Branson, MO

Layne is a "homebody".  When asked for his favorite activity, he will almost always simply choose to be home.  He is also not one to seek out entertainment.  So it came as quite a surprise when he agreed to go on a bus tour to Branson, Missouri.  Have you ever heard of Branson?  It was never mentioned in California, but here in Idaho there much talk of it.  In case you are wondering, Branson is a small town in south-west Missouri that specializes in family entertainment.  It is a place where entertainers stay and visitors travel, to see them.  It is a sort of family-friendly Las Vegas.

We left for our Branson adventure on Saturday, September 7th.  It takes three days by bus to get to Branson.  Three days.  That would lead one to conclude that the bus would have to be pretty comfortable to endure it for that long.  It was a new bus.  No problem with that.  As we arrived, most everyone was already on board.  So we were relegated to the back of the bus.  Every seat but two was full of seniors, enthused about the trip.  The left side of the bus had seats so tightly arranged that they barely allowed for knee space.  The right side of the bus had quite a bit more space.  Of course it filled up quickly.  Of course, we wound up on the left side, in tight quarters.  Not a good beginning.  But the crowd was friendly and we got acquainted all across Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska and, finally, Missouri.
The views were lovely.  But as the trip proceeded the temperature got pretty hot, in the back.  The engine rested in the back and the heat of it permeated our back inside wall.  So at one point the temperature reached 100 degrees, in the back.  It seems that the heat was accompanied by a failure of the air conditioning, in the back.  Then the toilet, located in the back, and used by several passengers, began to emit some rather unpleasant odors...noticed primarily in the back.  Eventually both problems were solved.  In addition, the couple in the very back traded seats with us, which provided us with the best leg space in the whole bus.  It was hot there, but spacious.  There were pit stops, lunch and dinner stops and, thankfully, motel stops each night.  Each stop was accompanied by what seemed like a great deal of thought by those in the front before they decided to finally disembark.  We waited, of course, for what seemed like a very long time before our turn came to finally get off the bus.  This was repeated at each stop.  In summary, sitting in the back of a tour bus is to be avoided, if at all possible.

We finally arrived Monday evening and happily settled into a comfortable motel room.

Our next three days were full of shows of various sorts.  Branson is full of small theaters; some owned by performers and some rented.  The performances are all very professional and all included religious and patriotic pieces.  In many, vets were asked to stand and be honored.  It was very nice.  I loved the wholesome spirit of the place.  Branson appears to be an openly patriotic and religious community.  I would love to bring our whole family here!

Performing for a living appears to be a pretty tough business.  Singers appeared at our continental breakfasts each morning, singing to us and advertising their shows.  They sold CDs and DVDs of their shows at each performance, as well as various other trinkets.  You have to love show business to work that hard at making a living at it, it seems to me.

Layne outside one of the theaters.  There were lots of them,
spread all throughout Branson.  The Duttons at this theater
were a family group that was our favorite show.  As it turns
out, they are LDS.

Inside one of the theaters.  Typical arrangement has two big
screens on each side of the stage, offering three views of the
show and providing information about the performers as
we waited for the show to begin.

Here we are in front of that bus I wrote so much about.

Branson is comfortable displaying both spiritual
and patriotic themes.

One of our favorite activities was riding on the Branson Bell,
located on Branson Landing.  The ride was accompanied by
dinner great entertainment.

Here's a scene from one of the closing patriotic songs, performed
on the Branson Bell stage.  

Here's a view of the Missouri countryside.  The green lushness
soon changed to a much more sparse view of green as we
entered Nebraska and moved on through Wyoming and Idaho.

Our trip home was accompanied by lovely rain storms.
The fields were full of corn, mostly.  It was an illustration
of the most grown crop in the world...corn!

Most of our bus tour group.  We liked them all.  The ride,
not so much.

We loved it all.  Yup, even Layne.

Layne got acquainted with just about everyone.  He can be very outgoing.  His friendliness and humor warmed many to him and, I think, everyone knew who he was by the end of our travels.  Getting to know so many people in such a short period of time was great fun.  Everyone's story felt interesting.  There were 4 sets of newlyweds among us!  It is sweet to see how life can bring joys and surprises all along the way.

After another long bus ride, in our usual spot in the back of the bus, we arrived home late Sunday night, surrounded by lightening and rain.  It was beautiful.  And wonderful to be home again.  I like it best of all.