On the road with Jim and Pat: Hello from McLean, TX

Hello from McLean, TX

Sunday evening October 12, 2008 (Second travelogue of this trip)

Normally, we would be in a Wal Mart parking lot as we cross the country. Only problem is, there is not a store within 50 miles and I was too tired to drive any further. So, tonight we are in a restaurant parking lot is this very small town (here). The restaurant is closed tonight, so we hope there will not be an issue with parking here (nobody around to ask).

I need to catch up on the happenings of the past several days. On our last blog, we were in Branson, MO for an Eagle bus rally. The rally went from Monday 9/29 to Thursday 10/2. Things were pretty hectic for us. I ended up selling some product and doing some service (unfortunately gratis). I still got to spend some time with all of our friends and met a few new members. On Tuesday we all went to the Duttons afternoon show. They put on a great show and the family members have a lot of talent.

There were about 27 Eagle buses at the rally. In the photo below, you can't see all of the buses, but they are spread over 4 rows. Our bus is in the front center of the photo (right behind the air conditioned outhouse {grin}).

The weather was very good. Kind of chilly in the evening, and nice and warm in the daytime.

We had one catered meal, one potluck, and one dinner at a local fish house.

Most everyone left on Thursday, but a couple of buses stayed for another day or two. We stayed an extra week. One night we went to the Mel Tillis Family show (including Pam Tillis). They put on a GREAT show. Another night we went to “Country Tonite”. We had gone to that show before, but we were a bit disappointed with this show. The audience was very small (perhaps 100 people).

In general, all Branson tourist statistics are off by almost 10% and it sure showed in audience attendance and considerably less traffic. One wonders with the terrible economic situation, whether Branson will have a good Christmas season (November and December). That is usually a very strong period with all the name entertainers performing.

We left Branson on Thursday 10/9 and headed to Carthage, MO for another bus rally. We made a stop in Marshfield, MO to pick up a transmission that I had purchased several months ago. I bought the transmission system for the computers (two) that are the same as mine. I had them ship the “replacement” parts (which I carry in the bus) and figured I would pick up the transmission while I was in the area. The folks who had the transmission were not there, but left a fork lift for me to use to load the parts. The transmission weighs at least 800 pounds and is huge. It took me about 2 hours to load the transmission and associated parts.

We got to Carthage in the late afternoon. We knew the rally would be very small, but we knew most of the folks going, so it turned out to be a lot of fun. On Friday we headed out to Mount Vernon, MO for the “Apple Butter Festival”. Unfortunately, as we walked towards main street, Pat stepped on a rock and took a pretty hard tumble. I took her back to the truck and went to the festival to get something to eat. By the time I got back, we pretty much figured out that Pat had hurt her foot (along with lots of other scrapes and deep bruises). We went back to the bus, but made the quick decision to visit the emergency room. I turns out she broke a bone in her right foot. They did not put it in a cast. We hope that is the correct decision, as it is very painful for her to even walk short distances.

Friday and Saturday nights we had great barbecue prepared by the folks who organized the rally. The attendees brought side dishes or dessert. Saturday the group went to a flea market and had a Chinese lunch. I took the opportunity to organize the truck a bit and do a bit of detailing on the bus.

Today we started our 1000 mile journey to Farmington, NM. We need to be there mid-day Tuesday. Today we drove a bit over 400 miles, so we should be able to make our schedule.

I guess that is all for now.