally and choreograhically. They said it's a new version of the show, which has been running for 7 years, so I thought some of the dance routines were simplistic. But they were very energetic, got the audience (mostly all our age) involved, even me. I got up on stage and competed in a trivia test, trying to remember the name of TV shows based on them playing theme songs. I won the contest, and a $20 gift certificate to a Branson restaurant, which we turned into a free breakfast.

Wow, $1.99 Diesel!!!

Leaving there, we mosied up toward Kansas City. On the way, at the junction of I44, we found diesel fuel for $1.99 per gallon, the first time back under $2 since... probably 2005. That will help in our journey to Alaska this summer, keep it up... er, down guys. It was just a tad ironic that the gas station was on a chunk of the old Route 66. Old road, old time prices.

In Preston, we turned the trip west. The south wind then became a serious cross wind, blowing us all over the road. My guess is that it was in the 25-40 mph range. A bit uncomfortable. We heard a couple of undetermined clunks on the roof. I think it was the TV antenna trying to get airborne, but it could have been a window awning getting itself out for a stretch. No harm, no foul.


Lunch in Nevada, MO

On the way, we stopped for lunch in Nevada. Nevada, Missouri, that is. We had been discussing earlier in the day what mountain ranges had towns in them by the same name, as we passed through Ozark, MO. We found Rocky, Colorado, and Adirondack, NY. But no Green in VT, or White in NH. Ah, well. While in Nevada, we pondered whether there are other cities named after states in other states. None came to mind, and we didn't think we had the right technology to research the question.

Vernon County Courthouse

Turns out that Nevada is the county seat for Vernon County, MO, and they had one of the prettiest court houses that we've seen in our travels.

We took a walk through downtown, a downtown that is in the throes of dying, like so many around the US. Sad. Are we unable to reinvent our cities to become at least a glimmer of their former vitality?

Along the way, we got a call from Ronnie Douglas, manager of the Jekyll Island Campground. He had a conversation with a guest about the wifi there, and my name came up. I calle the guest later, to see if there was another opportunity to consult, but it sounded like his problem was too far toward being solved elsewhere for me to make much of a difference.

Parked in Louisburg

We finally crossed into Kansas, and turned north in Fort Scott. The cross wind turned into a lovely tail wind, and we rolled north into Louisburg, KS, the closest we could get to Kansas City. The campground is attached to a theatre that does a show every Saturday night, and most of the campers come here for the show, I think. We have other plans.