Belle from Helle

Well, Lightning has been having his ups and downs...this has been going on since we had to put down Thunder.  Lately, we had to put Lightning into the vet hospital....kidneys weren't working the best, and he had a lot of toxins building up.  He's home now, and doing as well as can be expected.  We've come home and found him trying to howl....seems to be lonely.  Well, we've just received a new addition to the family...and hopefully it'll help keep Lightning from being lonely.  It's Judi's puppy, and she named it "Branson Belle", Belle for short.  It's actually a "Portidoodle", a cross between a Portugese Water Dog and a Standard Poodle.  It's dander free, allergen free and doesn't shed...perfect for Judi's condition.  Right now, it's 9 weeks old.  Is it cute ?  You be the judge...........

What to do ?

Well, even here we sometimes are looking for something to do.

Soooo....we found the Texas Land & Cattle Company Restaurant and on Thursday nights for happy hour, they've got 2 dollar margaritas and 1/2 price appetizers.  There was 12 of us there, here's a pic of Dan and I in our favorite Cap'n Morgan pose.  : )

Sometimes we just want to go someplace different for lunch.  We went to Big Cedar Lodge, and had to walk by this wolly mammoth skeleton in the lobby to get to the restaurant.  I'm guessing it's about 15 high, and 35 feet long.

Fire and Water show

Right up the street is Branson Landing, which contains like 100 specialty shops/restaurants/etc.  It's "centerpiece" is a fire and water show next to the lake.  I videoed a short clip of it as I was standing on the balcony of the texas land/cattle co. steakhouse.  This is so huge, I'm standing about 75 yards away on the second floor and I can feel the heat intensity.

Garage added

Yep, needed a garage....so I looked at what they cost from the factory.  GEEZUS !!!!!!!!
Here's what I came up with instead.  Has a 36" door, carpeted and heated...t.v. when necessary !

Christmas Time !

Well, just because we're in this "home" and not at ...hmmm..."home"?  doesn't mean we can't have a Christmas complete with tree !  I picked up an 8-1/2 foot frasier fir and got the lights on and all decorated up.  It may be outside, but that's ok !

Jim Stafford

Last night we went to see Jim Stafford...he's had his own theatre here for 21 years.  He only had a few hits in his day ("spiders and snakes" and "cow patty"), but he is a fantastic instrumental guitar player and his family is very talented too.  Nice show !

Special Video

In addition to the post below this one of our Yuletide Feast, here's a video clip

of some of the students performing during our dinner..very, very nice !

Yuletide Feast

Well, we went to the Yuletide Feast, an annual event at the Keeter Center at the College of the Ozarks.  It's the most facinating college I've ever heard of or seen.  They charge ZERO tuition, as the students WORK for their tuition...they have to work 15 hours a week, plus two 40 hour work weeks  during breaks.  They can also work during the summer to cover room and board costs.  Here's their website:  http://www.cofo.edu/
The college is a Christian liberal arts school....they even have their own "farm", where they raise pigs, etc. and actually utilize the products there.  They also have a beautiful little museum dedicated to the military.  It would seem the basis for this school is GOD AND COUNTRY, teaching patriotism and religion.  They receive no funding from any form of government....so they answer to no one.  Anyway......the keeter center is a beautiful massive log lodge with a dining room that holds about 300.  Eight of us went to the feast, and it was great...the students were all dressed in old english garb, and it even featured the "boar's head processional" and strolling musicians/singers while we dined...and a great show after dinner from the students.
Here's the outside of the keeter center lit up at night.

Ceiling in the dining room is actually solid copper tiles !

Here's our group in the dining room

Here's the stone fireplace in the "waiting room" of the keeter center

Here's the military flags displayed at the entrance

Here's the Chef...and yes, that's the actual boar's head he's carrying

So Far, So Good !

Well, the move went fine....it was only about 75 yards, so I wasn't expecting any issues.  We actually have 3 connecting sites.  One for the rig, one for the boat and one for our vehicles.  After the "mass exodus" on Sunday, this place is somewhat of a graveyard.  Example, on Saturday we had about 160 rigs in...on Sunday our total was less than 20 !  We normally have between 20 and 40 check ins each day...we don't have 20 coming in for the whole week.  Within two weeks, there will be no more than 10 rigs total in this park at one time until March.

Our temps are cooling off.  We are averaging in the 40's and 50's during the day, nites down to around 30...had a few nites at 22.  Between the fireplace and the ceramic heater on the kitchen island, it's pretty rare for our propane furnace to kick on...and I haven't winterized yet !  We are pleased with that....while we get propane at a nice discount here, the electric is FREE.  Now that we are in full sun, we'll get the solar heat effect as well.

Picking up our Christmas tree this week....a 10 footer !  Can't wait.  Even tho' this won't be our "normal" Christmas, it'll still be a time of celebration.  We'll miss everyone, but hey...it's only for this one year.

This week, we have to go to a Christmas party at the Keeter Center....will post pics later of that.  Keeter Center is at College of the Ozarks, where students do NOT pay ANY tuition....they literally work for their tuition !  It's called "Hard Work U."