Branson Shows

Branson, Missouri! Shows Shows and More Shows!

We've already seen Elvis, The Beetles, Yakov (Russion comedian) and Clay Cooper! We hoping to see a few more before we leave this area. Of coarse, Yakov and Clay Cooper were the real deal. If you didn't know Elvis and the Beetles were impersonators, you'd have thought they were the real people! Look real hard at their pictures. Can you tell if they are real or not!!!???

Yakov gave a great patriotic performance. He is from Russia and he LOVES America. As he is always saying. "What A Country!" Every American should feel as proud of America as Yakov is. His show is funny and entertaining.

The Beetles looked real, sounded real and acted real. George Harrison's sister presented the show and told some stories about her brother and the other Beetles. We had great seats too, 2nd row! We especially enjoyed listening to "The Yellow Submarine" (See photo with the sub floating by with bubbles everywhere).


Then there's ELVIS! Tony Roi does a great Elvis. As soon as he opened his mouth to sing, you'd have throught that Elvis was in the room. Great Impersonation!
Clay Cooper is a country singer and wonderful entertainer. His show was funny, fast moving and featured his family and friends. His music was great. (See Clay with his guitar on his shoulder). If you are ever in Branson, don't miss this show!

Sherry and Mark Watson, friends we made in Fun Valley last year, are here with us in Branson. They both work at Silver Dollar City (arts and crafts show). One of the many benefits of working there is that they get to go to the shows for free and can bring guests. We have been their guests. It's great having friends like Sherry and Mark. You can see Mark in our Fun Valley posts. He is the cane carver and he has a booth in Silver Dollar City, where he sells his canes. We'll help you buy one - just let us know!

Visiting Tim and Kim

Our plans were to go to Branson, MO after leaving Denver, but Hurricane Gustov changed our plans. We were going to be traveling east as Gustov was coming up the center of the country. We don't drive in hurricanes!

So we took a few days (about 100 extra miles) to visit Delton's brother, Tim, his wife Kim and their son Grayson in Dalhart, TX. (See Tim, Kim and Grayson front left - not a recent picture) They had just moved into their new house, so we were looking forward to seeing it. They have 2 acres with a pool and tennis court in the backyard.

Kim and Tim are loved by all in their community. They give their time and love to the kids in the town by opening their home to all - whether they are home or not. It's not uncommon to find high schoolers studying at their kitchen table or watching TV in the den - on a daily basis. Thanks Tim and Kim!

After leaving Dalhart, we headed to Branson, MO. The storm had passed, so the driving was easy. But, little did we know that IKE was on his way. After being in Branson for 1 week, Hurricane Ike passed through one night, leaving trees down and lots of tree branches all over the roads. At least we weren't driving. The outer edge of the hurricane blew by. Our prayers are given to all those who endured the storm in Texas.

Denver with Ken

After leaving Fun Valley, we headed to Denver to visit with Joni's son, Ken. Ken moved to Denver from San Francisco a few months ago and will be working on building light rails in the city (public transportation). He moved into an apartment, but plans on buying a place after a while. His apartment is very nice,

Across the street from his apartment builidng is a great bike path along side a river. We took a long ride (14 miles) up river (see Delton and Ken along the path). It was a hot day, so it was a great workout.



We took a hike in the mountains overlooking Denver. The views were spectacular. It's a little hard to see the city of Denver due to the haze, but look hard. It's off in the distance about 20 miles away.

Also along the trail, high up in the mountains, is the remnent of the beginning of a building the state of Colorado was building for a presidential get-a-way. It was never completed, but the cornerstone in still there.



We visited Ken in Denver the weekend after the Democratic Convention. We decided to drive past Invesco Field, where Obama presented his final speech of the convention. Ugh! All we can say is: GO McCain/Palon!!!!!!!! McCain/Palon for President/VP!!!!

We had a great time in Denver with Ken. He likes his new home and is looking forward to skiing this winter.

Good Bye Fun Valley

It was our last evening in Fun Valley. Bob and Faye (pictured serving ice cream and cake) were kind enough to make some home made ice cream and host a camp fire for our send off!

When a cold front came through, we thought we might not get to have a campfire. But, the ice cream was "on" no matter what. Well, the weather cleared just before evening and things went off as planned.

It was alittle cooler than we wanted. It had even hailed alittle earlier in the day. So, we had ice cream making us cold and a campfire to warm us up. This was just typical Fun Valley fun!!!

Before the ice cream was served, a few of our "funny friends" rode by in their yellow canary! They were getting ready for entertainment in the Fun-A-Torium later in the evening! (See how handsome they are!)

We were sorry to leave Fun Valley for the season, but now we are on to new adventures!

Friends, Pop-Up, Eggs and More

Ever had "eggs in a bag"? We were invited to a cookout breakfast at Floyd and Sarah's campsite. We were told to bring cracked eggs in a zip lock freezer bag with extras on the side.



Four pots were set up to boil water in. (See picture). After adding our extras (see table of extras) to our "egg bags", the bags were put in the boiling water for about 15 minutes. (See the bags in the pot). We had to put our names on the bags so we would know which bag belonged to who.



