Branson, MO

Two weeks ago, Rick and I flew to Kansas to meet up with my parents, and then the four of us drove to Branson, MO, for the week. Despite having lived my entire childhood in the neighboring state of Kansas and gone to college in Missouri, I had never been to Branson. Although not surprisingly, neither had Rick.

When I told my friends I was going to Branson, I received this response several times: You're not old enough to go to Branson. True, Branson is full of retired folks. I'm not sure why. I guess they really like seeing music/dance/comedy shows - clean ones, with a predominant country music and "I love the USA/thank you veterans" theme. Bus-loads of retired people come to Branson from all over the US.

Branson is weird. It is a pretty part of the US with deciduous-covered rolling hills and the huge fingered Table Rock lake that goes on for miles. It's like Vegas meets Palm Springs...with a Midwest flair.

The first weird thing was Lambert's in Ozark, MO, where we stopped for lunch. They throw hot-buttered rolls at you when you aren't looking. This place is famous. Seriously. Just ask people from the Midwest. We waited over 45 minutes to get a table.












We stayed in our own little cottage in a village with a Cape Code theme called Stormy Point. It was really very cutely decorated. Here is a shot of a couple of the units. Ours (not pictured) was yellow and had a whale on top.

While in Branson, we saw several shows. I liked Jim Stafford (guitar wizard) the best and Dixie Stampede (eating a whole chicken with your hands while cheering for the fake rodeo) the least. Bob Anderson (Rat Pack impersonator) was fantastic although surprisingly less popular with the Branson crowd. The Twelve Irish Tenors were great entertainers...and very good looking. (just Mom and I went to that show.)

We also played golf three times, which was a hoot. Branson has a LOT of courses. But we only played one: The Don Gardner par 3 municipal course. It was hilarious. First of all, there is a playground in the middle of the course. There are no identifiable fairways - it's all just grass. There are only five greens - you play holes 2-5 twice. Each green (except the first one) has two pins, a yellow one and a white one. And there are yellow and white tee boxes. I can't tell you how many times one or all of us played to the wrong pin. The course was small and easy to walk, only cost $10/person, and since there were few people there, we felt little pressure to do well or hurry up. Dad, Rick and I had a lot of fun. I even think Rick's brother, Ed, had a good time too.

My favorite place in Branson was not in Branson. Just south of Branson, hidden by the trees and sitting beside the White River, is Big Cedar Resort. Owned by the Bass Pro Shops, this is a gem of a resort tucked in the Ozark mountains. Here is a shot of one of many lodges, cabins, and cottages.

This trip was packed with good stuff (the OSU game we missed but still got free ice cream, golf and shows in Branson, seeing my grandma back in Ark City, and watching the whitetail eat apples from under the trees in my parents' yard), but one of the biggest highlights was seeing Rick's brother Ed and his wife Janet who drove up from Little Rock, AR. Rick supposes it's been 10 years since they last saw each other. It turns out that Ed and Rick look a lot alike. Except for one thing...Ed is really tall. Here we all are in the cottage.

We had a great time. Thanks to my parents for putting it all together.

New Truck

Rick decided it was time to trade in the old Chevy, so we did it. After several days of agonizing over the decision (another Silverado or the Toyota Tundra), we decided to go with the Tundra. Check it out!

E. Fork Salmon

Last weekend Rick and I "backpacked" near the E. Fork of the Salmon R. By "backpack", I mean we loaded numerous large duffel bags, a shovel, an ax, a 5 gallon container of water, a cooler of beer, a loveseat, and a chainsaw onto our four wheelers and drove our selves and our gear 4mi into the wilderness. In my opinion, there is no better way to camp. Did I mention we had a 2-inch foam bed to sleep on?

This in my third time camping with Rick in this spot. I love it because the wide open rocky high spaces feel so much like being in another world, like maybe the moon. Do flowers grow on the moon?

On Saturday, we took a drive (in the truck) up the E. Fork until the road ended at Bowery Ranger Station. The view was gorgeous.

The land around the river is a lush paradise that, in places, abruptly changes to dry, barren, treeless, desert.
We found Herd Lake.

On our way home, we rode up Kirkham Ridge trail for a stunning view of the S. Fork Payette R. at Kirkham Hot Springs.

July 4th Camp-out

This year we joined our good friends Dan and Ellisea for their annual 4th-of-July camp-out near Alturas Lake. For over 40 years, Dan and his buddies have been camping here. Now the group has grown to include children and even some grandchildren. There were over 30 people at the camp-out this year (and nearly as many dogs!)

It takes a lot of wood to support this magnitude of camp-out.

On Saturday, Rick and I took a ride to the lake on my Honda.

That night we had the biggest, and most classic, campfire ring I have ever joined. Complete with smores, dutch oven cobblers, a guitar, and sing-alongs, it was truly a traditional American celebration. (And a lot of fun.)

Sarah's Favorite Spot

Last weekend we camped at my favorite spot, north of Idaho City. We packed our stuff in on our 4-wheelers for the longest day of the year. This is the same spot we went last year on the same weekend with our friends Brandon and Jen. Last year we hiked down to a lake and found excellent trout fishing. This year, the lake was covered in snow.

Last year, on the trail and above the lake:

This year, taken from much higher up; I am pointing at the lake.

Rick's Birthday Quakie Camp

Last weekend we went camping with our friends Brent and Michael and celebrated Rick's birthday. On our way to the site we drove across the Camas Prairie. It was stunning.

Here is a close-up of the camas, which creates the sea of purple.

We camped in this stand of quakies. This is the spot where three bears entered our camp at about 4am last year. We didn't see any this time.My parents gave Rick a 5L beer keg chiller for his birthday. It was a hit!

Lime Creek Camping Trip

Rick and I went camping last weekend near Lime Creek. The desert land was unusually green and covered with wild flowers.

We camped on a knoll and had 270 degree views of the area, including the spectacular Lime Cr. canyon.

We watched a thunderstorm go by and were fortunate to endure only 30 minutes of rain while still getting to enjoy the thunder and lightning.