Anti Monkey Butt Powder and Romulan Ale - Sun., Oct. 26

Bob's brother Tom and sister-in-law Rosemarie were full-time RVers a number of years ago, then decided to sell their 5th wheel and buy a house in Florida. Both went back to work. A couple of months ago, they bought a used 5th wheel and have resumed full-time RVing.

Tom is taking classes in Heber Springs, Arkansas to become a certified RV inspector. They  had a few days off and were traveling to Branson, which happened to be where we were going next.

We made arrangements to spend Sunday together. They camped in Musicland Kampground; we were in Escapees' Turkey Creek RV Village in Hollister two miles away. At 9:00 a.m. we met them at their 5th wheel at Musicland Kampground.

Oh my goodness, Musicland Kampground is built on a hill with narrow, steep roads. I'm glad we didn't try to take our 5th wheel there. Tom and Rosemarie were in a back-in site at the bottom of the hill. The sites looked level, but some of the back-in sites looked like they would be a bear to get into with all the trees and narrow roads.

Turkey Creek RV Village in Hollister, on the other hand, is mostly level. We had a pull-through site with full hook-ups that was easy to get in and out of. Hollister is just across Lake Taneycomo/Turkey Creek from Branson Landing and Old Town Branson -- a very good location.

After touring their (new to them) 5th wheel and meeting their chocolate lab, Coco, we piled in our truck and headed to breakfast at IHOP. During breakfast we learned all about what they've been doing. On Monday, Oct. 27 they headed back to Heber Springs, Arkansas so Tom could finish his classes.

With breakfast in our tummies, we headed out thinking we would see an early afternoon show such as Liverpool Legends or the Acrobats of China. Either the shows were too expensive or the ones we wanted to see weren't open that day.

Instead we opted for a movie. The movie with the best time for our schedule was the mid-afternoon showing of "Fury" with Brad Pitt. That left a number of hours to kill.

Rosemarie wanted to return to their 5th wheel for her camera and while we were there she walked Coco. Then we needed to go back to our 5th wheel because I forgot my camera battery! They got to tour our 5th wheel as well.

Now that I have my battery, I can take photos of our site and Tom and Rosemarie.

Pull-through site 4D at Turkey Creek RV Village

Escapees' Turkey Creek RV Village

Turkey Creek runs past the campground

Rosemarie loves photography too!

Tom and Bob

Rosemarie, Tom, and Bob

From Turkey Creek, we went to Old Town Branson to shop and eat lunch. We started in a leather store and worked our way to Dick's 5 & 10, an old-time store with a museum-like quality. I thought it was a lot of fun to wander the aisles and take photos. I never knew what I'd see.

Anti Monkey Butt Powder (I have no clue what this is)

A train runs on a track suspended from the ceiling

Many Dick's history signs throughout the store

Lots of "stuff"

Route 66 souvenirs

Any flavor you want (and some you don't)

Crazy stuff

Good for a gag gift?

Tom liked this one

I was partial to the Romulan Ale

Train collection

The original 1,500 square foot  store was founded 50 years ago by Dick Hartley who had a philosophy that no other store would be as well stocked. (He didn't have to deal with Costco and Walmart.) Today, the store is 10,000 square feet with over 50,000 items.

But I said the store is also like a museum. Wandering down the aisles you will see over 100 WWII signed aviation prints, an autographed Baseball Wall of Fame collection, second only to Cooperstown. Bob was in heaven. All of us were done in the store and he was still in there looking at the Baseball Wall of Fame. He had also spent a great deal of time looking at many of the 100 signed aviation prints. As for shopping, I bought a Route 66 mug and two Abba-Zabba bars.

We were hungry and thought we'd go to a Mexican restaurant in Old Town Branson. It was closed on Sunday. Across the street was a restaurant called Clocker's Cafe, so we headed there. We were trying to get something fast so we could make a movie. However, the restaurant was slammed and it took quite a while to get our food. The wait was worth it as the food was good. There was definitely a clock theme with many clocks adorning the walls.

Wall decor at Clocker's Cafe

Clocker's Cafe at lunch time

Because we didn't make our movie, we had a couple more hours to kill before the next showtime. We headed back to Tom and Rosemarie's rig to socialize.

"Fury," for those of you who aren't familiar with this Brad Pitt-directed move, is about a World War II tank crew sent on missions behind enemy lines. This is a hard-core war movie, intense with many gory moments. Brad Pitt stars as Wardaddy, the tank commander, and Shia LaBeouf is a rookie clerk (as in office staff) sent to the front lines to be an assistant driver of the tank. The movie is about the horrors of war, much of it experienced through the eyes of the new recruit who has to grow up way too fast.

When the movie was over, I told Bob he owes me "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." That's the movie I really wanted to see. After seeing "Fury," I needed to see the comedy even more to balance out the horribleness of the war movie scenes. [Bob, I'm still waiting.]

After the movie, we said our "see ya laters" to Tom and Rosemarie. We'll be seeing them Nov. 3 in San Antonio. It was fun to reconnect and meet their puppy Coco.

Bob and I weren't finished with our day. We headed to Branson Landing to see the water/light/fire and music show over Lake Taneycomo. It plays on the hour. We arrived about 7:45 p.m. and sat and talked while we waited for the show to start. Water fountains and music were going when we arrived. At 8:00, the lights dimmed and then the show started. Very impressive. Wet Design, who created the water/music/light show at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, Downtown Disney marketplace in Orlando and Universal City Walk in California, also created this show. While the show was beautiful, we were a bit disappointed that it was only one song that lasted about five minutes. But it was free and it was dramatic.

Branson Landing light show

Branson Landing

It is so enjoyable to meet friends and family while we're traveling. We have a chance to slow down and get to know each other. If you are traveling through San Antonio or staying at Traveler's World RV Resort, let us know. We're back and we'd love to meet you or re-connect if we've already met.

Travel Bug out.