The eggs came out perfect and delicious. After they were cooked, we opened our bags and slipped the eggs on to our plates. They came out like a rolled omlette. Try it sometime. It's a healthy way to cook omlettes - no grease!



We ended our morning with entertainment from Leo and Wes.



More "old" friends joined us in Fun Valley. Connie and Wayland from Stamford surprised us this year. Delton went to high school with Wayland and Connie. Delton and Wayland played football together on their State Championship team. They joined us for a cookout and campfire. See us sitting around the fire. Carol and Gene (also pictured) also came up for a few weeks. We went to church with them in Grapevine.

Before the campfire, our neightbor, Mark, showed Wayland some of his carved canes.

We had a surprise visit from our POP-UP!!!!!

We owned a pop-up camper before we bought our motor home. We sold our pop-up to Steve and Linda. Last year we "bumped into" Steve and Linda in Fun Valley. This year we also "bumped into" Steve and Linda, but this time our old pop-up came with them. Actually, they bought a small RV and sold the pop-up to one of their kids, who joined them for a vacation in Fun Valley this year. Pictured is our old pop-up in Fun Valley.

Joni was very sentimental about seeing our old pop-up. It was the beginning of our new life of RVing. We had many many memories and fun times in it.

Delton taught a Bible Study again this year in Fun Valley. We had a good class and met some more great people who attended the class. Pictured are Carolyn, Forrest, Claire and Roger. Carolyn and Forrest just started fulltiming, having only been at it for a few months. So far they are loving the life style. Delton and I recommend this life style to everyone. Try it! You might like it!

Line dancing is a fun way to dance without a partner!!!! Delton doesn't dance! Joni enjoyed learning to line dance this year. It was easy since Sherry, the Fun Valley Line Dance Teacher, was parked right next to us.

Twice a week, the Wild Rose Band played in the Big Barn or the Square Dance Hall. Venita and Hank (shown in the back row) of the the Wild Rose Band, became special friends of ours this year. They both play guitar and sing. Many came to dance to their music. Joni joined the group this year. Line dancing, the Cotton Eyed Joe, Electric Slide, Two Step and waltz were among the many dances.

Delton played alot of golf this year, with the Fun Valley golf group. Mark, our neighbor, became his golf buddy and the two of them played twice a week in Alamosa. The Fun Valley Golf Cart (school bus) brought the golf group to the course which was about 50 miles east of Fun Valley. Mark and Delton got very serious about their game, taking lessons and hitting practice balls on a regular basis. Can you teach an old dog new tricks???? Kidding aside, hopefully they improved this summer and will enjoy the game more than ever.

We had a great summer this year. We guess that our Fun Valley family has extended to about 100 people. But now it's time to move on! See you next year in Colorado!

Ken Visits Us in Fun Valley

What a busy, fun filled weekend we had.

Joni's son, Ken, moved from San Francisco to Denver last month. He wasn't too far from us in Fun Valley, so he came to visit for a weekend.

We didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't waste a minute. In just a day and a half, we kayaked the Rio Grande, hiked the Continental Divide, had a cookout and campfire, and experienced a bear running through the campground.

We had a beautiful, sunny day for kayaking. The river was low and slow since most of the snow had melted, but we still had a great time. Avoiding rocks was our main job since many rocks appear as the river goes down. We floated for about 3 1/2 hours. We had a great workout.
Look for Ken in the red vest and Joni in the blue one. Delton was our driver and picture taker.

After our day on the river, we had a cookout with our neighbors and then relaxed by the campfire (after a walk around the park).

The next morning, we got up early, had a tasty breakfast and headed for the Contenental Divide at Wolf Creek Pass for a hike up the mountains. Again we had a beautful sunny day.

The elevation was about 11,000 feet. The views were spectacular. There was even a little snow left (in August). (see Ken standing on the snow pile).
We hiked for 3 hours, then headed back to camp and had lunch. Ken had to head back to Denver. Our visit with him was short but packed full of excitement.

We will be visiting him in Denver before we leave Colorado and head east. We're looking forward to hiking with him again in "his neck of the woods".

Bear in Fun Valley

First, Joni saw the BEAR run right in front of our motor home, then under a neighbor's canapy, on to the park road and then all around the east side of the campground!!!!!

It was the first sighting of bears in camp this season. Bears had rummaged through the garbage cans the night before, but to run through the campground right in the middle of the day was unusual. Earlier in the day, he was sighted up in a tree at the edge of the park. (see bear in tree)

Delton and Ken (Joni's son) were in the motorhome. Delton was watching golf on TV and Ken was relaxing after a hard day of kayaking down the river. Joni yelled - "Look out the window!" Joni ran outside and watched. Most of the campers were running after the bear, watching and taking pictures. He ran through many campsites and rummaged through garbage. It was amazing how many people followed after him, but as soon as he would turn towards them, they would take cover - Joni included!

Some thought he was a young bear who had recently been on his own. Maybe his mother didn't teach him to stay out of campgrounds in the middle of the day!!!!!

Finally, some of the campground workers chased him out of the park and up the mountain! But, I'm sure he'll be back!!!!!

That was exciting!!!!!!