Andy Williams Show

Andy Williams presents a show in Branson, It's great! You would never know he is 82 years old. He sings and dances and jokes around as if he is 10 years younger or maybe 15 years younger.

The Moon River Theater is across the street from the Moon River Grill, (pictured) both owned by Andy. We had lunch at the Moon River Grill (pictured) with the Rankin family and guess who walked in??? Yes - it was Andy himself. He makes frequent appearances at the restaruant. What a thrill that was! We forgot to bring our camera with us to the restaurant. Big mistake!

His show was very much like his old TV shows, very lively, fast moving and enjoyable. He had a variety of guests from singing families (pictured), to tap dancers, to magicians and more. He sang many of the songs that made him famous - including Moon River. See the picture of the finale, where all the guests lined up across the stage.

The Andy Williams Christmas Show will be presented during the holidays. We would have loved to see that one but we won't be in Branson then.

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City is a fun entertainment park similar to OpryLand in Nashville. There are arts and crafts, rides, shops, and lots and lots of shows. All who work there wear 18th century clothes.

We went there with Mark, Sherry, Myron and Bill (all friends we met in Colorado). Mark and Sherry work at Silver Dollar City. Mark works in the carving shop (see Mark and Sherry with Mark's canes) and sells the canes he collected in the Colorado mountains and carved in Fun Valley. Sherry works in the children's area, making sure no one gets hurt (see Sherry in her costume).

As we walked thru the park, we enjoyed seeing all the arts and crafts shops. See Delton and Mark watching the craftmen working in the saddle shop. Also see Joni and Delton in jail!

There are many shows going on throughout the day. One of the most popular shows at Silver Dollar City is the ROY ROGERS SHOW (see Roy Rogers Jr. in the black shirt and pants) presented by Roy and Dale's son. You could see the resemblance to Roy. He told stories of Roy and Dale and Trigger and Buttercup and Nellybell and all the stars from the TV show. It was great!

We also went into a saloon and saw a cute musical skit, with bartenders, show girls dancing on the bar, and more.

Have you ever seen a Mule Jump??? A whole show was produced around mules jumping over sticks of different heights. The mules jumped from a standing position and did a pretty good job. I guess the interesting part of the show is that mules are supposed to be so stubborn and one never knows if the mule will jump or not. What do you think????

On the way out of the park, Delton was stopped by a very pretty girl (?) who was fasinated by him and couldn't resist putting her arms around him. Delton abliged him. What a cute picture.

Visiting Chris Jones

Delton's son, Chris, recently moved to Arkansas. We were able to visit him during our stay in Branson. Branson is only 2 hours from Bela Vista, Arkansas, where Chris lives.

We had a real nice sunny day for our visit and playing golf was the perfect thing to do. We got up early (poor Joni couldn't sleep in) and got to the golf course for a 9:30 am tee time.

Chris lives in his 5th wheel in an RV park. Delton has a golfing buddy who is also staying in the same RV park as Chris - Bill Putman (pictured with red shirt). We met Bill in Fun Valley, Colorado and Delton has played with him many times. The 4 of us got together for the game.

The course was beautiful with lush fairways, water all over and rolling hills.

After our golf match, we had a delicious Bar-B-Que diner with Chris and then headed back to Branson. We wanted to get back before it got dark - there are alot of rolling hills and curves in the Ozarks and it's better to drive during sunlight.

Then, a week later, we decided to go to Bentonville with our motor home. We stayed in the same park as Chris stays in and parked right next to him. Chris and Delton played golf 2 days in a row - in the rain. Golf lovers!

We enjoyed our time with Chris. It was like living next to him or 3 days.

The Rankin Brothers in Branson!

The Rankin Brothers are playing Branson!!
We are friends of Mark and Matt Rankin from our hometown of Trophy Club. We have known them and their parents, Larry and Sherry, for many years. (See photos of us with Mark and Matt. Also see separate picture of us with Larry and Sherry.) Our kids went to Northwest High School with Mark and Matt.

We first met the Rankins when they were members of First Baptist Church in Trophy Club, TX (our home town). Matt and Mark were just starting out and had stars in their eyes. We knew they'd make it big one day! Everytime Joni saw Larry (dad Rankin) in the grocery store in Trophy Club, she asked "Have they made it big yet?"

Well, now they have!

How exciting it was to see their name and picture on the big billboards as you enter Branson.


We went to their show TWICE and it was great both times! They performed in the Welk Theater. With a 5 piece band, 3 female backup singers - the Rankinettes, a big stage and wonderful audience, they presented their show.

They opened, back to back (see photo) with their name in lights , starting a very exciting show.

Mark did his Elvis, Sonny (and Cher), and Matt did his Buddy Holly. (see photos) They both performed the Everly Brothers songs, The Rightous Brothers, and many more duet hits. They sound just like the original singers!


After the show, they met their fans and signed autographs, and sold CDs and T-shirts. We visited with them for quite a while after the show and decided to have lunch together on another day.

We were excited to see Mark and Matt's wives and kids when they showed up during the intermission of their Friday afternoon show. See the photo of Matt's wife, Nichole, and his son, David, 9, (right side of photo) and Mark's wife, Mindy, and his children Noah, 9, Chloe, 7,

Ellie, 5, and Heath, 4.

Shown are our friends, Sherry and Mark Watson, (pictured with Mark and Matt) who also went to the show. They had seen The Rankin Brothers last year when they were in Branson. Mark and Sherry were parked next to us in Fun Valley, CO and it was great to know that they had been to the show and thought is was one we shouldn't miss.

To all our Trophy Club friends - THEY MADE IT! TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS! GO TO SEE THEIR SHOW!

Here's the link to their website. Check it out! http://www.therankins.net/

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.